Lethal Circuit Read Online Free PDF Page A

silver ring—that his father wore.
    “What’s he saying?”
    Michael realized that the volume was still turned off on the phone. He turned it up.
    “One, two, four, six, one, three, eight —”
    “Start it from the beginning.”
    Michael replayed the message, this time with the volume on.
    “Eight, five, six —”
    “It’s like he’s reading off the weekly lotto draw.”
    His father finished uttering the digits, sixteen of them, all a number between zero and nine, and the screen went blank. That was it. Michael checked the phone, but there was little else. No outgoing calls, nothing in the address book, no cached web pages, no apps, no games, nothing except a record of a single incoming call.
    “Either Larry’s really unpopular —”
    “Or he purged the phone.”
    Michael shared a glance with Kate and did the most expedient thing in the book. He tapped the redial button. There were the telltale tones of digits being dialed, followed by the sound of a connection being made, followed by nothing at all. Dead air.
    “Who are you?” Michael asked.
    The connection was cut. Michael immediately dialed again, but this time the call wouldn’t go through. He tried for a third time, but it was the same story. Frustrated, he tossed the phone to the bed. Even at this late hour, horns and traffic were audible outside the old building. To say Hong Kong never slept was a cliché. Hong Kong didn’t even slow down to catch its breath.
    Michael watched as Kate picked up the phone. Maybe she thought she could find something else. Something he hadn’t seen. She hit the play icon again, watching his father’s video message one more time. Then, about halfway through, she paused it and hit another key. Then she just stared. As if she had seen something unexpected. Something impossible.
    “What is it?”
    Kate turned the screen toward Michael. There was an information window opened over the still video frame of his father’s gaunt face.
    “The message is dated April 25.”
    “That makes no sense. He didn’t go missing until October.”
    “April 25th of this year.”
    Michael took hold of the phone and looked himself. It was true, the time stamp read 1:36PM HKT, April 25th of the current year.
    “You know what that means?” Kate said.
    Michael just looked at her. He wasn’t a fool. He knew what it meant.
    “As of five days ago, your father was alive.”

5

    T HE FIRST THING Michael’s father taught him was courage. Michael remembered it well. He was just five years old. They had moved to a new town and Michael was scared. He had just gotten used to his old kindergarten and now he had to go to a new one. To make matters worse, today was Halloween. All the kids were to report to school in costume. Michael’s mom and dad knew about Halloween and they made sure that Michael had a costume to wear that morning. But Michael didn’t want to go. All of a sudden his green dinosaur costume seemed really lame. All the other kids were probably princesses or pirates. They would laugh at a dinosaur.  
    So Michael’s dad made him a deal. He said Michael didn’t have to go if he didn’t want to. The school would always be there. He could stay home all week if he wanted. But Michael’s dad also reminded him that dinosaurs were an important part of Halloween. Maybe the most important part. Dinosaurs stopped the princesses and pirates from tearing each other to pieces. If Michael didn’t go to school, he might have a fine day playing Play-Doh and watching cartoons, but who would protect the pirates? Michael saw the logic. Somebody had to keep the peace. He attended his first morning at the new kindergarten in full dinosaur regalia. Happily, not a princess or pirate was lost all day.

    A S OF FIVE days ago his father was alive. Kate’s words hit Michael like a hot poker. It wasn’t that Michael hadn’t hoped it, hadn’t dreamed it even, but to have another human being utter those words just made them that much more real. Even if