Logan took a step closer. “Or what?”
Elijah did not raise his voice. “Or you’ll explain why you stayed after being told to go.”
Mason tugged Logan’s sleeve. “Come on, man.”
Theo had already turned toward the street.
Logan stayed long enough to make a final promise.
“You’re going to wish you gave me the keys.”
That evening, Sandra stopped by with a plastic envelope.
Inside was a copy of a towing invoice from two years earlier. A neighbor had given it to her after the meeting. The listed vendor was Sterling Asset Recovery. The signature authorizing removal was Vivien Hartman’s.
“That isn’t unusual by itself,” Elijah said.
“Look at the time.”
The vehicle had been picked up before the warning period ended.
“Maybe the date was wrong.”
Sandra handed him another invoice.
Then a third.
On all three, a tow had occurred before the final notice had officially been delivered.
Elijah said nothing for a long moment.
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking,” Sandra said.
“I’m thinking it needs an independent look.”
He did not use his office to pull private records. He did what he would have told anyone else to do: saved the documents, asked Sandra to keep the originals, and sent a written request for the HOA’s contract with the towing company.
His phone buzzed just before midnight.
An unknown number had sent a photograph of his Mustang with the garage door closed.
Underneath were five words.
SOME THINGS CAN BE REMOVED.
CHAPTER 7: THE CALL THAT WAS ALREADY MADE
At 6:52 the following morning, Elijah opened his garage and found three teenagers photographing the Mustang through the doorway.
Logan stood nearest the car. Mason held his phone above his head, and Theo was at the edge of the driveway, looking up and down the street with the concentration of a boy who knew he was somewhere he should not be.
“You were told not to come back,” Elijah said.
Logan barely glanced at him. “My mom called the police. Says you’ve been driving a stolen car.”
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“So’s threatening a minor.”
“I haven’t threatened anybody.”
