Midnight Sun (36 page)

Under
the
spell
of
the
adrenaline-laced
slow-motion
pursuit,
no
one
had
spoken
as
they
followed
the
Audi.

“
You
don
’
t
even
need
to
ask,
bro,
”
Mike said.
“
I
haven't
had
a
good
rush
in
a
long
time.
”

A
blue
minivan
taxi
passed
the
truck
and
continued
up
and
around
to
the
Government
Hill
neighborhood.
Once
it
was
out
of
sight,
the
two
men
jumped
out
of
the
truck
and
jogged
across
the
empty
highway
toward
the
port's
entrance.
The
women
moved
to
the
front
seat
of
the
truck
and
Lonnie
drove
around
the
exit
ramp,
and then
pulled
into
the
rail
yard.
She
moved
the
truck
through
the
rows
of
long,
dark
warehouses
until
they
faced
A
Street
again,
with
a
view
of
the only avenue from which any
vehicles
could
come
out
of
the
port.

Chapter
7

Port
o
f
Anchorage

Monday,
June
20th

9:30
p.m.

The
Audi
had
long
since
passed
through
the
guard
post
that
protected
the
entrance
from
the
highway.
While
the
contracted
security
at
the
gate
was
armed,
they
were
not
likely
to
be
a
formidable
deterrent
to
professionals.
Regardless,
the two men took the long way around
rather
than
risk
surprising
a
half-
-
awake
rent-a-cop
with
a
gun.

Marcus
led
the way
along
a
wooded
escarpment
that
traced
the
contour
of
the
port
access
road
below
them.
The
twenty-foot-high
ridge
had
been
created
by
the
1964
Good
Friday
earthquake
when
the
area
presently
inhabited
by
the
city
port
dropped
that
many
feet
from
its
previous
height.
Nature
’
s
wrath
of
decades
earlier
had
been
rather
generous,
as
it
turned
out.
The
destructive
forces
ended
up
providing
the
retired Marines
with
good
concealment
for
their
current
movement.

From
the
top
of
the
escarpment,
the
view
of
the
port
grounds
stretched
all
the
way
to
the
cluster
of
cargo
ships
docked
in
shallow
water
just
beyond
the
land's
edge.
Laid
out
in
rows
like
a
military
formation,
bundles
of
pipe
and
sheet
metal
bound
in
clear
plastic
wrap
reflected
beams
of
angular
sunlight
like
randomly
scattered
laser
flashes.
An
eight-foot-high
fence
topped
with
a
triple-layer
straight
run
of
barbed
wire
bounded
the
port
property.
Marcus
lifted
the
binoculars
to
his
eyes
and
scanned.
The
special
design
of
the
Steiner
lenses
gave
him
a
focused
field
of
view
from
twenty
yards
away
to
infinity,
negating
the
need
to
refocus
for
near
and
far
objects.
Within
a
few
seconds,
the
tail
of
the
Audi
came
into
view,
mostly
concealed
within
a
cluster
of
massive
white
tanks
marked
as
aviation
fuel.