"I'm calling the police!" Patricia grabbed her phone.
"Don't bother," Owen said from the back of the room, holding up his own phone. "I sent the unredacted files to the district attorney's office an hour ago. And I think they just arrived."
Through the glass doors of the community center, the flashing lights of multiple police cruisers painted the lobby in red and blue. But this time, they weren't here for a noise complaint.
Four officers walked into the room. The lead detective, a stern-looking woman with a clipboard, approached the table.
"Patricia Hale? We have a warrant for your arrest on multiple counts of wire fraud, embezzlement, and extortion."
Patricia stumbled backward, knocking her chair over. "No! You don't understand, these people are ungrateful! I am the President!"
As the officers placed her in handcuffs and read her Miranda rights, the entire room of seventy residents fell completely silent. They watched the woman who had terrorized them for ten years being marched out in disgrace.
When the doors closed behind her, the room collectively exhaled. Then, a slow clap started from the front row. It spread to the back, until the entire community center was giving Daniel a standing ovation.
Two months later, the air in Cedar Grove was different. It didn't feel heavy anymore. The constant paranoia of being watched, of getting a yellow envelope on the windshield, was gone.