Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
F leur came out of the medical tent when Jug and Miller walked up. Miller demanded, “Is she talking?”
“About what?” Fleur asked.
“About who took her,” Miller said.
She shook her head. “She was playing in the lot with other kids and got tired. She fell asleep under the truck, and when she woke up, she was locked in the fence. She saw the others being taken. One woman fell, saw her, and motioned for her to stay hidden. She did until Wraith found her.”
“Well, that’s no help,” Miller said and turned on his heel.
She blinked and looked up at Jug. “Sorry?”
Jug shrugged. “He’s a self-important dick. ”
Fleur couldn’t help the laughter that his comment caused. “He isn’t, really. I’ve worked with him for years. He can be direct, but he’s a hard worker like all of us.”
Jug rolled his eyes. “My gut says he’s a dick. I’ll stick with that.”
“Shelly is almost done. I’m going to get Tammara so she can talk with the girl.”
“I can do that.” Jug motioned to her boots. “You might want to tie them.”
She glanced down. Her boots were untied. “Oh, thanks.” She dropped down and tied her boots. When she was finished, Jug was gone, and she was alone. “I swear, they all walk as quietly as ghosts in a graveyard.” She went to the admin tent and talked with Rana before returning to her anti-trafficking tent. Rana would work to try to figure out who was missing, and she’d help her after she completed a few tasks for Ronan. She opened the flap, went inside, and was surprised to see Miller. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you. I wanted to apologize. Things are getting to me.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I see you and the Guardian are getting close. Kind of fast, wasn’t it?”
Fleur jerked like she’d been struck. What in the hell? Did he actually think he had the right to talk to her like that? “Excuse me? Are you my father?”
Miller frowned. “No, but I’m your friend. You realize guys like that are only after one thing. They’ll leave you as soon as another assignment comes along.”
“Miller, I appreciate the concern, but believe me, I am old enough to make my own decisions and live with them.” She sat down and crossed her legs.
Miller sat down in a chair across from her. “Okay, I get it. I’ll back off, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He leaned forward. “On a different topic, with all the transport vehicles here now, we’re going to schedule a convoy, right?”
“I’m working that issue and making calls today to see where we can take the IDPs and how many they can take. Ronan hasn’t said when, but he’s moving steadily toward the convoys. I want to be ready when he is.”
“Smart. We’ll need to make notifications if we start. Management will want to know.”
Fleur shook her head. “I’m not making any notifications until I’m told to. Right now, I’m running everything through Ronan. He controls security, so leaking anything about movements won’t come from me. ”
Miller cocked his head. “You say that like it would come from me.”
Fleur looked heavenward. “No, I didn’t. We’ve worked together forever, Miller. I would never say that.”
Miller smiled a little and shrugged. “That’s why I thought I would try the father’s speech earlier.”
Fleur snorted, “You don’t have any kids, Miller. Maybe you should practice that dad bit before you try again.”
He chuckled. “Maybe. I’m going to head to the admin tent and help figure out how many were taken last night.” He walked toward the entrance of her tent.
Fleur thought of something and stopped him. “Hey, Miller?”
“Yeah?”
“How do you think they kept the women quiet?”
He frowned, “What?”
“If I were being taken captive, I’d freak out. There was no screaming or crying. How do you think they kept them quiet?” Fleur frowned. “What would make them go willingly?”
Miller stared at her for a long moment. “That’s something to think about, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “It’s so strange. ”
“Do what you need to do. I’ll go help figure out who we lost.” Miller let the flap shut behind him.
Fleur went to the file cabinet and pulled out her contact notebook. The clank of metal against metal stopped her from pushing the drawer in again. She pulled the drawer back out and moved a folder. Beneath it was a pair of wire cutters. She stared at the cutters and then at the opening of the tent. What the fuck? Had Miller put the cutters there? Had someone else? And a bigger question: Why would someone put a pair of wire cutters in her file cabinet? She knew they weren’t there two days ago, but the tent had been unoccupied and unsupervised when she went to Al-Tanf with Ronan. She grabbed the cutters and put them inside her contact notebook. This was something she needed Ronan to know about.
Trying to look as nonchalant as possible, she returned to the Guardian tent as Wolf and Stryker pulled up. “Have you seen Ronan?”
