Page 1 of Hidden Chance

Chapter 1

The deer froze.Only its ears twitched in response to a new sound in the forest.

Robby watched the doe’s glowing eyes through his night-vision goggles as she looked right at him, but she didn’t see him—not until he lifted his hand to gesture for his men to continue forward.

At the motion, the deer sprang off, and Robby led his team deeper into the dense forest, a faux-green light illuminating the foliage through their goggles as they went.

With over a mile yet to cover, and only a few more hours of night left, they had no time to lose.

The progress was slow. It was impossible to tell how close the enemy might be, so stealth was of the utmost importance.

After twenty minutes, they stopped to get their bearings. If the information they’d received was correct, they would be coming upon a small village school tucked against the mountain.

Based on their intel, this Burmese school wasn’t teaching reading and writing, but had become the home base for a local militia who had raided every village in the area. Mostly, they had been taking whatever supplies they needed for their group, but there had also been several massacres, and kidnappings were not uncommon.

This wasn’t the first time Robby and his team had been hired out to deal with a situation like this. It was a delicate operation, as reports had surfaced that children were being kept onsite and used as human shields, among other things, and Robby’s team was known for their precision. With so many lives already lost, their mission was to retrieve information on the movements and whereabouts of other parts of the militia, remove as much of the threat as possible, and do it all with zero civilian casualties. They’d done it before, and Robby was confident they could do it again.

“Holland?” he questioned the man on his right.

“Two-hundred and fifty meters through those trees.”

“Good. Perez and Mitchell, you’re with me. Holland, Green, Evans, see you around back.”

Robby led the two men one way, while the others headed in the opposite direction. They circled to the front of the school.

Movement ahead had Robby pausing like the deer, his senses sharp and his muscles ready for action. The two men following did the same.

He pointed at Mitchell, then at the guard he’d spotted close to their position. Mitchell nodded andmoved silently through the trees, then neutralized the threat.

They continued but soon came upon another. Robby took this one, moving carefully before taking him out.

The coast was clear the rest of the way before they reached the front of the school and reconnected with their team. Holland held up three fingers, showing how many men they’d subdued.

Five guards to cover the small school meant they were onto something big. Robby motioned to get his men ready for a silent breach, and they moved closer to the front door where the spine of a dead bougainvillea crept up to the roof and met the vines that tore at the sagging planks.

He led the way to the porch, edging up the stairs to the entryway. His men joined him near the door, getting into position before Robby tested the handle. It was locked but flimsy.

Robby took a step back, allowing Perez to get into position. Each man knew his role.

It was only a moment before the door was nudged open, then they waited, listening.

Silence met them from within, but that didn’t mean it was safe. They all knew the risks of entry. They had to be ready for anything.

When Robby gave the nod, their entry was swift and noiseless as they cleared the first room. It was a large space full of desks. The blackboard on the far end was covered in foreign swearwords and rude pictures.

While half the team went to a door at the back,Robby and the rest approached an open door closest to their position.

The floorboards creaked as they crossed the room and found it was packed with bunk beds full of sleeping children.

Robby ignored the crush in his stomach as he scanned the boys’ faces to confirm there weren’t any adults among them. It was the anniversary of his brother’s death. A day when he still battled with the pain of his loss. It made the lives of these boys—even though his brother had been older—a personal priority for him, despite the importance of keeping emotion out of it.

“What do you think?” Evans spoke softly at Robby’s back.

“I think we’re safe, but you never know.” Child soldiers were often used in the militias and couldn’t be discounted in this situation.

As he crossed the room, one of the kids sat up. It was a precarious moment. Evans was at the door, prepared to shoot if necessary, but the boy only looked at them wide-eyed. Robby eased his finger away from the trigger as he lifted another to his lips. The boy continued to stare, so Robby pushed his goggles up to expose his face. Then, he slowly moved closer and crouched beside the bed.

“American,” he whispered to the boy, hoping it would help. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn’t.

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