“Look at that.”
“I am.”
“You created this situation.”
“You poured rotten food into my pool.”
“Because you refused to cooperate.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You entered through a locked gate.”
“I'm the HOA president.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I have a master key.”
Daniel zoomed the camera slightly.
“Say that again.”
Elaine hesitated.
“What?”
“Say you have a master key.”
She smiled.
“I have a master key.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From the HOA.”
Daniel knew that answer was false.
Not because he knew where the key came from.
But because he had recently attended an HOA security meeting.
The association did have emergency access keys.
But those keys were controlled.
Logged.
Stored.
Their use required documentation.
And more importantly, Elaine had never been issued a key for his private side gate.
Daniel had changed the lock two years earlier.
The HOA had been informed.
Elaine knew that.
So how had she entered?
Daniel looked at the key.
It was old.
Metal.
Industrial.
Not the modern brass key Daniel used.
The shape made his stomach tighten.
He had seen one like it before.
At a police station.
Months earlier.
But he couldn't remember why.
He didn't need to remember.
He only needed to keep recording.
Elaine pointed toward the house.
“You're going to clean that pool.”
“Yes.”
“And you're going to pay for it.”
“No.”
“You're going to regret making an enemy of me.”
Daniel's eyebrows rose.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
“You just said I'd regret it.”
“I said there would be consequences.”
“From whom?”
“The HOA.”
“You mean you.”
Elaine stepped closer.
Daniel remained still.
She looked down at his phone.
“Stop recording me.”
“No.”
“You don't have permission.”
“You entered my private property.”
“That's irrelevant.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“No. It's the opposite of irrelevant.”
Elaine's confidence flickered.
She looked toward the gate.
Daniel noticed.
He knew she wanted to leave.
But she didn't want to leave while looking defeated.
So she stood there.
Proud.
Angry.
Holding a key she didn't understand the importance of.
Daniel glanced at the pool.
Food continued drifting across the water.
A piece of rotten orange peel floated past his foot.
He looked back at Elaine.
“I'm calling the police.”
Her expression changed instantly.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“This is an HOA matter.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“This is trespassing and property damage.”
“You're overreacting.”
“Maybe.”
He tapped the screen.
“But I'm still calling.”
Elaine suddenly looked nervous.
Not because of the pool.