The Hidden Empire of Harvey Kane

Chapter 004: Power Restored

Jonathan's face twisted, his voice ripping through the lobby.

"He's making it worse!" he shouted, pointing toward the stairwell Harvey had taken. "That man is sabotaging every remaining system we have. Does he think this is a joke? That Harvax is some playground for his amateur games?"

He spun toward the nearest security officers. "Get up there. Drag him out before he finishes destroying what's left!"

"No," Jane's voice cut across his command as she stepped forward. "I'll go myself."

Jonathan turned to her and chuckled, closing the distance between them in three strides. Then he shook his head, the false calm already cracking.

"He'll only end up filling your head with nonsense about fixing it, and you'll end up believing him–"

"Jonathan–"

"Because he's your husband."

Jane shook her head. "No, Jonathan. Leave it to me–"

"You know nothing about cybersecurity!" Jonathan suddenly blurted out, his voice loud enough that everyone in the lobby froze.

Silence fell, all conversations ceasing.

Jonathan's eyes flicked left, then right. All eyes were fixed on him now. He had just shouted down at his boss in front of the entire staff present.

He shut his eyes for a brief second, then exhaled hard. When he spoke again, the volume of his voice had dropped, but the edge remained.

"Look...I respect your position and your intelligence. But this isn't one of your strengths. Please. I'll go up there myself and see exactly what Harvey is doing."

Jane turned her face away and gave a single, tight nod. "Fine."

Jonathan pivoted toward the elevators, then stopped short. The power was still dead, so he couldn't use it.

He swore under his breath, wheeled around, and took the stairs two at a time.

With every step his resolve hardened. He would claim he caught Harvey red-handed, and accuse him of being the real source of every attack that had ever plagued the company.

He reached the main server room and roughly shoved the door open to see Harvey standing with his back to the entrance.

Jonathan couldn't help but marvel at the seemingly deep concentration Harvey displayed. But he rudely cleared his throat anyway.

"I knew it!"

Kyle didn't stop or even turn to him, but he continued. "You're fixing nothing, just finishing what you started–trying to burn this company to the ground so you can watch Jane's family humiliated."

Harvey still didn't turn.

"You really think no one sews through you? Well, I do. All those earlier attacks—convenient, weren't they? Always happening when you needed Jane sad and broken. Then you'd swoop in and try to comfort her."

Harvey finally turned, as Jonathan had just crossed the line by mentioning Jane's name. He walked toward Jonathan with the same calm he had shown in the lobby.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jonathan demanded in a slightly fearful voice, taking an involuntary step back.

"You really want me to believe that you've been the one fixing the earlier cyberattacks?" Harvey calmly asked.

"Why the hell are you asking me that?" Jonathan snapped. "Hasn't Jane told you about my accomplishments? Or does she keep you that far in the dark?"

Harvey bit his lower lip and gave the smallest shake of his head. Then he turned back to the workbench, picked two detailed network architecture schematics, and held them out to Jonathan.

"Now, tell me. Which of these were you using to fix the cyberattacks?"

Jonathan's eyes flicked to the papers, his throat working once as he swallowed.

He looked up with furrowed eyebrows. "What sort of stupid question–"

"Thought as much," Harvey cut in, small smile forming on his face.

Then he reached past Jonathan to the master power control switch on the wall panel and pressed it firmly.

Lights flooded the server room in a sudden, clean surge. Someone below, the building's system woke with a rising hum.

Screens along the wall flickered, then stabilized. And status indicators across the racks shifted from red to steady green as terminals through out the company began to boot.

Jonathan couldn't hide his surprise. He was still looking around in shock when Harvey spoke again.

"I fixed it a while ago, but I left it off. I knew you were going to come around, so I waited for you."

Jonathan turned back to Harvey, lips already parting to speak, but Harvey cut him short.

“Good luck convincing the board you weren’t behind the previous cyberattacks. I know you were behind it all. You orchestrated this final blow—”

“Enough!” Jonathan snapped. Then the sharp edge vanished. A thin smile spread across his face and a light, almost casual laugh followed. “Good luck proving that.”

He spun on his heel and hurried toward the stairs without another word.

Halfway down he nearly collided with Jane. She was racing upward, face bright with relief, voice already calling out.

“Harvey? You did it!”

Jonathan stepped squarely into her path, blocking the way. His smile returned, wider this time, polished and ready for an audience.

“No,” he said smoothly. “I did it. I’ve saved the day again.”

Jane stared at him, confusion flickering across her face. “What are you talking about?”

Before Jonathan could answer, footsteps sounded behind him. Harvey appeared at the top of the stairs and walked steadily downward until he stood just over Jonathan’s shoulder.

Jonathan did not turn. His smile only grew smoother as he tried to hide his growing desperation.

“I did it,” he said, voice warm and familiar, the same tone he always used when speaking to her in front of others. “Just like old times. Harvey was struggling up there—completely lost, actually. The moment I showed up and took over, everything came back online.”

Jane’s eyes moved past him, searching for Harvey’s face.

Her lips parted to speak to him, but Jonathan stepped closer and cut in again, still smiling.

“What? Don’t you believe me? Surely you didn’t believe Harvey would have done it without—”

“Shut the hell up!” Jane’s voice cracked like a whip. “I need to speak to my husband! Now, move aside!”