At the clubhouse.
She told people Marcus was dangerous.
She said he had threatened her.
She said he had trapped her in his garage.
She said he was unstable.
She said the welding equipment was suspicious.
She said the police had been called.
She left out why.
But gossip had a way of changing when people had seen the truth.
One neighbor had watched the Maybach enter.
Another had seen Patricia refuse to leave.
Another had seen the officer arrive.
And several had seen the security footage.
The story stopped being:
Marcus trapped the HOA president.
It became:
The HOA president drove into Marcus's garage.
Patricia hated that.
But the real problem came three weeks later.
Marcus received a certified letter.
It was from the county.
He opened it at his kitchen table.
His face changed.
Tasha looked up.
“What?”
He handed her the letter.
She read.
Then looked at him.
“What is this?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The county had received a complaint alleging that Marcus was operating an unlicensed fabrication business from his home.
Attached to the complaint were photographs.
Photographs of his welding machine.
His steel bars.
His workbench.
His garage.
Marcus stared.
Those photographs had not been taken by his camera.
They had been taken from inside the garage.
Tasha looked at him.
“Someone was in here.”
Marcus nodded.
“That's what I think.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
He looked at the garage door.
Then at the security camera.
The camera had recorded the entire garage.
Unless someone had disabled it.
Marcus checked the footage.
Nothing.
No one had entered.
No one had opened the door.
The camera worked.
He looked closer.
Then he saw something.
The timestamp.
There was a seven-minute gap.
Seven minutes had disappeared.
Marcus called Elaine.
She arrived within an hour.
She watched the footage.
“Someone accessed your camera.”
Marcus nodded.
“Can they do that?”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
“If the system isn't secured properly, remotely.”
Marcus stared.
“So Patricia?”
“I don't know.”
“But someone accessed it.”
“Yes.”
Elaine paused.
“Did you tell the police?”
“Not yet.”
“Do it.”
Marcus did.
Officer Bell came back.
He inspected the system.
Then looked at Marcus.
“You were right to be suspicious.”
“Can you tell who accessed it?”
“Not immediately.”
“Can you recover the missing footage?”
“Maybe.”
Bell called a technician.
The technician examined the system.
Two hours later, he found something.
The missing seven minutes had not been deleted.
They had been exported.
To another device.
Bell looked at Marcus.