Midnight Sun (117 page)

Unlike
the
FBI
and
Secret
Service
sharpshooters
, when Marcus set out on a mission there was almost near certainty he would be killing men.
Luckily for these men, most of them would never see the face of the dead in their rifle scopes. The majority of law enforcement sharpshooters spend their entire career training to deliver personalized death to a suspect, only to retire without ever firing a shot to end another man's life. Marcus
prayed
t
his
was
going
to
stay
true today.

As
he
watched
them
scoping
the
area,
sweeping
their
fields
of
fire,
getting
into
the
groove
of
the
position
s
from which
they
would
quietly
sit
and
star
e
for
the
next
fifteen
to
twenty
-
four
hours,
another
realization
crept
into
his
thoughts.
Two
years
after
retiring
from
the
Corps
,
he
still
struggled
with
the
concept
of
being
outside
the
chain
of
command.
Those
in
charge,
in
real
positions
of
authority,
would
allow
him
to
help
to
a
certain
point,
but
he
was
no
longer
a
member
of
the
team
and
wondered
if
when
everything
hit
the
fan
in
the
morning
,
they
would
shove
him
out
of
the
way
and
force
him
to
the
sidelines.

He
turned
from
the
window
and
looked
at
his
wife,
sleeping
uncomfortably
in
the
hotel
bed. He marveled at how beautiful she was, how lucky he was to survive twenty
-
plus years in the warrior life to be able to come home and marry the girl he'd loved since high school. He wondered if they'd survive the day
.

Chapter 27

Delaney Park Strip

Friday,
June
24th

05:55
a
.m.

Hilde
and
Mike
stayed
with
the
FBI
and
Secret
Service
teams
until
late,
making
their
way
back
to
the
Captain
Cook
after
midnight
for
a
few
hours
’
sleep.
At
four
thirty
,
they
were
both
back
on
the
green,
walking,
searching,
inspecting
barricades
and
police
officers
and
park
workers.

At
that
hour,
every
second
person
on
the
park
strip
was
an
armed
officer,
soldier
,
or
undercover
agent.
 
Warner,
dressed
in
jeans
and
a
crisp
green
polo
shirt,
looked
like
a
TV
stereotype
of
a
not
-
so
-
inconspicuous
undercover
agent.
There
was
no
hiding
his
military
bearing.
Even
if
he
wasn’
t
wearing
an
earpiece
and
bone
mic
,
anyone
looking
at
him
would
have
automatically
assumed
he
was
S
ecret
S
ervice.
The
man
simply
could
not
blend
in.
Tonia
,
on
the
other
hand
,
looked
like
a
grumpy
office
clerk
who
had
been
ordered
outside
without explanation
at
the
unreasonably early
hour
and
was
very
pissed.

Marcus
was
still
back
at
the
hotel,
trying
to
talk
Lonnie
into
staying
inside.
Hilde
had
given
her
an
earpiece
so
she
could
hear
what
was
happening
and
monitor
from
the
restaurant
tower,
but
Lonnie
insisted
on
being
on
the
ground.

The
steel
-
gr
a
y
morning
brightened
quickly.
By
six
a
.
m
.,
the
city
was
bathed
in
sunlight.
It
was
a
beautiful
start
to
the
day.
Hilde inhaled deeply, letting
f
resh
air
fill
her
lungs
,
then
let
out
a
sigh.
She
and
Mike
crossed
9th
A
venue
and
I
S
treet
toward
the
center
section
of
the
park
where the
Veteran
’
s
Memorial
flag
poles
stood at attention atop the raised concrete platform flags twisting lazily in the light breeze eighty feet up
from
the
ground
.
9th
and
10th
A
venues
were
barricaded
several
blocks
in
either
direction
,
as
were
all
the
cross
streets,
E
through
P.
The
p
residential
stage
was
set
facing
west
toward
the
ocean,
with
the
flag
poles
framed
by
the
backdrop
of
the
majestic
Chugach
mountains.