Page 14 of Healing Love

“Help me load them into the truck, I get them to help and then we’re good. No one’s pissed at us and then I can get back.”

The workers all began to nod. None of them wanted to take the risk, but if the big, newcomer was willing…they were fine with the plan.

Loading the two men into the back of the truck, Cam hopped up into the driver’s seat. Looking at the lead worker, he sent him a questioning look.

“Go down the mountain,” he was told. “When you get to the fork, go left. If you keep following that and take a left at any fork, then you’ll come to the nearest compound I know. It’ll be about twenty miles away. I’ve…I’ve never been but that’s what I’ve heard. There should be a doctor there.”

Nodding, Cam started the engine and headed the truck down the mountain.Finally, I’m making progress!

With the two men still heaving in the bed of the truck, Cam pulled out his secure cell and placed a call to Marc. Giving him an update, he hung up knowing Marc would call him back as soon as he had more intel from Luke.

With the window down, the breeze blew Cam’s hair, now longer, and he looked at his filthy hands from having worked in the dirt.Hell, I’ll scare her to death if I find her,he thought, but realized that his appearanceworked perfectly to disguise himself.Come on Marc. Call back. Time to get the girl!

Luke, pulling his shift in the Saints main room in the compound, got a call from Marc.It’s about time,he thought. While patience was definitely a virtue for him, with Cam out in the field alone, the other Saints had been chomping at the bit. Swallowing the last of his now lukewarm coffee he said, “What have you got?” While listening to what Marc was reporting, he quickly alerted Jack. He began working the intel, after fixing another pot of coffee, ignoring the Keurig on the workroom counter. Known for making strong coffee, the others joked that no Keurig was good enough for him. Within ten minutes Jack joined him.

“What’ve we got?” Jack asked sharply.

“Cam has finally found a way to get closer to Miriam. He used the pills to induce vomiting in two agents and now is on his way with them toward one of the cartel’s medical tents. Since we placed him near the last known location of Miriam, that should take him straight to her.”

Nodding, Jack ordered, “Get back with Marc and make sure he has Cam’s coordinates at all times. Cam will be planning the mission as he goes, and it may be a short notice that Marc will get.”

Luke quickly entered the information into his system and called Marc back. Giving him the closest landing field, he had Marc on stand-by. Then he gavehim the latest information he could access about the area.

Within minutes, Marc called Cam back. “Are they still sick?”

“Yeah. Still retching in the back of the truck. They can’t hear me.”

“Good. Luke says that there’s no new info that says that the nurses have been moved. Your coordinates look like you are heading straight for the medical facility that she should be at. Go slow, man. You do not want her to give you away.”

Snorting, Cam replied, “Hell, the way I look, the only thing I’m going to do is scare the shit out of her.”

“You may not see her at first. You got a plan for sticking around if necessary?”

“If I gotta, I’ll take half of a pill myself, just to become sick enough to get to stay, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Don’t want to be ill if my opportunity comes to get her out of there.”

“Right,” Marc answered. “Good luck and let me hear as soon as you can.”

With that, the two men disconnected. Allowing the breeze to continue to blow on his face, cooling the sweat that had been pouring off him, Cam felt the first sense of freedom in a week. Knowing Miriam had to be feeling the shackles of imprisonment, he wanted that sense of freedom for her too. And wanted to be the one to give it to her.

Miriam started her morning managing to get Sister Genovia alone, wanting to question her further about the events of last night. Finding the older woman in the supply tent counting the stock, she picked up a bag of makeshift bandages and began to sort them.

Whispering, she asked, “What happened last night?”

“It appears the doctor and the…man in charge…were seeking female companionship and hoping to impress us at the same time.”

Miriam’s eyes grew wide as she stared dumbly at the nun. “Female companionship? Their wives were with them.”

“With these men, the bounds of marriage mean little. And their wives are quite content to be taken care of.”

“But…but…”

“And the dinner was an exhibition of their wealth. And power.”

“But why?” Miriam asked, her confusion even greater than before.

Sister Genovia turned to her, a kind expression on her face. “My dear, I have worked among these men for a while. It was my calling to bring God’s grace to whomever I could and if I could save anyone from the clutches of their evil…then that is what I have tried to do.”

Miriam looked down at the bandages as a guard walked past the door to the tent. As she heard him move by, she turned her questioning gaze back to the nun.

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