The night deepened and the crowd of onlookers began to thin, but the atmosphere in City Hall Plaza was stretched to its breaking point.
Police Chief Dave Miller stood on the command platform of an armored riot control vehicle, his hand gripping a walkie-talkie.
His eyes were bloodshot. The roars of Mayor Carter Wright from the Mayor's Office still echoed in his ears.
"I want them gone from my sight before the sun rises tomorrow."
Those words were an order.
For a crude man like Miller, who had climbed the ranks by doing his superiors' dirty work, the Mayor's meaning was crystal clear: forget the law, forget procedure, just get results.
He glanced at his watch.
One in the morning.
Leo Wallace and his people were still sitting on the lawn.
They were even brewing coffee.
To Miller, the hum of that damn generator sounded like a form of provocation.
"Director, are we really going to do this?" his deputy captain asked hesitantly. "That's a public area, and besides..."
