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Raise the awning.

They didn’t say anything about securing it. We just had to raise it and we could move on, or at least that would be a literal interpretation. But given the way things were going, it was worth a try.

Hoping I was right, I straightened.

“Drop the bag and leave the hammer,” I said to Hala. “We’re not going to use them.”

“What?” Hala looked up with blacked-out goggles. “Why not?”

“Let me worry about that. Just come on, okay?”

She stood, and we dashed back to the others. Bo, Jax, Kira, and Mike already stood at the corners, awaiting my orders.

“Red, what’s next?” Jax said calmly.

I took a calming breath. “Okay, I want each of you at the four corners to grab the rope connected to your pole. Jax, call out to Frankie. Frankie, go to him, and when you get there, steady his pole. Hala, you do the same with Bo, and Wally, you assist Kira. Mike, I want you to just stand by, okay? Hold your rope and the pole, but don’t move yet. We’re going to raise your side last.”

Soon as everyone was in place. One person held a rope and one person steadied the pole, except for Mike, who continued to hold both.

“Now, on the count of three, I want everyone except Mike to step back two paces holding the rope taut and the pole steady,” I said. “One. Two. Three.”

Everyone except Mike stepped back in near perfect sync. Three sides of the awning went up perfectly. I almost cheered, but we weren’t done yet. I gave a few additional adjusting commands and then had Frankie move to where Mike held the remaining rope and pole. His side was still partially collapsed, but Frankie grasped the pole and Mike held the rope.

“On my command, Frankie, you and Mike take two steps back and hold on tight,” I instructed. “The rest of you stay where you are and hold your sides tightly.”

Two steps later, the last side of the awning was raised. It looked perfect, even if it wasn’t nailed to the ground with stakes.

Heart pounding, I spread my arms and turned in a slow circle. I had no idea where the monitoring cameras were located, but I swept my hand toward the awning and hoped with all my heart I had done the right thing.

“Task completed,” I shouted. “It’s officially raised.”

Chapter Forty-Five

ANGEL SINCLAIR

My proclamation was met by dead silence. My heart sank.

I’d been wrong, and now I’d wasted valuable time. Goodbye at any chance of making UTOP.

Just as I was turning around to instruct someone to fetch the bag with the stakes, the clear peal of a bell sounded through the clearing.

“Yes!” I screamed, jumping up and pumping my fists in the air.

Everyone dropped the awning in a jumble of poles and ropes, stripped off their goggles, and swarmed me. We allowed ourselves a few seconds of congratulations before I detached myself and pointed at the building. A large timer hung over the entrance. It had counted down to 116. I assumed it indicated the minutes we had remaining to finish the rest of the tasks.

“No time to waste,” I said. “On to the next task.”

Kira reached the door first and flung it open. We crowded around the entrance, jostling to see what was inside. At first glance it looked like the building was a large warehouse with high ceilings. The room had a narrow walkway painted white on the floor—about two people wide—while the rest was painted red, stretching out all the way to the walls on each side. The white path ended about twenty feet from the door at a slightly raised platform.

Bo stepped back and looked at me. “Do we go in?”

I wasn’t sure why he was deferring to me, but I answered anyway. “Yes.” Taking a breath, I stepped into the building, careful to stay on the white path. “Don’t touch the red floor,” I warned. “Proceed carefully.”

I made my way carefully to the foot of the platform and stopped. Kira was directly behind me, and others followed. Kira lifted her leg to step up onto the platform, but I held out an arm, stopping her.

“Wait. Let’s think about this first, okay?” I said.

She nodded and stayed where she was. We all surveyed our surroundings. On the opposite wall of the door and above another closed door hung a huge digital timer that was counting down. It showed 112.