Chapter 335 - 335: Voluntary
[Chapter 335: Voluntary]
On Ocean Park Avenue, at the Twitter building, Campos entered the office and handed a CD and passport from Fiona to Hawke. He specifically stated, "The passports are all real, but the names are fake. The photo is indeed of Melissa Ackerman. We haven't checked what content is on the CD."
Hawke flipped through the passport, took a quick glance, and then placed it into a specialized box. He then opened up the CD pack. Inside, there were three DVDs, all high-capacity.
These corresponded with the situations described by Melissa Ackerman. Hawke asked, "What happened to Melissa after she moved to Inglewood?"
The house had already been renovated, and amid the chaos of the Los Angeles fires, Campos moved Melissa down to the basement. He replied, "Her physical condition is good, but her mental state has worsened; she seems to be suffering from depression."
Hawke wasn't concerned about her mental health and instructed, "Ensure her physical health. If she refuses to eat, administer nutritional fluids."
Initially, Campos thought Hawke was keeping this beautiful woman for some ulterior motive, especially since holding someone captive could be alluring to some. However, he quickly realized that Hawke had no such interest in Melissa whatsoever. Not understanding, and always one to refrain from asking too many questions, Campos simply complied.
...
Hawke called in Edward and had the Savior retrieve a security company proposal for Campos. The two of them headed to the adjoining conference room to discuss the expansion of the security firm. With Brian's election, he had taken control of Los Angeles City Hall, and besides Twitter and West Coast Environmental Technologies Group, the newly established Butterfly Security Company would also receive subsidies and benefits, along with signing security agreements.
Various security agreements were set to expire at the end of the year, and a significant portion of the security tasks would be assumed by Butterfly Security Company. Additionally, the outer security for the new Twitter building would also be managed by them. With a mayor elected, everyone surrounding him, including personal and corporate interests, would profit handsomely.
If it were the governor and the president, the benefits would be even greater.
...
Hawke pulled out a specialized laptop, inserted a CD into the drive, and began checking the three discs. The content on each DVD was different.
The first disc contained a table filled with names, dates, and locations, along with blood donation frequency, among other details. This was the actual blood selling report from the Ackerman Charity Foundation. It recorded the names of missing homeless individuals, their blood test reports, and detailed information on the extraction and sale of their blood.
Some test reports even noted infectious diseases such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and HIV. Yet, their blood was still sold as a commodity.
Hawke had been investigating the Ackerman Charity Foundation and its affiliated Ackerman Medical Center and health inspection facilities. He had seen relevant medical reports showing that with less than 5% of the population, the U.S. constituted about 70% of the global blood market.
Further down in the table, there were still names, dates, and locations, but the entries had changed to organs. Not mentioning other places, Los Angeles had numerous homeless and illegal immigrants go missing every year. As the world's largest immigration destination, over the years, the overall population statistics in America had not shown noticeable increase.
The table recorded names, ages, medical reports, and corresponding times for organ extractions. It involved Ackerman Medical Centers in Orange County and Rosario, Mexico. Below it was another appendix detailing the voluntary donation agreements.
Hawke recalled how, back in early 2002, he had signed a similar voluntary donation agreement while working on the set of The Singing Detective. It was evident that those whose organs had been harvested had all "voluntarily" signed off on donation agreements.
With donors, there would naturally be recipients. During the early 21st century, organ transplant technology had made it difficult to preserve harvested organs for long; therefore, they needed to be transplanted quickly.
The third table was a list of transplant recipients that laid out names, occupations, surgery dates, and the doctors who performed the surgeries. Hawke quickly skimmed through, not finding any familiar names; aside from those he knew, memorable names would typically belong to celebrities and super-rich individuals. These people had always been the wealthy, as the average person could hardly afford the costs associated with organ transplants.
...
After reviewing, Hawke pulled out a prepared USB drive and made several copies. Then he switched to another CD. This disc was filled with over a hundred photos -- none depicting organ harvesting, but rather inappropriate sorts of images. Hawke recognized many came from the fire-ravaged Venice Beach Club, having seen similar photos from other sources.
At the time, Fox News reporter Harley Wayne, led by materials Hawke had mailed, managed to track down the Super Star Training School and the Venice Beach Club, the former having gone bankrupt and the latter burnt to the ground. Broderick and Guerrero had "committed suicide," taking all the blame.
