Midnight Sun (81 page)

“
Uh
…”
Myriam
tur
ned
toward
Hilde
,
who
had
remained
silent
the
whole
time
.
“
Can
I
take
your
order
ma
’
am?
”

“
Yes
.
”
Hilde
was
only
half
amused
by
the
discussion
and
wanted
to
get
to
business
.
“
T
urkey
club
with
coleslaw
,
please
,
and
iced
tea
with
lemon.
”

Lonnie
ordered
a
cold
roast
beef
sandwich,
a
side
of
jalapenos
,
and
water
with
lots
of
lime
wedges.
Myriam
glanced
at
Warner,
her
expression
somewhere
between
sympathetic
and
bewildered.

“
I
’
ll
have
that
right
out,
”
she
said
,
her
voice
a
little
shaky.
She
turned
and
walked
quickly
back
to
the
kitchen.

“
You
’
d
better
not
leave
here
without
her
phone
number,
”
Tonia
said
.

“
That
would
be
unforgivable,
”
Tomer
added
.

Warner
just
shook
his
head
and
looked
out
the
window,
the
purple
in
his
cheeks
slowly
diminishing.

“
Sorry
to
break
the
mood
,
but
we
have
a
serious
issue
we
need
to
address,
”
Hilde
said
.
“
There
’s
a
possible
tango
in
town.
”

Warner
’
s
attention
snapped
to
Hilde
like
an
alerted
guard
dog.

“
Details,
”
he
said
.
His
face
color
quickly
returned
to
normal.

“
A
terrorist
in
Anchorage?
”
Tomer
said.
“
Nothing
has
come
across
our
radar.
”

“
Remember
that
car
accident
a
few
days
ago,
”
Lonnie
said
,
“
the
one
with
the
newly
married
couple?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Warner
replied.

“
I
was
there,
”
Lonnie
told him. “I
mmediately
after
the
accident
,
a
man
pulled
up
in
a
white
Audi
and
offered
to
help.
I
felt
strange
about
him
and
his
companions
,
as
if
he
had
somehow
caused
the
accident,
like
maybe
he
was
chasing
the
man
who
hit
the
couple.
Next
day
,
Hilde
recognized
him
on
the
news.
”

“
He
’
s
a
known
operator
named
Steven
Farrah,
”
Hilde
said
.
“I spent the morning at
the
FBI building
,
checking
into
his
full
cover
story.
”

Seriousness
descended
on
the
group
as
the
two
women
explained
what
happened
at
the
rail
yard
and
their
husbands'
discoveries
at
the
port.
The
discussion
paused
briefly
when
Myriam
brought
plates
of
food
,
then
continued
once
she
left.
Once
the
explanation
was
done
,
they
started
brainstorming,
voices
low.

“
Ok
ay
,
how
would
he
hit
the
president
in
this
environment?
”
Tomer
asked
.

Hilde
swallowed
the
final
bite
of
her
sandwich
.
“
He
’
s
a
petroleum
engineer
by
education.
”