Troy produced the same emergency vehicle abatement notice that had started everything, the one Rebecca had already proven was completely fabricated. Mason examined the county seal printed across the bottom of the page and confirmed immediately that something was wrong with it: the case number referenced no filing that existed anywhere in the county's actual record system, and the signature belonging to the supposed issuing official didn't match any authorized county employee currently on record.
Troy's composure began to crack as the weight of what he'd participated in finally set in. He insisted repeatedly that Marissa had supplied every document he'd used to justify the operation, as though that alone might absolve him of responsibility. Rebecca reminded him calmly but firmly that Redline still carried its own legal obligation to verify the documents it acted on, regardless of who provided them.
Rather than dwelling on argument, Wade walked past Troy and into the warehouse itself where the gate stood open ahead of him. All 22 vehicles were still there, parked in uneven rows exactly where Redline's crew had left them hours earlier. A handful showed fresh scrapes and minor damage from the rushed, careless towing job performed in the middle of the night. Wade walked slowly between each one, confirming with his own eyes that nothing had actually been lost, only damaged and displaced. What he did gain from the encounter was physical proof of exactly how much harm had been done to his property during the operation, evidence that would matter enormously in the claims to come.
Just as Wade prepared to begin arranging transport for his fleet, Rebecca's phone rang with news from back at Blackridge Estates. The association's board had convened an emergency meeting, and Marissa was already in the room telling anyone who would listen that Wade had attacked the community and unlawfully seized its property. She made no mention whatsoever of the 22 vehicles that had disappeared from his land hours before her own fleet ever left the neighborhood. It was clear she was preparing to make one final, desperate attempt to rewrite the story in her own favor before the truth caught up with her completely.
Before the meeting even began, Marissa sent a mass email to every adult resident across the Blackridge Estates community. In it, she painted Wade as a reckless outside businessman who had endangered the neighborhood and stolen association property in an act of pure aggression. She never once mentioned that the entire confrontation had started with her own crew towing 22 vehicles off his land in the dead of night. Instead, she proposed dipping into the association's reserve fund to hire outside attorneys, bring in additional private security, recover the 29 impounded vehicles, and continue pursuing the land dispute regardless of cost.