Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
F leur moved through the camp while keeping her eyes on Miller. She stepped into the admin tent and visited with Rana as they removed the intake sheets from the active books and placed them into the transferred notebooks. The feeling of happiness that usually came with a convoy was mired in fear for Ronan, his brother, and their men.
A commotion at the militia camp drew her and Rana out of the tent. All but three vehicles pulled out of the camp and headed in the same direction the convoy had taken.
Rana wrapped her arms around herself. “That can’t be good.”
Fleur’s gut dropped as she glanced at her watch. “ They should be at the camp already, shouldn’t they?”
Rana nodded. “It could be nothing.”
“Yeah.” She wished she could make herself believe it. Catching Miller leaving the dining tent, she stayed outside and waited until he returned to his tent.
Rana tapped her arm to get her attention. “If you don’t need me, I’ll go help with the sick-call line.”
“Of course, sure. I’m heading back to do some work on tomorrow’s convoy. We’ll tell the people who are going this afternoon.”
“That sounds good,” Rana said. “They will be okay.”
“I know.” She smiled half-heartedly at her friend and watched the woman go to the hospital tent.
Fleur drew a deep breath and started back to the tent next to Miller’s, but she heard her name called. She turned and saw Mathias waving at her. Glancing back toward Miller’s tent, she grimaced. She needed to keep an eye on where Miller was …
“Hey, Fleur.” Mathias jogged up to her. “Could you come help me? That girl is back in the tractor area and won’t come out. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
Fleur narrowed her eyes. “She was on the convoy this morning. ”
Mathias nodded. “I know, we got that much out of her, but she said she was too afraid of the big trucks. She’s crying. I did my best dad act, but I can’t get her to come out.”
“Okay.” She followed Mathias. He detoured to the actual tractor area, and she followed him. “She’s down here.” He waved her after him and went down a steep ditch. Fleur hesitated and looked around the field where they kept the tractors. A ghost of a chill ran up her back. She slowed as she moved to where Mathias had disappeared. None of his men were in the area. “Mathias, where’s everyone at?”
“We’re digging a new latrine trench, all hands on deck. Come on, sweetie, Fleur’s here.”
Fleur peeked over the opening and gasped. Mathias pointed a rifle at her. “Walk down that slope if you don’t want to die where you stand.”
“What are you doing?”
“Do it, bitch!” he yelled. “You’ve already lived longer than you should have. I’ll drop you where you stand.”
She knew if she went down that ditch, she’d never come back up. Her survival instinct kicked in, and she turned to run, but Miller was behind her. He had a handgun .
“What are you doing?” She started shaking. It was uncontrollable.
“I’m delivering on a promise,” Miller snarled. “You were supposed to meet with associates of mine outside of camp. They’re very interested in a blonde, blue-eyed woman. You’ll make them a lot of money.”
“Miller, you can’t do this.” She shook her head.
“I can and?—”
“Ms. Fleur? Ms. Fleur? You have a phone call at the admin tent.” Adil called for her from the fence.
Oh, thank you, Jesus . “I’ll be right there!” Fleur yelled back to him.
Miller turned, keeping his weapon out of sight. “Move or say another word, and I kill him.” Over his shoulder, he yelled, “She’s busy right now! She’ll return the call!”
“Mr. Miller, the caller said it was urgent.”
“Tell them what I told you, Adil!” Miller shouted at the man.
Fleur watched as Adil debated what to do. Finally, he lifted a hand and walked away. “What are you hoping to gain from this?” she asked.
“That’s none of your fucking business. Now, get down there.” Miller walked up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her and pushed her forward .
Fleur stumbled into the ditch, landing on her hands and knees. A rifle barrel was shoved behind her ear. She felt the skin rip and hissed. “Why are you doing this?”
“Shut her up,” Mathias said. Miller came up from behind her and shoved a gag into her mouth. He taped it there with duct tape. The fear that had gripped her before moved over for the terror that hit her so hard she wanted to be sick. Her hands were yanked behind her, and once again, Miller used duct tape to bind her.
Miller said, “Habib confirmed the ISIL is assisting in taking out the Guardian convoy.”
Fleur gasped and twisted, looking at Mathias and Miller.
Mathias snorted. “Don’t worry, sweetie, where you’re going, none of your lovers will be able to follow. Are we ready?”
Miller nodded. “Habib will come back, circle the camp, and we’ll do away with the rest of the staff. The ISIL will arrive, and we’ll do a wholesale movement of all the rest of the people. Then we get the equipment, bury everything incriminating, and start drilling. As far as the rest of the world knows, the ISIL went on a rampage. We’re dead, allegedly.”
Oh, God, no! I can’t let that happen . Fleur ripped her arm away from Miller and screamed, “No!” behind her gag.
Mathias kicked the side of her knee, dropping her to the ground. “You don’t need your legs for what they sell you for.” He turned to Miller. “She’s more trouble alive. Let’s just put a bullet between her ears.”
“I made a promise. They want her. They have someone who’ll pay a lot for a pretty American woman.”
“Unless they drug her, she’ll be a hellcat.”
“Which is why I stole this from the medical tent.”
Fleur could see the syringe. She moved as far away from Miller as she could.
Mathias snorted. “I have the perfect place to hold her.”
“Good. Then after all the other staff are dead and the IDPs have been taken away, we’ll get her out and take her to Aleppo. Of course, we might have to teach her some manners before we do, just like we do the IDPs we market.”
