Chapter 24 - The Global Sweep
The arrest of the New York fixer provided Chloe with the final piece of the digital puzzle. By confiscating the fixer's encrypted devices, she was able to reverse-engineer the blockchain contract Thorne had created.
Working in tandem with Interpol and international cyber-security forces, the Phoenix Initiative launched a massive, coordinated counter-strike. Within forty-eight hours, the fixers in Paris and Dubai were apprehended before they could execute their respective assignments.
But Sarah wasn't satisfied with simply stopping the immediate threat. She wanted to obliterate the infrastructure that allowed Thorne to orchestrate terror from a prison cell.
"We found the server hosting the dead man's switch," Chloe reported, a triumphant smirk on her face. "It’s located in a data haven in Switzerland. Thorne hid an additional two hundred million dollars there, intended to fund future retaliation and bribe his way out."
"Can we seize it?" Mark asked.
"Better," Sarah said, stepping up to the monitor. "If the Swiss authorities seize it, it gets tied up in international litigation for decades. I want to redirect it."
Chloe’s smirk widened. "I can hack the smart contract. I can alter the destination wallets before the Swiss authorities physically unplug the server."
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"Do it," Sarah ordered. "Route the funds entirely to the Phoenix Initiative's victim compensation fund, and disperse the rest to global anti-corruption charities. Let Thorne's dirty money fund the very people he tried to destroy."
With a few final keystrokes, the transfer was executed. Two hundred million dollars was drained from Thorne’s shadow empire and redistributed across the globe. Elias Thorne was finally, truly, stripped of every ounce of his power.
