"Special pool access available this weekend for all neighborhood families."
There was no address.
No explanation.
Just a cheerful announcement followed by a list of suggested items people could bring.
I immediately messaged Karen.
Her response came less than five minutes later.
"Don't worry. It's all been approved."
I stared at those words.
Approved by whom?
I asked.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she sent another message.
"Let's not make this unnecessarily difficult."
That sentence told me everything I needed to know.
Karen wasn't asking.
She had already decided.
Chapter 3 — The First Trespassers
The next morning, I checked the lock on my backyard gate.
It was secure.
I checked the side entrance.
Also secure.
For a few minutes, I thought perhaps the whole thing had been canceled.
Then someone knocked on my front door.
It was a family I vaguely recognized from the neighborhood.
The father smiled.