At roughly the same moment, over in Chagrin Falls, a car was pulling into the Grants’ garage. Kevin Grant and his wife, Missy, had driven from Chicago that day, and were planning to head to Florida on Wednesday. Kevin’s parents had helped him and Missy get a start in the antique business, and every January they too would close their shop and go down to Boca for a visit to escape the Windy City at the worst time of year. The young couple was especially excited because they planned to surprise Don and Linda with the news that they would be grandparents before the end of the year. They smiled at each other as they watched the garage door open, relieved to have arrived safely after their harrowing eight-hour drive along some very icy and snowy roads.

Once inside, they disarmed the security system, and they sat down to relax and have a sandwich and a slice of the crumb cake Linda left out with a note: “We can’t wait to see the two of you. Don’t forget your bathing suits! Love, Mom.” At around eleven, Kevin checked all the doors and re-set the alarm system. Missy turned off all the lights (including the lamp on the timer), and the couple went upstairs to Kevin’s old room, which now served as the guest bedroom. As they slid under the cool sheets, Kevin said he expected to “sleep like a stone,” and Missy came back with “like a log!” Kevin laughed and gave her a goodnight kiss. Within a few minutes they were both dead to the world.

At the same time, at around eleven, Tony and Danny got antsy, and decided to do another drive-by just to make one last check. The coast was clear. “Measure twice, cut once,” Tony said as they drove off to their destiny. Tonight would be the night.

Tony cut the engine as he glided into the space in front of the Grants’ home. A few minutes later, they heard the signature grind of Bags’s Bug coming down the road, and Danny and Tony rolled their eyes at each other as their fear that they might have a weak link in the chain was confirmed. Now that they were there, really there, ready to do the job, much of their bravado was gone, though neither would admit it. There was no turning back now, in any event, and besides, an easier job was never going to come their way. That magnificent fifty-thousand-dollar figure had burrowed its way into their minds and wouldn’t let go.