January 3, 2026 – O'Hare Highway Interchange Time: 11:55 PM
The highway had turned into a hellscape of burning vehicles and shattered barriers. As I jumped out of the fire truck's cab, the ringing in my ears gave way to an adrenaline-fueled silence. The armored FBI vehicle lay on its side, a twisted heap of metal on the lower road.
"Michael! They're moving!" Ivy shouted over the radio from inside the minibus. "Support teams are two minutes away. Hurry!"
I gripped the rifle tightly in my hands. I was in that "tunnel vision" mode my father had taught me. I heard none of the noise around me, only saw the target. Smoke rose from the door of the overturned armored vehicle as an injured HRT agent tried to crawl out.
When the agent pointed his pistol at me, I didn't hesitate. One shot.
Puff.
The bullet lodged in the man's shoulder. I didn't kill him; I just needed him out of my way. When I reached the vehicle, I saw the rear door was locked.
"Elara!" I yelled, my voice echoing over the engine noise. "Get back!"
I placed the small plastic explosive from my pocket into the lock mechanism and detonated it. As the door hinges gave way, I saw my sister through the cloud of dust inside. Elara was clinging to the roof of the vehicle (now the floor), her eyes wide with terror.
"Michael?" Elara whispered. "You... What did you do?"
"Hold my hand, Elara! Now!" As I pulled her out, I saw the blood on my sister. Thankfully, it wasn't hers. But the horror in Elara's eyes hurt me more than any bullet could have. She wasn't looking at her brother, she was looking at an executioner.
Time: 00:10
Middle of the Highway – Second Wave
Just as I was about to get Elara into the van, the lights of five black SUVs coming from the other end of the highway fell upon us. Agent Carter and his team had arrived.
"Hale! Drop your weapon and surrender!" Carter shouted through a megaphone. "You don't want your sister to get hurt any more!"
Michael laid Elara on the floor of the minibus. He signaled to Ivy, "Get out of here!"
"What are you going to do?" Ivy shouted, her eyes filled with that endless worry and admiration.
"I'm going to show them how deep the waters run in Chicago," I said.
As the minibus sped away, burning rubber, I was left alone in the middle of the highway. I dropped the rifle in my hand and drew the two pistols at my waist. It might have looked like a suicide attack, but the secret "stash" my father Richard left me wasn't just weapons. Thanks to Ivy, I knew the layout of the gas pipelines under the highway.
"Carter!" I yelled. "I asked you about Sterling's notebook. You're going to get your answer now!"
I pressed the remote control in my pocket.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The highway asphalt erupted like a volcano, triggered by the gas leak beneath it. As Carter's SUVs were engulfed in flames, a massive section of the highway collapsed. Chaos was my biggest bullet. And I had fired that bullet straight into their hearts.
Time: 01:30
Safe House – New Shelter
Elara sat in the corner of the room, wrapped in a blanket, shivering. Ivy, trying to prepare something in the kitchen, frequently glanced into the living room at Michael. Michael stood by the window, watching the dark Chicago skies.
Elara slowly got up and came over to Michael. "Michael... Did you kill those men?"
Michael didn't look at his sister. "They came to kill us, Elara. Just like my father did, I was just cleaning up."
"My father was a cop, Michael! You... You're a murderer now. Ivy told me, I know everything. Dawson Bridge, Sterling, Luca... Michael, this isn't who we are."
Michael suddenly turned and grabbed Elara's shoulders. The cold fire in his eyes silenced Elara."We were never who you thought we were, Elara,"Michael said."Dad was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I am just the one who finally bit back."
Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. Ivy drew her gun, but Michael said, "Stop." "It's Natalia."
Natalia entered, her face covered in soot. She was the only survivor from Carter's team because Michael had planned the highway explosion to protect the area where Natalia was.
"You could have killed me, Michael," Natalia said, placing a file on the table. "Why didn't you?"
"Because you were the only one who found out who Asher Burke was, Natalia," Michael said. "And I have a right to know what's in that file."
Natalia opened the file. Inside was an old birth certificate from the 1980s and a photo of Richard Hale in his youth. In the photo, Richard was shaking hands with another police officer. That officer's face had been burned with acid, but the tattoo on his arm was clear:An hourglass.
Natalia whispered, "Asher Burke isn't a stranger, Michael. Asher Burke is your real uncle,Thomas Hale,the one your father reported 'dead' 15 years ago."
The world crumbled around Michael once more. The monster he wanted to avenge was actually a part of his own blood.