Midnight Sun (98 page)

“
He
crashed
into
the
van.
He
’
s
the
one
who
killed
the
driver.
”

“
You
saw
him?
”
Mike
asked.

“
No.
Just
a
flash
as
the
taxi
backed
into
the
van.
It
was
so
sudden.
But
I
am
certain
it
was
him.
”

“
Did
you
tell
the
police?
”

“
No,
and
the
crazy
thing
is
with
all
of
that
violence
,
there
were
no
other
witnesses.
”

“
No
one?
”
Marcus
asked.

“
The
street
was
totally
empty,
”
Hilde
replied.

“
Maybe
we
can
get
something
on
the
surveillance
cameras.
”

Hilde
shook
her
head
.
“
I
checked
into
that.
The
hotel
only
has
one
camera
in
that
back
alley.
A
raven
was
sitting
on
it
the
whole
time.
There
was
only
a
tiny
window
of
view
beneath
the
bird
’
s
tail
feathers
,
and
there
was
nothing
but
pavement
in
that
area.
”

Marcus
let
out
a
humorless
grunt.

“
What?
” Hilde
asked
.

“
Remember I told you that n
ative
mythology
says
that
ravens
are
spirits
that
love
to
play
pranks
on
mortals
.
I
guess
there
’
s
something
to
it.
”

Mike
let
out
a
breath
.
“
And
we
know
whose
side
they
’re
on
,
too.
”

A
crash
at
the
door
drew
their
attention.
An
overweight
nurse
stood
in
the
doorway,
her
scrubs
stretched
tight
at
the
belly,
butt
,
and
thighs.
She
was
in
her
early
thirties,
rebellious
brown
hair
in
a
barely
controlled
ponytail
pulled
back
from
a
fleshy
face
which
was
plastered
with
too
much
makeup
and
too
blue
a
shade
of
eye
shadow.
She
wheeled
in
a
portable
ultrasound
machine.
The
nurse
paused
as
she
looked
at
the
four
people
in
the
room,
too
many
for
the
tiny
space
if
they
expected
her
to
be
in
there
too.
Mike
and
Hilde
moved
back
against
the
wall
to
let
the
nurse
pull
the
machine
past
them
,
then
they
headed
toward
the
door.

“
We
’
ll
go
back
to
the
hotel,
”
Mike
said,
“
and
get
hold
of
Tonia
and
Warner
to
let
them
know
what
’s
going
on.
See
you
back
there.
”

Marcus
nodded
,
and
they
walked
out
of
the
room.
The
nurse
drew
near
to
Lonnie
with
the
machine
and
began
to
uncoil
the
ultrasound
wand.
A
name
tag
hung
awkwardly
from
her
left
breast.
It
dangled
when
she
moved
,
as
if
it
were
not
correctly
attached
to
her
shirt.
The
name
“
Nellie
”
stood
out
in
bold
black
letters
on
the
white
plastic
tag.
Beneath
the
name
was
her
title,
“
Nurse:
OB/GYN,
Pre
n
atal,
Delivery
”
.