The stakes had just gone through the roof. This wasn't about fines or stupid rules anymore. This was about our daughter's safety. About some power-hungry tyrant who thought her little clipboard gave her the right to put hands on a child. " Jake made some calls at night. I didn't know who to, but I could hear him talking in his office for hours.
The next day, he took a personal day off work. I'm going to that meeting tonight, he said. And I'm bringing some friends. I had no idea what he meant by friends. But I was about to find out that my husband had been doing some investigating of his own.
That Tuesday, while I worked from home, Jake was making calls. I thought he was just talking to neighbors, maybe getting statements about Patricia's behavior. I had no idea he'd been investigating the HOA for weeks. Turns out after that first violation notice about the trash can 3 years ago, Jake had started keeping records, every FEA, every violation notice, every email. He created a whole folder in his filing cabinet labeled HOA documentation.
It's what cops do. He told me when I found out you document everything because you never know when you'll need it. But it wasn't until Patricia grabbed Emma that Jake decided to dig deeper. He'd called a friend of his from the force detective, Maria Rodriguez, who specialized in white collar investigations. She owed Jake a favor from a case years ago.
He asked her to look into the HOA financial records. HOAs are required to keep detailed financial records available to homeowners. He explained it's public information. So, Maria requested them, all of them, going back five years. And I asked, he smiled, not a happy smile.
The smile he gets when he's about to bust someone who really deserves it. Let's just say Patricia Thornberry has been very creative with how she spends HOA money. He wouldn't tell me more. I need to verify everything first. But trust me, tonight's meeting is going to be very interesting.
At 6:00 p.m. There was a knock on our door. It was Detective Rodriguez and another officer I didn't recognize. They were both in plain clothes. They're coming as concerned residents, Jake explained.
Maria just bought a house to neighborhoods over. She's allowed to attend as a potential future member and Officer Chen is her boyfriend. They're just residents concerned about AOA practices. You could see the gears turning. My husband wasn't just defending our family, he was building a case.
At 6:45, we walked over to the community clubhouse. Jake carried a laptop bag and a folder that looked at least 3 in thick. I had no idea what was about to happen. But I knew one thing for certain. Patricia Thornberry had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
The community clubhouse was packed. Word had spread about the emergency meeting regarding our family. And apparently half the neighborhood wanted to see what would happen. Patricia sat at the head table with the other for board members, Robert Chen, no relation to Jake's officer friend Sander Miller, Tom Davidson, and Jennifer Park. Patricia banged her gavvel at exactly 700 p.m.
This emergency session is called to order. We're here to discuss the repeated violations by the Hrix family at 4,780 Tim to Maple Drive. She launched into this whole presentation photos of our violations going back 3 years. The trash can incident, the Christmas lights, a time our garage door stayed open for 3 hours on a Saturday, and then she got to the chalk incident. Most concerning is the repeated defiance of HOA regulations and the hostile threatening behavior exhibited by Mrs.