It was barely dark when they all piled into the Post van and Espinosa’s new Hummer, which he doted on and which still smelled brand-new. The third vehicle was driven by Dennis and was a Jeep whose cargo hold was full of their gear. The last vehicle belonged to Myra’s gardener and was driven by Annie. Occupancy in all four vehicles was crowded, but no one complained.

It was totally dark and getting darker by the minute when the caravan reached Lincoln Moss’s home. The air was hot and humid, and the threat of still more rain was in the air. The lead vehicle didn’t stop but slowed, so that Yoko and Harry could drop out and scale the fence. Down the road, a block and a half away, all the vehicles came to a halt. Cell phones were an open line so that Yoko and Harry could communicate.

First order of business was to take out the two guards, or as Harry put it, put them to sleep, nothing more. They were just doing their jobs and didn’t deserve to be caught up in Moss’s mess.

Inside the gates, Yoko went one way and Harry the other. Within ten minutes, both guards were leaning against a tree and sound asleep.

“You do good work, silent work, my husband,” Yoko said, blowing Harry a kiss.

“And so do you, my little lotus flower,” Harry said, blowing a kiss in return. Yoko giggled, and Harry laughed out loud. He just loved, loved it when he could make his wife laugh or smile, and a giggle was the best.

“I’ll open the gate. You alert the gang to come on through.” Yoko sprinted off to open the gate. She looked around with the aid of a small penlight for the manual switch that was at the bottom of the left side of the gate. She switched it off. Now the gates would stay open, with or without power. She was back at Harry’s side within moments and headed for the rear of the house, where they planned to enter through the kitchen door.

“It’s Annie’s job to pick the lock, so we have to wait till she gets here,” Yoko said. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Annie appeared at her side, lockpick in hand. Five seconds, and the kitchen door opened on its well-oiled hinges.

Harry looked around and winced. They were a scary-looking lot. He hoped Lincoln Moss had a strong heart. The second everyone was standing in the kitchen, Harry held up his hand for silence as he waited for Abner, who was monitoring Moss’s whereabouts inside the house with a heat sensor.

The one thing they didn’t want to do was give Moss even a second to hit 911 on his speed dial. Quick, fast, and dirty, was the way Annie put it.