Midnight Sun (139 page)

He looked down at the baby
.
“It won’t hurt it?”

The nurse smiled and corrected, “
Not ‘it
,
’
Mr Johnson
,
him
. And no, it won’t hurt him.”

Marcus reached down to the length of umbilical cord the doctor had clamped off. He snipped it
,
and the doctor tied a knot in the end then handed the tiny boy to the nurse
. She
dried him with a soft warm blanket and
immediately
crossed
back to the bed
and placed the
naked child on
Lonnie’s chest.

Lonnie
let out a sound like she was drawing up extra strength, then pulled her arms up and
wrapped
them
around the tiny boy. Seven and half pounds of pure joy snuggled to her, mouth opening, neck craning, searching instinctively for the breast. He found his target and latched on
,
letting out a soft
,
happy whimper as he experienced the taste of the first milk from his mother.

Ten minutes later
,
Lonnie passed into a deep sleep
. The nurse took the baby from her arms and wrapped him tightly in a blanket. She handed the child to Marcus.
He stared into the baby’s placid face
. The child’s
eyes roved, searching, curiosity brimming as he seemed to be trying to understand this new world. The tiny bundle squirmed gently against his bonds.

“Hello
,
my son
. W
elcome to the world.”

The infant stopped scanning and locked his gaze onto Marcus at the sound of his voice.
P
eace seemed to
flow
from the boy.
Tears welled up in
Marcus’s
eyes and dripped down his cheeks.
One splashed onto the baby’s
forehead
. He
blinked and Marcus leaned down, kissing the infinitely tender new skin.

He squeezed his
eyes
shut and muttered a prayer
.
“Heavenly Father,
t
hank you.
May this boy live in peace, and make him strong.
”

Arctic Valley

12 miles east of Anchorage

Friday,
June
24th

11:36
a.m

Kharzai
sat
in
the
small
cave,
invisible
from
the
cliff's
edge
. He remained motionless
until
he
heard
Marcus
and
Mike
leave.
He
listened
quietly,
unmoving
,
for
thirty
minutes.
Then,
working
on
the
faith
that
they
would
give
him
time
before
the
police
arrived,
he
strapped
the
backpack
to
his
body,
clambered
out
of
the
hole
,
and
stood
on
the
narrow
ledge
beneath
the
cave.
He
glanced
down
the
steep
drop
and
saw
the
rock
on
which
the
crash
test
dummy
had
smashed
its
head.
It
had
been
a
close
call
, closer than he’d anticipated
. H
e
nearly
missed
the
ledge,
and
barely
got
the
dummy
out
of
the
cave
before
Marcus
looked
over
the
edge.

He
grabbed
hold
of
the
gnarled
spruce
limb
jutting
from
the
rock
wall
and
hoisted
himself
up
cautiously.
Crouching at the e
dge of the cliff
,
h
e
looked
around
,
making
sure
no
cops
or
FBI
were
waiting
in
ambush.  Deano bounded over to him and excitedly licked his face.

“Okay, okay,” Kharzai said
.
“
L
et's go before anyone comes looking for me.”

They
scurried
off, following the trail Mike and Marcus had made through the weeds so as not to create fresh tracks
,
and
made
their
way
to
the
hikers
’
bridge
half
a
mile
up
the
road.
His
backpack was
filled
with
just
enough
supplies
to
get
him
to
take care of them for a few days until he could get into
a
town
for
resupply.

At
the
bridge
,
he
met
a
group
of
young
women
in
shorts
and
matching pink
T
-shirts,
small
pink
packs
strapped
to
their
shoulders
and
riding
high
on
their
backs.
College
sorority
girls
out
for
a
day
hike.
He
smiled,
spreading
his
trademark
wide
toothy
grin,
his
bright
white
teeth
glowing
against
his
dark
tan
and
the
blackness
of
his
beard.

“
Howdy
,
ladies,
”
he
said,
a
flirty
lilt
in
his
voice
.
“
Where's
the
nearest
Starbucks?
”

They
giggled
and
he
chatted
with
them
for
only
a
moment,
taking
a
quick
snapshot
with
the
group
before
walking
off
into
the
wilderness.
He watched as the pretty twenty
-
somethings walked away, one turning to back to look at him, making eye contact, her smile inviting him to meet again. For a moment, the briefest space of time, she was Leila. The girl turned back to her friends and they moved out of sight around a bend. His
smile
faded as he started back down the trail, Deano at his side.