I drove down in my truck and parked inside the gate. The foreman came toward me before I could open my door. He was younger than Luis, perhaps thirty-five, and looked genuinely startled to see someone standing on the land the plans showed as a corridor. He introduced himself as Aaron Pike and told me the crew was scheduled to mark the route before trenching started the following week.
"We were told the access was cleared," Aaron said.
"By who?"
"Northridge. And the project sponsor."
"Do you have an easement?"
He looked at the clipboard. "I've got the utility route approval."
"That's not what I asked."
Aaron flipped through two pages, paused, and called somebody on his phone. I could hear a voice rising on the other end, but I could not make out the words. When he hung up, he told me there appeared to be a misunderstanding. I said there was no misunderstanding about where my gate stood and no misunderstanding about the notices I had sent to the contractor and utility company.
"You can work on the land your employer controls," I told him. "You are not coming through this gate."
He ran a hand over his face. "I need to call Luis."
"Please do. He has my number."
Before Luis could respond, Margaret's black SUV appeared behind the utility trucks. She climbed out wearing dark tailored trousers, sunglasses, and the mustard-yellow blouse that would become almost a uniform in my memory. She walked toward me at a quick pace with a folder under her arm and an audience of contractors behind her. She did not greet me.
"This is getting ridiculous, Daniel. You're holding up a permitted project."
"You're standing at my gate," I said. "The work you want to do is on my land."
"The transmission line will be underground. It won't interfere with your use of the property."
"If that's true, let's start with why you needed to ask for permission and never did."
"You are one landowner obstructing a benefit to an entire community."
"You're one HOA president claiming authority over property your association doesn't own."
Her mouth tightened. She looked over my shoulder as if I might have hidden a lawyer behind the cattle. "The delay costs money. If you continue interfering, the parties involved may hold you responsible."
"I haven't interfered with a single thing on your construction parcel," I said. "Your plan is the thing crossing my boundary. You can change the plan, or you can bring me a lawful document that actually grants a right. Threatening me doesn't create one."
She stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Do you have any idea how much this project represents? Nine million dollars, Daniel. And that's just the first phase."
I looked past her toward the steel skeleton of the data center. "You spent nine million dollars and forgot to secure the route that powers it."
"We didn't forget anything."
"Then show me the easement."
A gust of wind lifted the corner of her folder. Nobody behind her spoke. The silence lasted long enough for me to hear a tractor in the far field and the ticking of an idling utility engine. Margaret turned toward Aaron and ordered him to continue preparing the route.