She sighed and then turned to Owen. “Thanks, I’ll let you know in the morning. Something tells me this won’t be the last time something like this happens. On River Camps, at least we’d have the added security.”
Owen nodded. “It’s yours if you need it.”
Damion stood up and shook the other men’s hands, then watched them leave.
His father stood up. “We can stick around and help you try and fix the door,” his dad offered.
“Don’t bother. The building’s got maintenance coming soon to replace it,” Damion said.
“Do you need help cleaning up?” his mother asked Jules.
“No, I’m going to leave it all until the morning. I’m hungry and tired,” Jules answered.
“Want us to get you something to eat?” his mother asked.
“No, I stopped off and got us some dinner. It’s in the car. Thanks,” Jules said.
His mother walked across the room and hugged Jules. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this. We’re here if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
After his parents left, he turned to Jules and just held onto her. “I am so sorry,” he said into her hair.
“For?” She jerked back and looked up at him.
“If I hadn’t moved in with you, your—”
“Don’t you dare,” she said, dropping her arms from around him. “This is not on you. This is on them.” She pointed to the door just as a maintenance guy stepped up and knocked.
“I’ve got a new door,” the man said, looking at the shattered pieces of the door the police had broken in.
“Thank you,” Jules said.
“It’ll take me a while.” The guy looked at the hinges of the door.
“I’ll go get the food out of my car,” Jules told him.
He nodded, not knowing what to say to her. This was his fault. Her things had been gone through, not his. His four boxes of clothes and personal belongings had gone untouched while all of her things had been handled and tossed around.
After Jules stepped out, Damion bent down and started picking up items the police had thrown around the apartment.
“Yeah, the cops never clean up after themselves,” the maintenance guy said as he started unscrewing the broken hinges. “They raided my place a few years ago after my ex called in that I was selling drugs. In truth, she was pissed that I got full custody of our daughter.” He shrugged. “She’s an addict who is now living on the streets in Seattle.”
Damion set a picture of Jules and her parents down on the end table where it normally sat.
“The truth is, anyone can make a call and get someone to do harm to you or your reputation,” the guy added. “I had to go to court to get my daughter back.” He shook his head. “But you get through it.” He finished removing the hinges.
Just then, Jules came back, a bag of Chinese food in her hands.
She had pretty much held it together when the police were there and when Owen showed up with the lawyer after he’d made a call. Now, however, he could tell she’d gone out to her car and had cried. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were red.
Walking over, he took the food from her hands. “We’re going to go eat this outside. You good?” he asked the guy.
“Sure thing. I’m really sorry this happened to you, Julie,” the man said.
“Thanks, Rodrigo.” Jules smiled.
Damion walked over and grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, then led her down the stairs and out front. There was a small park across from the apartment complex.