“No one. Everyone,” Robertson growled. “Hell, Big D, we were up most of the night pulling bodies out of the water, aside from Mavis’s neighbors and the Colonel’s group, I really didn’t see who we had with us.”
Clasping his hands behind his back, Lister paced the small room—a panther looking for an opportunity to pounce. “Anything odd about who’s in your vehicles?”
David stepped against the wall to give the general room.
“We have the sick and injured, plus the volunteers who are helping with nursing duties.” Robertson spoke over a deep baritone. “Ray says to tell you that there are a lot of old folks with us, but that makes sense as we’ve got Johnson.”
Lister stopped and addressed his fellow officers. “Or someone is making off with the prime beef.”
That would be bad. Very, very bad. Mavis updated her Sim last night. The survival rate had plummeted to less than one in ten thousand, military personnel under thirty had lottery ticket odds. “Who handled the seating arrangements today?”
“Dunno. Everyone was sorted when we finished chow.”
The skin between David’s shoulderblades itched. That was a little too convenient. “Keep the com safe and conserve the batteries. Check in every hour on the hour.”
“Understood, Sergeant-Major. Robertson out.”
Silence elbowed into the room.
Lister stopped next to the sagging desk and leaned over the Marine. “Where’s Lieutenant Rogers?”
“S-she’s not answering her com, Sir.” The boy paled. “I have men searching the morgue and barracks for her.”
“Dammit!” Lister’s bark rattled the remaining window panes. “We need to know who’s traveling with that convoy.”
And Mavis needed to know about the threat to her niece. David pivoted on his heels and strode to the door.
“Stop right there, Sergeant-Major.” Lister’s footsteps pounded the cement. “You will not tell the Doc about this, do you understand? Despite taking advantage of your Army assets, Doctor Spanner is working for the good of her niece. If something happens to that girl, I’ve no doubt the Doc would consign us all to Hell.”
Not tell Mavis? Fuck! She wasn’t going to forgive him. But he couldn’t let his men down either.
“You’re still in the army, Sergeant-Major, and I gave you a direct order.” Lister’s words pelted his back. “That goes for the rest of you. This information doesn’t leave this room.”
From the corner of his eye, he watched the officers nod.
“Understood, Sergeant-Major?”
“Yes, Sir.” He understood alright. Mavis’s niece wasn’t the only one in danger.
“Go get some coffee, six cups. Black.” Lister rubbed his hands together. “From here on out, any action taken against the military will be punishable by death. Anyone disagree?”
He wanted to. These were his fellow Americans, people he’d fought hard to save, to keep alive. David stepped outside, closed his eyes and turned his face up to the darkness. God, what a day and the sun hadn’t even risen.
Not one officer had voted down the proposal.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I love you too, Sunnie.” Mavis released the talk button of the walkie.
“See you tonight in Winslow, Aunt Mavis.” Sunnie coughed. “‘Bye.”
“Bye.” Mavis didn’t bother pushing the button again. She’d already kept her niece on the line long after she should have let her go. It was just so good to hear from Sunnie that she was feeling better. Although her throat had to be killing her. Good thing Johnson knew the aspirin trick.
Sunnie would need it.
Mavis stretched inside the sleeping bag. Her toes brushed the frigid zipper at the bottom and she shivered. Good Lord, it was cold out. She checked her watch in the light cast by the electric lantern by her head.
Five-forty.
David should be showing up soon. Tucking the walkie under her pillow, she rolled over and inhaled his spicy scent. She hoped he would be on time. She felt like celebrating.
Something scratched at the tent fabric.
She rolled over. A woman’s silhouette crawled up the side of her tent. No. No, no. No! She was supposed to have another fifteen minutes. She pulled the pillow over her head. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep, they’d go away until six.
“Doctor Spanner?” A woman’s voice seeped through the tent walls.
Mavis peered out from underneath the pillow. She knew that voice.
“Ma’am?”
Her brain clicked. The Lieutenant she’d asked to run a background check on Reverend Trent P Franklin, or whatever his real name was. “Sally?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Can I come in? I need to show you something.”
Well, crap. Mavis pushed her hair out of her eyes and sat up. Her bottom sunk through the air mattress to land on the ground. Cold crept down her back. “Sure, come in.”
Sally’s silhouette reached for the zipper and pulled it down. As the flap curled open, the lieutenant came into view. Fatigue bruised the skin under her bloodshot eyes. Wrinkles scored her cheek and a bar indented the soft tissue. “Sorry to wake you, Ma’am, but I thought you’d want to see what I’ve found.”
Mavis bit her lip. She hadn’t meant for the poor girl to work all night long. Still… Her gut clenched. If it was about Reverend Trent, she doubted it could be good. Wind whistled inside the tent and bulged out the back. Wiggling her weight, she tugged the sleeping bag up her back and around her shoulders. “Come in.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Crouching, Sally hop-walked inside the tent. After securing the door, she set her tablet on the canvas floor.
Up close, she looked more tired than Mavis felt. “Have you had any coffee?”
“A gallon or two.” Sally swiped at the drool mark at the corner of her mouth then picked up her tablet. Her lips firmed as she glared at it. “I’d been asleep for about twenty minutes when my tablet chimed.”
“I appreciate your dedication.” Mavis unburied one arm. The frigid air chased goosebumps across her skin. “What have you found?”
“Nothing under the names Benjamin Trent or Trent P Franklin,” Sally spat. “I had to run his fingerprints that I gathered during check in. As you know, they weren’t complete because he hadn’t been willing to give them but there’s no mistaking that smirk.”
Sally slapped the screen, turned it around and handed it to her.
Mavis took a deep breath. Please let it be something she could use to control or eliminate the threat the man presented. Please. She waited for the gyro built into the tablet to settle. A clean shaven man with blue eyes and sandy hair smiled back at her. No, smile was too nice. There was a superior edge to it. Definitely a smirk.
Definitely the Reverend.
She scanned down the page to the vitals collected. “Trent Powers.”
“Insurance salesman.” Sally’s laugh sounded hollow. She raked her fingers through her hair, creating furrows down to her scalp. “How far from a man of God can you get?”
Mavis shrugged. She’d known some decent salesmen and women. But the fact that he’d lied about being clergy should help her smash whatever alliance Trent and Dirk Benedict were building.
But it might not be enough to kill it.
Lots of folks looked up when they were neck deep in shit.
“Anything else?” Something she could use to make sure Trent never threatened her or hers again.
Sally rubbed her eyes and sighed. She seemed to collapse into a ball. “Of course, there is. I couldn’t sleep with just a liar and a slimy salesman.”
The lieutenant rose on her knees and opened a new tab. The picture came into focus. A woman’s body dangled from a loft. Her neck lolled to the side as if broken but a office chair stood about a foot under her toes. Why would she have the chair if she jumped off the loft? The hair on Mavis’s neck rose.