Midnight Sun (133 page)

“
Farrah!
”
Marcus
shouted
,
bursting from the panicking cluster of people around the dying police man.

Farrah
took
a
step
, pivoted and
grabbed
Lonnie
by her hair forcing her to act as a human shield.
H
e
yanked
her
back with him
to
the
side
of
the
building
perpendicular
to
the
park,
out
of
the
rooftop
sniper
team
's
view.
He
pressed
the
muzzle
of
the
gun
to
her
distended
belly.
Lonnie
did
not
scream.
She
forced
herself
to
remain
calm.
Mike
appeared
a few yards from Marcus
,
gun
raised
.
A
dozen
police
officers
formed
a
semi
-
circle
around them
as
a
paramedic
team
dragged
the
injured
officer
away,
the
desperate
sound
of
his
gasps
for
life
filling
the
temporary
silence.

“
I
will
kill
her
baby!
”
Farrah’s voice came out harsh, hints of his rough Manchester accent percolating up as the façade of being a British gentleman completely vanished.

“
Give
it
up,
Farrah,
”
Hilde
called
out.
“
There
is
no
way
to
escape,
but
you
don't
have
to
take
more
innocent
lives.
”

“
Innocent?
”
Farrah
said
.
“
What
do
you
know
about
innocent?
My
parents
were
innocent
when
your
soldiers
killed
them.
No
Americans
are
innocent.
You
all
deserve
to
die
for
what
you
do
to
small
countries
all
over
the
world
just
to
buy
your
precious
designer
clothes
and
feed
your
fat
asses.
”

“
Put
the
gun
down,
”
Marcus
growled
.

“
Don't
kill
the
woman
,
Farrah,
”
Mike
said. “Y
ou
will
have
her
bab
y’s
death
on
your
conscience.
Allah
does
not
forgive
those
who murder
the
innocent.
You
will
not
be
shaheed
—you
will
be
a
common
murderer.
”

Farrah
twisted
his
face
in
mental
agony.
He
was
not
a
murderer.
Voices
spoke
in
his
head,
English
voices,
telli
ng
him
to
give
up.
He
was
of
a
different
class
from
those
animals
in
al-
Qaeda,
from
those
beasts
in
Hamas
who
kill
school
children
to
make
a
statement.
He
was
civilized,
he
was
an
Englishman
—not
a
terrorist
,
but
a
footballer.

“
No!
”
he
grunted
through
trembling
lips.
He
was
the
hand
of
Muslim
vengeance
against
these
who
call
ed
themselves
civilized
but
trample
d
everyone
in
their
way.
He
had
worked
so
hard,
come
so
far
to
get
the
ultimate
revenge
,
only
to
watch
as
everything
fell
apart
in
front
of
his
eyes.
He
pressed
the
gun
hard
into
Lonnie's
belly
and
cocked
back
the
hammer.
She
let
out
a
scream.

“
Please
,
no!
Not
my
baby.
Please,
not
my
baby!
”

“
Shut
up!
”
H
is
voice
cracked
with
confusion and
distress
.
“
J
ust
shut
up!
”

Farrah
yanked
her
hair
,
twisting
her
body
so
that
it
completely
covered
his
own.
Marcus
tightened
his
stance,
waiting
for
an
opening.
Mike
did
the
same.
Farrah
kept
moving,
shaky,
leaving
them
no
good
shot.