Josh had studied the safest route and knew where to go. He was sure that by then, his parole officer had told the authorities that he hadn’t made his daily call as required. The cops would likely have been to Harold’s house to conduct a welfare check, found his body, and had an APB out for Josh minutes later. Chances were good that they were watching Jesse’s house, but Josh knew a roundabout way of cutting through alleys and yards and could jump Jesse’s rear fence without breaking a sweat.
Take this alley until I reach the T in the road, turn left, walk a block, turn right in to the next alley, cross two streets, and then count the fourth house in, jump the fence, and that’s McCord’s place. Piece of cake.
Josh quickened his pace and kept his head low. At the girlfriend’s house, he’d found nothing to wear that would conceal his identity, so he had to be even more cautious. He felt for the screwdriver and wire snips he’d put in his pocket, just to make sure they were there, and they were. He counted houses and stopped at the fourth one, looked left and right, and checked neighboring windows—the coast was clear. Grabbing hold of the pickets, he put one foot on the boards and pulled himself up and over. Josh smirked at how easy it was to get into McCord’s yard.
Now it’s clear sailing. I’ll peek over the gate to see if there’s a car parked nearby with a clueless cop or two inside.
Barely exposing more than his eyes, Josh carefully looked over the gate. He couldn’t see beyond two houses each way, but no one was parked in the immediate area. He was good to go. After grabbing a chair off the deck, he stood on it, found the security system wires, and snipped them. The detective wouldn’t be any wiser since Josh had his phone. Returning to the back of the house, Josh walked to a rear door that had a small deck surrounding it and facing the back yard. He peered into the nearest window and saw what looked to be a home office. After sliding the house key into the knob, he gave it a jiggle. The knob turned, and he entered the house.
“Now, let’s see how Mr. Hotshit McCord really lives.”
He took his time as he walked from room to room and thought of things to destroy.
Looks like the whole house was recently remodeled. What a shame, but McCord won’t live to see the damage I’m about to do, anyway. It’s for revenge, nothing more.
Josh ran his hand along the smooth marble countertop and admired the state-of-the-art kitchen appliances. The hardwood floors glistened, and the white walls were smudge-free.
Hmm, what’s that?
Crossing the living room to get a closer look, Josh smiled. “Well, isn’t that sweet? A family portrait.”
He continued through the house then took the stairs to the lower level. A large man cave took up most of the basement space. A built-in bar with ten stools faced the back wall. Across from it hung an enormous wall-mounted TV. The couch, recliners, and coffee table filled the center of the room, and to the side were tables for pool, foosball, and cards.
“Nice hangout area, McCord. Looks like the police department pays you well.”
He peeked into the storage room, where shelves filled the wall and totes filled the shelves. The washer and dryer were to his left. One more door caught his attention.
That has to be the garage.
Josh opened the door and patted the wall until he located the light switch. He laughed when he found himself staring at McCord’s bright-yellow Camaro. “What a beauty.” He climbed inside, started the engine, and pressed the gas pedal. The engine roared with horsepower. “Nice.” Josh spotted something through the windshield, shut down the car, and got out. “Here we go. Exactly what I was hoping to find.” He picked up the sledgehammer, returned to the car, and swung.