I shook my head.
"No."
"You let me do it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
I looked at the people around us.
"Because you wouldn't stop."
Then I looked at Marcus.
He nodded.
The party was over.
The Board Meeting
The following Monday morning, Pinewood Estates held an emergency board meeting.
Linda didn't attend.
She couldn't.
Her attorney had advised her not to make public statements while the investigation was underway.
For the first time in four years, someone else sat in the president's chair.
The board vice president opened the meeting.
His hands were shaking.
"We're here to discuss Friday's incident."
A homeowner stood.
"Incident?"
Another replied:
"You mean Linda using someone's private pool without permission?"
The vice president tried to restore order.
Then Mrs. Alvarez stood.
She brought documents.
She had written testimony.
So had the Wus.
So had Bob Hardy.
And the Petersons submitted their statement from out of state.
One by one, homeowners described the same pattern.
Fines that didn't correspond to bylaws.
Threats.
Pressure.
Foreclosure warnings.
Demands for "community cooperation."
Then the management company representative spoke.
He had spent the weekend reviewing the records.
"I need to make something clear."
The room became quiet.
"The board does not have authority to create Section 4.2."
Someone asked:
"Then who created it?"
The representative looked uncomfortable.
"It appears the document was produced internally."
The room erupted.
A homeowner shouted:
"By Linda?"
No one answered.
But nobody needed to.
Then Diane entered the room.
She wasn't there to argue.
She simply handed the board a packet.
The deed.
The bylaws.
The fake notice.
The invitation.
The security footage summary.
The previous meeting minutes.
And the payment records.
"This is a preservation notice," she said.
"You are required to retain all communications relating to the private pool, the shared amenity proposals, the fines against 247 Magnolia, and the event held Friday."
The vice president swallowed.
"Are you suing the HOA?"
Diane looked around the room.
"That's one of several questions still being evaluated."
Then Mrs. Alvarez stood again.
She looked at the board.
"I've lived here for twenty-two years."
Everyone became quiet.
"I watched Linda do this to the Petersons."
She held up a folder.
"Then the Wus."
Another folder.
"Then Bob."
Another.
"And now she tried it on him."
She pointed toward me.
"For years, everyone was afraid to speak."
She paused.
"That ends today."
The board voted that afternoon.
Linda Brennan was suspended from all HOA duties.
Then removed as president.
Then removed from the board entirely pending the outcome of the investigation.
The vote was unanimous.
Seven to zero.
The same board that had once given her four loyal votes now wanted nothing to do with her.