They got their gear out of the Volvo and hurried down the street towards Veronica’s house.
“How are we going to do this?” asked J.J.
“As a group with me at point,” said Leroy.
“Not worried about her running out the back?” asked William.
“No, and we don’t even know if they are there. We need to keep all of our eyes and ears together. Agree?” said Leroy.
William and J.J. both grunted their approval.
“So it’s straight up to the front door and directly in. We are counting on such a quick response being a surprise,” said Leroy.
“And if it’s not?” asked J.J.
“We’ve been there before,” said Leroy.
“And if they’re not there?” asked William.
“Then we’ll know and take it from there. We take it one step at a time and assume that both Donald and Veronica are there and armed,” said Leroy.
“What about her witchcraft?” asked J.J.
“That’s mostly Leroy’s problem. We should be mostly immune to things that work on humans,” answered William.
“OK,” said J.J.
“And I have my mask— just in case. Now there’s the house. I’ll get the door and you both cover me,” said Leroy.
As they reached the walkway between the large redwoods in front of the house each of them pulled their weapons discretely out of their bags. They positioned themselves in front of the main door and tossed their bags to the side to avoid tripping over them. Leroy nodded to both of them and without hesitation kicked in the front door. William and J.J. stepped in behind him and they entered the house cautiously.
Leroy pointed back to William to take the stairs that were just inside the front door. He went up cautiously to make sure the upper floor was clear. Leroy and J.J. continued down the hallway, which opened into a huge open space that contained the living room in one end and a huge kitchen at the opposite end. There were no walls and it was only sparsely furnished and they could quickly clear this part of the house.
Leroy and J.J. went back out into the hallway as William came down the stairs shaking his head. The upper floor was also clear.
There were two doors in the hallway. Leroy opened the one under the stairs and peered carefully into a small guest toilet. It was clear.
The last remaining door was on the opposite side of the hall from the stairs and led in the direction of the attached garage. They had approached the house so fast that they hadn’t had time to check the layout. The door likely led to an office or small bedroom with access to the attached garage.
Leroy held up his left hand with the palm up and scrunched his shoulders meaning he wasn’t sure what to expect. The other two nodded. They placed themselves to the side of the doorway and Leroy opened the door.
William peered around the corner and saw a small, square room that was a large storage closet with two other doors in it. One of them was open directly in front of him and led to the garage. The other door led to the back of the house and was closed. But was no ordinary door. It had a deadbolt lock on it with a keypad.
Leroy nodded to J.J., who immediately started toward the front door to get his bag. They were going to need help to get through this door.
