Harold hesitated.
“Not that I can find.”
She stared.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Harold added, “Miriam, I thought the route was entirely within the community.”
“So did I.”
He sighed.
“This could be a problem.”
Miriam looked toward the map.
“I think it's already a problem.”
She asked Harold to review the signed minutes carefully before making any assumptions.
Then she contacted the property manager.
The manager, Lisa Warren, had worked for Canyon Crest's management company for nearly seven years.
Lisa was organized, practical, and accustomed to residents treating her as the person responsible for every broken sprinkler and misplaced trash bin in the neighborhood.
When Miriam requested the project file, Lisa sounded relieved.
“I've been meaning to ask the board about this.”
Miriam frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Ms. Whitmore keeps asking us to issue notices to the estate property, and our records don't support it.”
Miriam sat upright.
“She's been asking you to issue violation notices?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
Lisa hesitated.
“Several.”
Miriam closed her eyes.
The notices.
The landscaping complaints.
The assessment demands.
The access acknowledgment.
Malcolm Reed had apparently been receiving pressure from the association for months.
“Did you tell Caroline the property wasn't a member parcel?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Lisa took a breath.
“She said the boundary situation was being corrected.”
Miriam stared.
“Corrected by whom?”
“She didn't specify.”
For a moment, Miriam couldn't speak.
Then Lisa continued.
“And there was another request.”
“What?”
“Ms. Whitmore wanted the estate address listed as subject to the association's compliance program.”
Miriam felt cold.
“On what authority?”
“She said the attorney would provide it.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
Lisa paused.
“Mrs. Chen, I've kept the correspondence.”
Miriam closed her eyes.
“Good.”
She took a breath.
“Please preserve it. And don't alter the property records based on an informal instruction.”
Lisa sounded relieved.
“Thank you.”
When the call ended, Miriam stood beside her office window.
Across the street, children were riding bicycles past neatly landscaped yards.
The development was beautiful.
She and her late husband had chosen it because they wanted somewhere peaceful to spend their retirement.
He'd died only eighteen months after they moved in.