CHAPTER 29 — NINE OPEN DOORS
Evelyn ordered the emergency override.
It failed.
The foundation’s electronic systems had been designed by Michael Crane.
He had installed a secondary control network no one knew existed.
Rosa and Victor moved through the residential wing with tools, forcing doors open manually.
The false Leah appeared on multiple cameras at once.
In one hallway.
Then another.
Then the garden.
Some images were recordings.
Others were live.
No one could determine which was real.
Gabriel studied the building plans.
“The system is directing everyone toward the marble hall.”
“Why?” Evelyn asked.
“Because that is where they want the residents gathered.”
Evelyn called Victor.
“Do not bring anyone into the main hall.”
“It is the only unlocked exit.”
“That is why.”
Victor changed direction, leading residents toward the kitchen courtyard.
The exterior doors sealed moments before they reached them.
Only nine interior doors remained open.
Each led toward a different section of the mansion.
The chapel room.
The hidden music room.
The evidence clinic.
Adrian’s office.
The greenhouse.
The east wing.
The old ballroom.
The garden tunnel.
The marble hall.
The same nine divisions represented in the Covenant symbol.
A voice came through the house speakers.
It sounded like Katherine.
“Evelyn, choose the correct door.”
Victor looked upward.
“That is not her.”
The recording continued.
“One door leads to the Registry. One leads to the heir. The others lead to consequences.”
Evelyn returned to the mansion by helicopter with federal agents.
From the air, she saw vehicles approaching the estate from three directions.
Black sedans.
No license plates.
The Covenant was no longer hiding.
Evelyn entered through the roof access and reached the security room.
Gabriel joined her.
“Which door?” he asked.
She remembered the childhood video.
Inside my brother.
The house built from blocks.
Adrian isn’t real.
Only one of us can stay.
“The Registry is not in a room,” she said.
“It was inside you.”
“Part of it.”
“And the rest may be inside Julian.”
Gabriel looked toward the nine camera feeds.
“Then the heir is the door.”
“No.”
Evelyn enlarged the image of the garden tunnel.
A figure stood at its entrance.
Adrian.
He wore prison clothing beneath a dark coat.
His face was bruised.
His hands were free.
Beside him stood Julian Cross.
The two men looked remarkably similar despite the difference in age and coloring.
Julian placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder.
Adrian did not resist.
The house speakers activated again.
This time, the voice belonged to Julian.
“Hello, Evelyn.”
“What do you want?”
“What was promised to me.”
“This house?”
“The house is only a key.”
“To what?”
Julian smiled into the camera.
“To every family listed in the Registry.”
Behind Evelyn, Gabriel suddenly collapsed.
Blood spread through his shirt near the place where the data capsule had been removed.
Someone had reopened the wound.
Evelyn caught him before he hit the floor.
Gabriel gripped her arm.
“He was already inside.”
“Who?”
Gabriel stared toward Victor’s image on the security monitor.
Then he whispered:
May you like
“Subject Nine.”
Every camera in the mansion went black.
