The moment they landed in Egypt, Echo came alive.
The endless golden sands and the mysterious desert air put a spark in her eyes, and her face lit up with a smile as bright as the sun-completely out of sync with the cold, composed expressions of Ryan, Hawk, and the others.
“Are you the boss of the Dark family?” someone asked as soon as they disembarked. A local man, dressed in traditional white robes and a keffiyeh, approached them with respectful bows.
He led them to a waiting convoy: a hulking Hummer for Ryan, with several modified Jeeps lined up alongside it for the rest of the group.
Echo’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the Jeeps-rugged, open-topped, and radiating a raw, untamed energy. In this place, these Jeeps made Cadillacs and Ferraris look like toys.
Without a word, Echo shoved past Hawk and headed straight for one of the Jeeps in the back. She jumped in and slid into the driver’s seat with the biggest grin plastered across her face. This was her kind of ride. She’d never driven a Jeep before, but this was the perfect time, place, and setting to do it.
Driving one through a crowded city would’ve been a waste-just getting stuck in traffic and inhaling exhaust fumes. But here, in the vast desert? This was the ultimate open-road experience.
Ryan noticed the grin stretched from ear to ear on Echo’s face but didn’t stop her. Without saying a word, he bypassed the Hummer that had been prepared for him and slid into the passenger seat of Echo’s Jeep. This was, in fact, the first time in his life he’d ever sat in a vehicle like this.
Hawk and Cobra exchanged looks of disbelief but said nothing as they followed.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian man who had been waiting in the Hummer looked visibly confused. Ryan, the feared boss of the Dark family, opting to ride in an ordinary Jeep instead of a luxurious Hummer? It didn’t make sense.
But, bewildered or not, no one dared question the boss’s decision. Without missing a beat, the man climbed into the same Jeep as Ryan, ready to follow orders-because when the Dark family boss made a choice, nobody argued.
With a sharp whistle, Echo slammed on the gas and followed the Hummer and the rest of the convoy.
Honestly, Echo was treating this whole trip like a vacation.
Finding Clement? If Ryan wanted someone found, they’d find them-even if it meant digging through the ground. With reliable intel, it was only a matter of time.
So, she figured, why stress? Might as well enjoy herself and recover from the nerve-wracking experience of dealing with Ryan.
Hawk and Cobra gave Echo matching glares, but she didn’t care one bit. Cobra, who sat right next to her, looked ready to explode, but she ignored him completely. As far as she was concerned, if Ryan didn’t say anything, they had no business interfering.
Ryan frowned slightly, watching Echo ride along, clearly doing whatever she pleased. But instead of scolding her, he just leaned back against the bumpy seat of the Jeep and asked in a low voice, “Where is he?”
The Egyptian man guiding them bowed respectfully. “Mr. Ryan, we don’t know. Mr. Clement was last seen working on the Great Pyramid, but two days ago, he disappeared without a trace. The other archaeologists are still there, but Mr. Clement is the only one missing.”
Ryan’s face darkened, and his voice turned cold. “Just give me the bottom line.”
He didn’t care about the details-only the results. And considering the man’s local reputation, Ryan didn’t believe for a second that he had no useful information.
Sensing the shift in Ryan’s tone and the way Hawk’s sharp, silent gaze bore into him, the man hesitated briefly. Then, with a slight raise of his eyebrows, he continued. “I know the last place Mr. Clement was seen. When I got your call, I sent men to investigate, but there was no sign of him. I can tell you where it is, but I doubt it’ll help.”
“Where exactly?” Hawk asked coldly, narrowing his eyes at the man’s hesitation.
The local guide hesitated again, then answered, “About 150 kilometers west of T Town, deep in the desert. It’s a remote area, and in the very center lies an unexcavated pyramid. We wouldn’t have even known it existed if Mr. Clement hadn’t been there. It’s heavily eroded-probably damaged by an earthquake, which is why no one ever found it before. Mr. Clement might’ve been the first to discover it, but…”
“Speak,” Ryan ordered, his tone softening just a fraction now that they had a lead on Clement.
The man frowned and continued, “The burial items inside the pyramid have already been disturbed. Some of them are still scattered in the outer passage. Judging by the tracks, someone was there two days ago.” He gave Ryan a cautious look, gauging his reaction.
Meanwhile, Echo, still having the time of her life behind the wheel, grinned from ear to ear as she eavesdropped on the conversation.
So this was basically tomb raiding. Archaeologists pretending to do research while looting treasures in plain sight-Clement was bold, she had to admit.
Hearing how cautious the local man was being, Echo couldn’t help but find it amusing. Just because Ryan was involved, the guy knew better than to question Clement’s motives or say anything harsh. The way he tiptoed around everything made it clear-being a local boss here wasn’t an easy gig.
“Head to T Town,” Ryan ordered in a cold, steady voice, his expression completely unreadable.
The local guy, clearly familiar with Ryan’s personality and methods, responded calmly, “We’re already heading in that direction. There are about 170 kilometers left to go.”
Cobra had reached out to the local guy before they even boarded the plane, so while they didn’t have all the details yet, the landing point had been carefully chosen. Since Ryan’s private jet didn’t follow any official flight paths or land at Egyptian airports, they’d skipped all the formalities and touched down right in the middle of the desert. The spot was remote-pretty close to where the incident happened, too.
GPS, radio comms, and all the high-end equipment they usually carried were useless here. Out in the desert, no system worked once the sandstorms kicked up. So now Echo, who was used to driving souped-up vehicles, found herself behind the wheel of this fully manual Jeep. The intense heat of the desert only amped up her excitement, making her drive even more wildly.
The vast dunes, endless golden sand, bumpy terrain, and occasional thorny shrubs added to the thrill. Every so often, they passed a camel or two, their bells jingling softly, adding a touch of exotic charm to the scene.
Echo was loving it. She pushed the Jeep harder, forcing the Hummer ahead of them to give way, leaving just one other Jeep in front. The two vehicles began racing through the desert, tearing across the dunes like it was some kind of competition.
Ryan leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, eyes closed. The rough terrain didn’t faze him in the slightest, and Echo’s reckless driving didn’t seem to bother him either. As the Jeep bounced over the uneven ground, its tires squealing, Ryan just let her do her thing without a word.
Hawk and Cobra exchanged a glance, their expressions a mix of frustration and resignation. This was embarrassing. This was the sixth-ranking member of the Dark family? They sneaked a look at the local guy, who was trying-and failing-not to laugh.
Hawk and Cobra couldn’t help but feel that any respect the Dark family might’ve commanded had just been destroyed by Echo acting like a complete delinquent.
Cobra sighed and turned his head, resting his arm on the edge of the door. Might as well focus on the terrain instead-better than watching Echo make a fool of them. And since Ryan clearly wasn’t going to stop her, Cobra figured it was best to act like none of this was happening.
The desert landscape remained desolate. Even though they were deep in the desert, a few small towns dotted the area wherever there was a water source. Occasionally, they’d pass a tiny patch of greenery, but these were few and far between.
After driving for what felt like dozens of kilometers, they’d seen only a person or two. For the most part, it was just endless stretches of sand, the same dull yellow spreading as far as the eye could see, with nothing else breaking the monotony.
Since they already knew their destination and the local guy didn’t have much solid information, Ryan stayed silent the entire way. Hawk, however, occasionally chatted with the local guy-not that it sounded like a real conversation. He was subtly fishing for anything useful while discarding the irrelevant.
“So, you’re saying there are desert bandits?”
Echo’s ears perked up when she overheard the local guy talking about the local power dynamics and what kind of threats they might encounter. The mention of bandits immediately sparked her curiosity.