Andrea represented homeowners in property disputes and had helped Sandra review the easement proposal. She also happened to be a former prosecutor who understood that a police report could be accurate while public opinion became violently wrong.
She watched the thirteen-second video on a laptop without expression.
“Who owns the original?” she asked.
“The kid with the phone. Eli Porter. The police asked for a copy.”
“Did they receive one?”
“I saw the officer take his information. I don’t know whether the transfer finished.”
Andrea wrote something down.
“First, we request the incident report. Second, we contact the association and ask it not to take action based on a disputed clip. Third, we preserve everything. Don’t speak publicly yet. Don’t answer comments. Don’t send anyone after the boy.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good. Because somebody wants you angry.”
Joseph smiled faintly. “I’ve noticed.”
Andrea looked up.
“One more thing. I saw the petition you circulated about the drainage easement. Richard’s development company is on the other side of that transaction. I’m not sure this is about a fight.”
“It wasn’t a fight,” Joseph said.
“Exactly. That’s why someone had to make it look like one.”
Chapter Eight: The Price of a Reputation
Trent watched his own video for the eighty-seventh time in a private room at Apex Combat Gym.
He knew what Eli had filmed.
He knew what the public had seen.
He knew those were not the same thing.
He also knew he had been embarrassed in front of people whose opinions mattered to him. That knowledge sat beneath everything else like a bruise nobody could photograph.
His right shoulder had been examined at an urgent care clinic. There was no fracture. The doctor advised rest for a strain. Trent kept the sling on in public, although it bothered him more than the injury did.
Richard had called the thirteen-second edit “perfect.”
“It’s blowing up,” Richard said, pacing the room. “Do you understand what this means for your career? Everyone’s talking about you.”
Trent looked at his phone.
The comments weren’t all sympathetic. Some people thought Joseph’s movement was unusually controlled. Some questioned why Trent had been wearing fight gloves at a block party. Others asked where the first fifteen seconds of the recording had gone.
