Tate watched him.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“This isn't normal.”
“No.”
“Why aren't you stopping her?”
Sterling looked toward the window.
“Because she thinks I'm weak.”
“Are you?”
Sterling smiled.
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Watching.”
Tate frowned.
“Watching what?”
“How far she'll go.”
Sterling had learned something during thirty years in law enforcement.
People who abused authority rarely stopped because someone told them to.
They stopped when their pattern became undeniable.
Hadley had just started creating hers.
The Pressure Campaign
The next violation was more aggressive.
Hadley demanded access to Sterling's garage.
She claimed HOA inspectors needed to verify whether the Mustang complied with neighborhood standards.
Sterling refused.
Two days later, three men in matching navy shirts appeared at his door.
“HOA inspection,” one said.
Sterling looked at them.
“Show me your credentials.”
They couldn't.
“Show me the legal authority allowing you onto my property.”
They couldn't do that either.
“Then we're finished.”
One man became hostile.
“You're making this difficult.”
Sterling smiled.
“No. I'm enforcing a boundary.”
They left.
The following afternoon, Tate came home from the community pool looking irritated.
“What happened?”
“Bryson.”
Sterling put down his coffee.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to tell you to quit being stupid.”
Sterling waited.
Tate continued.
“He said the Mustang would be his one way or another.”
The room became quiet.
Sterling didn't respond immediately.
He walked into his office and closed the door.
Then he made a call.
“Mercer.”
Sergeant Wynn Mercer answered.
“When a police chief calls me like that, I usually expect trouble.”