Chapter 4

My phone buzzed with a text from Tommy:Dad, kids at school heard about the car thing. Can we really keep it?I looked back at my notebook filled with stories of families forced from their homes, then at my father's Camaro gleaming in our driveway. Karen had made one critical mistake in her calculated campaign of neighborhood manipulation: she'd targeted someone with the skills and experience to expose her entire operation.I was walking off my frustration around the community pond that evening, my notebook heavy with evidence of Karen's systematic targeting, when I spotted Janet Morrison sitting alone on the wooden bench near the gazebo. Her shoulders were hunched forward, and she kept glancing toward Karen's house across the water like she expected to be caught doing something wrong.Janet had always struck me as one of the reasonable board members—a retired English teacher who'd moved to Willowbrook Estates after her husband passed, looking for a quiet place to tend her garden and volunteer at the library. But as I approached, I noticed her hands were trembling slightly as she clutched a manila folder against her chest."Evening, Janet," I said, settling onto the bench beside her. "Beautiful sunset tonight."She startled like I'd caught her stealing, then forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Oh, hello, Mike. Yes, it's... it's lovely." Her voice carried the careful tone of someone choosing every word deliberately.We sat in silence for a moment, watching the ducks glide across the pond's surface while the setting sun painted everything golden. But Janet's body language screamed internal conflict: her foot tapping nervously against the ground, her grip tightening on that folder, her eyes darting between me and Karen's house like she was calculating distances."I heard about the violation notice," she finally said, her teacher's instincts apparently winning some internal battle. "About your father's car."The way she said it—soft, almost apologetic—told me everything I needed to know. This wasn't the voice of someone who supported Karen's aggressive tactics."Yeah, it's been an interesting day," I replied, keeping my tone neutral. "Learned a lot about our community's recent history."Janet's shoulders sagged, and she pressed the folder tighter against her chest. "Mike, I... I need you to know that not everyone on the board agrees with... with how things have been handled lately."

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