"What information?"
"Property ownership."
"That is public."
"Yes."
"Pool sizes."
"Some may be visible."
"Home access information."
The room became silent.
"Home access?"
Marcus sat forward.
The attorney continued.
"Temporary access codes."
A woman near the front gasped.
"I gave the HOA a temporary code for my gate during a repair."
"So did I."
"I did too."
Patricia looked at the attorney.
"That's impossible."
He looked at her.
"Is it?"
She said nothing.
Marcus remembered something.
His old temporary gate code.
The one he had changed.
The one Patricia had tried that morning.
His stomach tightened.
He whispered to Daniel.
"They had my code."
Daniel nodded.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
The meeting lasted three hours.
By the end, Patricia had been stripped of unilateral authority over property-access matters.
The outside security vendor's contract was suspended.
The HOA's payment system was frozen pending audit.
And every board member was required to turn over communications involving private property access.
Marcus went home exhausted.
He stood in his backyard after sunset.
The pool had been refilled.
The water was clean again.
Blue lights glowed beneath the surface.
For the first time in several days, the yard was quiet.
Marcus sat at the edge.
He looked at the gate.
The keypad.
The fence.
The patio.
His property.
He thought about something Daniel had said.
This may not end here.
It didn't.
Two weeks later, a federal investigator contacted him.
Not police.
Not the HOA attorney.
A federal investigator.
Marcus answered the phone from his office.
"Mr. Reed?"
"Yes."
"My name is Agent Laura Bennett."
Marcus sat up.
"Can I help you?"
"We're investigating a private security contractor associated with your homeowners association."
Marcus was silent.
"Why?"
"We believe your property may have been included in a larger unauthorized access program."
Marcus felt a chill.
"What kind of program?"
"We'd rather discuss that in person."
The meeting took place three days later.
Agent Bennett arrived with another investigator.
They sat at Marcus's dining table.
She placed a folder on the surface.
"We've reviewed some of the material provided by your attorney."
Marcus nodded.
"You may have noticed unusual activity around your property."
"Yes."
"Temporary cameras?"
"Yes."
"Unknown vehicles?"
"Yes."
"Attempts to obtain access codes?"
Marcus stared at her.
"Yes."
Bennett opened the folder.
"We believe the contractor was collecting information about homeowners who were considered difficult to work with."
Marcus looked at the spreadsheet.
"Red."
She nodded.
"Red."