That was our first mistake. We should have been out of the hotel hours ago. We didn’t even think of it until we were sitting there for hours in the car. There was no reason that we took so much time. Well, there was, but I don’t blame Frank. I go back to me making him move off the horse. That put everything in motion, that was the gear in the machine that made it all click, and that’s on me. You see how one decision can affect everything that comes after.

“We’ll get back in time,” Frank said, still trying to convince me. “When did Froehmer say?”

“Before noon,” I told him. Froehmer hadn’t said what time.

“He can wait for once,” Frank said, then, “We’ll be back. We’ll be back with time to spare. Froehmer will get his. The way he always does.”

I decided I couldn’t wait any more. “I’m going in,” I said, “if that’s all right with you.”

“I don’t know why you’re not back already,” Frank said.

There was no one on the street, no neighbors looking out the windows. I got out of the car and walked directly to the back of the house, directly to the window I noticed the day before. I saw the small camera on the back stoop, above the door. It was old, probably hadn’t been used in years. There was the decal of a home security company in the window of the back door, a blue shield with white initials. They let it all lapse once they got comfortable. Probably a safe neighborhood.

I pried the screen out of the window jamb and sure enough, the window was unlocked, just the way I’d found it the day before, and I slid it open and crawled through into the kitchen. I moved straight through the kitchen, walked through the dining room and took a look in the living room. I walked down the hallway and there was a small office. There was a desk, a small couch against one wall, and some bookcases. The shelves of the bookcases had a few family photographs and other crap. I scanned the shelves and there was what we’d been sent for, sitting right there in front of me. I knew it was going to be easy.

It was a small statue of a goat, a cheap silver animal trophy that had roman numerals engraved on it and a bunch of initials, an abbreviation for something. I didn’t really pay that much attention to it, to be honest; I didn’t really care. It’s what we came for, so I took it and put it in my shoulder bag and walked back through the house and crawled back out the window. I replaced the screen and walked down the sidewalk and around the corner, where Frank was waiting.