Chapter 8 - The Tower With Twelve Windows
Rachel entered the tower alone.
Federal agents surrounded the peninsula but could not approach without crossing an exposed stone path.
Emma watched through a camera attached beneath Rachel’s coat.
The ground floor contained old generators, filing cabinets, and a metal door leading underground.
Gareth stood beside the stairway holding a gun.
Detective Cole watched from the upper landing.
“You were supposed to bring Emma,” Gareth said.
Rachel held up the brass key.
“She does not know the full sequence.”
“Lydia does.”
“No. Daniel divided the final six numbers between us.”
Gareth’s expression changed.
Emma looked toward the federal commander.
Rachel had never told anyone this.
Gareth seized her wrist.
“What are the numbers?”
“You kill me, and the trust remains locked.”
He dragged her upstairs.
Lydia sat tied to a chair beneath one of the narrow windows. Her face was pale, but her eyes were open.
Daniel’s wheelchair stood beside her.
Emma pressed one hand against the medical vehicle screen.
Her father looked older than the man in her memories. A long scar crossed his temple. His right hand rested motionless in his lap.
But he was alive.
Rachel stopped in front of him.
“I am sorry.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You were sorry four years ago.”
His voice was weak but steady.
“You still signed the certificate.”
Gareth pushed Rachel toward the central console.
The trust server required three forms of verification.
Daniel’s fingerprint.
Both twins’ codes.
And the brass key.
Cole placed Daniel’s hand on the scanner.
The first light turned green.
Gareth forced Lydia to face the keypad.
“Your numbers.”
She remained silent.
He struck the back of her chair.
“Lydia.”
She looked at Daniel.
He shook his head.
Gareth raised the gun.
Rachel shouted six numbers.
The second light flashed yellow.
“Those are Emma’s,” Lydia whispered.
Rachel had remembered the melody.
Gareth smiled.
“Then give me yours.”
Lydia closed her eyes.
Emma understood what her sister was doing.
When they were children, they used a secret signal whenever one of them needed help.
Two slow blinks.
One fast blink.
Lydia repeated it toward the camera.
She knew Emma was watching.
Emma turned to the federal commander.
“She wants me to enter.”
“Absolutely not.”
“She is going to give him a false code. When the system locks, Gareth will panic.”
“We can use that moment.”
“He may shoot her.”
Dr. Shaw gripped Emma’s shoulder.
“Your sister is asking you to trust her.”
Emma’s throat tightened.
Trust did not mean waiting helplessly.
It meant understanding Lydia’s plan.
Emma looked at the twelve tower windows.
Six faced the lake.
Six faced the forest.
Daniel’s story said the seventh window never showed the same world twice.
“The server room has another entrance,” Emma said.
She pointed toward the forest side of the tower.
The seventh window was positioned above a drainage tunnel.
Federal agents located the tunnel beneath thick brush.
It was narrow, half flooded, and connected to the underground server chamber.
A tactical team entered.
Upstairs, Lydia began reciting numbers.
She gave Gareth five correct digits.
Then one false digit.
The console sounded an alarm.
ACCESS DENIED.
Gareth struck her chair.
“You lied.”
Cole moved toward the window.
“Police are in the tunnel.”
He had detected them through a hidden sensor.
Gareth seized Daniel’s wheelchair.
“We move now.”
Rachel blocked him.
“You cannot take all three of them.”
“I only need one twin alive.”
Emma heard the sentence through Rachel’s camera.
She ran from the medical vehicle before anyone could stop her.
“Gareth!”
Her voice carried across the water.
He appeared at the upper window.
Emma stood in the rain with both hands visible.
“You need my numbers.”
Lydia screamed, “Do not come inside!”
Gareth smiled.
“Open the gate.”
The federal commander whispered instructions through Emma’s hidden earpiece.
She walked slowly toward the tower.
Behind Gareth, Rachel reached into her sleeve and removed a small metal object.
The old music player.
She had taken it from the evidence bag before entering.
Rachel pressed play.
Daniel’s voice filled the tower.
“Gareth Dixon caused the crash. Rachel opened the garage door, but she did not know why he needed my car.”
Gareth turned toward her.
“You said that file was gone.”
Rachel looked at Emma through the camera.
“I lied.”
Cole shot the camera.
The screen went dark.
May you like
Then Lydia screamed.
Continue to the next part: Emma enters the tower without knowing whether Lydia, Rachel, or Daniel was hit.
