Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
R onan walked into the hut Habib lived in and stared at the man. “Who is he?” Ronan spoke in Arabic.
The man cocked his head. “You speak my language?”
“Fluently.” Ronan crossed his arms. “Who’s inside the camp?”
“I don’t know. Only that someone helps the poachers.” The man shrugged his shoulder. “It is only women. It is of no concern.”
The concept made him sick to his stomach. But at least the man didn’t try to lie to him. “That is not our belief. Women matter as much as men. They used to matter in this country, too.”
“Years ago. Now?” He shrugged again .
“How many men did you lose when the convoys were attacked?”
Habib squinted his eyes. “Two, maybe three. Our directions were to provide escort, not to engage with hostile forces.”
“Your directions working for me are clear. If anyone attacks a convoy, you will defend it by any means necessary.”
“Of course, you made that clear. I’m not an idiot.”
“You’ve received your first payment.” He knew Habib’s people had received money. The information was dropped in his email this morning.
“We have. This is a good thing.” Habib stood. “Guardian, we are civil. I do not engage in poaching. My men have been told to alert you should they see it. We like the money you bring, so we won’t screw this up, as you say.”
Ronan asked one more time. “Who is inside the camp? Staff or occupant?”
Habib’s eyebrows rose a bit. “A smart man. Is there anything else?”
Ronan shook his head. Habib didn’t deny it was a staff member, and he was going with his gut. It had to be a staff member. Fuck . He reached out his hand, and Habib took it. The money in his palm passed between the men, and Habib put his hand in his pocket. “I like money, Guardian. I have plans to have much of it in the future. Watch your back, enemies are closer than you think.”
Ronan nodded and exited the hut. He sat in the passenger seat, and Wraith drove them back to the camp. “It has to be a staff member.”
Wraith let out a string of cuss words. Fucking greed was how he finished his word dump. Ronan agreed. Someone, a staff member, was making money by allowing access to the camp and the people who lived there. He’d find the bastard and make sure the fucker paid. Preying on the people they were there to help. The thought disgusted him.
After they disposed of the body, he walked the camp. It was quiet. Soft snores came from the huddled shelters. He memorized every spot he’d select for a possible opening. If the bastard tried to do it again, they’d catch him.
“Skipper?” Jug’s voice came across the comms.
“Go,” he said quietly, not wanting to startle the camp.
“A word. Privately.”
Ronan acknowledged his man and turned to retrace his footsteps to the medical tent area. Jug was waiting for him outside the tent. “You should be asleep. ”
Jug grunted. “So should you.”
“What do you need?”
“Shelly doesn’t need to be in this tent. That bullet the fucker shot toward Stryker took out a guideline.” He pointed to the obvious fix to the rope that kept the roof of the medical tent upright.
He nodded. “What does she think about that?”
“She’s ready to move. She was in the tent when the roof started to collapse. When I called her out to take care of the girl, she had tears in her eyes. Skipper, no one who works in these camps should be subjected to this shit.”
“Don’t I know it,” Ronan agreed with his friend. “I have tents coming in the shipment we’re receiving in four days. Five of them are personal size. One for Fleur and one for Shelly.” He looked at Jug. “For various reasons.”
The big guy scrubbed his face. “I haven’t acted on anything. She’s high class and a doctor, Skipper. I’m just me. High school education and a grunt in the military until you picked me up.”
“Your worth isn’t based on your formal education, Jug. You’re a valuable asset to this company. You’re worth your weight in gold, and, dude, you got a lot of weight.” He backhanded his friend’s stomach .
Jug laughed. “Thanks.” He rubbed his stomach and glanced at the medical tent. “I don’t know.”
“Let her make that call, Jug. Put yourself out there. The worst she can say is no.” Ronan crossed his arms. “You might be pleasantly surprised.”
Jug shrugged. “Maybe. Where are you putting Fleur’s tent?”
“Close to ours. We can put Shelly’s on the other side. Close, but not too close.” Ronan lifted an eyebrow.