Fleur shook her head. They were monsters. They were using the women, too? How could she not see this? How could she have stuck up for this man? Tears formed in her eyes because she was so mad. The stab of a needle burned her arm. Fleur jerked, but she continued to stare at Miller. She knew hatred now. It was a feeling she’d never allowed herself to internalize before, but she hated these men. Fleur fought the blackness. She needed to warn …
“Skipper, you have incoming comms.”
He tapped his ear. “From whom?” They were flying down the highway and would be at the camp in a half hour.
“Alpha.”
“Put him on and Cobra One, too.”
“You have both Panther and Cobra One online, Alpha.”
“Stay on the line, Dude,” Alpha commanded.
“I just got a satellite call from Al. He said Miller had Fleur in the equipment yard. He tried to get her, but he saw a gun and didn’t want to endanger her any further. He got the doctor and one of the local national women out. The women are waiting for you at the rendezvous point. We’re working on the air evac. How’s Wolf?”
“Concussed, and Bandit is worried about a skull fracture. He’s vomiting and can’t focus his eyes.”
“Archangel is making calls trying to get us airspace permission. We have a Mercy team in Greece and are sending them to Jordan, which is the closest neuro hospital where we have doctors we’ve vetted and where Wolf will go. What other injuries do you have?”
“Bumps and scrapes.” Neither he nor Wraith would be sidelined because of their injuries. Stryker was driving and could shoot. He’d stay with the team.
“Based on the information our operators are uncovering, Mathias Gentry and Miller Dupre have violated numerous international laws. Murder, sex trafficking, human trafficking, and not to mention, they’ve almost shuttered an entire IDP camp without host national authority, pointing at one organization when others ask questions. It went well until the Children’s Hope International contacted us because Fleur raised so many red flags.”
“Do we have any intel on Fleur’s whereabouts?” Ronan drilled down to his immediate concern.
“Satellite is still out of range. Al said he would return to the camp and try to find her. I couldn’t talk him out of it, but I talked to the doctor, who assured me she and the other woman wouldn’t leave and would wait for you while he returned. ”
“Why would they take Fleur as a hostage?” Deacon asked.
“Leverage,” Ronan assumed. “She’s mine. They’ll use her against us.”
Deacon made a sound of disagreement. “Think about it. Do you think they expect us to return? They sent a force against us. I assume they believe we’ve been taken out.”
Ronan frowned and then smiled. “That means we have the element of surprise. They won’t have the balls to do anything until Habib and his forces return. Two men against three thousand people or so wouldn’t go too well.”
Deacon agreed, “Exactly. We need the satellite online to ensure no one’s approaching the camp, and in the meantime, we need to formulate a plan.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” Alpha said. “I’ll let you know as soon as we have airspace. And, gentlemen, those two men need to answer for their crimes, not only against us but against the IDPs. Take them in alive if at all possible.”
“Copy,” both he and Deacon said. That order was the only thing that was going to save the fuckers.
“Alpha, if Adil calls back, have him meet us at the equipment area behind the structures tent.”
“I copy, and I’ll be monitoring your channel,” Ronan nodded when Alpha confirmed he was listening in. The man knew every team tactic invented and had been the inventor of several. He would be an asset to have.
Deacon asked, “Can we get to the rendezvous without being seen?”
He glanced at the sky. It was almost sunset. “Yes, but we need to leave the trucks and take in Wolf with the Jeep. No lights,” Ronan said. “And once that’s done, we circle the camp.”
“Hold on. Dude, put both teams, except Wolf, on comms.”
“Copy.” Dude was silent for a minute. “All team members except Wolf are on comms.”
Ronan gave the teams the skinny. “We’re going to deliver Wolf to the doctor. Bandit, you’ll drive him in and help her in any way you can. Jug and Stryker, what would be the best point of entry to get in and behind Gentry’s and Dupre’s tents?”
“The equipment yard,” Jug said.
“I agree. Go through the patch in the fence Mathias fixed after the last breach. Big enough for all of us and a M-240,” Stryker added.
“I can carry the M-240, Skipper,” Jug said. “Problem is, the fucker isn’t picky about what it kills. Anything in its path will be dead. That includes Fleur if she’s in the line of fire.”
“No, we’re going in dark. Both teams are down one because we’re leaving Bandit and Wolf with Shelly. We’re banged up, but we won’t have militia to worry about. If there’s anyone left on post, I’d be surprised.”
“I agree,” Wraith said over the comms. “Habib would have pulled them as soon as we left.”
“Concur,” Jug and Stryker said in unison.
The plan was solidifying. Ronan continued, “Cobra team will go after Mathias. Dude, we’ll need pictures of the fucker so Cobra can identify. They don’t know the camp, but when we come in, we’ll pass his tent. They’ll split off, and we’ll go after Miller. We’ll coordinate entry just in case one of the fuckers has the wherewithal to keep a weapon next to them. We’ll take Miller. Comms will stay on this interface. The IDPs will never know what’s happening, and neither will the rest of the staff.”
“Unless someone gets stupid,” Jug said.
“I hope like fuck they do,” Ronan replied. “But remember, they have Fleur. We might need them to get to her. We’ll go off-road five miles from camp and veer to where Shelly is waiting. We'll go by Jeep as soon as we have a good cover for the trucks. No lights and little to no acceleration. The generators at the camp will mask our engine noise if we keep it low. After we drop off Wolf and Bandit, we’re on foot. Anyone who can’t hang physically needs to speak up now.”
There was nothing but silence on the comms. “Then let’s finish what they started. Whatever it takes.”
“As long as it takes.” Every last one of them said the words, and Ronan knew he’d march through the fires of hell to get Fleur and stop those bastards. Every man with him would be on his six. There was no force in the world more deadly than a Guardian who was in search of one of their own.