Hollywood Zenith

Large connection pipes were running in all directions with the dark corner of the room was constantly being illuminated by blinking lights.

" Woah, are we in a sci-fi movie? How do you make your way accross all of this mess?"

" Mess? You are looking at the state of the art surveillance grid. I constantly collect data from different sources while my programs scraps through the whole thing to siphon important bits."

" Is it legal? I bet the government will pay me a lot of reward money if I report you. There is also illegal kidnapping of children; you will have quite an impressive rap sheet." Jane wanted to gain some leverage over him; first, she knew he was not into charity work.

" It\'s totally legit. Infact my biggest customers is the government. You will be surprised to know how much they are paying me."

" So, you sold out? I never pegged you for that type."

" I am not a sell out! It\'s mostly harmful stuffs, I would never partake in such shady jobs. Data broker will be the future of technology sector, I just entered the market early."

Adrian was not wrong; in the future social media will be the front for this type of business. They would rack in billions of spying on their customers. It was a novel idea now but would become the norm for posterity.

" Hmm, so, it will be easy for you to help me out right? I just some information. "

" Pay up first!"

" Come on help your sister out! You are already a big man!"

" You are not my sister! Don\'t think I am the same teenager you scammed all those years ago. I also have a business to run for that I need capital. 50k now 50k after I finish the job." Adrian would not budge.

He still resented her for the past when she would drop in just like this and order him to break into various systems. He didn\'t need to do that if something went wrong; he would have to pay a heavy price for it.

" 100k? Are you sure?"

" Yeah nothing less."

" Alright. Here is the thing I want you to procure. I need everything you could find. But I need it today."

" Today? That\'s impossible. You know how time-consuming it is to do this type of work." Adrian was trying hardball; he received the paper and looked through it.

" Wait! Do you want me to break into the Bank of England? Are you mad?" He was shocked. The account information clearly stated which bank it was; was she playing a prank on him?

Bank of England was one of the oldest banks in the world. It would be suicidal to touch their bottom line. They ought to have thousands of lawyers that would tear him apart if they found out.

" What? Can\'t do it? I thought you could get into anything. I guess I was expecting too much." Jane knew it was too much of an ask, but if anyone could do it, it was him.

" Are you disrespecting my intelligence? I can definitely do it but it doesn\'t mean that I will go through with it. Beside knowing them they will not have public libraries of customer information, it would be impossible unless I can tap into their internal mainframe." Adrian tried to discourage her with facts.

" I know that is why I have this. The VIP account with a few million registered to a company situated in Bermuda. It\'s completely untraceable; also, these presents will help you along the way." Jane unloaded her bag to reveal equipment, a satellite tracker, a few top-of-the-line Laptop, and other gadgets.

Some were not even in the market, while others were never revealed to the public. Adrian\'s mouth dropped, looking at everything. As a tech enthusiast, he instantly recognized most of them.

" Where did you get this? Did you rob the government?"

" Something like that. Can you do it now, with your skills you would be in and out in minutes."

Adrain hesitated, he had promised to never break the law, but the temptation was too much for him.

" You can have these after you are done. I don\'t think you would get a better deal than this right?"

In the end, he accepted the job. While working, Jane revealed some details about the job. His mood soured when he heard about the Orphanage. What Jane had gathered so far didn\'t indicate anything good about them.

" It\'s rare to see you angry," Jane said. Adrian, who was focused on assembling the setup, sighed.

" I was also an orphan. The main reason why I settled here is also because it was hard to watch kids squatting in the corner looking at the crowd with dead eyes." He looked outside the window.

His crew of kids was happily running around, exploring the park. Playing around and enjoying their childhood was something impossible for kids like them who were left to rot by society.

But what he hated more was when people showed fake compassion and morals to gain some sick contentment. If you can\'t help me, don\'t rub it in my face!

" You really matured. I thought you will still be chasing women and living like a nomad. But here I find you settling down and sheltering kids."

" Like I told you I am not the same. Beside, most of them already have a home I just provide what I can and let them run free in my property."

" Good for you." Jane smiled while looking at the kids.

" Alright. We should hurry. Help me with the cords." He snapped back and focused on the work at hand. It was enough opening up for him anymore, and he knew that Jane would use it against him.

---------------------------------

" So, It\'s a shell company that has been sending the money?" Samuel had the report in his hand.

The following day, Jane, who had collected her finding along with what Drac found out in detail.

" But the donations stopped few months ago. I wanted to find out more but the person is using the same method as us. The company is completely off shore which makes it impossible to know the details."

" Nothing is impossible, I could pressure them to reveal the information but that would alert whoever is behind it."

" Yes Boss, Drac also confirmed it. It was around the same time the situation began to worsen."

" Hmm, what about the people running the place?"

" They are as one would expect. Embezzlement, hiding wealth, coercion etc are someone the things they partake in but I fear that it is even more dire."

" What do you mean?"

" Everything points to human trafficking. Sudden wealth, hidden backer, foreign childrens, high adoption rate and missing childrens it all points to it. We also can\'t find anything about people who adopted most of the kids."

" That\'s awful. Have you identified the ringleader?" Samuel grimaced upon hearing about it. He had to make a move fast, but he had to be discreet.

" It is most likely the president of the foundation. He could write off his taxes while enjoying the luxury of spending money frivolously. But I have to admit he lacked the brain to be the mastermind." Jane explained.

She knew this large of a smuggling racket needed more than money, it was true that money could buy power but some connection were hard to procure. For such a thing, connections were most important.

" Some government official might be in cahoots too. We have to suspect everyone."

" Can\'t you ask someone else in the family?"

" I will when I have some definitive proof." Samuel would like to inform his father but that would freak him out. Knowing him, he would certainly lash out at these people.

" But why did it came out now? It doesn\'t seem to be a new operation." Samuel asked.

" It seems like they were protected before but somehow lost their backer\'s trust. How do you want to proceed?" Jane asked. She already knew what his answer would be.

" First, we have to hide our involvement. Presenting this as evidence will be useless. Inform the NCA directly and find someone reliable.

Second, Mobilize the whole squadron and search for hard proof. They are allowed to squash a few bugs if push comes to shove.

Third, send a portion of them to search for the children; I want every scumbag\'s name on a list. Spread that around the media and send them to authorities. They will be happy with the gift.

And Lastly, Inform Alastair about it. I will be responsible for supporting the Orphanage from now on. He will know what to do."

Samuel was angry, but Jane admired this side of the Boss. She could proudly say she worked for the best Boss in the world.

" As you wish." She bowed to show respect and left to execute his commands.