A gray wall of curing concrete, 6 inches thick, stretched from one edge of the drive to the other. The camera had captured the truck's license plate clearly. Lieutenant Greer ran it that afternoon. The truck was registered to Caldwell Commercial Construction, Doug's company, the same company listed on Larry Fenton's sole client record, the same company that, according to the HOA financials, had received $17,000 in maintenance contracts over the past 3 years for work no one in the neighborhood could verify had ever been performed. I parked on the street for 3 days while the concrete cured enough to be broken up.
Then I hired a crew to jackhammer it out. Cost, $1,800. The noise started at 7:00 a.m. and lasted 4 hours. The whole street heard it. Colton stood at the living room window watching concrete dust rise into the morning air.
I added the invoice, the camera footage, and the police report to the folder. The folder was getting thick. That same week, Doug called me directly. I was sitting in my truck outside a client site when his name popped up on my screen. His voice was calm, but there was a tightness underneath it.
The sound of a man who's starting to realize the ground might not hold. "Holloway, you're making a very serious mistake. I know people on every board and commission in this county. Your landscape architecture license, that can disappear like that." He snapped his fingers.
I heard it through the phone. I let a beat pass. "Doug, you're threatening a private citizen on a recorded phone line. And you just confirmed you'd use your public office to retaliate against someone exercising their legal rights. I appreciate the evidence."
Silence. Then a click. Brenda made one more move before the meeting. She sent a mass email to all 127 households. "Urgent.
Garrett Holloway is attempting to steal your HOA's authority and destroy private property rights in Willow Creek. He wants to seize a homeowner's property and demolish it for a personal vendetta. Stand with your elected board or lose the protections you've trusted us to provide for nine years." Four people replied in support. The rest either ignored it or forwarded it to me with notes like, is this real?
And this woman has lost her mind. I didn't respond to the email. I didn't need to. The meeting was in 4 days. 3 days before the meeting, Brenda organized what she called a community unity rally on her front lawn.
She promoted it everywhere. Nextdoor, Facebook, the Willow Creek group text, printed flyers tucked into mailboxes with a clip art American flag and the words save our HOA in bold red letters. She told people she'd have refreshments, a speaker from the county, and important information about threats to your property rights. Eight people showed up. Three of them were Doug, their daughter Kaylee, and Kaylee's husband.