“Will you help?”
I hesitated.
Not because I didn't care.
Because I had moved to Oakfield Estates hoping to spend less time involved in conflict.
I looked toward the parking lot.
Then answered.
“I'll provide the information I have. But the board needs to do the work of governing the association.”
Walter smiled sadly.
“Fair enough.”
We shook hands again.
Then I walked outside.
The evening air was cool.
The mountains were dark against the horizon.
For the first time in weeks, I felt the possibility of quiet returning.
But the next morning, Priya called with news that reminded me the board vote was only one part of the story.
The financial investigators had uncovered evidence suggesting some Stonebridge payments were tied to services that had never been performed.
And the sheriff's investigation into the driveway incident had expanded to include other vehicle removals.
Sandra's position on the board had changed.
The questions about what she knew, authorized, and financially benefited from had not disappeared.
They were becoming more serious.
The most revealing document didn't come from Sandra's office.
It came from Stonebridge.
Investigators obtained a set of vehicle-removal records through the appropriate legal process. Among them was a work order concerning my silver Porsche 911.
The order identified my home address, the vehicle's description, and the date of the attempted impound.
That much was expected.
But attached to it was a preliminary storage and disposition schedule.
The document assumed the Porsche would be taken to Stonebridge's secured lot and that substantial fees would begin accumulating immediately.
It also contained a prepared account note describing the owner as uncooperative and unavailable for resolution.
I stared when Priya showed me the material that had become available in our civil proceedings.
“Unavailable?”
She nodded.
“I noticed.”
“I was standing in the driveway telling them to stop.”
“Exactly.”
I looked toward the document again.
They hadn't merely arrived with a wheel clamp and hoped to resolve the matter.
Somebody had prepared paperwork for a process that depended upon me losing control of the car.
Another entry referred to the possibility of pursuing a claimed storage lien if charges remained unpaid.
The legal validity of such a claim was highly questionable under the circumstances.
But the paperwork showed the plan Stonebridge was preparing to invoke.
Take the vehicle.
Move it to a private lot.