MARLENE FINALLY SAW PEOPLE SHE COULDN’T BULLY
Later that afternoon, a dark sedan stopped outside Marlene’s house on Cedarbrook Lane.
My attorney stepped out.
Two other men followed.
One carried surveying equipment.
The other held a clipboard.
Marlene came outside almost immediately.
“What is this?”
She marched across the grass toward me.
“Who are these people?”
“My attorney.”
I pointed.
“That’s a land surveyor.”
Then:
“And I believe the other gentleman is an insurance adjuster.”
Her expression changed.
“You called an attorney?”
“Yes.”
“For this?”
I looked toward my destroyed pool.
“Yes, Marlene.”
“For this.”
The surveyor began checking the property boundary.
I continued:
“You entered my land without permission.”
“You intentionally destroyed private property.”
“And your husband used insured commercial equipment belonging to his company.”
Marlene folded her arms.
“You can’t prove the truck was on your property.”
The surveyor called from near the fence.
“Actually…”
He placed a marker in the ground.
“The legal property line is here.”
He pointed toward the tire tracks.
“The truck was well inside Ms. Claire’s lot.”
Marlene stopped moving.
The insurance adjuster wrote something down.
Then said:
“Use of commercial assets for unauthorized private activity resulting in deliberate property damage creates substantial exposure for the company.”
Marlene’s face lost color.
Her husband came outside.
“What does that mean?”
The adjuster looked toward the truck.
“It means your company may be liable.”
That was when Marlene finally understood that this wasn’t a neighborhood argument anymore.
