Page 2 of Hidden Chance

This time, the boy nodded, and Robby put his finger to his lips once more before rejoining his men. Besides Evans, who was covering him, the rest of his men were waiting in the main room.

“Guard this door,” he said to Evans as he passed him. “I don’t want anyone in or out.” He lowered his voice. “And keep an eye on the boys. We don’t know if they’re all on our side.”

“You got it, Boss.”

“The rest of the school has been cleared,” Holland said. “There’s no one else here.”

“Then we’ve missed something.” Robby went to the back room and checked for himself. All that was there were a few pieces of broken furniture.

“We’ve definitely missed something.” He turned in a circle. “These kids wouldn’t be here on their own.”

“And they wouldn’t need five guards,” Holland added. “But it’s a small building.”

Robby hurried outside, no longer worried about the creaking floorboards. “There’s more here somewhere.”

He jogged around the school, checking for anything suspicious, but the yard was clear.

“Our intel didn’t say anything about the kids other than they were being used as cover,” Holland said when Robby joined him again.

“Exactly. Cover for what?” He squeezed the back of his neck. It had taken him six intensive months of undercover work to discover the location of this school. In that time, a whole village ten miles from here had been wiped out. He couldn’t let that happen again.

Reentering the school, his boots forced more groans from the aging wood floors. He stopped mid-stride and squatted, pressing a hand to the floor.

“What is it?” Holland said.

“I think I know where they are.”

He went back to the boys’ room where several more had awoken and were watching silently or whispering to one another.

Robby marched across the floor, his steps silent as he went, confirming his suspicions. Then, he kneeled beside the boy he’d spoken to earlier.

“Where is it?Bhaalmharlell?”

The boy shook his head.

“The door.Tanhkarr.Where is it?”

The boy’s eyes flicked sideways toward another bunk. Robby turned, flicked his goggles back down, then dropped his head to the ground. He could see the handle of a hatch there.

“It’s there,” he said to his team. “Under that bed.”

“If we’re going in,” Holland said, “we’d better do it now. Who knows how long these kids will cooperate.”

“I’d say whoever’s down there already knows we’re here. Perez, Evans, you get these kids out of here. If we don’t come back out of the hole, you take them to safety. Holland, Mitchell, Green, you’re with me.”

“With all due respect,” Evans said. “If you don’t come out, we’re going in to get you.”

“I’ve given you an order.”

Perez and Evans shared a look, and Robby knew he’d allowed his past issues to interfere with the operation. Their priority on this mission was to take out the enemy and gather intel. And while it was crucial to make sure no undue life was lost, his men weren’t babysitters, and he’d chosen them because he trusted them to make decisions based on their extensive experience without him needing to micromanage.

“If we don’t come out, I expect you to make the right decision. But there’s no point in us all dying unnecessarily.”

“We understand, sir,” Perez said.

“Right. Let’s get moving.”

Once the kids were clear, they lifted the bed away from the hatch.

---