Daniel watched from his office.
She walked toward the pool.
Then she stopped.
Instead of throwing glass into the water, she pulled out a small device.
She placed it beneath the pool equipment.
Daniel frowned.
That wasn't part of the pattern.
He called Sloan.
"She's here."
"Record everything."
"She isn't dumping glass."
"Don't interfere."
Victoria suddenly looked directly toward the camera.
Then she smiled.
Daniel's phone vibrated.
The federal alert appeared again.
SECURITY BREACH DETECTED.
Daniel stared.
The device beneath the pool equipment began blinking.
Then his home security system shut down.
Every camera went black.
For three seconds, the house was silent.
Then every light in the backyard turned on.
Victoria stood beneath them.
Looking directly at the house.
She raised her phone.
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
Victoria's voice came through.
"You should have stopped."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"How did you get my number?"
"You aren't the only one who can investigate."
"Why the glass?"
"Because you needed to understand."
"Understand what?"
"That people who dig into other people's business eventually find things they don't like."
She hung up.
Daniel looked at the dead camera feeds.
Then another phone rang.
Sloan.
"Daniel, leave the house."
"Why?"
"Now."
"What happened?"
"We just detected a network intrusion."
"From my property?"
"Yes."
Daniel looked toward the backyard.
Victoria was gone.
But the device remained.
And suddenly Daniel realized—
The glass had never been the real attack.
It had been a distraction.
Federal technicians arrived before sunrise.
They examined the device Victoria had left beneath the pool equipment.
It wasn't an explosive.
It wasn't a camera.
It was a signal repeater.
Someone had been attempting to access Daniel's private network.
"Why?"
Sloan didn't answer immediately.
"Your investigation?"
"Maybe."
"Or something else?"
Sloan looked at him.
"Your financial records."
Daniel frowned.
"What records?"
"The ones you collected from the HOA."
"They're on my computer."
"Exactly."
The technicians checked his system.
They discovered repeated intrusion attempts.
Someone had been trying to steal the documents.
Daniel suddenly understood.
"They don't want to scare me."
Sloan nodded.
"They want the records."
"And if they can't steal them?"
"They'll destroy them."
Daniel looked at the pool.
"What about the glass?"
"Physical intimidation."
"So whoever did this wanted me distracted."
"Yes."
"Victoria?"
"Maybe."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Sloan looked at him.
"Why not?"
"Because Victoria wants control."
He pointed toward the device.
"Whoever installed that wanted information."
Sloan became silent.
Daniel continued.
"There are two people."
"You're saying Victoria isn't working alone?"
"I'm saying she may not be the person running this."
That afternoon, Daniel discovered a strange transaction.
One of the HOA vendors had transferred $480,000 to a private company in another state.
The company belonged to a man Daniel had never heard of.
But Sloan recognized the name.
"That's our missing piece."
"Who is he?"
"Thomas Crane."
Daniel froze.
Victoria's husband.
Except Thomas Crane had supposedly been living overseas for eight years.
Sloan looked at Daniel.
"Apparently, he wasn't."
At the next HOA meeting, Victoria arrived smiling.
She had no idea federal investigators were watching.
Or perhaps she did.
Daniel sat quietly in the back.
Victoria opened the meeting.
"Tonight, we have several administrative matters."
Daniel raised his hand.
Victoria ignored him.
He raised it again.
"Mr. Brooks?"
"I have questions about Blue Ridge Consulting."