“Not since we left the camp about ten minutes ago. But I do know he’s talking to the militia,” Wolf said, then stopped. “What’s wrong?”
She looked around and then opened the top of her notebook. “I found this in my filing cabinet just now. ”
Wolf gently pushed the cover closed. He tapped his ear. “Ronan. You need to come back to camp as soon as possible.”
He nodded. “They’ve left the militia’s camp. They should be here in a couple of minutes.”
“Good.” She nodded. “This wasn’t there two days ago.” She looked at Stryker. “Miller was in the tent when I got there, but the tent isn’t locked or guarded either. Anyone could have put it there, but why?”
“Oh, I’ve got a damn good reason why,” Wolf said. “Son of a bitch, I really hope what I think has happened hasn’t.”
“What do you think has happened?” Fleur frowned and turned around as the other Jeep pulled into the area. Ronan was out of the Jeep and heading their way before Wraith had turned off the vehicle.
“What’s up?” She opened the book, and he looked down. “Where did you get that?”
“In her filing cabinet. Ask who was in the tent when she went in there?” Wolf crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll tell you, the man I’m going to kill.”
Fleur gasped and turned to Wolf. “What? You can’t do that! You don’t know if it was him!” She looked at Ronan. “Miller was in the tent, but I’ve worked with him forever. He would never do something like this. ”
Ronan glanced around. “Everyone, settle down.” He tapped his ear. “Jug, come to the tent; time for a team meeting.”
Ronan nodded and then looked at her. “He’s on his way. We need to talk.”
“What’s going on?” she asked as they walked toward the tent.
“I’ll explain when Jug gets here.” He put his hand on her back, and the warmth of his touch settled her nerves. They couldn’t think Miller was responsible for the fencing cuts. Well, obviously, Wolf did, but she’d make them see sense.
She sat down on Ronan’s cot and hugged her notebook until she realized she still had the cutters. She opened the book. “Can someone take these, please?”
Ronan did and examined the big plyer-looking tool.
“Well, at least we can eliminate you as a suspect. You have an alibi for last night,” Ronan said, winking at her. Her mouth dropped open, and she could feel her face flood with heat.
“Ronan!”
Stryker chuckled. “Ma’am, you’re part of the family now. ”
She blinked at him and then laughed. “Some families have secrets.”
“Not this one,” Wolf said.
“Obviously.” She looked at Ronan.
He just gave her a cheeky smile. “At least you’re not worried about what the meeting is about now, are you?”
She blinked. “Ah, not in the slightest.”
Jug walked into the tent with Wraith. “All right, let’s get started. Fleur, none of this can be released to anyone, even Shelly. Are you good with that?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Ronan looked at Jug. “Are you?”
The man nodded. “Yes.”
“We have a person in camp who has worked for Guardian. This person is a trusted agent. They believe Miller is responsible for releasing the information on the convoys. It is believed that the first convoy was the convoy that was targeted. The staff member who was killed on that convoy was the target.”
“What? Why?” She couldn’t grasp why Miller would do that. “Surely, they have the wrong person.”
“Our person suggested the first staff member that was killed had figured out it was Miller aiding the ISIL. ”
“Do you have any proof?” She twisted to look at all the men. “And why would he continue to have the convoys targeted?”
“Skipper, I may be wrong, but I’d guess it’s faster to attack the convoys than work the people out of the camp a handful at a time, and it’s more profitable,” Stryker said.
Ronan nodded. “Exactly.”
“But what evidence does this person have?” She wasn’t going to believe it. She couldn’t.
“Miller has Tuesdays off,” Ronan said.
Fleur frowned and shook her head. “So do other people, right? We looked at the rosters.”
“That’s true, which is why we haven’t acted differently toward him.” He pointed at Wolf. “Right?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Wolf crossed his arms. “Thank God he doesn’t interact with me. Might be a hard sell.”
Fleur shook her head. “I just can’t believe it’s Miller. That is just a huge stretch of the imagination. He’s been here the entire time I’ve been. He works so damn hard.”
“On a different topic, Fleur, do you know why this camp is closing?” Ronan asked.
She sighed, “No, I don’t know. I’ve written letters and made calls, but nobody I’ve contacted can tell me why, especially when we need more camps, not fewer. I chased every possibility I could, but it was no good.”
