Brotherhood Protectors: Before The Brotherhood (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Mandy Harbin

Author:Mandy Harbin [Harbin, Mandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2017-06-06T05:00:00+00:00

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Caitlin interviewed several of the local tribe members, but it hadn’t been easy winning their trust. She was an American on their land. Just because they appreciated the fight against the Taliban and ISIS didn’t mean they welcomed outsiders with open arms. The bomb dropping nearby certainly hadn’t helped smooth their ruffled feathers. Each time she asked someone new about it, Asad had to rush to translate the frustrations echoed from all. Eventually, she’d gotten to the heart of the matter, and with each person, she’d been directed to another. When she’d been hunting down each new lead, Lorenzo filmed various groups of people going along their normal lives. The material he captured would be spliced in with the interviews she conducted to tell the complete story.

The last young man she’d spoken with told her of his uncle, saying the man had been out with his goats when he saw suspicious men. Caitlin followed the young guy to his uncle and asked him some questions. The uncle confirmed he’d seen those suspicious men his nephew first discussed, but said his wife had talked directly to one of them. She’d had to cajole him into letting her speak to the older woman. He refused to allow his wife to come out of their home with the military men in the village. Owen and some of his team were visible to everyone, so there was no denying it added to the tension of the small crowd, but eventually, the uncle had invited Caitlin, Lorenzo, and Asad into their home to talk to his wife.

“Ask her where she was when she saw the men,” she said to Asad. He repeated her question in Pashto.

The woman replied, and Asad translated, “In the field near the goats.”

“And how many men did you see?”

“Nine.”

“Your husband said you spoke to one. Is that correct?”

“Yes.” She nodded again as Asad translated.

“What did he say to you?”

The woman became animated, saying what seemed like quite a lot, and Asad kept his focus on her until she finished. Then he turned to Caitlin. “He said to go back to the village and not come out until morning. It wasn’t safe to meet mother.” Asad used air quotes on the last word. The woman had a confused expression on her face, but Caitlin understood the message loud and clear.

“How many days was this before the airstrike?”

“Two. Yes, two days.”

“Did he say anything else?”

The woman nodded before she spoke, but before Asad translated, he asked her something. They talked back and forth before Asad focused on Caitlin. “He asked her if she’d seen anybody selling military weapons.”

“What?” Caitlin asked. “Did she?”

“No. She just told me that one of the village men had been recruited into ISIS, and he’d come back the week before the bombing. There was talk that he’d negotiated a deal with Americans for weapons.”

Her mouth fell open. “An American selling weapons to ISIS?”

Asad’s head bobbed side-to-side. “An American military man.”

What the… “Who was the buyer? The guy from the village, I mean.

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