The Last Day

SEVENTY-TWO

“Don't you think it's like really weird?” Alice asked. “That this shit happens on the anniversary of your son's… you know…”

“Barney's death,” Natasha said. “Yes, it's an unpleasant coincidence, to say the least.”

“That does seem very odd,” Leslie said.

“Maybe it isn't a coincidence at all,” Ward said. “If this Gismano character has been watching us, he knows what today is.”

“He marked it on the calendar,” Natasha said wearily.

“Maybe this Gismano guy set all of that up,” Leslie said. “And timed it all for the anniversary. Tonight.”

“You ever think what if he killed your son?” Alice said, without looking up from the Game Boy screen.

“He didn't,” Leslie said reflexively “Barney died from faulty wiring. Nobody killed him. It was an accident. This guy Louis loved his son. I doubt he would murder an innocent child.”

“Leslie's right,” Ward said, wondering if Gismano could have rigged the wiring to electrify the place where Barney stepped, wet from swimming in the pool. It was too monstrous an act to consider. Or could he have done it believing that Ward or Natasha would be killed, and he hadn't considered that the boy might be the victim? No, Ward couldn't believe that kind of indifference to a life so precious was possible. He and Natasha had never considered that pos sibility, and the investigators would surely have found evidence to point to tampering, and they hadn't. The ground-fault interrupter hadn't been put on the line and saturated ground had allowed the electricity to find its way out through a bare spot in the insulation and kill his son. Barney had not fallen into a trap that had been set for Ward. Ward's heart palpitated at the thought.

Ward also let himself wonder if the virus might have been a killer's doing and that the hacker's and Trey's murders were committed by the ex-soldier to cover his trail. Not that it mattered now.

Ward said, “Right now we just have to keep him at bay until help gets here, which should be very soon. Todd will get word out and his guys are on their way here.” And he wondered if Todd had indeed made it out to a good signal.

Leslie said, “Can we talk about something else? He's just a crazy man, and talking about him won't get rid of him. We have to figure out a plan to kill him.”

“Did you guys ever have a seance to talk to your son? Maybe he like has an idea. Seances are so cool.”