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“I couldn’t tell you. I think Miller, the lead at the camp, said it was a consolidation of personnel to save money.”
Gabby was silent for a minute. “Ronan, that doesn’t make sense. I’ve been to countless meetings dealing with the overflow of IDPs out of the country, and all the neighboring nations are putting a halt or throttling the flow of people into their country. There’s a bid to build more camps, not shutter them. Is it because of how dangerous the area is? The convoy attacks?”
Ronan glanced around. “I’m not in a secure facility, but … hold on, let me go to the comms center. Others might want to hear what I’ve found out.”
“I’ll get them online,” Gabby said, and the call was disconnected. Ronan tapped his earpiece again. “Wolf, I’m heading to the comms building.”
“Roger,” Wolf said, straining. “We found the tents. Fuckers are heavy.”
Ronan laughed and shook his head as he headed across the small base to the communications building. Signing in, he found himself in the broom closet again. Would it kill these guys to extend the room just a bit?
He waited for the call to go through and smiled as Gabby and Charley waved at him. “Hey, girlies.”
Archangel appeared on the screen along with Alpha. “You have some information?” Archangel was always on topic.
Ronan nodded. “I do. First, someone inside the camp is aiding the poachers.”
“Poachers?” Gabby asked.
Ronan glanced at Charley. “People who take unaccompanied girls and women from the camp. By force, if necessary.”
Charley’s mouth dropped open. “Someone inside the camp? Motherfucker. Jace, I’m flying to Syria.”
“No, you’re not,” Jason and Gabby said at thesame time. It was rather comical. Jason shook his head and said, “Continue.”
Charley narrowed her gaze at both of them but didn’t say anything. He flicked his eyes to the grid with Jacob in it. “Al said it was someone on the staff. He didn’t know who. I don’t have evidence yet on who it could be. Also, Al is suspicious of who’s informing the local radicals about the convoys. He believes the first convoy was hit to take out a man who knew what was happening. All other convoys have been hit as cover.”
“What about the other six times?” Jacob asked.
“Wait, who the hell is Al?” Charley butted in.
“A covert source that has helped us numerous times,” Jacob said, leaning forward. “What did he say?”
“He asked me who was not on duty on Tuesdays. Who would not raise suspicion if they left the camp during the day? I ran it against the duty rosters I’d asked for due to an entirely different reason, but his speculation was correct. The person he believes is informing the factions does not work on Tuesday, and if they left the camp, there wouldn’t be any questions. However, some other people are also not on duty on Tuesdays, so it isn’t a slam dunk.”
“Who?” Archangel growled the word.
Ronan stared at the CEO and told him who Al believed was responsible.
“Why?” Gabby asked. “Why would someone do something like this?”
“A good question, and Al mentioned shale in the area. It was a random as fuck comment, so I think he was trying to tell me something without actually telling me something.”
“Shale like the rock?” Con’s voice came over the connection.
“Yes, but listen, when I was in the structures tent, Mathias told the guys digging a new latrine trench to find a new location if they hit shale again. They didn’t want to hit another natural gas pocket. The host nation gave them a map of safe places to dig.”
“Okay, I found the host national report on the natural gas incident. I’ll send it to Dude. Do you want me to run the financials on this person and the other individuals Ronan has identified?”
“No, Dude and Tink are my team. Let them do that.” He protected his operators the same way he protected his team. They were more than capable enough of doing the work.
“Touchy, okay.” Con chuckled.
“No, I’m not. But my team is fantastic. I have aworking relationship with them, and I’m sure you have more than enough on your plate.”
“True. But I’m the best,” Con said.
“Yes, dear.” Gabby smiled as she agreed with Con.