Midnight Sun (9 page)

He
and
Marcus
had
spent
a
lot
of
time
together
while
serving
in
the
Marines,
violent
days
in
the
early
part
of
their
special
operations
careers.
The
last
time
they
had
seen
each
other
was
the
day
after
they
had
killed
a former colleague
who'd
become
a
mercenary
for
hire
in
the
Bosnian
conflict.
Shortly
after
that
mission,
Marine
Reserve
Captain
Mike
Farris
returned
to
seminary
in
California
where
he
was
training
to
become
a
pastor,
and
Marcus
continued
twelve
more
years
as
a
special
operations
warrior.
Their
mutual
friend
Paul
Hogan,
who
had
been
Farris
’
s
sergeant
for
several
years,
put
them
in
contact
shortly
after
Mike
’
s
first
wife
and
child
were
killed
in
a
drive-by
shooting
outside
his
Ohio
church.
Now
serving
as
the
chaplain
for
the
Ohio
Valley
FBI
regional
office
and
newly
remarried,
Farris
was
starting
life
over
for
the
third
time.

“
Mike!
”

“
Mojo!
”
Mike
called
Marcus
by
the
nickname
he'd
been
given
in
the
spec
ops
community,
derived
by
simply
using
the
initials
of
his
full
name,
Marcus
Orlando
Johnson.

The
two
men
embraced
with
a
loud
back-slapping
man-hug.

“Dude
,
”
Marcus
said,
“i
t
’
s
been
too
long.
”

“
Way
too
long,
bro,
”
said
Mike.
“
And
you
must
be
Lonnie.
“H
e
reached
out
his
hand
in
greeting.

“
Pleasure
to
meet
you,
Mike,
”
she
said,
taking
his
hand.
“
Marcus
has
been
talking
non-stop
about
this
reunion.
” She
turned
toward
the
other
woman.
“
I
am
guessing
you're
the
lucky
bride?
”

“
Ah,
no,
”
Mike
said
with
a
dismissive
gesture.
“T
his
is
just
some
babe
I
picked
up
on
the
plane.
”

“
Mike!
” S
he
slapped
him
on
the
shoulder.
“
You
’
d
better
introduce
me
right.
Or
I'll
just
leave
you
out
in
the
mountains.
”

“
Ow,
”
Mike
rubbed
his
shoulder.
“
You
slap
as
hard
as
you
kick.
”

“
That
’
s
what
you
get
for
marrying
an
FBI
agent.
”

“
Marcus,
Lonnie,
meet
the
former
Miss
Hildegard
Rottbruck,
now
known
as
Mrs.
Hilde
Farris.
” H
e
wrapped
his
arm
around
her
waist.
“
Don
’
t
worry—she only
beats
me
like
that
in
public.
In
private,
she
’
s
usually
quite
sweet.
”

Hilde
smiled
and
greeted
them.
“
Nice
to
meet
you
both,
”
she
said.
“
Mike
and
Paul
talk
about
you
all
the
time,
Mr.
Johnson.
”

“
Please,
no
need
for
formality.
It
’
s
a
pleasure
to
meet
you
as
well.
”
Marcus
pointed
with
his
thumb
in
the
direction
the
crowd
was
moving.
“
We
’
d
better
get
your
luggage
before
they
put
it
back
on
the
plane.
”