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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.”