Midnight Sun (132 page)

Chapter
31

Delaney Park Strip

Friday,
June
24th

10:22
a.m

Rage
built
in
Farrah's
chest,
swelling
against
his
ribs
and
threating
to
expel
his
organs.
He
seethed
as
his
mind
processed
what
was
happening.
 
Kreshnik
had
detonated
the
explosives
,
but
someone
had
released
the
pressure
,
and
the
park
had
not
erupted
into
the
hell
of
fire
they had worked so hard to create
.
Worse
than that
,
the realization was materializing in his mind
that someone
had apparently
sabotaged
the
mortar
shells.
As
much
as
his
mind
wanted
a
different
explanation,
he could find
none.
Kharzai
,
a
man
he
had
trusted,
a
man
he
had
known
to
be
a
loyal
member
of
the
jihad,
was
a
traitor.

Secret Service
agents shuttled the President out of sight
in the blink of an eye
. Whatever his reaction had been, Farrah would never know thanks to the fool and his obnoxious wife
. Revenge stolen from his grasp h
e moved through the panicking crowd, searching for a way out, to regroup and rethink.
Perhaps there was another way, a way to get a second chance.
As quickly as the thought of a second attempt entered his mind, it retreated against the
facts. T
his was it
.
This day had been his only opportunity. Whatever frail attempt he made today would be the only chance he got to show the U.S. president what it meant to suffer. This was his only day in court. He had to make today count.

**
*

Scanning
the
throng
of
people
,
Mike
caught
a
glimpse
of
Farrah
moving
through
the
crowd
of
frightened
civilians
.
S
oldiers
and
police
rushed
to
secure
the
area
and
medical
personnel
hurried
to
aid
the
injured
and
perhaps
save
the
dying.
Through
the
maddening
herd
Mike caught a glimpse of
Marcus
hard
on Farrah’s trail. He
caught
his
attention
with a wave
and t
he
two
moved
in concert
to flank their target
.

***

Lonnie,
watc
hed
from
the
second
-
floor
observation
window
as
they
drew
closer
to
Farrah.
 
Farrah shot a look back and saw
the
men
pursuing
him
.
He quickened his pace
,
rudely
shoving
people
aside
, a mistake that would work in their favor she thought as that would draw attention to him
.
A young couple stepped out from behind
the
corner of a building
directly into his path.
H
e rammed into them violently knocking the pair to the pavement. He
bolted over them amidst shouts and curses from the crowd and kept going.
On
the
other
side
of
the
park
,
Lonnie
caught
a
glimpse
of
thick
black
hair,
bouncing
as the figure moved quickly
against
the
crowd
.
Kharzai
steadily
approach
ed
from
behind
them, his face a stone
-
cold mask without a trace of
his
former
flirtatious grin
.
He looked ready to kill.
She
pulled out her cell phone, grunting in dismay as it beeped a warning that there was no signal. She switched the phone to the two-way radio setting that matched Marcus’s phone but got nothing but a high pitched screech from the speaker
.
She looked up to see her husband closing in on Farrah, but Kharzai was closing in on him with murder in his eyes.

Lonnie
bolted
from
the
room.
Not
waiting
for
the
elevator
,
she
hustled
down
the
stairs
,
ignoring the pain in her lower back
,
the baby jostl
ing heavily
in her belly
with
each step.
At the bottom of the first flight of stairs she flashed a look out the
stairwell
window
. Panic fluttered in here chest as she saw Kharzai cross
the
street
, making
a
beeline
from
10th
Avenue.
Lonnie
pushed her body harder, trying to
glimpse
her
husband
or
Mike
and
Hilde
and somehow
let
them
know
what
was
coming, to warn them of the death that waited for them
.

She
hit the ground floor and burst through the exit onto the sidewalk,
round
ing
the
corner
of
the
building
in three quick strides
.
She stopped to get her bearings and find her husband’s face in the crowd. As she scanned the sea of faces
Farrah
emerge
d
into her vision, i
nstant
recognition
flas
hing
between
them.
A
nearby
police
officer
motioned
for
Farrah
to
keep moving with
the
rest
of
the
crowd.
Farrah
looked into his face then with no warning
chopped
the
officer's
throat
with
the
blade
of
his
. The stunned man grasped his throat with both
hand
s,
his
eye
s as
round
as
saucers
as
he
struggled
to
breath,
a
high
-
pitched
wheeze
squeak
ed
through
his
crushed
trachea.
Farrah snatched the man’s pistol from its holster.