The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 by Nic Saint (chrome ebook reader txt) 📗

were out and about, the prospect of doing something entirely illegal always seemed to loom large on the horizon.

“I’m not the only one who’s trying to hack the Kitchen King. In fact it looks like there’s at least one other hacker trying to get into the company computer system.”

“So? Plenty of people are probably not willing to pay these ridiculously inflated prices,” said Vesta.

“They’re not trying to mess with the prices, though,” said Kevin as he stared intently at a bunch of weird code on his screen.

“So what do they want?” asked Vesta.

“I’m not sure, but it looks as if…”

“As if what?”

“Well, it looks as if they’re trying to lock down the entire company.”

“You mean… what do you mean, exactly?” asked Scarlett, who’d never understood a thing about computers and the more her nephew talked about what it was he did the more her eyes glazed over and the less she understood.

Kevin looked up, his own eyes glittering excitedly. “I think I just caught one of those ransomware hackers, Auntie Scarlett.”

“What’s a ransomware hacker?” asked Vesta, who was as computer illiterate as her friend, or even more so.

“You know. They put a bunch of viruses on your computer system, effectively locking the whole thing down, so you can’t do anything, and then they get in touch and tell you that they’ll unlock your systems in exchange for let’s say a million bucks, payable in bitcoin. If you don’t pay, you can kiss your company goodbye, for you’ll have to reinstall everything. And if you do pay, they’ll unlock everything and you can carry on like before.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” asked Scarlett.

Kevin gave her one of his looks that said: are you serious? “Yes, Auntie Scarlett, it’s completely illegal. These people are criminals, only instead of putting their hands in your pockets, they do it online.”

“Well, that’s not very nice,” said Scarlett, eliciting a guffaw from her geeky nephew.

“So what are you going to do about it?” asked Vesta.

“Do? I’m not going to do anything.”

“Can’t you stop them?” asked Scarlett.

“Um… I guess I can do that… if that’s what you want me to do.” He dragged his eyes away from the screen. “Is that what you want me to do?”

Vesta thought for a moment, then finally nodded in the affirmative. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s exactly what I want you to do.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Scarlett, even though she still didn’t understand exactly what Kevin was talking about. “We are the neighborhood watch, after all, so we should fight crime, whether it takes place on the street or on the internet. Right?”

Kevin was smirking again, so she gave him a light tap on the head.

“As long as you’re sure,” he said with a shrug. “Though I might have to reveal my IP.”

She and Vesta glanced at each other, giving each other a look that said that A) They had no idea what an IP was and B) They weren’t sure about any of this, but C) They were willing to go along for the ride. So they both shrugged and said in unison, “Go for it, Kev.”

“Isn’t this exciting?” said Scarlett after they’d watched Kevin crack his knuckles and bring up even more code on his screen.

“Just about as exciting as watching paint dry,” Vesta grunted.

Chapter 14

Even though it was the middle of the night, Odelia felt it incumbent upon her and Chase, as responsible pet parents, to confront the person who was guilty of the abduction and subsequent dumping of her precious cats in the middle of the woods.

And so it was that she and Chase stood on the porch of Mrs. Bunyon and husband, eager to have a word with the woman, and find out what had behooved her to catnap Odelia’s cats—and her own cat, too, for that matter!

It took a little while before the doorbell was answered and the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. By then Odelia had already rung the bell three times and Chase had proceeded to pound on the door a couple of times for good measure.

The door opened and a bedraggled-looking Karl Bunyon appeared, his wife right behind him, both looking wary and ready to engage in a heated discussion with the marauders who’d gotten it into their heads to disturb them at this time of night.

“Miss Poole!” Kathleen Bunyon exclaimed. “What’s wrong?” She darted a quick glance behind her. “Is it… did Chouchou get taken again?”

“Yes, she did,” said Odelia, “and so did my cats.” She wasn’t in the mood for beating around the bush. “And I have credible information that the person who took them is—”

“Odelia!” suddenly Max exclaimed. “It’s not her—it’s him!”

“Yeah, it’s definitely him,” Dooley chimed in. “I thought it was Mrs. Bunyon but now that I smell them both it’s definitely Mr. Bunyon!”

Odelia’s eyes shifted from Mrs. Bunyon to Karl Bunyon, and her ire, like liquid fire already sloshing about her ears, increased even more. “As I said, I have credible intel—very credible intel, in fact—that the person who took my cats, and in fact took all of the cats that have been taken tonight, and probably all the other nights, too, is you!”

And to make sure there could be no mistake she emphasized these words by pointing at Mr. Bunyon, who stood staring at her index finger with a look of consternation on his round features. Karl Bunyon was a man who not only suffered from a receding of the hairline, but also from a weakening of the jawline and a very marked expanding of the waistline. He now stood quivering like a blancmange.

“Me!” he cried. “What are you talking about?” He turned to his wife. “Who are these people, Kathleen? And what are they doing here in the middle of the night!”

“This is Miss Poole, remember? She was here yesterday. I asked her to find Chouchou when she went missing, and she found her.” She gave Chase an uncertain look. “And you are…”

“Chase Kingsley,” said Chase. “Hampton Cove PD.”

“Police!” Mr.