Sweat collected in the balaclava covering Whisper’s face. The temperature had risen along with the humidity, but that wasn’t what had him hot. Two kilometers away sat a compound filled with children. The place was a cover for Ilimin Boko, a new group trying to build their credibility in the region outside of Onitsha, Nigeria by exerting force. His team wouldn’t be in this hellhole if it wasn’t for the four Rangers who’d stumbled into a trap and been captured. Three of the Ranger’s eight-member team were dead, killed in a mass execution staged by the sadistic jerks running the group. One guy got away by some miracle and had called in the need for rescue, and that was how his team had become involved.

This area was a ticking time bomb. No one had any business being over here, but for some reason that defied logic, the US Army had gone in hard and lost big.

Ghost circled to Whisper’s right and Beatle had moved to his left. Coach was on coms. Like always, there was one chance to get this right. He shuddered as a feeling raced down his left leg. He didn’t ignore it this time. He guessed Coach had seen him lift his left shoulder then slowly turn his head to look that way.

“Talk to me, Whisper,” Coach said.

“Left side, behind Beatle.”

“Fletch.” Coach only had to say the one word, the other guys would know what to do.

Whisper didn’t understand his gift if that’s what it even should be called. Really, it was just an ability to sense danger, an intuition at best. In basic training, guys thought he was cheating and tried to get him in trouble. It had backfired on them. Maybe it was his hearing that allowed him to know something was off or it could be something else altogether. Perhaps he saw movement. He didn’t know. However he got the vibe, he wasn’t going to complain since it saved their asses plenty of times.

Over coms he heard a grunt then a low chuckle before Fletch spoke. “Took out two who were about to stumble upon us. You need to thank me, Beatle. And thank Whisper too.”

Beatle grunted his thanks which made Whisper smile. The smile was wiped from his face when a putrid smell wafted his way. He prayed it wasn’t dead children. These groups were merciless and didn’t regard human life as important. It was a sad statement on humanity. How these people were allowed to continue their destruction was beyond him.

They needed to get closer, so he moved across the road, hating being in the open. There wasn’t another way to get to the compound which kind of sucked. Ghost was leading them, moving the team closer to where the Rangers were being held.

The two men Fletch took out were probably guards who were supposed to be stationed at the gates. Laziness got people killed, but lucky for them it was the enemy being lazy.

This operation was messy because three Rangers were dead. His team was going to try to retrieve their bodies, but he wasn’t sure there was anything to retrieve. The priority was the men who were alive.

He hated operations like this. War was tough, and when idiots like this Ilimin Boko group popped up, it made their lives even more difficult.

First, they moved to the area where the deceased Rangers were supposed to be but all they found was a pile of ash. It was like his team had suspected, all traces of their dead had been demolished. The few men still alive needed to be rescued. Later, once they'd defeated this group or once the group moved on, another team could come in and search for remains. He hated they couldn’t bring home the bodies for their loved ones to mourn and bury, but there wasn’t anything he could do at the moment.

The team headed to the compound. Ghost had moved into position and Beatle was getting there. In five seconds Ghost would slip inside through a low window and clear the side door Whisper was set to enter. Once he was in, they would take care of the four guards on the other doors.

Whisper heard the click from Ghost and moved. The door opened and he headed to the right, taking out the first man he met.

No alarm sounded as they worked their way around to the back door where Ghost delivered the blow that took out another guy. Whisper reached out, his fingers wrapping around Ghost’s arm. His buddy paused and turned to look at him. He lifted his hand and held up one finger then pointed to a doorway that led to the interior of the house.

Ghost nodded once then moved to the door, reaching in and grabbing the guy out so fast Whisper wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it himself. After Ghost finished with that hostile, he met Whisper’s gaze and gave a quick nod.

They moved to the final entrance. Whisper took out the last guy and Beatle and Fletch joined them. The other men in the Ilimin Boko camp would be sleeping, at least that’s what their intel—which hadn’t been wrong so far—had said.

