For the first time, uncertainty crossed her face.
“I thought those cameras were disconnected.”
I smiled.
“You thought wrong.”
Then I called emergency services.
I reported deliberate contamination of a private swimming pool involving gasoline.
And while I waited for the police and fire department, Vivian finally understood that she had made one enormous mistake.
She had left me with something I had always wanted.
Proof.
The House She Wanted
I had purchased the house eighteen months earlier.
It sat inside Silver Crest Estates, one of the most expensive gated communities in Scottsdale.
The homes were enormous.
Some were worth four million dollars.
Others were worth more than fifteen.
Mine was modern and private, with twelve-foot stone walls surrounding the rear garden.
The pool, spa, cabana, outdoor kitchen, and lounge area were clearly identified as private property in my deed.
No community pathway crossed the yard.
No easement entered the pool area.
No HOA facility was located anywhere near it.
That was precisely why I'd bought the house.
Privacy.
I had made my money by selling a minority share of CrossGrid Systems, the building-security company I had founded.
I worked remotely.
I traveled frequently.
I wasn't interested in HOA politics.
Unfortunately, Vivian interpreted my silence as an invitation.
Her first complaint arrived shortly after I moved in.
My garden lights were supposedly too bright.
Then she complained about my security cameras.
Then my orange pool chairs.