“Officially, no,” Barbie said. “Unofficially? People knew better than to ask.”
I paused. Something wasn’t adding up. “Why wouldn’t the foreign investors just hire the researchers directly?”
“I asked that question and several experts gave me the same theories,” she replied. “First, you have US tech-transfer restrictions. Some high-technology computing research can’t legally leave the country. Second, sometimes there are domestic or religious limits in the home country regarding research. Third—and, in my opinion, the most important—is that they want the results without their fingerprints on the crime scene.”
Basia blinked. “So, that’s the scary, unethical part.”
“Yes, because it suggests intent, and not a good one,” Barbie confirmed.
We sat with that, thinking over everything Barbie had just said. She’d confirmed almost everything we’d uncovered and added more.
Gray pushed away from the table and stood, holding a coffee mug in her hand. “So, what’s the next move, Lexi?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I pulled up Google Maps and studied the satellite view of Tango Bio Research Solutions. Tango Bio’s lab sat about an hour north of Atlantic City, tucked into a deeply forested area without a close neighbor. In fact, the nearest site was the Batsto Village where we’d met Ginger, and that was two miles east of the laboratory. Ginger had either been incredibly lucky or awfully smart to have gone in the right direction to reach humans to help her. Had it been coincidence or intelligence?
Frustrated, I peered at my screen, trying to improve the visual. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much of the lab from the satellite view. There was only a single road to access the facility. The view from the satellite showed the building to be aggressively boring. Rectangular. Gray. Nondescript. There was a parking lot out front and that was about the extent of my view. The large forest practically swallowed it up.
I suddenly stood up, surprising everyone. “We need to check out the lab for ourselves.”
“In person?” Gray asked, clearly skeptical.
“Yes. I’ve probed online, and Tango Bio’s external network firewall and security is pretty good. I doubt I can hack in when I’m limited by time, the casino Wi-Fi’s bandwidth, and the resources on my laptop. But there’s a chance their local network security isn’t as robust. So, I recommend we check out the site to give me a chance to probe their security from up close.”
“Did you just say ‘hack in’?” Barbie asked, staring at me, confused.
“Yeah, that’s kind of my job,” I said.
“Don’t worry, she’s a white-hat hacker,” Basia explained. “Meaning she doesn’t hack for malicious purposes. Right, Lexi?”
“Technically, I’m a computer security expert,” I said.
“Walks like a duck…talks like a duck,” Basia responded, and I sighed.
“Well, I like the plan,” Gray suddenly said. “Reconnaissance. Figuring out what kind of security setup the lab has. How do people get in and out of the building? It’s not a bad idea, Lexi. The more information we have, the better decisions we can make.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “I just want to look at the place and see it for myself. We don’t go in. We don’t confront anyone. We just drive up, look at the facility, and see what kind of security they’re running. I probe their Wi-Fi and just get a feel for things.”
“Maybe we can confirm whether something big is about to happen,” Basia said.
“That will be doubtful from our vantage point, unfortunately,” I said. “But that’s okay. We’ll gather what intel we can and leave.”
“When do we go?” Gwen asked. “Tonight?”
Gray shook her head. “I recommend sooner. It’s better to reconnoiter in the daylight so we can actually see things. Plus, there’s only one road in and out. We don’t want to leave our car alone, or nearly alone, in the parking lot. It’ll be conspicuous.”
“It’s Sunday,” Basia pointed out. “Won’t we be conspicuous based on that alone?”
“We don’t have to park in the lab parking lot,” Barbie interrupted us. “There’s a hiking trail about half a mile past the turnoff. I used it the last time I scoped the place. If we park there, no one will see the car. The trail runs behind the building. I’ve used it before to observe the lab.”
Gray glanced at her in surprise. “You’ve already done recon on the lab?”
Barbie nodded. “I don’t write about places I haven’t checked out for myself.”
That earned a nod of respect from Gray.
“Did you just say we when referring to the reconnaissance trip to the lab?” I asked Barbie.
Barbie nodded. “I did. If you’re going to check the place out, shouldn’t you take someone who has been there before?”
