Chapter 8 - The Offshore Trail
The morning after the break-in, federal agents swept Ethan’s estate, taking Derek Voss and his hired accomplices into federal custody.
Inside the FBI Regional Headquarters, Special Agent Marcus Vance brought Ethan into a high-security briefing room.
“You took down a major international ring last night, Mr. Cole,” Agent Vance said, spreading a map across the conference table. “Aethelgard wasn't just trying to get custody of Emma Brooks. They’ve done this to forty-two other low-income families across five states.”
Ethan sat down, rubbing his tired eyes. “How does the scheme work?”
“They target single, terminally ill mothers working in healthcare,” Vance explained. “They offer them fake loan promises, gather their personal medical data, and use corrupt brokers like Derek Voss to secure parental sign-offs on infant trust accounts. Once the mother dies, the trust transfers legal custody to offshore research clinics.”
“Human trafficking disguised as medical research,” Ethan said, his blood boiling.
“Precisely,” Vance nodded. “And the original whistleblower file that Claire Brooks gave you five years ago? It contained the master encryption key to Aethelgard's private offshore accounts in Switzerland.”
Ethan looked at the agent in surprise. “Claire knew all along?”
“Claire was trying to build a case big enough to tear the entire syndicate down,” Vance said gently. “She knew she wouldn't live to see the end of it. She gave you the key because she knew you had the financial firepower to unleash it.”
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Ethan stood up, his resolve hardening into solid steel.
“Then let’s finish what Claire started,” Ethan declared. “Unfreeze the accounts. File the international warrants. I’m funding the entire prosecution personally.”
