CHAPTER 6 — WHY THEY WANTED NOAH DEAD
CHAPTER 6 — WHY THEY WANTED NOAH DEAD
FBI headquarters.
Christmas morning.
The city outside celebrated.
Inside the conference room, nobody spoke.
The evidence covered an entire wall.
Photographs.
DNA charts.
Financial records.
Connections stretching across hospitals, charities, law firms, and multinational corporations.
One name appeared everywhere.
David Carter.
But he wasn't at the top.
Someone else signed every major authorization.
Only initials.
A.V.
Director James Holloway folded his arms.
"We've never seen a trafficking network like this."
"It's hidden inside legitimate businesses."
Michael stared at the board.
"My hotels..."
"Were used?"
Holloway nodded.
"Luxury conferences."
"Private charity galas."
"Medical fundraising events."
"The perfect places to exchange documents without attracting attention."
Michael felt sick.
His own company had unknowingly become part of the operation.
Grace finally explained everything.
"My husband wasn't one of them."
"He was their accountant."
"He discovered children were disappearing."
"He copied everything."
"The flash drive."
"The documents."
"The locker."
"He planned to expose them."
"What happened?"
Grace looked down.
"He vanished."
No body.
No funeral.
Only silence.
"They told me he stole their money."
"I didn't believe them."
"So I ran."
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
"I did."
She laughed bitterly.
"Three times."
"They always knew before I arrived."
The room became silent.
There was a leak.
Someone inside law enforcement had been protecting Project AURORA.
An FBI analyst suddenly interrupted.
"Sir..."
Everyone turned.
"We've identified A.V."
The room froze.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
Michael nearly collapsed.
"No..."
Grace gasped.
Detective Brooks whispered,
"Impossible..."
The man smiling in the picture wasn't David Carter.
It was Arthur Vaughn—
the billionaire philanthropist who owned St. Anne's Women's Medical Center...
the founder of one of America's largest children's charities...
and the man scheduled to receive New York's Citizen of the Year Award that very evening.
Millions admired him.
Politicians praised him.
Television called him "the savior of abandoned children."
Michael understood.
The charity hadn't been rescuing children.
It had been choosing them.
Before anyone could react—
An alarm sounded across FBI headquarters.
Every computer screen went black.
Then a single message appeared in red letters.
STOP DIGGING.
OR KELLY DIES NEXT.
Michael's blood froze.
He looked around wildly.
"Where's Kelly?"
A young agent ran into the room, out of breath.
"Mr. Bennett!"
"What?"
"The officer guarding your daughter..."
"...he's unconscious."
Michael's heart stopped.
"The child..."
The agent swallowed hard.
"...is gone."
Kelly had disappeared.
And lying on the empty hospital bed where she had been sleeping...
...was Kelly's favorite teddy bear.
May you like
Around its neck...
Someone had carefully tied the same red scarf she had given Noah on Christmas Eve.
