Free The Island Project: A Thriller by Taylor Buck Page A

and one vertical line up the middle. The letters CERTA, displayed in a techy, corporate font sat to the right of the mark.
    “You ever heard of CERTA?” Bennett asked.
    “CERTA? No, doesn’t sound familiar.”
    They rounded the corner of the garage and a building came at once into view. A large, grey building framed by giant Koa trees sat stoically among the dense jungle surroundings. Concrete, freestanding pillars covered in vines decorated the courtyard and framed the scene like a Greek forum. A Koi pond adorned the pathway to the entrance, which snaked in and out between ivy-covered pillars. A sign stood at the entrance displaying the same insignia shown on the vehicles. The building had long vertical windows with privacy glass that wrapped around the sides of the structure.
    “ What is this place? ” asked Kelly.
    “I think it’s safe to rule out ranger station ,” said Bennett.

    The building was captivating. It looked like a futuristic space station built among ancient Greek relics. It brought back visions of sci-fi stories and adventure novels that Bennett had read as a young boy. Bennett couldn’t help but be transfixed with the architecture. The exterior walls were made up of smooth gray panels. Large Doric pillars were fused into the panels at random giving the appearance like the structure had been built on top of crumbling ruins from the Acropolis.  He noticed a heli-pad jutting out from the far end of the building, reaching out into the clearing between the trees like an outstretched arm.
    Bennett and Kelly ducked down, still out of view and sneaked around the side of the garage. “Tom, I don’t know what this place is, but we’re clearly trespassing. Do you think we should just go up there?” Kelly asked.
    “I don’t know. Honestly, I’d rather slip by unnoticed, if we can. If we head back into the forest we should be able to go around. Hopefully we can find an exit up front. If not, it appears we may be forced to make some new friends.” Bennett flashed his charming smile. “Also, Kelly, it’s Saturday. Not likely anyone is here at all.”
    “True.” Kelly nodded, looking back the direction they came from. “It looks like another trail picks up over there.” Kelly pointed to the right of the building. A path wound past a shed and disappeared into the forest. It looked to continue around the east side of the building.
    “Good. Let’s make for it,” said Bennett.
    Bennett led Kelly past the garage and over to the trail, stopping briefly behind a large set of pillars they used for cover. They ducked their heads to stay low and keep out of sight. Bennett reached the trail and ducked behind a tree, Kelly right behind him. Once they were clearly out of view, they continued along the path camouflaged by the large trees.
    “What do you think? Pharmaceutical lab? Corporate retreat? Rehabilitation Center for celebrity junkies?” Kelly asked.
    “Could be anything. What a strange location though—It’s out in the middle of nowhere. And it’s clearly hidden from view for a reason,” Bennett said as he stared at the building through the trees.
    They followed the path which ran parallel to the building. The trail was just within the tree line and invisible from the windows. Bennett kept glancing over at the building.
    “How far are we from the truck now?” Kelly asked.
    “About three miles or so.”
    “Do you know where we are?” she asked.
    “Well, I did. I can’t get a GPS reading at all here though. It’s strange.” Bennett tapped his GPS unit as if it had a wire loose inside that would reconnect and find a signal. “I’ve got a pretty good idea though. We’re actually pretty close to where I spotted the ‘I’iwi yesterday.”
    “Really? You saw an ‘I’iwi. Those are harder and harder to…”
    “Hold up,” Bennett interrupted her. He broke through the trees and walked right up to the building. He didn’t bother to remain hidden since he hadn’t seen any windows this