"We can have it to you by Thursday, but you'll need emergency vehicle permits for residential street parking."
"Already covered under federal medical easement protections," I interrupted, savoring every word. "This is protected medical infrastructure."
While that beautiful piece of machinery was being scheduled, I started building my coalition.
Mrs. Patterson was my first recruit, the retired nurse who'd witnessed Karen's attempt to kill my grandfather. When I explained the legal situation over coffee in her kitchen, the smell of her famous cinnamon rolls mixing with righteous indignation, she was immediately on board.
"Roman, that woman has been terrorizing this neighborhood for months," she said, her voice steady with professional authority. "My husband's wheelchair ramp got a violation notice last week. Mr. Kowalski's prescription delivery van was cited for excessive medical traffic. She's systematically targeting anyone with disabilities or medical needs."
Next, I visited Mr. Kowalski, whose security footage had become my evidence gold mine. His living room was a command center of surveillance monitors, recording equipment, and printed documentation of Karen's harassment campaigns: the electronic hum of hard drives, and the clicking of keyboards as he pulled up weeks of recorded harassment.
"I've got everything," he said, scrolling through files. "Audio of her coaching board members to make violations look accidental, video of her trespassing on six different properties to photograph medical equipment, phone conversations where she discusses property value manipulation with someone from Pinnacle Properties."
But the most valuable recruit was Mrs. Garcia from Sunset Meadows. When I called her, explaining that Karen was running the same scam she'd escaped from, her voice went quiet for a long moment.
"Roman, that woman destroyed my husband's final years," she finally said. "He died six months after we had to sell our house because of her harassment. The stress, the legal fees, the constant fear... it killed his spirit first, then his body. If there's anything I can do to stop her from hurting other families..."
Mrs. Garcia agreed to testify about Karen's pattern of disability discrimination. More importantly, she connected me with the other Sunset Meadows families who were still fighting to collect their court-ordered damages from Karen's previous lawsuit.