Page 110 of Lethal Game

“Neither can I,” Con told her.

“Is it true about the ten years in jail?” she asked. “I thought he would just get deported.”

“I have no idea,” Con said with a shrug. “Jail time made for a better threat.”

“I better check on our Marines.” She glanced at him, sighed, then went to the sleeping tent.

Con didn’t follow, there was too much shit going down and too many people willing to blame their hard times on the easiest scapegoat—the United States Army.

An odd bird sound flitted past Con’s ear. One of Smoke’s early warning signals. The man himself followed after a couple of seconds, barely distinguishable from the darkness.

“How much trouble are we in?” Con asked the other man.

“About half an hour ago, it looked like a mob was forming, but several people collapsed, some with seizures. It broke things up when family members came to take the sick away and bring them to the one place where they’d just been talking about erasing from the face of the earth.” Smoke snorted. “That’s a direct quote.”

“So, it’s a good news, bad news situation.”

Smoke shrugged.

“I caught a guy who tried to slice up the lab tent. It turns out someone in camp has been telling everyone that all this is our fault. Sold them some bullshit that we’ve been experimenting on them, creating some kind of vaccine for Ebola using a live virus.”

“Akbar?”

“A possibility. Keep an eye on Dr. Blairmore. Turns out, he’s a pompous ass who’s only looking out for himself. He made threats against Sophia.”

Smoke nodded.

“Can you and River keep the rest of the camp under surveillance? Let me know if things are about to blow up again?”

Smoke nodded again and left.

Sophia came out of the sleeping tent, frowning.

“How bad is it?”

“They both have concussions. They’ve regained consciousness and I don’t think they have any fractures, but I’d like to X-ray them to be sure, but that’s one piece of equipment we don’t have.”

“Yeah. Until you figure out what’s going on, no one is going in or out of here.”

She deflated a little. “They’re on bed rest until I say different. It’s all I can do for now.”

“You’re the boss.”

“How soon until dawn?” she asked, staring out into the desert. Her hair had come loose from its tidy bun and she looked no more than sixteen, until you looked into her eyes. There was knowledge in her gaze that told you she’d seen and lived through horrible things. Things that would have broken a weaker person.

She might look fragile and bruise easily, but there was a toughness inside her he recognized on a visceral level. She was a survivor. When she set her mind to solve a puzzle, she didn’t give up.

“Probably less than an hour.” Less than an hour to prepare for a new day and all the deaths it would bring.

She looked at him, unblinking for a moment. “I still need samples from a dead body.”

“Get ready. We’ll go when the air-drop is made.”

She gave him a grim smile and walked around him into her lab. A light came on inside and he could hear her moving around.

Henry came out of the other tent. “I’ll stand watch, sir.”

Con nodded. “Very good. We’re going to get a supply drop at dawn, but it’s supplies for the camp, not us, so maintain your station.”

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