Midnight Sun (60 page)

“
Are
you
saying
he’s serial
killer
or
something?
”
Hilde asked.

“
In
a
sense,
”
Marcus
replied,
“
but
he
only
kills
people
he
figures
deserve
it
for
the
sake
of
national
security,
or
self-preservation.
Great
covert
agent,
but
he
’
s
not
the
kind
of
guy
cops
like
to
have
around.
”

“
He
wouldn
’
t
answer
our
questions
last
night,
”
Mike said.
“
I
’
m
pretty
certain
he
’
s
up
to
something
shady.
”

Hilde
swallowed
a
mouthful
of
coffee.
The
cup
clinked
against
the
saucer
when
she
set
it
down.

“I remember the cold-blooded way he acted during that case we had in Ohio. The man was simply vicious when the action started,”
she
said
.
After
a
brief,
thoughtful
moment,
she
asked,
“Do you think he could have turned bad?”

“
Anything
is
possible,
”
Marcus said.
“
He
’
s
been
in
the
field
for
a
long
time.
When
I
knew
him
years
ago,
he
had
already
been
established
in
deep
cover
among
the
terrorists
in
Iraq.
I
have
no
idea
what
he
’
s
been
doing
since.
”

The
waiter
approached
with
a
large
tray
covered
with
plates
of
steaming
eggs,
sausage,
pancakes,
and
buttered
toast.
They
stopped
talking
while
he
set
the
food
before
them,
handed
down
extra
napkins,
and
refilled
their
coffee.
Once
he
was
gone,
the
conversation
continued.

Mike
reached
for
the
pepper,
which
he
shook
liberally
over
his
scrambled
eggs,
the
little
black
dots
scattering
across
the
bright
yellow
eggs.
“
Last
year,
he
turned
up
in
Ohio,
posing
as
a
terrorist
working
with
a
guy
who
had
a
suitcase
nuclear
weapon.
He
helped
us
bust
them
and
stop
the
detonation.
Like
you
said,
though,
he
left
bodies
behind
that
we
had
to
clean
up.
”

Hilde
swallowed
a
bite
of
toast,
then
added,
“
He
killed
a
man
literally
twice
his
size
in
a
hand-to-hand
fight
in
an
RV,
then
a
few
minutes
later,
dove
in
front
of
a
bullet
to
save
a
civilian,
the
whole
while
joking
around
like
it
was
all
a
high-school
prank
or
something.
”

“
Sounds
like
he's
not
right
in
the
head
maybe,
”
Lonnie said.

“
When
a
guy
spends
as
much
time
in
the
field
as
he
has,
”
Marcus said,
“
whether
it's
undercover
or
in
direct
combat,
it
has
a
drastic
impact
on
their
mind.
”

Mike
nodded.
His
experience
as
a
pastor
had
brought
many
cases
of
PTSD,
Post-traumatic
Stress
Disorder,
to
his
office
in
a
professional
counseling
capacity.
At
a
deeper
level,
though,
twenty
years
of
living
violently
as
a
special
operations
officer
in
the
Marines
had
put
him
face-to-face
with
more
horrors
than
the
vast
majority
of
his
clients
could
even
dream
up
in
their
nightmares.
Over
the
course
of
his
career,
there
had
only
been
three
other
men
he'd
been
able
to
confide
in
with
his
own
nightmares.
One
had
been
church
elder
Harry
Johnson,
a
retired
C
old War
CIA
operative
whose
past
was
as
secret
as
Mike's
own.
The
other
two
were
Paul
Hogan
and
Marcus
Johnson,
both
of
whom
had
been
with
him
during
most
of
the
bloodiest
times
of
his
life.