Free Techno Crazed (Hacked Investigations) by Sarah Makela Page A

did you find out about me?” Leon looked between them curiously.
    “To be honest, we thought he was living with someone. Rich is… err… I’m sorry to inform you that he’s dead.” She frowned, hating that she had to do this to Leon. “We were on the phone at the time. He was giving me information on MAX Home Security, which cost him his life. They nearly killed me too.” Hannah sighed. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Tears welled up within Leon’s wide eyes. “I told him not to go forward. Why didn’t he listen to me?” He rested his head in his hands. “I saw your faces on the news yesterday. Normally, I’d call the cops, but MAX is involved.” Drawing in a breath, he raised his gaze to meet theirs again. “I doubt you two beat up that senator, right?”
    “No, we didn’t.” Ian leaned back and crossed his legs. “We all, I believe, want MAX buried and closed. The senator won’t be able to speak openly, we can’t get close enough to speak with him, and MAX is everywhere. Now they have the police on our case too. We don’t have anything to support our side of the story.”
    Determination flared up on Leon’s face. “No, that’s not true. You have me. I know the senator pretty well. And tend to him regularly. If you want me to give him a message, it won’t be a problem.” He squeezed his eyes closed, causing a tear to fall. “How did Rich die?”
    Hannah described the alley and the distance Rich had pulled himself along the dirty pavement before meeting his untimely demise behind the bar.
    Leon paled and rose from the chair. He went to the kitchen and returned with a glass and a bottle of whiskey. “I tried to save this fifteen-year-old for later. Rich liked whiskey and beer, but a true rare single-malt with a hint of smoky flavor, this was going to be a gift for him whenever he quit the job at MAX. Please, if you want me to deliver any message to the senator, write it down.” He took a long sip from the glass.
    Hannah pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a short message. Trust Leon. We’re doing what we can to help bring them down. They didn’t have a choice right now, either. Leon had both the access and the motive to help them out. Not only was it important that they were able to reach the senator, but later down the road, they needed support against the accusations made by other parties.
    Ian asked to use the restroom and left the living room as guided by Leon’s directions. In the restroom, he cleared his mind and placed his hands on a small computer monitor that was meant for monitoring the temperature of water going to the shower.
    The device was pretty basic, holding connections to various other systems in the house. Power management, measuring instruments on the side of the water tanks below, maintenance codes for updating the firmware that ran the system, and an Internet connection for remote updates.
    Smiling about the slight inconsistencies of the building, he tapped into the main server monitoring the entire house, which also provided services like the tech-wall and Internet, and wrote a short script to run constantly in the background. Hidden deep inside the now-updated kernel was a bugging code, making the entire building a huge microphone for those who knew how to use it.
    Flushing the toilet and then washing his hands, he thought about the possibility of Leon double-crossing them, which was unlikely. Yet, he wanted to be sure.
    Downstairs, he heard Leon and Hannah talking quietly about something, which made her blush. Coughing, he walked downstairs and helped Hannah up from the couch.
    “Once again, I’m sorry for your loss, Leon. This problem has been hard on us all, but I cannot imagine how it must feel to lose someone you love. We both appreciate the help and support. I just hope this is over with soon,” Hannah said.
    Leaving the house, Ian looked back and saw Leon turn to look at one of the pictures and slump his shoulders. Ian wasn’t an emotional person, but he