"No," Brenda whispered, her voice trembling. "No, the HOA owns the land..."
"The HOA leases the land from my commercial real estate division, Brenda," Marcus said coldly, stepping toward her. "You have a ninety-nine-year lease. A lease that has a very strict morality and harassment clause. A clause that allows the landowner to dissolve the HOA board if its officers engage in criminal harassment."
Brenda staggered back against her luxury SUV, her legs shaking. The man she had just insulted, the man she had tried to have arrested and fired, wasn't a pump attendant. He was the billionaire who owned the very dirt her house was built on. He held the power to disband her beloved HOA with a single phone call to his legal team.
"Mr. Kellerman, I... I didn't know," Brenda stammered, tears of sheer panic welling up behind her designer sunglasses. "Please, it was a misunderstanding..."
"Officer Davis," Marcus said, completely ignoring the weeping woman. "I would like to officially press charges for harassment, trespassing, and filing a false police report. Please remove her from my property."
Officer Davis didn't hesitate. She stepped forward, grabbing Brenda by the arm of her expensive silk blouse. "Brenda, turn around and place your hands behind your back."
As the click of the metal handcuffs echoed across the gas station, Marcus Kellerman picked up his coffee cup. He took a sip, turned his back on the crying HOA President, and calmly went back to wiping down the chrome on Pump Number Four. It had turned out to be a beautiful Sunday morning after all.