Chapter 6 - The Secret Ally Beyond the Gates and the Burner Phone in the Floorboards
By 2:00 AM on Saturday morning, the estate had fallen into total slumber.
Ethan lifted a loose floorboard beneath the vintage armoire in his private dressing room, pulling out a secondary encrypted communication radio provided by Marcus Vance.
He inserted the earpiece and pressed the push-to-talk button.
“Marcus. Status report.”
“Ethan, we are fully locked and loaded,” Marcus’s deep voice crackled through the secure frequency. “I have Federal Special Agent Sarah Lin from the FBI’s White Collar Division and Captain Miller from Greenwich PD standing by at a command post two miles from your gate. We have reviewed the toxicology data and the drawing-room video feeds you transmitted. The evidence is ironclad. We have active federal arrest warrants signed by a United States District Judge for Vanessa Whitmore, Julian Vance, Dr. Alistair Sterling, and Margaret Higgins.”
“What about the patent transfer?” Ethan asked, his voice razor-sharp.
“Julian attempted to file the forged Conservatorship and Patent Relinquishment to the Swiss registry at midnight,” Marcus chuckled darkly. “Our cyber division intercepted the transmission. The Zurich authorities have already frozen the receiving shell accounts. Julian thinks he’s executing a billion-dollar exit tomorrow night; in reality, he’s walking straight into a federal wire-fraud trap with a mandatory twenty-five-year sentence.”
Ethan nodded to the empty room. “And the audio-visual setup for the ballroom?”
“My undercover technical specialist is disguised as the lead audio engineer for the gala’s production company,” Marcus confirmed. “At precisely 8:30 PM, during Vanessa’s keynote address, we will override the mansion’s primary fiber-optic network. The four giant 85-inch 8K video screens in the grand ballroom will switch from the foundation’s charity video to our live multi-angle surveillance feed. Every high-society donor, every journalist, every city official will see and hear everything.”
“Excellent,” Ethan said, a deadly calm in his chest. “What about Claire and Noah?”
“They are our primary protected witnesses,” Marcus said firmly. “Captain Miller has two plainclothes officers stationed at the carriage house entrance. The moment the raid initiates, Claire and Noah will be secured in an armored tactical vehicle outside the perimeter.”
Ethan took a deep breath. “No. Claire stays near the grand staircase. She deserves to stand beside me when the truth is revealed. She is the reason I am alive tonight.”
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“Understood, Ethan,” Marcus replied. “Be careful up there. Sterling is scheduled to arrive at 8:15 PM with the lethal injection. Do not let that syringe touch you.”
“Don’t worry, Marcus,” Ethan whispered, his eyes glinting in the dark. “Dr. Sterling is about to experience the most shocking medical consultation of his career.”
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