Her palm struck his forearm.
The phone nearly flew from his hand.
“Stop!”
he shouted.
She grabbed again.
He stepped back.
Her bare foot slipped on water he had tracked from the pool.
She caught herself against a lounge chair.
The black yard bag fell.
Dry leaves scattered across the spotless deck.
The homeowner stared.
That explained the bag.
She had planned more than one kind of evidence.
Leaves.
Debris.
A mysterious contaminant.
Photographs later.
Maybe claims the pool was neglected.
Maybe something worse.
The HOA president saw him understanding.
She kicked the bag aside.
“You’re insane.”
He looked at the leaves.
“Those came from outside my property.”
“So?”
“You brought them in.”
“I was cleaning.”
“You climbed over a locked fence to clean my pool?”
She froze.
The logic sounded ridiculous when spoken aloud.
The homeowner held his phone up.
His security application was open.
Live camera view.
There she was.
On screen.
Climbing the fence.
Bag on her wrist.
Syringe visible before she ever landed in his yard.
He turned the screen toward her.
Her face emptied.
The homeowner said quietly:
“You were already recorded before you touched anything.”
She stared at the phone.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That camera wasn’t there.”
“It was.”
“You installed surveillance without HOA approval.”
He almost laughed.
“That’s what you’re going with?”
“You can’t record shared community areas.”
“This isn’t shared.”
“It overlooks neighboring space.”
“No.”
“The angle stops at my fence.”
She looked toward the camera.
Then the second one.
She had finally noticed it too.
The homeowner said:
“There are three.”
Her face changed.
“Three?”
He did not answer.
That was enough.
She turned toward the gate.
Locked.
She had climbed in.
The homeowner remained between her and the house.
He did not block the fence.
“Leave.”
“You’re threatening me.”
“I am telling you to leave my property.”
“You can’t trap me.”
“I’m not.”
He pointed toward the fence.
“You got yourself in.”
She looked toward the six-foot climb.
Then at him.
“You’re going to open the gate.”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“You cannot imprison me here.”
“I’m not.”