Chapter 6 - The Shadows of Cambridge
Two days after the raid on Sterling Tower, the full scope of the Prometheus Syndicate’s operations exploded across international news headlines.
The New York Times ran a massive exposé: "THE BRAIN FARMERS: HOW BAXTER & STERLING BUILT A BLACK-MARKET EMPIRE IN BOSTON."
The article detailed the horror: dozens of vulnerable patients from low-income families, quiet hospital wards, and private care centers had been systematically declared "brain-dead" through the hidden administration of synthetic NMDA analogs. Their bodies had been secretly transferred to private, unregistered bio-laboratories in Cambridge and Newark, where their living neural tissue was harvested and mapped for ultra-wealthy foreign buyers seeking experimental neuro-degenerative cures.
The news shocked the medical world to its core. Hospital boards across the country collapsed, state medical licenses were revoked by the hundreds, and federal task forces began sweeping private research clinics nationwide.
In Brookline, the Blackwood estate was quiet.
Rebecca—whose real identity as Natalia Vance, an international corporate operative, had been fully exposed—was currently held without bail in a federal detention center in Framingham, facing forty counts of attempted murder, conspiracy, and high treason.
Robert stood in the grand library of his home, watching Ethan and Lily sit by the fireplace.
Lily was gaining her strength back rapidly. Her cheeks had regained their rosy, youthful color, her laugh echoing through the tall stone corridors of the house for the first time in three months. She was sitting on the rug, showing Ethan how to play chess on a polished mahogany board.
Ethan sat awkwardly on the edge of a plush velvet sofa, holding a wooden bishop, still wearing his Red Sox cap, though he looked far healthier now—clean, fed, and living in the guest suite of the estate under Robert's personal protection.
"You're moving your knight too early," Lily giggled, pointing her small finger at the board. "If you put him there, my bishop takes your castle."
"I don't play chess," Ethan muttered, scratching his head with a grin. "In Southie, we play checkers. It's faster."
"I'll teach you," Lily said gently.
Robert watched them from the doorway, a soft, genuine smile touching his lips.
Marcus walked up beside him, holding a legal document.
"Boss," Marcus whispered. "The legal team finished the paperwork for Ethan’s family."
Robert took the document. It was a court-sanctioned guardianship and trust agreement.
"Ethan’s mother, Mary Miller, has been given a full life annuity funded by the new Miller Foundation," Marcus explained. "She’ll never have to work a night shift again. We’ve secured a brownstone in South Boston for them, and Ethan’s admission to Roxbury Latin School has been finalized under a full academic scholarship."
Robert nodded slowly, his eyes reflecting a deep, permanent resolution. "It's not enough to balance what they lost with Leo, Marcus. But it's a start."
"There's one more thing, sir," Marcus said, lowering his voice. "The FBI team sweeping the Apex laboratory in Cambridge found something in the subterranean basement levels. Something you need to see in person."
May you like
Robert looked over at Lily, who was laughing as she took Ethan's king off the board.
"Keep four guards on the house, Marcus," Robert said, his tone turning serious. "Let's go."
