Page 1 of Hard Wired

Chapter One

Sylvie Trousseau took the moniker of “hacker” seriously. It was an identity, not a job. Hacking was all about the intellectual challenge, the thrill, the beauty of finding novel solutions. Sylvie knew how to use her creativity and cleverness to achieve things that should’ve been impossible.

So her boss’s latest request had her more than a little irritated.

“Let me get this straight. You want me to install a security system? Isn’t that something our techs can handle?”

“Usually, yes. A tech would do it. But this isn’t the average install.”

They were in Max Bennett’s office, perched above the workroom. Through the glass walls, Sylvie could see her coworkers bustling around below. To her left, through a massive bank of windows, lay a panorama of blue sky and white waves crashing into the rocky shore. Just another perfect sunny day in West Oaks, California.

Max twisted back and forth on his swivel chair, squeezing a stress ball in one hand. “I need my top person.”

“Aren’t my talents slightly wasted on this, though?”

Hell, these days most security setups came straight out of a box, no need for technical knowledge at all. Of course, a Bennett Security system wasn’t the typical off-the-shelf product. Sylvie herself had written the code, and she was damned proud of it.

Sylvie was in charge of the Bennett Security software, research, and analytics department. It was a big umbrella because she had a wide variety of skills, including a photographic memory. She had ten people working for her now, including a brand-new assistant she was still training. She didn’t have time to make house calls. Schmoozing with customers was Max’s deal, not hers.

Sylvie liked to have fun while she worked, but she had no interest in flattering the egos of their wealthy clients.

She wasn’t conceited, of course. And she didn’t expect every single day at her job to fulfill her intellectual curiosity. “Hacker” was nowhere in her written job description, for good reason. It was far too loaded a term. But she wasn’t going to sell herself short, either.

Max’s face remained impassive. “You’re absolutely right. You could do this install in your sleep. But I promised I’d send my best, and that’s you. I owe this man a favor.”

This man?

There was a hint of something in Max’s voice that Sylvie didn’t like. He was holding back important information, probably because he knew she wasn’t going to be happy.

“And who exactly is this client?”

Not him, she thought. Please not him.

“Dominic Crane.”

Sylvie closed her eyes, cursing under her breath. Yep, it was him. “Crane is a criminal. And you’re sending me to his house like some sacrificial lamb?”

Max chuckled, though his fist kept tightening around that stress ball. “I’ll send a bodyguard with you. But it’s not like Crane will lay a hand on you. Not when he knows you work for me.”

“Wow, how reassuring.”

“He provided some extremely important information to me at risk to himself. You know that.”

“Yeah,” she said through gritted teeth. They all knew what Crane had done to help Max.

“And think about it, Sylvie. Isn’t it better that I square up with him on something like this, that costs me basically nothing? Who knows what he might want later on? Or how questionable it might be? Instead, Crane asked for a security system with all the bells and whistles. I’m getting off easy.”

Until recently, Dominic Crane had been the head of the Silverlake Syndicate, a criminal organization from Los Angeles. The group had made inroads into West Oaks, and they’d been involved in several nefarious dealings around the otherwise-sleepy town.

But none of that fully explained her concern. Sylvie did not want to tell Max why she was so reticent to meet Dominic Crane.

“Please, boss. Send someone else.”

Max’s handsome face slid into a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of the man?”

Sylvie’s boss was a master manipulator. But she was immune to his tricks. “I’m not scared of Crane. But he is awaiting trial for murder. Remember? That’s not exactly nothing.”

“The murder charge is puffed up and probably won’t even make it to a jury, from what I hear. Plus, he’s wearing an ankle monitor. He’s declawed, stuck in a cage. Honestly, I don’t think he’s all that dangerous.”

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