Friday, December 20th, 6:30 AM. The Caldwell family was one day away from going on their winter skiing holiday once the school week was over. The mother and father were early risers, but sometimes the kids would too. The stay-at-home mother would drive them to and from school while the father was out at his lucrative job keeping their nice suburban house stocked with all the material goods the spoiled brats would ever want. It was the perfect place to rob if all someone wanted was a lot of merchandise they could fence for some tidy profit.<br/><br/>But this particular group of home invaders was after something else. Something that cut a lot deeper than into the family's pocketbook. Something that would remind them a little more fully how hard a fall from the top could be than something like a bankruptcy. Something they would never recover from.<br/><br/>A nondescript black van was parked a block away. Every neighbor in the surrounding block had already departed on their respective vacations, leaving the Caldwell's the only house still occupied. The loudest screaming would only reach so far, and anyone in earshot was long gone. Weeks of surveillance was needed to case the neighborhood and select an appropriate target, with the neighbors also being observed for their departures. Things were going off without a hitch so far. It had taken longer than the group had preferred but it would be worth it. The catharsis it would bring, in so many ways, would tide them over nicely in addition to the swag they were going to be walking out of there with. Just about another hour, and they would be ready to make their move.