Everett called from next door.
“Want me outside?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want this looking like a crowd.”
Everett grunted.
“You take all the fun out of neighborhood politics.”
“Stay home.”
“Fine.”
At 8:43, the golf cart appeared.
Cody drove slowly ahead of Bettina.
He parked near the curb.
Bettina walked up the driveway in the embroidered Meadowlark Estates fleece.
A clipboard hung beneath one arm.
A measuring tape clipped to her belt.
Darnell almost admired the commitment to presentation.
She rang the bell.
He opened the door.
“Mr. Okafor, the board is here to conduct the mandatory compliance audit.”
Darnell looked behind her.
“You’re alone.”
“I am the board’s designated representative.”
“Where is the written authority to enter the rear yard?”
Bettina’s expression hardened.
“We have already been through this.”
“No.”
“We have.”
“No.”
She lifted the clipboard.
“Failure to cooperate will be documented as an additional violation.”
Darnell nodded.
“Document that I do not consent to entry beyond any area open to the public.”
Bettina stared.
“So you’re obstructing.”
“I’m declining consent.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Cecily stepped into view behind Darnell.
“Good morning, Ms. Whitmore.”
Bettina’s eyes narrowed.
“You brought a lawyer.”
“She was already representing me.”
“This is an HOA inspection.”
Cecily nodded.
“Then please identify the covenant provision authorizing entry.”
Bettina looked down at her clipboard.
“The board adopted the compliance protocol.”
“The board cannot create property-entry rights beyond the declaration through an ordinary enforcement rule.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“It is my legal opinion.”
Bettina reached for her phone.
“Fine.”
She looked at Darnell.
“I’m calling police.”
Darnell answered, “If you believe police are necessary, make the call.”
She did.
The dispatcher asked whether anyone was threatening her.
Bettina said no.
Whether anyone was preventing her from leaving.
No.
Whether there was violence.
No.
Then what was the problem?
“A homeowner is obstructing an official HOA inspection.”
The dispatcher classified it as a civil-property dispute with no emergency indicators.
Because of the standing conflict protocol, the call went to the county sheriff’s office.
Bettina did not know that.
She waited on Darnell’s driveway with visible satisfaction.
Cody sat in the golf cart.
Cecily drank coffee inside the doorway.
Darnell stood with both hands in his jacket pockets.
“You could still avoid this,” Bettina said.