"What did the health people do," you ask, "when Cord got sick?"

"They tested everyone in our family," Nora says. "We all tested negative. Then, when time passed and no one else came down with Salmonella paratyphi A, they shrugged their shoulders and went away."

"Until Cam got sick," you say. "With the same disease. Probably contracted from the same person..." But Nora isn't listening.

She jumps up, sending the rain slicker flying. You leap to your feet. "What is it?"

"Car."