Clare gasped like I'd accused her of witchcraft. "Erosion project?! Don't insult my intelligence! This was intentional! You can't just dig holes on a public road!"
Sheriff Cole raised an eyebrow. "Public road?" He turned to me. "That true?"
"No, sir," I said, pulling a folded county map from my back pocket, already laminated just in case. "Here's my property line. The road's been mine since 2009. Deed's on file at the clerk's office."
Cole studied it, tracing the red boundary line with his finger. Then he looked at Clare. "Ma'am, this here's Rogers land. You don't have legal access through it."
Clare's jaw dropped. "That's ridiculous! We're all part of the same community!"
Cole nodded slowly. "Except he's not in your HOA. And unless your community charter overrules county property law—which I doubt—this road ain't yours."
Derek snorted behind me. I elbowed him before he could say something stupid.
Clare turned bright red, waving her phone around. "I demand an investigation! This is a violation of safety standards! He endangered me, my vehicle, and the integrity of the neighborhood!"
Cole pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ma'am, I'll file a report if you want, but from where I'm standing, it looks like you drove into an active worksite that didn't belong to you."
"You're taking his side!"
"I'm taking the law's side," he said firmly.
There was a long silence. Then, in the calmest tone imaginable, Cole said, "You might want to call a tow truck."
Clare looked like she might explode. "Oh, I will! And you haven't heard the last of this, Sheriff!"
He nodded. "Ma'am, I hope not. I could use the entertainment."
Derek let out a wheezing laugh that turned into a cough.
Clare spun on her heel, stomped back to her SUV, and tried to reverse, but the wheels only spun helplessly, flinging mud everywhere. One particularly wet clump splattered across her pink blazer. The look on her face: priceless.