Page 31 of Devlin

A group of men called Enock over, and as he walked away, Devlin moved toward the back of the Sweswe village food center’s loading dock. He found Mia standing slightly apart, watching as a truck was unloaded.

He followed her gaze. The efficiency of the process impressed him—the truck drivers unloaded crates as the refugees lined up with ID cards and baskets, each person receiving their allotted share. There was no chaos, no pushing or shoving, and no anger. Just patience, gratitude, and quiet relief as they walked away with their meager rations, ready to bring food back to their families.

“What can I do to help?” Devlin asked.

Mia turned to him, her eyes widening slightly. “You’re supposed to be watching while I work.”

“I am.”

Her eyes now narrowed. “I think that entails keeping an eye on more than just me.”

He held her gaze. “Keeping an eye on you is my most important job,” he admitted. “At the same time, the more I learnabout this process, the more I can see where things might be going wrong.”

“Got any ideas yet?”

He exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. “Honest to God, there are so many places where things could go missing, it’s almost laughable. The easiest way? If the drivers aren’t getting the full shipments to begin with. Not all of these trucks come from an organization.”

“And we have deliveries day and night.”

He nodded, then motioned toward a group of men clustered around Enock. “What’s your read on Enock?”

She studied him, her expression shifting. “Do you mean, do I trust him?”

“That, too. But mostly how his team operates.”

She glanced away, her gaze fixed on the distance before meeting his again. “Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it. Everything here works because we don’t have time to do anything but our jobs. We have to trust that everyone else is doing the same.”

“So you don’t have time to wonder if someone is committing a crime.”

She grimaced. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound great, does it?”

He stepped closer, fighting the urge to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s not bad, my Mia. It’s just reality.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and he realized too late that he’d let the words slip. My Mia. But she didn’t snap at him. She didn’t stiffen or glare. Instead, she dropped her gaze and simply nodded. He swallowed hard, resisting the urge to exhale in relief.

Dragging his focus back to the operation, he scanned the dozens of workers unloading food. They weren’t going to catch this by watching the ground-level movement. If the thefts came from the top, they needed to follow the money trail.

While Mia moved away to continue supervising, Devlin stepped outside, finding a quiet corner to call LSIMT.

“Frazier. Devlin here. How’s it going?”

“Busy. How’s it on your end?”

“Too many moving pieces. Hundreds of trucks are in and out, day and night. Dozens of hands are involved every time a shipment arrives. If this is an organized operation, we need to follow the money, not the food.”

"Logan had the same thought. Casper and Sadie are already on it. We’re looking into international and Ugandan banks. If you have any names, that would help."

"Robert Ellyson." Devlin hesitated, glancing around to make sure Mia wasn’t nearby. She wouldn’t be happy, but Robert oversaw the trucks. If someone was moving stolen goods, he was in a perfect position to facilitate it. "Check Moses Kamanga and Enock Kasule, too. They’re with camp security."

“Got it. Who else?”

“Jonan Muwange. Farid Hussein.” He cursed under his breath. “Hell, Frazier, I could give you every single person’s name here.”

Frazier chuckled. “You’re narrowing it down, though. That’s a start.”

Devlin rattled off a few more names, including Ravi, Charlie, and Dr. München. “See if they’ve received any unusual payments. Let me know what you find.”

“Will do. And Devlin?”

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