Each letter included a due date and a photograph cropped to make the vehicle look as though it were parked in the street instead of inside Elijah’s private garage.

He answered all three, citing the HOA rules. Not one provision supported Vivien’s claims.

He also asked the board secretary to preserve the original complaints, including the photographs and the identities of whoever had taken them.

Two warnings disappeared. The third was marked “under review.”

On Wednesday, someone moved his trash bins from the proper collection point and photographed them as a violation. On Thursday, a city grass-length complaint appeared in his mailbox, though the lawn service had mowed the day before. Friday brought a note beneath the Mustang’s windshield wiper: IT DOESN’T BELONG HERE.

Sandra saw him reading it.

“She’s moving faster than usual,” she said.

“You sound like you’ve watched this happen before.”

“I have. A contractor lived in the house behind the pond. She cited his work van every week. He finally sold. A widow on Bellweather Court paid a fine for a fence she had permission to install. When she challenged it, the late fees were suddenly triple.”

“Did anyone complain?”

“Everyone. Separately. That’s why it worked.”

Elijah asked to see the HOA’s public financial summary. The response was a scanned report with broad categories and no supporting receipts. Sandra, who had served on a volunteer budget committee years earlier, noticed a recurring line for “asset compliance and recovery services.”

“That’s new,” she said. “At least, it wasn’t there when I reviewed the old budgets.”

“What does it pay for?”

“Apparently, making sure people comply.”

The line was substantial. More substantial than lawn care. More than playground maintenance. More, in fact, than the neighborhood had spent repairing its roads the previous year.

Sandra pointed to a vendor: Sterling Asset Recovery.

“Ever heard of them?” Elijah asked.

“Only when somebody’s car disappears from a driveway.”

That was the first time he heard the name.

It would not be the last.

CHAPTER 5: THE MEETING AFTER THE MEETING

The next HOA meeting took place in a clubhouse that smelled of coffee, carpet cleaner, and old arguments. Elijah attended in a plain blue shirt, sitting with the homeowners rather than near the board.

Vivien delivered a forty-minute presentation titled “Preserving Our Neighborhood’s Character.” She showed photographs of loud vehicles, clogged streets, and illegal street races. None had been taken in Maple Ridge.