Chapter 6 - Freezing the Web
Landon didn't stay to argue. With a look of wild, cornered panic, he turned and sprinted toward the service stairs leading down to the ballroom levels.
"Let him run," Martin said calmly, checking his vintage wristwatch. "The emergency injunction was granted twenty minutes ago by Judge Abernathy. Every domestic account affiliated with Vance Capital and Landon’s social security number is locked tight. The bank servers are processing the lockouts as we speak."
"What about the Swiss account?" I asked, my pulse pounding. "The wire transfers to Elise Calloway?"
Martin’s expression sobered. "That’s where it gets complicated. Swiss authorities operate under strict privacy protocols. A state court injunction won't freeze the Zurich accounts immediately without an international rogatory letter or evidence of an active criminal investigation involving offshore money laundering."
"Then we give them the evidence," Sloane said, pulling her phone from her pocket and tapping a speed-dial contact. "I have direct access to the regional director of the SEC’s financial crimes unit in Chicago. He’s been investigating shell corporation schemes involving cross-border green tech funds for six months. If I hand him Landon’s Cayman routing receipts, he will trigger an Interpol financial alert within two hours."
"Will it stop him from transferring the funds if he gets to a private terminal?" Brit asked, anxiously reviewing the logs on her laptop.
"Look at this," Brit suddenly gasped, slamming her fingers across the keys. "Landon just attempted an expedited wire of four hundred and ten thousand dollars from the Cayman account to an untraceable crypto exchange wallet! The transaction is pending confirmation!"
"He’s in the ballroom business suite right now," Keeley said, looking up from the resort intranet. "He logged in using the summit's guest speaker credentials four minutes ago."
"The transaction requires a secondary SMS authorization sent to his registered mobile device," Martin observed, analyzing the technical logs. "If he enters the six-digit code before the international hold takes effect, the money will disappear into the blockchain forever."
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"He won't enter that code," I said, my resolve hardening like tempered steel. "Because his keynote speech starts in five minutes. And he can’t afford to miss his grand entrance in front of eighty venture capitalists."
Sloane smiled, a cold, dazzling expression that held no mercy. "Let’s go crash a party."
