“The accident happened after I had already left home. Before we moved to Montana, he just didn’t have time for me anymore. He was building up the company, getting investors, though Hanstech remains privately held. You know, the whole corporate America thing. He believed he was doing all of it for us kids. He loved me, but it still hurts if I think about it too much. Right or wrong, I don’t know. I reacted badly. I was just a kid. Young and stupid. I guess part of me was angry at my father. But I spent too much time with the wrong friend. We thought we were going to change the world. Again, I was stupid.”

“You told me a little about the Robin Hood scheme, but I’d like to hear more about it. Was it some kind of ransomware?”

“Nothing as extravagant as that. Basic malware attacks. The plan was to move money from wealthy, profitable companies with bad reputations and give it to the poor—to charities, actually. Small charities.”

“And this scheme took place via your hacking skills? What went wrong?”

He whipped around a curve a little too fast and the car veered into the opposite lane. Thankfully no cars were coming his direction.

“Um . . . please slow down, and I’ll answer your questions. This road makes me queasy.”

He pressed harder on the brakes. “That better?”

“I’ll be better when we’re in the valley. To answer your questions, we felt like we were doing something good, like my father. He was accepting money from wealthy people to build his company.”

“Without their permission?” Alex said.

“Oh, I agree. I know I made a terrible mistake. I already paid the price. A big price.”

“Okay. No judgment.” He should have kept his mouth shut.

“My friend had hooked us up with someone else who ended up calling the shots. And things got messed up. We were both scared. Too scared to go against him. We moved money, and it no longer felt like we were being Robin Hood. My original partner agreed we were getting in too deep. And then we went to the FBI Cybercrimes Division and turned ourselves in. We were more scared of . . .”

“Who?”

Mackenzie didn’t answer for a few seconds. “I don’t know who he was.”

“Then why were you so scared?”

“Because of what he could do. He became increasingly belligerent and threatening. I didn’t have enough experience to stand up to him. I never should have allowed him to pull me in to begin with.”

“Like you said, you were young. Everyone makes mistakes when they’re young.”

“Not necessarily on such a grand scale.”

“You might be surprised.” He focused on taking the last snaking curve in the road. “How did your family take it?”