Page 23 of Legacy's Call

He chuckled. The attraction he was feeling to this woman was a bit overboard, but it was the passion she had for what she did that seemed to link his thoughts to her. He knew that feeling. When you were positive that what you were doing was making the world better. It was an addictive feeling, and so few people in the world actually found work they were passionate about. “Thank you, and to answer your question, I’m looking for anything in theconvoys to denote a change. Personnel, processes, anything and everything down to the day of the week and when the convoys left or returned. How long have you worked with Habib?” They’d have to process each of these convoys and compare them.

“Whew, that’s a lot to look at, but I’m game. Habib has been the leader of the militia here for almost eight months.” She tapped the end of her pen against the table. “If I had to put him in the good guy or bad guy pile, he’d go in the good guy stack.”

“Why’s that?”

“Since he’s been here, the amount of poaching from the camp has lessened.” She glanced up at him.

“Poaching?”

“Things going missing, people going missing. We can’t stop people from leaving the camp, and they can leave at any time, but when unattached females or boys over the age of eight go missing in the middle of the night, you have to ask if they left or were taken.” She shrugged. “I believe the last leader allowed his people to steal from us. The instances of that have diminished since Habib took over.”

Ronan hated the acceptance she had in her voice. What she must have seen in her time here was daunting. She had a heart of gold, but he could tell that the realities of the world had started to hammera few dents into it. “How do you know people go missing?” Roll call wasn't an option with all the people in the camp.

“Others tell us they haven’t seen someone in days or weeks.” She sighed. “Knowing who’s in the camp isn’t an exact science here, but I work hard to register all the unaccompanied and the children. Besides me, we have volunteers who help them with food, teaching them how to keep things sanitary, finding them space, and taking them to the hospital tent when necessary, but there are only so many of us to go around. The theft is usually fuel, food, generators, and such. We’ve learned to secure anything we don’t want to disappear.”

“I’ll meet with Habib tomorrow.” He wanted to get the man’s perspective. “Has he lost people while protecting the convoys?”

Fleur blinked then shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of any of the militia being hurt, but again, I haven’t asked. That makes me horrible, doesn’t it?” She dropped her head to her hands.

“No, it doesn’t. You can’t be all things to all people.”

She turned her head and looked at him. “My martyr complex is showing, isn’t it?”

He shrugged and winked at her. “Could be.”

Groaning, she asked, “Can I be there to hear what Habib says? I’ll know if he’s telling you the truth or not.”

He had no desire to take her out of the camp or into the militia’s area, especially with Slim and his counterparts being there. If Habib were still in command, which he doubted, the man wouldn’t want to talk to them with a woman present. Working for a woman was deemed to be beneath a man in this part of the country. “I’ll have Miller bring him into the camp. There’s a divider in our tent. You can listen from the other side.”

Fleur frowned at him. “Because I’m a woman?”

“Yes. His beliefs and culture, not mine.” Ronan watched her internalize what he said.

“I know.” She sighed and slumped in her chair. “Archaic thinking.”

“I agree, but we’ll work within our limits. Making him comfortable could loosen his tongue. But there’s a real possibility Habib is no longer controlling the militia.”

She popped upright. “What? Why? We haven’t heard anything, and we have a great grapevine.”

“Gossip?”

She made a face at him. “Well, that, too, but theinformal information about what’s happening in the camp is important, too.”

Damn, this woman was unexpected but a welcome addition to his mission. He leaned in. “The men who came with us this morning were led by someone who thought very highly of himself. Two vehicles left shortly after that. He could’ve been relieved of his duties.”

She frowned and shook her head. “That’s not good. I need to let Miller know we might have a new point of contact.” When she rubbed her neck, he glanced at his watch. They’d been at this for hours.

He stood up and slung his weapon over his shoulder. “I’ll let you do that and get some dinner.”

She chuckled and stood up, dropping her pen on the table before replacing the documents in the folder and putting them in the filing cabinet. “Most days, I eat one meal a day. I don’t think it’s right of me to eat when the IDPs are hungry.”

Well, that explained why she was so slender. “Have you eaten today?”

She cocked her head as if thinking. She smiled suddenly. “Yes, I had a piece of candy.”

Ronan put his hands on his hips. “Come on, you can have dinner with me.”

“No, I wouldn’t want to take your food from you.”

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