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Dave felt the others stack up behind him as he neared the front door. In his mind, he saw images of the resort’s accommodations from photos they had studied before the mission. He knew they lacked actual floor plans, but most agreed that the first floor was likely a living area furnished with couches and chairs, and a staircase leading to the sleeping area on the second floor. He had trained in kill houses with far less information than that, and he felt a familiar sense of calmness that only comes after hundreds of hours of training in a skill.

He was ready.

Dave reached for the handle and applied gentle pressure to test for resistance. It turned easily, so he paused, reached behind his back, and signaled to prepare for entry in…

Three… two… one…

He turned the handle and pushed the heavy door inward, quickly stepping inside and pivoting to the right to move toward what he saw was a wet bar in the room’s corner. Todd followed on his heels, turned left, and advanced along the wall toward the sliding glass door leading out onto the deck. Their infrared lasers swept the room in overlapping arcs as they scanned for threats.

“Clear right,” Dave said.

“Clear left,” Todd replied.

Ron and Graham stepped into the villa and took up positions on opposite sides of the front door. Graham nudged it closed behind him, then moved to the staircase on the far side of the room. With his rifle pointed up, he leaned his upper body out over the steps, craned his neck to look into the room above, and motioned for the others to advance.

Dave moved first and carefully placed his foot on the bottom step, hoping the humidity had caused the wood to swell and eliminated the potential for unwanted creaking. He held his breath and eased his body weight onto the solid wood tread. When no sound followed, he exhaled.

Step by step, he crept up the stairs and twisted his body to keep his rifle pointed at the empty space above. If he hadn’t been wholly focused on looking for threats, the villa’s ornate teak woodwork might have impressed him. But he only had time to focus on the beam of infrared light through the white hue of his NODs as he scanned the stairwell.

Dave felt Todd press a hand against his lower back to let him feel the slightest pressure of his presence. He trusted from experience that the other SEAL had his rifle aimed in the opposite direction to ensure they covered every angle, and he moved with confidence.

Reaching the second floor, Dave paused a moment before exposing himself to the room above. When Todd gave him an encouraging tap on his lower back, he lifted his head to scan the darkened space, then bolted up the remaining steps and crossed quickly to the canopy bed draped in mosquito netting. Todd followed on his heels and turned in the opposite direction to clear the cramped bathroom.

“Clear right,” Todd said.

“Clear left,” Dave replied.

Dammit!

Despite knowing the odds were slim they would find the captive Agency officer in the first villa they cleared, he was disappointed. The longer it took to find her, the greater the risk of being discovered. He wheeled for the stairs and descended to the first floor, where Ron and Graham waited anxiously. He gave them a quick shake of his head, then moved to the front door and prepared to lead them to the next villa.

Dave keyed the push-to-talk on his plate carrier to provide the TOC a situation report. “Scar Nine Nine, Mariner One Zero, villa one cleared. Negative Tangos. Negative Eagles. Moving to villa two.”

“Mariner One Zero, Scar Nine Nine, Dusty green, continue.”

From over his shoulder, Dave heard Graham whispering into Todd’s ear. “If the door’s locked, we’ll have to go loud. It’s reinforced, and a kick won’t do it.”

Todd tapped him on the shoulder to spur him into action, and Dave took a quick breath before stepping out into the night. The soft rustling of wind through the brush and faint crashing of waves below them were the only sounds. Nothing had changed since they entered the first villa less than five minutes earlier, and he moved swiftly across the crushed shell clearing to the second villa, further up the hill.

They had planned to clear the two villas at higher elevation next before moving back down to the fourth and final one. If they struck out and came up empty on all four, they would continue moving up and down the hill and follow the terrain to the northeast until they found her, or until the Mi-17 reached bingo fuel. At that point, they would have no choice but to beat feet down the hill and catch their ride back to the Reagan with their tails tucked between their legs.

That’s not gonna happen, he thought.