Jug nodded. “Yeah, that would be good. I’ll talk to her in the morning when she wakes up.”
Ronan dropped a hand on his shoulder. “Get some sleep.”
Jug nodded and headed toward the tent. Ronan scanned the camp one last time before returning to his tent. When he entered the bunk area, he smiled. Someone had turned back his sleeping bag and placed his MRE neatly on the storage trunk.
“Your woman,” Wraith said from the dark.
“Figured.” He stowed his weapon and took off his web gear. He dropped on top of the sleeping bag, keeping his boots on. Until they figured out who was the fucking enabler in the camp, he needed to be able to respond at a moment’s notice .
“How deep are you?” Wraith asked from across the room.
“Over my head, man. Over my fucking head.”
A chuckle made it his way. “About time.”
“Right, and should we talk about you? Your folks would love for you to get married and settle down.”
There was silence for quite a long time before Wraith said, “Some things you can’t unsee.”
Ronan sighed. He got it. He knew exactly what Wraith was talking about. The man had to grow up fast, and he had. “I know. Someday, you might change your mind.”
Wraith made a noncommittal sound, and Ronan knew he was done talking. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind. It should be easy. He should be able to shut down, close up shop, and turn out the lights. Only his brain was running laps around the night's events, starting with that second kiss with Fleur. Fuck, he was gone over that woman, and that made zero sense since he’d only known her for a couple of days. The chemistry between them was hotter than the deepest trenches of hell. Satan would singe his flaming fingers on the heat they generated.
Ronan turned onto his side and tried to calm his mind. He focused on the person inside the camp. He flopped back onto his back. “Do you think the person in the camp could be the same one who provided information on the convoys?”
“Damn good possibility,” Wraith said from the darkness.
But who? Ronan stared up at the roof of the tent. A staff member. How would they benefit? Monetarily? Yeah, but fuck, seven deaths and all those people taken. Did this person have any morals? The question had an obvious answer: Fuck, no, they didn’t.
Ronan’s eyes popped open, and he sat up immediately alert.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Wraith said as he approached the exit flap of the tent.
“Time?”
“Five. I need to relieve Wolf and Stryker.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
“No worries. I’ve got the militia. You find the fuckwad inside the camp.”
Ronan stretched. “Not that easy.”
“Didn’t say it was.” As Wraith swooped out of the tent, Ronan rolled his eyes. He used his canteen water to give himself a sponge bath before heading out. The first person he saw was Miller. The man was pacing outside his tent. When he saw Ronan, he hot-footed it in his direction.
“Did you get information from Habib?”
Ronan lifted his head at the urgency Miller was projecting. “Such as?”
“Such as who did this? Who’s involved?”
“No,” Ronan replied.
Miller stopped and dropped his head. “So, we don’t know who’s doing this?”
“No. Habib said he knew someone inside the camp was helping but didn’t know who.” Ronan didn’t want the man to stress any more than he was and letting him know it was probably a staff member would strain the man in a way everyone could see. He wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions. The fact that he was distraught over what happened was obvious.
Miller nodded. “What can I do?”
“Did you talk to the men you mentioned last night?”
“I did.” Miller put his hands on his hips. “We’ll keep an eye out. I plan on being out of my tent more than normal.”
Ronan could understand the rationale, but … “Perhaps changing your pattern of behavior isn’t the best option. Let’s not alarm or perhaps warn anyone un necessarily by taking actions that are outside the norm.”
“Oh, good call,” Miller said, wiping his face with his hand. “After an incident like last night, it would be normal for me to be out and about, but I’ll be careful.” Miller nodded to himself. “Yeah, that’s good.”
“Did you need anything else?”
“What? No, no. I didn’t sleep last night. Worried, you know.” Miller shook his head. “Have you learned anything about the convoys?”
Ronan shook his head. “Still working on it.” He was on his way to talk to Adil. But Guardian’s resource didn’t need to be outed to anyone at this camp.
