Midnight Sun (42 page)

Hilde
stared
at
her.
After
a
long
of
silence,
she
mumbled,
“
You
’
ve
got
another
child?
”

“
The
baby
miscarried.
A
couple
of
years
later,
my
playboy
husband
left
me
for
a
teenaged
Air
Force
floozy
and
I
ended
up
burying
myself
in
a
career
of
beating
the
crap
out
of
bad
guys.
”

“
How
…
when
…”
Hilde
stumbled
over
the
words,
struggling
to
grasp
this
new
depth
with
which
she
was
getting
to
know
Lonnie.
“
How
did
you
and
Marcus
finally
get
back
together?
”

“
After
he
retired
from
the
Marines,
he
came
home
and
we
kinda
got
tossed
back
at
each
other,
thanks
to
a
police
call,
of
all
things.
”

“
Your
life
sounds
like
a
movie,
”
Hilde
said.
Motion
high
in
the
sky
caught
her
attention.
She
glanced
up
and
saw
an
eagle,
its
massive
wings
spread
wide.
It
floated
in
a
long,
lazy
arc
on
a
current
of
air
several
hundred
feet
above
them.
Even
at
that
distance,
it
still
looked
huge.

“I don't know about that. But things turned out pretty good in the end … so far at least,”
said
Lonnie.
  “So how about you and Mike,
how
did
you
two
meet?
”

“
Fate
as
well,
I
guess.
It's kinda complicated as well.
He
and
my
boss
were
old
buddies
in
the
Marines.
Mike's
first
wife
and
son...
”

“
Got
your
side
arm?
”
Lonnie
blurted
,
instantly
derailing
the
conversation.

“
Huh?
”

“
If
not,
there's
one
in
the
glove
box. Get
it
out
now.
”
Lonnie
reached
into
her
purse
and
produced
a.45
caliber
Glock
39
pistol.

Hilde
turned
toward
her
and
saw
why.
More than h
alf
a
dozen
men
walked
out
from
behind
a
warehouse
building
on
Lonnie's
side
of
the
truck.
Dressed
in
baggy
blue
jeans
and
white
T
-shirts,
most
sported
tattoos
that
covered
their
arms
and
wriggled
out
of
their
collars.
Pieces
of
pipe
and
short
baseball
bats swung at the sides of many of them.
Pistol
butts
jutted
from
a
couple
of
waist
bands.
One man flipped a long butterfly knife back and forth in his hand, the metal handles snapping rhythmically with each flick of his wrist.
Their
feet
crunched
on
the
gravel
surface
of
the
rail
yard
as
they
crossed.

“
Who
are
they?
”
Hilde
asked,
her
voice
rising
with
the
tension.

“
Local
gang,
”
Lonnie
said.
“
Get
ready
with
the
gun.
Glove
box.
It's
chambered.
Get
it
out,
but
keep
it
beneath
the
window
for
now.
”

The
men
encircled
the
truck.
Hilde
discreetly
opened
the
glove
box
and
found
a
Smith
&
Wesson
4566,
.45
caliber
pistol
on
top
of
the
car's
registration
form.
She recognized the weapon as one that many FBI agents had carried in the past. She’d fired one a few times but the power and kick of the large caliber were too much for her. She preferred her personal side arm, the
much
smaller
SIG
P232. Hilde
slid
the
mean-looking
weapon
out
of
the
space
and
held
it
low. The
weight
of
the
blued
steel
felt
cold
and
awkward
in
her
hand.
She
was
an
analyst,
not
an
operative.
She
only
qualified
on
her
own
weapon,
once
a
year
and
wasn't
sure
if
she'd
even
remember
how
to
use
it
if
things
got
crazy.
Her
heart
smacked
against
the
inside
of
her
ribcage.