Andre kept his distance.
"Put the container down. Now."
She gave a contemptuous laugh.
"You don't give me orders, Mr. Walker."
He raised his smartphone.
"You're on my private property, contaminating my pool!"
Cynthia stepped away from the water, holding the canister.
"Then maybe you'll finally listen."
Andre glanced toward the warning label.
He didn't know what the substance contained.
But he knew enough about environmental safety to understand that nobody should enter the water until qualified professionals examined it.
He backed away from the pool and looked directly at her.
"What do you want?"
Cynthia smiled coldly.
"The agreement."
Andre stared.
"The one I already told you I'm not signing?"
"Exactly."
She pointed toward the house.
"You sign over recreational management rights to the association, and we can solve this unfortunate little problem."
Andre felt his anger rise.
"You created the problem!"
Cynthia shrugged.
"Prove it."
That was when a woman's voice suddenly emerged from Andre's smartphone.
"Cynthia? What did you just pour into that pool?"
The HOA president froze.
Andre looked at the screen.
The video call showed four members of the Willowcrest Estates homeowners association board.
Their expressions had changed from confusion to horror.
One woman was covering her mouth.
Another was leaning toward the camera.
And the association treasurer, a sixty-two-year-old retired auditor named Ruth Calder, was staring directly at Cynthia.
"Cynthia," Ruth said sharply, "the entire board just watched you do that."
For the first time, the HOA president's smile disappeared.
Her eyes widened.
She stared at the phone as though it had become something dangerous.
"Turn that off."
Andre remained perfectly still.
Cynthia stepped closer.
"I said turn it off!"
Ruth's voice became even colder.
"Don't touch his phone. The meeting is being recorded."
The other directors began speaking at once.
Cynthia looked toward the gate.
Then toward the canister.
For one terrible moment, she seemed ready to run.
But Andre had already contacted emergency services through another device inside the house, and the dispatcher had been informed that an unidentified substance had been introduced into a residential swimming pool.
He held the phone steady.
"Go ahead," he said quietly. "Tell them why you came here."
Cynthia opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then Andre noticed something else on the conference screen.
A man he had never seen before had just joined the meeting.
He wasn't a homeowner.
He wasn't on the HOA board.
And when Cynthia recognized his face, her expression changed from fear to absolute panic.
Because that man knew something about the silver canister that none of the board members understood.