"What's public?"
"The service date."
"The treatment details?"
"No."
"Then why access it?"
Gregory sighed.
"That's what we're trying to determine."
Marcus leaned back.
The development project was supposed to be dead.
But apparently, somebody was still watching.
And now they were looking at his pool.
For the next several days, Marcus did nothing.
He didn't call the company.
He didn't confront anyone.
He simply watched.
The first sign came on Thursday.
A white sedan parked across the street.
It remained there for forty minutes.
Marcus noticed it from the kitchen window.
He took a photograph.
The car drove away.
The next morning, it returned.
This time, Marcus checked the license plate.
He sent the image to his attorney.
The attorney called fifteen minutes later.
"Do not approach the vehicle."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"Can you identify it?"
"Not yet."
Marcus watched the sedan.
The driver's face was obscured by the windshield reflection.
After thirty minutes, it left.
Marcus didn't sleep well that night.
Not because he believed someone was about to attack him.
He didn't.
He was more concerned about something else.
Someone was studying his property.
Again.
The following Monday, Gregory called.
"We need to talk."
Marcus met him at the clubhouse.
Gregory looked exhausted.
He had a folder under his arm.
"I've been reviewing the old files."
"Anything?"
Gregory opened the folder.
"There are records that shouldn't exist."
Marcus sat down.
"What kind?"
"Access requests."
"To what?"
"Property records."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Whose?"
"Several homeowners."
"Mine?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
Gregory hesitated.
"Twenty-seven."
Marcus stared at him.
"Twenty-seven?"
"Twenty-seven separate searches."
"By Patricia?"
"Some were initiated while she was president."
"Some?"
Gregory nodded.
"Some were initiated after she resigned."
Marcus looked up.
"By whom?"
"We're still tracing that."
"Who had administrative access?"
"Three people."
"Names?"
Gregory gave them to him.
One was Gregory himself.
One was the HOA's outside management company.
The third was a former employee.
A man named Steven Cole.
Marcus recognized the name.
"Wasn't he Patricia's assistant?"
"Yes."
"When did he leave?"
"Three months after she resigned."
"Where did he go?"
Gregory looked uncomfortable.