By the next morning, half the neighborhood lawns had turned yellow, and local news trucks started circling like vultures. Around noon, my office phone rang. Jolene answered, then held the receiver toward me.
"It's her," she mouthed.
I took the call. "Mr. Flores."
Her voice was tight, polite, and trembling. "I assume you're aware of the chaos your company's policies have caused?"
"I'm aware of the drought," I said. "And the fact that some people still think fountains are more important than food crops."
Her breath caught. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I'm enjoying fairness," I replied. "Something the HOA could learn a thing or two about."
"José, please." Her tone softened suddenly, almost human. "Our community can't survive like this. Property values are plummeting. The board is threatening to replace me. There has to be a compromise."
I leaned back in my chair. "You want compromise? Pay your outstanding fines. Apologize publicly. Then maybe I'll consider revising your water quota."
"You're blackmailing me!"
"No, Sarah. I'm educating you."
She was silent for a long time. Then, cold as ice, she said, "You think you've won. But people like me don't stay down for long."
"Oh, I know," I said. "That's why I'm making sure you don't get up."
She hung up.
For the next week, Sarah tried every trick in the HOA handbook: she called the county commissioner, the mayor's office, even threatened to contact a federal investigator. But every time, she ran into the same wall: Clearstream Utilities now operated completely within the law. Every restriction had been approved and logged by the drought authority—the same one that had fined her earlier.
Her final move was to attempt sabotage. One night, two HOA contractors were caught tampering with one of the meter boxes along the main line. Unfortunately for them, the area was under 24-hour surveillance: my cameras. The footage showed both men cutting the seal, trying to adjust pressure. The second the wrench turned, the entire unit locked itself down and sent an alert directly to our office.