“You let me know if you find out anything.” Miller squared his shoulders. “And if you hear anything about who works inside this camp.” He looked over his shoulder at the lines of tents. “Thousands of desperate people around here.”
Ronan agreed, but they could eliminate about eighty percent of those people. He had a feeling most people wouldn’t cut holes in fences to take women and girls. Add to that Habib hinted the person was on staff, and they were down to a few percentage points. “I’ll need a roster of all of your staff. ”
“What? Why? Do you think it is a staff person?”
Ronan held up a hand. The vein on Miller’s head bulged dangerously. “No, this has nothing to do with that. I’d like to know who has large vehicle driver licenses and who are considered mandatory in camp, who can be used for convoys when they start back up, and a couple of other things.”
“Oh. Okay.” Miller nodded his head. “I can get that for you.”
“Thank you. Could you give it to Fleur? I’ll collect it from her.”
“Alexander, since I’m the camp lead, perhaps you should work things through me, not Fleur.”
Ronan cocked his head. “She’s my point of contact in this camp. I’ll keep you in the loop on all things as the lead for this facility, but all my actions will be worked through Fleur as my orders require.”
Miller looked up at him and grunted, “Make sure you do that,” before marching toward his tent.
That man was worked the hell up. Ronan rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Three hours of sleep was usually enough, but fuck him standing. He could use some caffeine. He weaved his way through the tents until he reached the communications tent. As he ducked in through the open flap, a young man turned around. “May I help you?” he asked politely .
“Are you Al?”
The man blinked, and a bright smile flashed across his face. “Adil, actually, but yes, I answer to Al sometimes.”
“Jacob suggested I should talk to you about some events around the camp.” Ronan sat down.
Adil smiled and glanced around. “A good man. We shouldn’t talk here. Tonight, two in the morning, a half mile outside the fence due west, there’s a path to the south. Follow it. I’ll meet you when I’m sure you aren’t followed.”
“I won’t be alone.” He wasn’t born yesterday.
“I wouldn’t expect you would be. I’ll know if it is your man or someone else.” Adil smiled and glanced at the flap then whispered, “You should go. It isn’t safe for me to have you here.”
Ronan stood and shouldered his M-4 just as a man he didn’t recognize entered the tent. “Adil, I need … Oh, hello. I’m sorry, were you busy?”
“No, I’m just making my rounds and introducing myself to the camp. Ronan Alexander, team lead for your new security.”
“Oh. Good to meet you. Miller said you’d be around. I’m Mathias Gentry.” The man extended his hand, and Ronan shook it then nodded at Adil. “Good to meet you and thank you for giving me directions.” He looked at Mathias. “Looking for the structures tent.”
“Oh, that’s my team. Give me a second to finish with Adil, and I’ll take you to our area.”
“Sure.” Ronan crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Mathias to give Adil the message he needed to be transmitted for required supplies.
“Rumor has it the convoys may start soon, so I want the supplies waiting for us if they do,” Mathias said to Ronan as they left, and he motioned in the direction of his tent. “I know you talked to a couple of my guys yesterday. Frankly, we’ve always repaired the cuts in the fence without thinking about notifying people first. Then last night …” Mathias shook his head. “Miller pulled me aside and talked to me. Hopefully, we haven’t been aiding those bastards by trying to keep the fence line secure.” The man stopped. “You don’t think we have, do you? I have daughters and granddaughters. I couldn’t live with myself if something I told these guys to do was helping those people.”
Ronan stopped and considered the question. “Probably not. You didn’t have anyone to investigate the process.”
“We had some government people here for security oversight. Let me tell you, they were the laziest people on the face of the earth. Getting them out of their tent took an earthquake or someone getting a bottle of booze into the country illegally.” Mathias shook his head. “Don’t like to talk bad about people. I’m sure they did the best they could.” He looked at Ronan. “Did you buy that?”
Ronan chuckled. “Not in the slightest.”
Mathias gave an exaggerated sigh. “I told my late wife Monique before she died that I’d try to see the good in people. I’m trying. Haven’t quite obtained the knack.”
