don’t know for sure that Amanda
Gray stared around the small group.
Seichan shrugged. “I’m already a wanted fugitive. What’s one more crime?”
“And I was never an official member of Sigma anyway,” Tucker said. “Nothing says Kane and I have to follow those orders.”
Gray turned to his last teammate.
Kowalski sighed. “My pants are already soaking wet, so what the hell…”
“Then let’s figure out where to start our search.” Gray gripped his phone and brought up a detailed 3-D rendering of the island. He rotated it to show the outline of a cross. “These are the businesses and properties with possible ties to the Guild organization.”
“Wait,” Seichan said. “How does Painter know that?”
Gray glanced up at her, crinkling his brow. In the rush of information, he never thought to ask that question.
Seichan must have read that realization in his eyes. She shook her head, silently scolding him for yet another oversight. Gray tightened his fingers on the phone, irritated as much at the mistake as at Seichan catching him.
“Go on,” Seichan said.
“If Amanda is on the island, she’s likely to be found somewhere within the properties highlighted.”
“That’s a lot of territory to cover,” Tucker said.
“That’s why we’ll start here, the most likely target, and spiral out from it.” Gray pointed to the center of the cross.
“X marks the spot,” Kowalski mumbled. “What the hell, we are looking for a pirate’s buried treasure.”
Gray straightened. “And let’s hope it’s still there.”
He lowered his phone and started toward the center of the island, toward the shining central axis upon which this star turned. And it
“Burj Abaadi,” Tucker said, naming this central hub of Utopia. “The Eternal Tower.”
The fifty-floor skyscraper had been built in only eighteen months, constructed in conjunction with the island’s creation, the two projects rising together out of the sea.
Gray sensed that if anything were hidden on this island it would be there, at the heart of Utopia. There was only one way to find out for sure.
He turned to Tucker and Kane.
“Time to go to work.”
2:22 A.M.
Tucker led the way-or rather Kane did.
The shepherd ran a full block ahead along a deserted avenue that cut down one leg of the star. He heard his partner’s panting breath in his left ear and kept one eye on the video feed, watching for any signs of armed guards or the rare resident of Utopia.
He and the others stuck as much as possible to the shadows as they headed the quarter-mile to their destination. Palms lined both sides of the road and along a center median. Several stretches of trees were still in massive boxes, waiting to be craned into place and planted.
The entire island had that same surreal feeling-like a child’s model of a city, where pieces sat to the side, waiting to be fitted and glued into their proper spot.
But as they traveled closer to the star’s center, the cityscape became less fragmentary. Buildings grew taller, more polished, shining with lights. Evidence of life began to appear: an occasional golf cart or car in an empty parking lot; a tiny grocery store with stocked shelves; a neon sign glowed in the window of a Korean restaurant.
Still, Tucker suspected only a skeleton number of people actually populated the island, and most of those were likely connected in some manner to the Guild.
To Tucker, that terrorist outfit still sounded like something out of a dime-store novel. But then again, he had dealings in the past with many different mercenary-for-hire groups, private military companies with equally colorful names: saber, Titan, GlobalEnforce. And while he didn’t subscribe to conspiracy theories, he knew that the military- industrial complex was rife with corruption and collusion, generating scores of shadowy organizations that merged armed forces, intelligence services, political ambitions, and even scientific ventures.
So what was one more?
Earlier, Kowalski had pulled him aside and told him what had happened to Pierce’s mother and hinted at previous altercations with this organization. So, no matter what this new enemy was named, Tucker and the others were trespassing on their home turf-and he intended to watch his step.
And that applied to his partner, too.
“SLOW,” he radioed to Kane.
The jumbling view on his phone steadied as the shepherd’s lope became a deliberate pace. Turning, Tucker motioned the others behind a parked yellow Hummer. A tow rig behind the truck held a sleek watercraft and offered additional shelter. In another block, the avenue dumped-like the other four spokes of the star-into a central park that surrounded the twisting spire of Burj Abaadi.
The Eternal Tower rose like a glowing sculpture into the night sky, each floor slowly turning, making it appear as if the entire structure were gently swaying in the wind off the sea. Only the bottom five stories were stationary, encompassing the building’s lobby and maintenance levels, including its power station that collected energy generated by the horizontal wind turbines positioned between each floor.
“Shouldn’t we be closer?” Gray asked.
“No need,” Tucker said. “That park ahead is full of shadows, with lots of trees and hiding places. Don’t want to stumble upon a guard by mistake. Leave this to Kane.”
Seichan agreed. “He’s right.”
“Works for me,” Kowalski said, running his fingertips longingly along the sleek side of the yellow jet boat.
Outvoted, Gray nodded for Tucker to continue. The man sent Kane forward with a single command.
“GO SCOUT!”
