“Then I'm not moving.”
The officer's expression hardened.
“Ma'am, don't make this harder.”
Patricia finally stepped back.
The fire chief radioed his department.
Within minutes, another fire vehicle arrived.
Two firefighters carried equipment toward the tank.
They worked quickly.
Marcus stood near the house with Danielle, who had come outside after hearing the commotion.
She looked at the bat.
Then at Patricia.
Then at Marcus.
“Did she really bring that?”
Marcus nodded.
Danielle's expression changed.
“She came here with a weapon?”
“She says it's for HOA enforcement.”
Danielle looked at Patricia.
“Of course she does.”
Patricia heard her.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.”
Danielle didn't respond.
The firefighters removed the damaged housing cover.
One of them shook his head.
“Impact damage.”
The chief nodded.
“That's what I thought.”
The police officer wrote something in his notebook.
Patricia watched him.
“What are you writing?”
“Incident details.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
“You're treating me like a criminal.”
“You arrived on someone else's property with a bat and struck emergency equipment.”
“I was enforcing community rules.”
“You can explain that later.”
The officer looked at Marcus.
“Do you have video?”
Marcus nodded.
“Several cameras.”
“Can we see it?”
“Yes.”
They went inside.
Marcus opened the security system on his tablet.
The footage showed Patricia entering through the side gate.
It showed her looking around.
It showed the bat.
It showed her walking toward the tank.
It showed her raising it.
And it showed Marcus rushing into frame.
The officer watched silently.
Then he replayed the clip.
Patricia stood behind him.
“That doesn't show what happened before.”
Marcus turned.
“What happened before?”
“You must have provoked me.”
The officer looked at her.
“The camera begins several minutes before you enter.”
Patricia went quiet.
The footage continued.
There was no confrontation.
No argument.
No threat.
Just Patricia entering with a bat.
The officer closed the tablet.
“Thank you.”
Patricia folded her arms.
“This is ridiculous.”
The fire chief came inside.
“Mr. Reed?”
“Yes?”
“We need to ask you something.”
Marcus stood.
“Sure.”
The chief lowered his voice.
“Do you have the original county easement documents?”
“I have copies.”
“Can we see them?”
Marcus opened the folder.
The chief examined the documents.
Then his eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Closing records.”
“This is older than I expected.”