The night was hot and humid, typical weather for Washington in July. He dumped everything in the car and decided to limber up, so he jogged in place for a good ten minutes. He was sweating profusely when he climbed back in the car and turned on the air-conditioning, knowing full well he was going to catch a cold but not really caring.

The iced tea was gone in two long gulps. The Twinkies and chips took less than ten minutes since he hadn’t eaten anything all day and was now starved. He was glad Harry wasn’t around to see what he was eating. Harry was into seeds, grain, and that shitty green tea that he mainlined. “Sometimes,” he muttered to himself, “you just gotta do what you gotta do.”

With nothing else to do to occupy his time, Dennis sent texts to everyone advising them of what was going on. To Jack he texted, How about an update on what’s going on with you over there in gay Pareee.

When there were no incoming texts, Dennis turned his phone off and waited. The wait was short. It was only seven minutes later that he saw Annie blasting her way through the parking lot. She skidded to a stop next to his car, her tires practically smoking.

Dennis hopped out of his car, locked it, and literally dove into the backseat of Annie’s fancy-dancy car and came face-to-face with Myra’s dog Lady. Lady barked at her space being invaded. Perfect! He should have thought of Lady himself. Nothing like a lady walking a dog or two ladies walking a dog. He felt stupid but only for a minute. He hugged the gorgeous golden retriever.

Even before Dennis could close the door, Annie had the car in reverse and was barreling back across the lot. “What’s the plan, young man?” Myra asked.

Dennis gave Annie directions. “Well, first I think we should do a couple of drive-bys to get you two familiar with the neighborhood. Which, by the way, is actually very nice. I think we should park a few streets over and walk to the house, at which point I’ll check out the yard, front and back. There are a lot of bushes, but I also think it’s a good idea that you brought Lady with you. No one pays attention to dog walkers.”

Two drive-bys later, Dennis pointed to a small copse of evergreens at the entrance to a cul-de-sac. “Pull in here and park. Don’t worry, I know exactly where we are. I can get us in and out of here in a flash if necessary. We’re going to walk now like we belong here. Everybody good with that?”

Everybody, meaning Myra and Annie, said they were good with that, so they took off walking down the street. They encountered no one, but they did hear muted voices coming from various front porches. Voices they ignored.