Everyone looked at Iris.
Tessa lifted the brass key from the case.
“This is the tower key.”
Iris reached beneath the neckline of her dress and pulled out a thin chain.
A small black key hung from it.
Her father had given it to her when she became chief executive.
She had never known what it opened.
Adrian took a step backward.
“You cannot go to the barrier in this weather.”
Iris removed her high-heeled shoes.
The guests watched in astonishment as she placed them on the marble floor.
She looked at Tessa’s bare feet.
“What happened to your shoes?”
“The delivery tunnel flooded.”
Iris handed her evening jacket to an assistant.
“Find her something dry. Then bring my car.”
“The roads are closed,” the head of security said.
“Then prepare the harbor launch.”
Adrian’s voice rose.
“The launch will never reach the western tower.”
Iris turned toward him.
“You sound certain.”
Adrian looked toward the doors.
The security guards surrounded him.
“Mr. Cross,” Iris said, “you will remain here.”
“You have no evidence against me.”
“I have enough to stop you from leaving.”
“You will destroy the company.”
“If that wall fails, there may not be a company tomorrow.”
Tessa closed the metal case.
Iris looked down at her.
“Can you operate the manual release?”
“My mother taught me the sequence.”
“Then show me.”
Rain struck the harbor launch like thrown gravel.
Iris sat beside Tessa inside the narrow cabin while the pilot fought the waves. Two security officers held the rail behind them.
The city lights disappeared whenever the boat fell between swells.
Tessa watched the pressure gauge.
The needle had entered the dark red section.
“How much time?” Iris asked.
“Twenty-one minutes.”
“Your mother allowed you to work with her?”
“She never called it work.”
“What did she call it?”
“Making sure I could survive people who thought they were smarter than the ocean.”
Despite everything, Iris almost smiled.
“That sounds like her.”
“You knew her?”
“Not well enough.”
Tessa looked at her.
“My mother admired you once.”
Iris turned toward the rain-covered window.
“Once?”
“She said you used to visit the workshops yourself. She said you remembered the names of mechanics and welders.”
“I was younger.”
“She said becoming powerful made you easier to deceive.”
The words struck harder than Iris expected.
She did not defend herself.
After a moment, she said, “She was right.”
The western tower appeared through the storm.
It rose from the water like a black pillar. Emergency lights flashed around its base.
The launch slammed against the platform.
A security officer secured the line.
Iris and Tessa climbed the ladder.
By the time they reached the entrance, both were soaked.
Tessa inserted the brass key into the tower door.
It would not turn.
She tried again.
“It’s jammed.”
Iris looked through the narrow window.
A red emergency light pulsed inside.
The security officer lifted a metal bar from the launch.
“Stand back.”
He struck the lock.
Once.
Twice.
On the third blow, the door opened.
An alarm screamed.
They entered the control chamber.
Every monitor displayed green symbols.
SYSTEM NORMAL.
PRESSURE STABLE.
NO STRUCTURAL RISK.
Tessa looked at the analog gauge.
Its needle shook against the final mark.
“The screens are lying,” she said.
A deep metallic groan moved through the tower.
Iris felt it beneath her feet.
Gate Seven was bending.
Tessa ran toward the rear wall.
A circular panel contained two keyholes.
She inserted the brass key into the first.
Iris placed the black key into the second.
“Turn on three,” Tessa said.
“One.”
The tower shook.
“Two.”
Somewhere below them, metal screamed.
“Three.”
They turned the keys.
Nothing happened.
Tessa stared at the panel.
“No.”
“What is wrong?”
“The manual system needs hydraulic pressure.”
Another alarm began.
This one was not controlled by a computer.
It was mechanical, deafening, and real.
Tessa opened her mother’s notebook.
“There is an auxiliary pump beneath the control floor.”
The security officer pulled open a maintenance hatch.
Hot air rushed upward.
A ladder descended into darkness.
“I’ll go,” he said.
Tessa stopped him.
“You won’t know the valve sequence.”
“Tell me.”
“There are twelve valves. The labels were removed during construction.”
Iris looked into the shaft.
“I’m going with her.”
The officer shook his head.
“Mrs. Maddox—”
“That is not a request.”
Tessa descended first.
The chamber below was filled with pipes, wheels, and waist-high machinery. Water sprayed from a broken seal.
She moved quickly, touching each valve as if remembering a map.
“Blue wheel, half turn,” she said.
Iris turned it.
“Small lever beside the pressure line.”