Beatle moved past Ghost and picked the lock on the door leading to the main room. This was where things got tricky. Their Rangers were being held in a small room at the back and down a hall. The main room was the sleeping quarters for a few of the men and some of the children, mostly girls. If one of those kids woke up, they would most likely yell. He couldn’t blame the kids, they didn’t know any difference. Their food, their water, their everything was being provided for by these killers who would dispose of these kids once they no longer needed them. It was the sad reality of this type of conflict. Before coming into this situation, the men of Ghost’s team had agreed none of the kids would die if they could help it.

Beatle opened the door to the main room. They slipped in one by one, with him second to last. Ghost followed up behind him. Silently, they moved through the room, passing by kids sleeping in chairs, on couches, some on cots, and a few were stretched out next to full-grown men. Anger rolled through Whisper like a freight train racing heavy down the tracks.

Ghost touched his arm and he guessed he’d paused. This wasn’t the reason they’d come here. First, they had to get the Rangers to safety. Their men were their prime objective, not these kids. If they could rescue some of the kids, they would, but the men in this room and the other rooms were too many to fight. If they had more resources, maybe, but the US military wasn’t supposed to be here.

Whisper moved, his steps light, his breathing near silent. They were almost to the edge of the room when a little girl, maybe six, possibly seven, opened her eyes. She looked right at Whisper and he moved in a flash, picking her up, covering her mouth. He’d pushed his night vision goggles up and stared her in the eyes. She met his gaze with a seriousness he didn’t know kids could have.

She gave him a nod, and he made her a silent promise as he moved with his men, heading deeper into the compound. If this girl shrieked, or said anything, they were screwed. His heart pounded because he was in a nearly impossible situation.

Whisper removed his hand from her mouth and put his night vision goggles back on as they stepped into a dark hall. The girl didn’t flinch. None of the guys said anything about the extra cargo he was carrying, he just hoped he didn’t have to leave her behind.

Slow and silent, they passed the first door, then the second, and paused at the third. For entry into the room, he had to set the girl down. She didn’t move or make a sound. Beatle reached out and opened the door, slipping in slowly. He was staying in the hall, making sure no one entered and interrupted them. The girl was problematic. He didn’t want to kill someone in front of her, but he would dispatch anyone if they entered the hall.

He heard Beatle and Fletch say something, then a bit of rustling.

Coach came on coms. “Three packages are good, one is damaged. Ready to move out.”

Whisper breathed a sigh of relief. They had the four. Now, they only had to get out of here. The compound was huge, with twisting halls, rooms added on, hallways that wound through the place like a labyrinth. If they headed out any way other than the one they’d used to enter, they could get lost, or end up deeper in the compound where more men slept. Going out would be even more dangerous than coming in had been.

Once the Rangers were in the hall, the girl put her hand on his arm. She’d been so good, and he couldn’t leave her here. She wasn’t too heavy, so he carried her past the still sleeping men in the main room. It was tricky getting past the sleeping men and kids, but once outside, they all sighed as relief flowed over their team.

“Wait up,” one of the Rangers said.

Ghost paused and grunted. “What?”

“We need to kill those men.”

Ghost shook his head. “It’s too messy. Those kids would die.”

The Ranger grunted, his lips turning down in a deep frown. “They’re probably going to die anyways.”

“Later. Right now, our mission is to get you all out.”

The guy’s lips thinned. Whisper understood his need to kill those men, but they didn’t have the supplies to go in and rescue all the kids.

“What’s your name?” Ghost asked.

“Whitney,” the Ranger said.

“Maybe later, now, let’s get you all to the bird waiting for us. This isn’t our war right now.”

“It sucks,” Whitney said.

Whisper agreed. They all wanted to kill the men in the compound, but there were too many kids and too many variables. They’d been lucky getting in and retrieving their cargo. If they tried to save all the kids, it would be a blood bath.

