The Other Side

The Other Side
Robert Kane POV

The emergency phone in my FBI office was ringing when the lights went out.
I grabbed it in the dark. "Kane here."
"Director, this is Agent Martinez. The entire city just lost power. Every single grid."
"Terrorist attack?"
"Unknown. But sir, there's something else. We lost contact with the team watching Kane Manor."
My blood turned to ice. Kane Manor. The place my wife had built in secret while I thought she was dead.
"How long ago?"
"Fifteen minutes. Right before the blackout."
I ran to the window. Chicago stretched out below me like a black ocean. Not a single light anywhere.
"Get me backup power. Now."
"Already working on it, sir."
The emergency generators kicked in, and my office filled with dim red light.
Marcus Chen burst through my door. "Robert, we have a problem."
"I know. Victoria has Iris."
"It's worse than that." He threw a tablet on my desk. "Look at this."
The screen showed a map of Chicago with dozens of red dots.
"What am I looking at?"
"Every major FBI safe house, police station, and government building in the city. Someone just sent this to every news station in Chicago."
"Sent what?"
Marcus tapped the screen. Text appeared below the map.
"Tomorrow night, these locations will be visited by the Kane family. Any federal agents found inside will be considered enemies of the people."
My hands started shaking. "She's going to attack every FBI location in the city."
"Using Iris and Ian as weapons. Robert, your kids are about to become the most wanted fugitives in America."
I stared at the map. Twenty-three locations. Hundreds of my people.
"We have to evacuate everyone."
"We can't. If we pull out of every safe house, we'll look weak. Every criminal in the city will think they can attack federal agents."
"And if we don't, Victoria will slaughter my people using my own children."
Marcus sat down heavily. "There's something else. We found Elena."
My heart jumped. "Where?"
"Chicago General Hospital. Someone dumped her outside the emergency room two hours ago."
"Is she alive?"
"Barely. Robert, they tortured her. For information about the kids."
I grabbed my coat. "Let's go."
The drive to the hospital took forever because nothing worked. No traffic lights, no street lights, no electronic anything. Just the headlights of cars trying not to crash in the dark.
Elena was in the ICU, hooked up to machines and breathing tubes. She looked so small in the hospital bed.
"The doctors say she'll live," Marcus said quietly. "But Robert, she's been asking for you."
I walked to her bedside. Her eyes opened when she heard my footsteps.
"Robert?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I'm here."
"I'm sorry. I tried to protect them."
"You did good, Elena. You did perfect."
"No." Tears ran down her face. "I told them things. When they hurt me, I told them things about Iris."
"What things?"
"About the birthmark on her shoulder. About how she hums when she's scared. About the way she tilts her head when she's thinking."
My heart broke. Those were the tiny details only family would know.
"It's okay—"
"No, it's not. Robert, Victoria is going to use those details to prove to everyone that Iris is really her daughter. That she has the right to make her do terrible things."
I held Elena's hand. "Where are they now?"
"Kane Manor. But Robert, it's not just a house. It's a fortress. Victoria has fifty armed men guarding it."
"We'll get them out."
"How? You can't attack your own wife and children. The news would destroy you."
She was right. If the world found out that FBI Director Robert Kane was in a gun battle with his own family, my career would be over. Worse, it would destroy public trust in the FBI.
"There has to be another way."
Elena's grip on my hand got tighter. "There is. But you won't like it."
"Tell me."
"Make a deal with her."
"What kind of deal?"
"Give her what she's always wanted. Power. Recognition. Control."
"I can't just hand over the FBI to a criminal."
"Then you'll lose your children forever."
I stared at Elena's broken face and thought about Iris. Sweet, brave Iris who had never asked to be part of this world.
"What would the deal look like?"
"She wants to be partners, not enemies. You help her take control of organized crime in Chicago, and she'll let the kids choose their own lives."
"Help her how?"
"By stopping the investigations into her operations. By looking the other way when her enemies disappear. By making her legitimate."
Everything inside me rebelled against the idea. I'd spent twenty years fighting criminals like Victoria. Now Elena wanted me to join them.
