Chapter 32: The Meeting Nobody Recorded
Hearthline conducted an internal review over several weeks.
Naomi received notices that certain acquisition activities had been halted and that an outside accounting firm was examining contractor payments.
The company did not give us full access to confidential records.
Some questions therefore remained unanswered.
Then Peter Sloane asked whether I would attend a private meeting with the firm’s chief operations officer, Allison Beck.
Naomi agreed on the condition that all discussions be documented.
Allison arrived with a thick folder and no prepared speech.
She began by explaining that the firm had terminated its contract with Mercer Property Advisory.
She also confirmed that Grant had submitted milestone claims based on inaccurate representations of homeowner consent.
Several claims had been paid before the discrepancies were identified.
The company was seeking repayment and reviewing whether further action was warranted.
“Did anybody at Hearthline tell him to make us miserable?” I asked.
Allison looked at Naomi before answering.
“We found no written authorization for harassment or staged confrontations.”
I heard the limitation.
No written authorization did not prove that every conversation had been innocent.
“What did your people know?” I asked.
Allison acknowledged that managers had received reports describing community resistance in aggressive language.
Some had praised Grant’s ability to move difficult parcels toward negotiation.
Nobody had adequately questioned the methods behind those reports.
“That was a failure of oversight,” she said.
I wanted to ask how much a failure cost when it happened to somebody with less money than the company.
Naomi asked instead for corrective commitments.
Allison agreed to remove inaccurate homeowner statuses, notify affected residents, preserve relevant records, and support an independent review of the floodwall data.
The firm also offered to discuss compensation for documented harm caused by materials distributed in its name.
I did not accept anything that day.
A meeting could begin accountability, but a folder of promises was not accountability itself.
As we stood to leave, Allison said one final thing.
“Mr. Mercer told us you were planning to sell within thirty days.”
I looked at her.
“When did he say that?”
She checked the folder.
“Four days before the pool video.”
There it was again.
A future outcome entered into the record as though Grant had already arranged it.
Chapter 33: The Engineer at the Fence
A municipal inspection crew arrived at the creek a month after the incident.
They accessed the area through the public maintenance strip Dana had identified,
not through my yard.
The crew used approved testing procedures and installed temporary monitoring equipment along the questioned floodwall section.
The town posted notices explaining that the assessment was precautionary and related to historical documentation discrepancies.
I watched from the upstairs window as workers carried cases through the overgrown path.
Their movements were ordinary and careful.
Nobody brought a glowing prop.
Nobody asked a neighbor to reenact a disaster.
Simon called later with a preliminary update.
The visible wall condition did not justify an emergency warning.
Further testing was required to evaluate internal material strength and drainage performance.
“That’s good news,
” I said.
“It’s limited news,” he corrected gently.
“But yes, it’s better than discovering an immediate hazard.”
I walked into the backyard and looked toward the fence.
For months, Grant had depicted my swimming pool as an obstacle to public protection.
Now a professional crew was conducting meaningful safety work without crossing my property line.
The contrast was almost absurd.
A worker noticed me from the other side of the fence and waved.
I waved back.
The wave carried no message about land sales or guilt.
It was merely a person acknowledging another person.
I had forgotten how valuable that kind of ordinary interaction felt.
At sunset, I uncovered the patio furniture and washed the table.
I was not ready to invite people swimming.
I was ready to stop treating the backyard as the scene of a crime that had never happened.