Whisper slung the girl over his shoulder and took off at a dead run across the street. She didn’t make a noise. He wondered how upset Ghost would be. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken her, but she’d been awake. If he’d left her, she could have alerted the others they were close.

Thirty minutes later, they were clear of the Ilimin Boko and at the exfil point. He set the girl down, her wide, dark eyes stared up at him. He wished he could have helped more girls, but they didn’t have the time or the resources.

The rumble of the bird overhead was right on time. He squatted next to her and pulled out a length of rope, making her a harness. She said nothing as he helped her put her legs through then cinched her in. They were taking this girl out of the country, and someone somewhere would have to deal with the repercussions.

The Rangers were lifted first, then the girl, and finally their team. Relief filled him as they left the area. They hadn’t found the remains of the dead men, which is what their intel had warned might happen. If they had days, equipment, and maybe cadaver dogs, they might be able to locate something, but the resources weren’t there for their mission.

The girl settled beside him, leaning against his body. He put his arm around her, holding her tight as the helicopter bounced over the choppy air where the ocean met the land. The girl flinched but didn’t freak out. He worried about this girl’s future, but he could only do so much. The future of everyone in this area was on tenuous ground. He was glad he lived in a safe town in the states. Thoughts of Lorie filled his mind as they flew to a Navy ship off the coast of Africa. She was everything he wasn’t. Maybe he was making her out to be too much, but she was so different from his everyday life.

Once they landed, the girl headed off with two Navy doctors. The Rangers were taken to medical. Whitney waved as he followed the medical team. Whisper watched as they ambled off, wondering if he’d ever see any of them again. He turned and followed Ghost’s team to a debriefing room set up with water and a few snacks.

After a long drink, he met Ghost’s gaze and shrugged. “I couldn’t leave her behind, not after I picked her up and found her awake.”

“I get it. She’ll be checked out and returned to her family if they’re still around. Lots of kids have been abducted. Hopefully she’ll be able to give their guys some reliable information. As for our mission, I consider it a success.”

They went over the details of the mission, each of them adding in their thoughts on what could have gone more smoothly. The door cracked open, and they all hopped up as a Navy captain stepped in.

“At ease, men. I’m Jameson. You’ve done a great service to the men you rescued. We’ll get you fed and then I believe you’re on a bird out of here to a base in Europe.”

“Yes, sir,” Ghost said.

“Good. So that young girl you brought back.”

“Yes, sir,” Ghost answered for them.

“She’s a fount of information. She’s been talking nonstop. We had to get a guy out of engineering who speaks the language. Smart cookie that one. She’s been talking a mile a minute about who is in the compound, how they have been moving through the country, how many people are training with them, everything. Said her brother was killed by them and her sister died a week after they showed up there. She doesn’t like them and wants to help. She said she’d tell us everything. Whoever thought picking her up would be a good thing, he was right.”

“Thank you, sir. That would be Whisper who picked her up.” Ghost pointed at him and he took the captain’s outstretched hand.

“Good call. It’s a pleasure working with you men. We get more SEALs through here than your type. It’s good to shake things up. Makes our men and women appreciate the job they have.”

Ghost laughed, and Jameson shook his head and chuckled. “You have about two hours before you’re set to leave. Find some food and maybe we’ll see you all on another mission.”

“Yes, sir,” they all said before Captain Jameson stepped out.

Beatle stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Don’t know how you do it, Whisper. It’s like you’ve got this sixth sense.”

He rolled his eyes. “But I don’t see dead people.”

“No, but it’s weird how you know things.” Beatle snorted out a laugh and he chuckled too. It was odd, but he didn’t ask too many questions.

“Time for food,” Ghost said. “We’ll finish breaking everything down and write up the reports on our way home. Once again, you guys didn’t disappoint.”

Whisper felt good about what they’d accomplished. They’d brought home four Rangers. There were injuries, but the men would be able to hug their significant others again. He wished they could have saved the men who’d died, but they couldn’t turn back time.