"I can't."
"Then Iris and Ian will spend the rest of their lives as killers for their mother. Is your career worth more than their souls?"
Before I could answer, Marcus came running into the room.
"Robert, we just got a message from Kane Manor."
"What kind of message?"
He held up his phone. "It's a video. From Iris."
I grabbed the phone and pressed play.
Iris appeared on the screen, sitting at a desk. She looked scared but trying to be brave.
"Dad," she said, "if you're watching this, then you know where I am. Mom wants to make a deal with you."
The camera shifted, showing Victoria standing behind Iris.
"Hello, Robert," Victoria said with that smile I used to love. "Surprised to see me?"
"Get to the point, Victoria."
"Always so direct. Fine. Here's the deal. You have twenty-four hours to decide. Join me, or lose your children forever."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to call off every federal investigation into my operations. I want you to make me a special FBI consultant. I want legitimacy."
"And in exchange?"
"In exchange, the children get to choose their own futures. No more hiding. No more lies. No more using them as weapons."
The camera moved back to Iris. "Dad, don't do it. Don't compromise everything you believe in because of me."
"Shut up," Victoria snapped, and Iris flinched.
My hands clenched into fists.
"You have until tomorrow night," Victoria continued. "Meet me at Navy Pier at midnight. Come alone, and bring signed papers making me an official FBI consultant. Do this, and our children will be free."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then tomorrow night, Iris and Ian will lead attacks on every FBI safe house in Chicago. They'll become the most wanted criminals in America. They'll spend the rest of their lives running from the law you represent."
The video ended.
I stared at the black screen, my heart pounding.
Twenty-four hours to choose between my career and my children.
Between justice and family.
Between everything I'd built and everything I loved.
Marcus put his hand on my shoulder. "Robert, you can't seriously be thinking about making a deal with her."
"Can't I?"
"She's a killer. A criminal. Everything we've fought against."
"She's also the mother of my children."
"She's also insane. Robert, if you give her what she wants, she'll own you. She'll own the FBI. She'll own everything."
I looked at Elena, who was watching me with sad, understanding eyes.
"What would you do?" I asked her.
"I'd save the kids," she said without hesitation. "I'd make the deal."
"Even knowing what it would cost?"
"Robert, you can rebuild a career. You can't rebuild a soul."
Marcus shook his head. "This is crazy. There has to be another way."
"Like what?"
"Like storming Kane Manor. Like ending this once and for all."
"With my children inside? They could get killed in the crossfire."
"They could get killed anyway. Robert, Victoria Kane is a snake. She'll never keep her word."
Maybe he was right. Maybe making a deal with Victoria was like making a deal with the devil.
But what choice did I have?
I pulled out my phone and started dialing.
"Who are you calling?" Marcus asked.
"The Attorney General. If I'm going to sell my soul, I need to make it official."
"Robert, don't do this."
I held up my hand, listening to the phone ring.
On the third ring, someone answered.
"Attorney General Williams."
"Sir, this is Director Kane. I need to discuss making a deal with a very dangerous criminal."
"What kind of deal?"
I looked at Elena, who nodded encouragingly.
I looked at Marcus, who shook his head desperately.
I thought about Iris, trapped in that fortress with a mother who saw her as a weapon instead of a daughter.
"The kind of deal that's going to save my children and damn my soul."
But as I started to explain the situation, my phone buzzed with an incoming text message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it and read the message.
My blood went cold.
"Sir," I said to the Attorney General, "I'll have to call you back."
I hung up and showed Marcus the text message.
It said: "The deal has changed. Victoria Kane is no longer in control. Someone else is calling the shots now. Meet me at the old brewery on Fifth Street. Come alone. Come now. Or your children die in one hour. - A Friend"
Marcus read the message and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know. But whoever it is, they just became more dangerous than Victoria."
I grabbed my gun and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To find out who's really pulling the strings in this game."
But as I reached the hospital elevator, the lights went out again.
And in the darkness, I heard footsteps behind me.
Footsteps that didn't belong to Marcus.
Someone else was in the hallway with us.
Someone who'd been listening to every word we'd said.