The Last Day

SIXTY-EIGHT

Even with the gun in his hand, Ward had never felt so helpless. The weapon should have given him a sense of control, but it felt like a metal toy. He tried to imagine himself aiming the gun at Louis Gismano and pulling the trigger as Gismano ran at him, knife raised, but the image ended with Gismano dodging the bullets and killing Ward, then everybody else in the house. The idea of Gismano killing Ward didn't bother him one tenth as much as the image of him killing Natasha and Leslie.

Todd was their only hope. If Gismano wasn't stopped-if he escaped-how long would it be before he returned? They couldn't pay for protection forever, and if Todd's contacts couldn't find him, who could? He thought about a monster defiling Barney's room and his memory by stealing the bear and leaving a casket with an effigy of their dead child lying glued in the small black box. Ward breathed deeply, willing away his nausea.

Natasha sat on the couch, her arm resting lovingly on his back. Leslie sat in a leather chair, staring at the flickering candle in the fireplace. He heard Todd's musical rap on the door. Natasha jerked, straightening.

“That's Todd,” Ward said, standing.

He moved to the front door just as Todd knocked again, tapping out his signal authoritatively.

Ward opened the door to the sight of a girl suspended in the air, floating, but he realized that the blackened investigator Todd was supporting her weight, his blackened hand over her mouth. Seeing her was such a surprise, it took Ward a second to put the child into context.

“Alice?” he asked. At the sound of his voice, Alice opened her eyes and abject fear changed into pure relief. The hand left her mouth.

“Mr. McCarty, make him put me down!” she said. Todd pushed by and entered the house, carrying her past Ward, who, after locking the big door, followed them into the den.

“Who's this?” Natasha asked.

Todd released Alice, who stood barefoot, looking first at the women, and back at Ward.

“What are you doing here, Alice?” Ward asked her.

“Alice Palmer?” Natasha asked.

“There's a truck blocking your driveway and I got stuck trying to turn around, and I came up the driveway and this psycho kidnapped me.”

“Why are you here?” Todd asked her.

“Because he stiffed me.” She looked accusingly at Todd. “Did you think I wouldn't notice, ass bite?”

“Stiffed you?” Todd was genuinely perplexed.

“You gave me one thousand dollars, not two.”

Todd reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. Opening it, he shook his head and showed it to her. He laughed awkwardly. “I'm sorry. You're right. I gave you the wrong envelope. This one was supposed to be yours.”

“You ought to give me both of them then,” she said, holding out her hand. “Since you inconvenienced me and kidnapped me you should pay another thousand.”

“I agree,” Natasha said. “Give her the three thousand and let her go.”

Alice looked at Todd. “So, why are you all sooty, and why's it like so freaking dark in here?” she asked, shoving the envelope into the black carry bag. “Can you like call somebody to come get my car out of that hole?”

“Our phones aren't working,” Ward said.

“Mine didn't work either,” she said, putting her black cloth bag on the couch. “Why would you live where you can't have a phone?”

“How did you get here?” Ward asked her.

“I got your address from the phone book,” she said. “I have a GPS.”

“Did you steal it?” Leslie asked.

“My mother bought it for me for my birthday so I wouldn't get lost. You know,” she said, looking at Leslie, “you could be nicer. You don't even know me.”

“What you did was unforgivable,” Leslie told her. “You took advantage of Mr. McCarty, and you caused the McCartys both a great deal of unnecessary anxiety.”

“My bad,” Alice said.

“Alice,” Ward said. “You came at a terrible time. There is a man outside who wants to kill my wife.”

“Which one is the wife he wants to kill?”

“I'm both,” Natasha said dryly.

“Nice to meet you.” Alice chewed on a fingernail for a second. “And he could have killed me?”

“Yes,” Todd said. “I doubt he wants to kill you, but since you're here, who knows. He won't want to leave any witnesses.”

“So you like saved my life?” she asked Todd.

Ward nodded. “He probably did.”

“Gismano won't harm her,” Leslie said. “Will he, Todd?”

“He's not killing anybody tonight,” Todd said. “I'm assuming Thumper either is neutralized or isn't who I thought he was.”

He took his Colt from its holster. “I'm going to work my way away from here until I can get a signal, and make some calls. I need to give my guys a heads- up on what we're facing here now and get some deputies with guns out here.”

“Maybe you should stay here until they come.” Natasha said. “If we stay together, with you and Ward armed, wouldn't that be preferable to splitting up?”

“Maybe Natasha's right,” Ward said.

“I agree,” Leslie said.

“We're not voting,” Todd replied. “Gismano could kill my guys if I don't warn them. If Thumper is Gismano, he could ambush them because they know him. Whatever his plan is, I need to short- circuit it. There's a definite range on jamming devices. So, once I get out I can make the calls, and even if we don't stop him tonight, it'll be over for now.”

Ward followed Todd to the door.

“I'll go around and make my way to the subdivision back there. Even if the cell doesn't work, there are phones in the houses. It's probably safer than trying to go to the road down the driveway. I suspect he'll be out there waiting for one of us to try that way. I'll knock on the door when I get back.”

In the darkened garage, Ward triggered the roll- up door closest to them. He waited until

Todd, 45 in hand, bowed down and slipped out into the darkness before he rolled the door back into place.