Then, slowly, he leaned it against a patio chair.
Victoria noticed.
“Pick that up!”
“No.”
The word came out quietly, but it was unmistakable.
Victoria stared at her son.
“What did you say?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I said no. I'm not threatening anybody.”
The silence around the pool deepened.
For a moment, Victoria looked genuinely stunned. Then she turned back toward Marcus, her anger rising again.
“This is what happens when people encourage disrespect.”
Marcus's voice was measured.
“Your son is making a sensible decision.”
“Stay out of my family.”
“Then stop putting him in the middle of this.”
The dispatcher asked another question. Victoria answered in a clipped voice, then ended the call.
“They're sending officers.”
Marcus nodded.
“Good.”
She slipped her phone into her handbag.
“Now you'll see.”
He looked at her.
“See what?”
“That this community has standards.”
Marcus's gaze moved briefly across the pool deck, the landscaped gardens, and the large homes beyond the fence.
“Standards are important,” he said. “So is applying them fairly.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“Don't tell me how to run my neighborhood.”
“I wouldn't dream of it.”
She turned away in frustration.
The neighbors shifted uneasily. Frank, the older man in the windbreaker, stepped closer.
“Marcus, is it?”
“Yes.”
“I'm Frank Dwyer. I live over on Ashwood Lane.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Frank glanced at Victoria, then lowered his voice.
“I'm sorry this happened.”
Victoria heard him.
“Frank, don't take sides.”
“I'm not taking sides,” he replied. “I'm saying I don't like seeing people treated this way.”
“Then you should mind your own business.”
Frank's jaw tightened, but he did not respond.
Marcus appreciated the gesture, though he knew it would not solve the immediate problem. He looked down at the credential wallet, then picked it up and rested it on his knee.
He still had not opened it.
The officers arrived eleven minutes later.
Two patrol vehicles entered the private community through the security gate, their lights flashing briefly before they stopped near the pool deck. A male officer and a female officer stepped out, both wearing dark uniforms and protective vests. The male officer was middle-aged, with a broad face and closely cropped gray hair. The female officer appeared to be in her early thirties, with her dark hair tied back neatly beneath her cap.
Victoria hurried toward them.
“Thank goodness you're here. This man refuses to leave, and he's been intimidating everyone.”