“You’re probably better at it than I am,” Ronan said as they continued to walk through the camp.
“Doubtful.” Mathias laughed. “Here we are. This is our corner of heaven.” He lifted the flap of a large tent. Tools were lying on shelves, along with several cutters that could have been used to make the hole last night.
“You have some good equipment.” Ronan walked past the shelves as he followed Mathias.
“We take good care of them, too. We have a maintenance schedule. I sold a successful construction company before I started to work with this organization and know that tools are the lifeblood of keeping something like this going.”
“Do you inventory the equipment? ”
“Sure do, every night before I turn in.” Mathias opened the back flap. “Guys, this is Ronan Alexander. He’s in charge of security now. Everyone has heard about what happened last night by now.” All the heads moved up and down.
“As I told some of you yesterday, you need to inform us of any breach in the fence and don’t fix it until we’ve examined it.”
“Why’s that?” one of the men asked. His British accent reminded Ronan that the camp was staffed by a multi-national workforce of good people trying to do good things for the less fortunate.
“We hope to obtain a direction of travel to track and stop them. Footprints in the area, minus yours, of course, would help us determine what direction they traveled out of the camp.” They could also tell if the hole was made from the inside or outside of the fence line, but that was something he’d keep to himself. The fact that the bend of the wire and the direction of the cuts on the metal last night proved it was cut from inside the camp was something he revealed to very few people. Mathias knew because Miller told him.
“I’ll let the night shift know when they come in. We’re just getting our assignments for this morning. We have to move the latrines on the west side, so we’ll need to dig. Collin, we’ll use the power auger to break ground. You’ve got experience running that temperamental fucking tractor, so make sure we don’t waste even an ounce of fuel, and if we hit shale again, for all that’s sane, another place for the latrines, we don’t want to hit another natural gas pocket.”
“You got it,” the man said, standing up.
“Natural gas?”
Mathias nodded. “Yeah, that caused a royal mess. The local government sent geologists and all kinds of survey teams. They told us where to dig from now on. We have a map. Make sure you take that with you, Hank.”
The man he spoke to stood and said, “You got it. Red team, you’re with me.”
“Shit,” one man said.
“Literally.” Another laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “At least we aren’t filling in the old holes today.”
Ronan chuckled as the men left. Mathias assigned the rest of his men’s duties and then turned to Ronan. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“A question,” Ronan said as they moved back to the front of the tent. “The cutting tools are left out all night? ”
“Sure. But I account for everything.” Mathias looked at him and frowned. “Why?”
“Would you have the ability to lock them up?”
“Yeah, I could do that, but again, I ask why?”
Ronan rubbed his chin, which was now covered in a full beard. “Call it a preventive measure. Your night shift shouldn’t be working on the fence line at night, right?”
“Well, no. But I think you have more in mind than preventive measures. My brother-in-law is a retired detective. I recognize that look in your eyes. He knew things without actually knowing things, which doesn’t make sense until you meet the guy. You’re like him. You have ideas on what’s going on, don’t you?”
“Guilty,” Ronan admitted. “Help me determine whether I’m right or wrong and lock those up from now on when you leave?”
“You got it.” Mathias nodded. “Anyone could come in here and use them. Damn it. I didn’t even think about that.” He shook his head. “I’ll make sure of it,” the man said with a conviction that Ronan couldn’t doubt. “I hate that one of the people we are trying to help could be doing this to their own.”
“The idea sucks. I’ll get out of your hair. It sounds like you have a full day. ”
“Every day. I’m just about to make a pot of coffee. Would you like to join me?” Mathias offered.
“I’d like to. It was a long night, but I have things to do. Some other time?”
“Sure, my daughter sends it over, and I have a stockpile. She’s a good girl and, currently, my favorite because her shipments before the convoy problems kept me in the good stuff even with the supply convoys stopped.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ronan said as he lifted a hand and left the tent. Miller had picked the right person to talk to. Mathias seemed squared away, but someone wasn’t. Someone was aiding the fuckwads outside the fence line.