I gave her the names of two former coworkers and a family friend.
Then I returned to my own responsibilities.
The police department had a school safety meeting that afternoon.
I sat in a room full of parents discussing crosswalks and speeding drivers.
For an hour, nobody mentioned Karen or the Mustang.
The ordinary concerns of the town steadied me.
A chief who allowed a personal crisis to consume his judgment could fail people who had nothing to do with it.
When I got home, I opened the garage and looked at the green car beneath its cover.
My father had spent years teaching me how to rebuild its engine.
He had never taught me how to carry the questions he left behind.
Chapter 22: Karen’s Treasurer Speaks
Miriam Shaw asked to meet Nora at a public library outside Briar Glen.
She said she no longer trusted the association’s email account.
I did not attend the meeting.
Nora called afterward and explained that Miriam had brought bank statements and board correspondence.
The statements showed several payments to companies connected to Victor’s dealership.
One payment was described as a vehicle storage consultation.
Another was labeled emergency compliance assistance.
Miriam said the board had never authorized either expense.
The amounts were modest enough to escape casual attention.
Together, they represented a significant share of the association’s annual maintenance budget.
Nora asked Miriam to preserve the original statements and consult independent counsel.
Miriam also produced an email from Karen instructing the management company not to circulate detailed invoices.
Karen claimed confidentiality was necessary because a law enforcement official was involved.
That official was me.
My job had become her excuse for withholding information from the people paying the bills.
The discovery angered me more than the insults in her neighborhood notices.
Several residents lived on fixed incomes.
Mrs. Porter had worried about an unexpected assessment because she was already struggling with medical bills.
Karen had used their money to finance a private campaign against my car.
Nora said the board could pursue its own remedies and that we should not make their dispute an extension of mine.
I agreed.
Miriam arranged an emergency meeting with the other directors.
Karen attempted to cancel it by sending an email declaring the meeting unauthorized.
The directors consulted their governing documents and held it anyway.
Residents filled the community room until people were standing along the walls.
I attended as a homeowner and sat near the back.