Ronan nodded. “That was the sentiment of our people. People who work with the entities that man these camps.”
“Is that related to Miller or whoever’s targeting the population?”
“Unknown. We have operators looking into everything, but my people agree with you. It shouldn’t be shuttered unless there’s a need for the land it sits on.”
“A need?” Fleur frowned and shook her head, and then she remembered. “What … Oh, wait, about a year and a half ago, there was a natural gas scare. Could that be …”
“Natural gas or what’s under that.” He shrugged. “It could be. Right now, our people are tracking down everything, trying to find the reason this shit is going on. In the meantime, it’s our directive to get these people moved to a place they will be safe.”
“The convoys.” She nodded. “I was going to contact the other camps and see how many they can take. I have to go to the communication tent to do that. Do you want me to arrange supplies for the return trips, too?”
“Yes. My brother and his team will be here tomorrow afternoon. Set the first convoy up for Tuesday.”
“Tuesday? If you think the person responsible is off on Tuesday, they’ll inform on you. You could be in danger. The staff driving could be in danger.” She shook her head. She wasn’t willing to lose anyone else, especially Ronan. “That’s setting us up for an attack, right?”
Ronan shook his head. “All staff will stay in camp. We’ll have two teams and do both—drive and guard the convoy. I’m not worried about an ISIL attack.”
“Okay, but how will you prove it’s Miller?”
“Our operators are working it, but since we suspect Miller, I’d like you to keep your eyes on him. Nothing obvious, just know where he’s at and what he’s doing.”
“I can do that, but what am I looking for?”
“Anything out of the normal for him. We also discovered that the person working with the ISIL has a drop-off point at the capstone ruins near the gate. We’re going to put out a camera and monitor the area.”
“I can watch him without making it look suspicious.” She nodded. “I’ll do it, but only to prove Miller isn’t involved. ”
“I hope you’re right.” Ronan put his hands on her shoulders. “My gut tells me you aren’t.”
She shook her head. “No offense, but I hope your gut is wrong.” She couldn’t imagine Miller being responsible for trafficking people. For the murders … “Why … how … we’ve spent the last four years caring for these people. What would be the reason he’d do something like that?”
“Money,” Wraith said.
She shook her head. “He has money. He told me he’s very comfortable.”
Ronan sighed. “We won’t know for sure until we have evidence.” He squeezed her shoulders. “And you have to promise me, all of us, that you won’t approach him or do anything that would put yourself in danger.”
She snorted. “Believe me, I’m not too stupid to live.”
Ronan’s hands froze. “What?”
“Oh, that’s a saying, you know, when the people in a really bad movie do something epically stupid so the bad guy can get to them. They’re too stupid to live.”
Wolf laughed. “I’m going to use that.”
“Same,” Wraith agreed.
Jug cleared his throat before saying, “Skipper, Shelly could help Fleur keep an eye on Miller.”
Ronan turned around. “I have no doubt she could, Jug, but I don’t want to put her in the middle of this. Fleur has been our point of contact all along. Miller knows it, which is dangerous enough if he is, in fact, guilty. Involving more people only puts more people at risk.”
She should thank Ronan for still maintaining hope that Miller was innocent, but the pain she felt just imagining her friend could be guilty hurt. “I have one question. I asked Miller this earlier. Why did the IDPs leave without making a fuss? If someone were trying to take me away from the camp, I’d scream bloody murder.”
Ronan glanced at her. “I’m assuming the person taking them had a weapon.”
Fleur considered it before nodding. “Yeah, that could be it.” But something told her it was something else. She would have to talk to the little girl under the truck again. Since she and her sister were scheduled to be on the truck tomorrow morning, it would be a good time to ask a few questions.
“We all have work to do. Let’s get it. Stryker and Wolf, hit the sack.”
Putting his arm around Fleur, he walked with her outside the tent. “Miller was with us when Jug suggested tossing tents to find out who had a cutter this morning.”
She sighed and looked down at the hard-packed ground under her feet. “I just …” There was a sense of desolation in the pit of her gut. “I’ll watch, and I’ll be careful.”
“That’s all I can ask.” He tipped her chin up. “We’ll know soon enough.”
“Yeah, Tuesday is the day after tomorrow.”
He nodded, and they stared out over the camp. She hoped she was right, but …