While they’d been at the camp today, Shields had put together an analysis of the people on Pauline’s list and had assessed that Naing had eyes and ears somewhere in Pauline’s organization—a clerk or staff member with access to schedules and other information.
“What about the missing witness?” Corbray asked. “If Naing’s men took him, it’s possible they tortured information about Ms. Lahiri’s arrival out of him.”
Connor shook his head. “He wouldn’t have known about the helicopter tour. Whoever ordered that attack knew right where she was going to be—and when.”
“Right.”
Connor asked what was on everyone’s mind here tonight. “Any chance we can use these videos to talk Uncle Sam into letting us or DEVGRU hit this target?”
“And risk a war with China?” Tower laughed. “I doubt that would be their first choice. They are grateful for the intel, however. She should know that.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“Keep us posted.”
“Copy that.” Connor ended the video conference and went back into Shanti’s room to find her hard at work with Shields, some of the men standing or sitting on chairs around her, watching.
“Those are definitely army uniforms, not border patrol or militia,” Shields said.
“Stop! Go back. A little more. Freeze it.” Shanti pointed. “Can you blow up the background right there?”
“Let’s give it a shot.” Shields hit a few keys. “Well, hello, you son of a bitch.”
“Oh, my God.” Shanti stared, slowly got to her feet, her eyes wide. “It’s him. It’s Naing. We got him.”
“Thanks,Elizabeth. I couldn’t have done this so quickly without you.” Shanti stood, rubbed the kink in her neck.
She still couldn’t believe it. She had footage of Naing at a massacre.
“I just hope you can nail this bastard to the wall.” Elizabeth stood, picked up her cup of coffee. “I heard about the mudslides today. That’s the last thing these people needed. O’Neal was pretty shaken up. His Hot Wheels arrived this evening, but the little boy he had hoped to share them with is dead.”
Okay, that made no sense.
“Hot Wheels?”
“He sent Cobra guys to his parents’ farm in Colorado to get an old box of Hot Wheels out of the attic. He’d hoped to give one to that little boy and leave the rest for staff at the hospital to distribute to other children.”
Shanti’s heart melted. She remembered the stricken look on his face when he’d seen the child. Now she understood. “I had no idea.”
Elizabeth gave her a knowing smile. “You’re attracted to him. Oh, don’t try to deny it. What red-blooded, hetero woman wouldn’t be? Just be careful. There’s no such thing as an uninjured soldier.”
Before Shanti could ask her what she meant, Elizabeth was gone.
Attracted to him?
Okay, fine. Shanti could admit that. As Elizabeth had said, what heterosexual woman wouldn’t be? But what had she meant by that last part?
Shanti turned off her computer and watched the screen go dark, wishing it were that easy to shut off her mind. She was drained, exhausted, but also strangely wired, as if she’d had too much coffee.
That’s adrenaline.
She’d read lots of reports in her time with the ICC, and she had listened to witnesses describe terrible things. Butseeingit, seeing the cruelty of it, hearing people’s screams, watching soldiers laugh while they hurt, maimed, and killed in ways intended to inflict pain and humiliation—that was different.
She showered and then dug through her increasingly disorganized suitcase for her nightgown. She had uploaded all of the video footage and the stills to the cloud drive and sent Bram an email telling him she had video footage of Naing overseeing two of the massacres. Bram had congratulated her—and informed her that he wanted her home.
“It’s not safe for you there,” he’d said. “The men from Cobra tell me there’s a leak somewhere in the camps, and that’s why your helicopter almost got shot down. Now this phone with such important evidence… I don’t want to lose you.”
“What about the other witnesses I came to interview?”