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He used his hands to jamb the shovel between the boards. “Here.” Deacon grabbed the shovel and gave him a hooligan tool. He pried the boards loose. Dirt fell into the box. “Fleur!” He ripped two boards off and grabbed a flashlight that someone was holding. He shoved his way into the box. She was there; dirt covered her body, but there was a cloth over her head. He lifted it away and placed his fingers on her throat. “Please, baby. Please be alive,” he whispered as he felt for a pulse. It was there. Thank God. He shouted, “She’s alive!”
A cheer rose around him as he flicked the cloth over her face before pushing himself back out of thebox. “Careful, no more dirt,” he said, and they swept the dirt away. He used the tool and loosened the boards. When he could, he reached into the box and pulled her out.
He carried her to the pit's edge and handed her to Deacon, who was halfway up the five-foot drop. Turning carefully, Deacon handed her to Bandit. Ace grabbed Deacon’s hand, and Deacon grabbed his. They were up the wall in moments. Bandit had a blood pressure cuff on Fleur already. Deacon asked what Ronan was wondering, “Why are you here?”
“We heard everything and knew we would be needed. Shelly should be …”
“Move, please. Get out of my way, please, move.” Shelly elbowed through the crowd of people with her medical bag. “Was she knocked unconscious?”
“I don’t know,” Ronan said as he dropped to his knees. “Stryker, get that fucker to tell you what he did.”
“Ah, Skipper, he’s not in my custody anymore.”
Ronan lurched to his feet simultaneously as did Ace, Deacon, and Bandit. “What the fuck?”
The women of the camp had surrounded Miller and begun pushing him toward the pit. “Should we stop them?” Deacon asked.
“How are you going to do that? Shoot them?” Ronan asked. Miller was shoved and fell five feet into the pit. He landed on his leg wrong, and fuck, that had to be broken. Only it wasn’t the end of what the women had in store for him. The first rock flew into the pit, striking Miller in the chest. Ronan watched as each woman in the camp stepped forward and took turns stoning the man who was guilty of so much treachery.
Al was beside him. “My people tell me government forces are investigating what happened to the convoy. They’ll be here by morning.”
He looked down at Fleur to see Shelly had an IV started. “I don’t see any head or neck trauma,” Shelly said and looked up at him. “We need to take her to the hospital tent. Wolf is there.”
“I’ll carry her.” Ronan leaned down and picked her up. “Wraith, Deacon, you have mop up.”
“Copy,” both men acknowledged.
“Alpha, any word on the air evac?” Ronan asked as he walked through the crowd, waiting their turn to throw a stone at Miller.
“Thirty minutes out. Jordanian helicopter and crew. What about Mathias and Miller?”
Ronan answered, “Mathias went for a weapon. He’s dead. Miller …”
Deacon finished for him, “The women are stoning him.”
“Repeat that?” Shocked, Alpha asked for clarification.
“Stoning. Throwing rocks. They found out he was inside the camp and informing on the convoys.”
“How did they find that out?”
“Fuck if I know,” Deacon said. “I don’t want to be killed, so I’m not stopping them.”
“Nothing will stop them,” Jug said. “This is their justice.”
“Doesn’t bode well for the inquiries that’ll be coming.” Alpha sighed.
“From whom?” Ronan asked as he carefully walked toward the medical tent. Shelly was right beside him, carrying the IV.
“Every NGO that was lied to, the host national government, and the UN.”
Deacon chuffed, “So, just about everyone.”
“Yeah,” Alpha said. “We’ll peel it back and find the answers. Do we have someone who can stay and take control of the camp until we know what the hell is going to happen to it?”
“We can, Alpha.” That was Deacon. “Panther One has two down. We’ll make sure the IDPs get moved or stay safe if they aren’t going to close down.”
Ronan looked at the woman in his arms. “Jug and Wraith can stay to help. Stryker, Wolf, and I will fly to Jordan. Once I know my people are safe, Stryker and I will return.”