This was also the result of former Governor Davis stepping down in a deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Subsequently, Twitter's news inbox had received a package from Guerrero's girlfriend, which included lists, photos, and videos. Hawke enlisted Campos and others to find that girl from Caltech and ensured her safety while they awaited their opportunity. Unlike the previous list of names on the other CD, many in these photos were familiar to Hawke -- Hollywood stars, political figures, business tycoons, and so forth. Unsurprisingly, former Mayor Antonio of Los Angeles was among them, a pudgy old black man, possibly former California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
After going through all that, Hawke saw no signs of the Clinton couple.
It seemed the Ackerman family was not connected to the Clinton line. After all, factions within the party were commonplace. Hawke made copies of these photos before putting them aside and inserting the final CD into the drive.
This content is taken from freёwebnovel.com.
...
This one contained entirely videos; each clip wasn't very long, lasting no longer than five minutes. These videos captured moments of guests of the Ackerman family indulging in primal urges and perverse behavior. After making several copies, he compared them against what had been mailed by Guerrero's girlfriend.
...
The content from the blood and organ CDs extended quite broadly, probably lessening the blowback from exposure since it likely didn't involve major figures. The latter two discs were largely filled with celebrities, socialites, and billionaires.
If a list were to leak, it would set the world abuzz with scandal. At that point, they would be dealing with not just the Ackerman family, but an even larger force.
Hawke had never intended to be some sort of vigilante, nor would he absurdly charge into a battle of power due to the increase in influence indicated on paper. His primary target was clear: the Ackerman family.
He aimed to dismantle their power, extract their wealth, take down Barack Bernanke and Buddy Ackerman, and conveniently capture the younger generation from the Ackerman family to create a suitable pool of resources for his future.
...
Hawke stashed everything away and approached the office window, gazing out at the distant Venice Beach and the ocean beyond, deep in thought. Although he was preparing to exploit the inevitable conflicts that would escalate around the elections, the more people involved, the greater the potential backlash.
For the time being, Hawke contemplated selecting suitable Democratic targets to attack based on this to fully embroil the Ackerman family in the chaos of the election wars.
He recalled an event from earlier that year, where he had encountered Tiger Woods and Democratic candidate Johnny Edwards while investing in Tesla, led by Elon Musk, at a Los Angeles country club. They had both been entertained by the Ackerman family at their new club location on Santa Catalina Island. Given the Ackerman family's style as displayed in those photos and videos, it was very likely they'd been recorded during those interactions.
Next month, the oval office occupant would visit Los Angeles to comfort disaster victims.
Hawke returned to his office chair and checked out news articles from earlier, noting that Fahrenheit 9/11 had premiered in North America last month and would likely show at the Toronto Film Festival soon, followed by various award nominations during Hollywood's awards season.
Regardless of the content of the documentary, its release timing indicated its intent -- aiming straight for the upcoming elections. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the documentary had effectively served as a remarkable promotional tool.
Hawke closed the web page, planning to tie this to the current socio-political dynamics. But he still needed a hard-headed, particularly determined, and justice-seeking journalist. Megan Taylor wouldn't do; Hawke and she were essentially on the same wavelength.
Finding a replacement was not difficult. Hawke remembered Harley Wayne, the intrepid reporter who had rushed to cover the Venice Beach Club fire. Last month, Fox's news team had also seen her leading the coverage. Hawke sifted through the gathered materials, copying parts onto a USB drive.
...
By the time Campos finished discussions with Edward, Hawke called Campos over, handing him the USB drive and saying, "Find a way to get Harley Wayne's private email, and use the old method to send the material to her inbox."
Campos had a deep impression of reporter Harley Wayne, replying, "I know what to do."
Given that this matter would soon involve the elections, getting personally entangled was quite dangerous; to say there was a threat to life would not be an exaggeration. Despite being the rogue he was, Hawke still had a sliver of conscience, warning Campos: "Send a few reliable guys to quietly follow Harley Wayne, make sure she stays safe."
Campos replied, "I'll send the best security personnel over there."
Hawke was considering even more, discussing various strategies further.
*****
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