Page 31 of Broken Empire
It was time to find the so-called Meat Market.
11
Killian
The dark,cloudy sky opened up just as I got in my car, filling the small space with the staccato sound of raindrops pattering on the windshield. I leaned back in my seat, staring at the water sliding down the glass as I pondered my next move.
I needed to find some sort of hacker who knew everything about the dark web and how to access it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. I couldn’t just go on the regular internet and post in a forum about needing to hire someone, because that was a good way to attract scammers who didn’t know jack-shit about hacking.
I couldn’t ask any of the IT staff at my family companies, either, as good as they were, because there was a chance they’d tell someone from my family, and then that information could get back to the Schöneberg Group. The last thing I needed was any of them knowing I was digging into the dark web, because it would make them wonder why. Once they started doing that, it could somehow get back to Robert, and then he’d realize I knew about Shay. Then my rescue mission would be over before it even started.
That meant my computer expert-slash-hacker had to be someone completely unrelated to anyone in the Schöneberg Group, professionally or socially. Just in case.
But who could it be?
I sat up straight as my brain began to work overtime, drawing a memory out of the murky depths of my mind.
After Cooper took Shay several weeks ago, I went to Bellingham to ask her friends about him. The first person I spoke to was Leah, and I saw several software engineering books in her pile of stuff at the library. She might not be a hacker herself, but as a computer geek type of girl, she was bound to have a few connections who could point me in the right direction.
On top of that, I remembered seeing a hammer and sickle emblem on her shirt, which made me think she subscribed to a Marxist ideology. Someone with those political beliefs would never willingly associate with members of the ultra-wealthy elite because they were essentially natural enemies. That meant I could trust Leah not to snitch to anyone who might have connections to the Schöneberg Group.
I pulled out my phone, found her on Facebook, and requested a video chat.
She picked up on the eighth ring, just as I was about to hang up and try again. “Killian?” she said, sounding confused. Her image appeared on the screen a second later, slightly pixelated.
“Hi, Leah. I need to talk to you about something,” I said. “It’s about Shay. Could we—”
Leah cut me off. “Wait, before you say anything, I owe you an apology,” she said, holding up a palm. “I was a massive douche to you when you were trying to find Cooper so you could get Shay away from him. I had no idea about any of that shit at the time, so I thought you were just being a creep. I’m really sorry about that. But I don’t know where Shay is right now, so if that’s what you want to know, then you’re calling the wrong person. All I know is that she took off somewhere.”
“I’m not calling to see if you know where she is,” I said. “I was actually wondering if you could help me out with something.”
Leah’s brows rose. “Oh. Sure. What is it?”
“Do you know any guys who are good at hacking, or anything to do with the dark web?”
Leah laughed. “You have a very old-fashioned view of things, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” she said with a grin. “No, I don’t know any guys. But I know a girl.”
“Could you introduce me to her?”
“Sure.” Leah waved at the camera. “Hi, I’m Leah.”
My forehead creased. “You’re a hacker?”
She grinned again. “I mean, I don’t go around calling myself that, because I think it sounds ridiculous, but yeah, I know my shit,” she replied, tucking a loose strand of her artificially-red hair behind her ear. “I taught myself to code when I was nine. The only reason I’m at Bellingham is because most decent employers want official qualifications, even if you already know all the stuff.”
“Could you help me out, then?”
“Yeah, I guess I owe you one, don’t I?” she replied. “For being so fucking rude last time.”
“It’s fine. And thanks. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. You said this was about Shay, right?” she said, lifting a brow. “What does she have to do with the dark web? Is she running a drug trafficking scheme on there or something?”
“Let’s not talk about this over the phone,” I said. “Just in case.”
