Midnight Sun (101 page)

“
Very
knowledgeable
answer,
”
he
said
,
burying
his
emotions.
He
motioned
toward
the
tattoo
.
“
You
were
in
the
Marines
,
huh?

“
I
was
a
mortar
man.
Two
tours
in
the
suck,
”
the
man
said
with
a
smirk,
“
as
we
used
to
call
Iraq.
”

Kharzai
glanced
at
the
tattoo
,
then
back
up
at
the
young
man
’
s
defiant
face
.
“
Unhappy
time
in
the
service
,
I
assume?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Bones
replied
.
“
Turns
out
the
Corps
doesn
’
t
really
like
killing
people
as
much
as
you
’
d
think
—at
least
,
not
as
much
as
I
do.
Contrary
to
popular
opinion
,
some
of
us
are
not
part
of
that
'Once
a
Marine,
Always
a
Marine'
bullshit
. There
really
are
some
ex-Marines
out
there.
I know ‘
cuz
I
got
nothing
to
do
with
those
cock suckers
.
They
busted
my
ass
right
out
of
there
just
for
taking
a
few
trophies.
”

He
jangled
his
bone
necklace.

“
Yeah,
”
Blue
said
,
“
that
and
th
e
little
girl
you
told
me
about.
What
was
she,
like
six?
”

“
Like
I
said,
”
Bone
’
s
face
stretched
with
an
evil
grin,
“
trophies.
Tight
,
smooth
little
trophies.
” He held his hands out in front of his mid-section and thrust his hips forward in a crude sexual gesture.

Kharzai gritted his teeth
into a grinding
rage
-
filled grin.
No
matter
how
hard
a
country,
any
country,
tried
to
keep
its
military
clean
,
monsters
somehow
always
found
their
way
in
and
made
a
mess
of
things.
Like
this
ex-Marine
-
turned
-
gangster
,
they
were
a
blotch
on
the
face
of
humanity.
Murderers
and
child
rapists
were
not
the
type
any
real
military
wanted
around
,
especially
the
military
forces
of
a
country
trying
desperately
to
make
itself
out
to
be
the
good
guys.
They
usually
recognized
and
caught
them
quickly,
but
sometimes one got through
until
they
had
committed
a
heinous
act
that
crossed
the
line
between
the
warrior
code
and
savage
barbarism.

Kharzai
made
a
serious
effort
not
to
let
his
emotions
boil
over.
Years
of
living
a
life
of
violence,
of
covering
his
true
feelings
around
evil
people
,
had
worn
him
thin.
The
veil
that
kept
his
emotions
in
check
grew
more
and
more
transparent
each
day,
like
the
skin
stretched
over
an
old
celebrity
’
s
face
as
they
try
to
disguise
their
age.
Kharzai
felt
as
though
his
veil
would
soon
tear
through
and
he
would
no
longer
be
able
to
maintain
the
façade.
The
monster
within
him
had
become
restless.
It
waited
impatiently
near
the
surface,
barely
contained.