Minutes stretched into an hour and a bit longer until I finished. My shoulders were tight as I called Angel back on my cell.
“Did you get some dinner?” I asked.
“If you consider the food here at UTOP food,” she said. “Mystery meat drowned in gravy and some rubbery green beans on the side. The apple pie and ice cream hit the spot, though.”
My stomach growled just thinking about it. Luckily, I heard Gwen and Basia discussing what to order for dinner from room service.
“Well, the system is wide-open,” I said. “Here’s the IP address of their security server. Can you meet me there?” I sent her instructions and she fell quiet as she followed them, but I could hear the click of the keys over the line.
“Okay, I’m there,” she finally said. “Hello, I see you. Hey, good news. No notice of any alerts.” Angel’s voice came through, sharper now.
“Nope. We’re as invisible as ghosts.”
She chuckled. “Man, when I grow up, I want to be you. Oooh, you’re threading the needle. How did you create the original back door?”
“I found a permissions mismatch, small and buried. It appears to be a forgotten administrative service account tied to an old vendor update. Just what the doctor ordered. There are several things I usually look for, but if I can find one of those, it’s easy.”
“Nice piece of work,” Angel said admiringly. “Now what? What can I do?”
“I just wanted to show you where the back door was, in case I have problems from the field, so you could take over completely.”
“Got it. When will things be going down?”
“It’ll be tonight, probably somewhere between two and three in the morning. You’re still available?”
“Oooh. Middle-of-the-night hijinks. I like it. Of course I’m free. And since I’ve finished all my homework, I’m in a good spot. I’ll get everything ready on my end, which means late-night snacks, drinks, and an extra monitor. I’ll be awaiting your call this evening.”
“You don’t have to stay up,” I said. “Go to sleep, but keep your phone nearby so you can hear it when I call.”
“Don’t worry about me, Lexi. I’m a night owl.”
“Good. Well, as promised, here’s your special assignment: I want you to log into security camera A12 and do the following.” I proceeded to spell out exactly what I wanted. She would have hours to work on my pet project, but I doubted it would take her that long.
She had already started by the time she clicked off. Leaning back, I stretched my arms over my head. I was hungry. I was tired. I desperately needed a nap.
But somewhere less than an hour away, a lab was preparing for a demonstration that might decide Ginger’s fate, and possibly a lot more than that. Sleep could wait.
I pulled my laptop back toward me and started typing again. Tonight, we weren’t just hacking a system. We were declaring war against Tango Bio Research Solutions, and it was a war I didn’t intend to lose.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Lexi
We slowly drove the last quarter mile down the road to the lab with our headlights off, guided only by the light of a quarter moon. We slipped into the parking lot near the bushes where I’d left my phone earlier. I hopped out momentarily to retrieve it. The phone was cold, but a quick check revealed it still worked and had a 40 percent charge. More than enough for what we needed to do.
There were just two forlorn pole lamps lighting the shadowy parking lot. The lot was mostly empty now, just a handful of cars scattered too far apart to be coincidence. Late shift, I assumed. Essential staff, but enough people inside to make this risky.
Gray parked two rows away from the main entrance, near a couple of other cars and out of the radiance of the lights. We sat in the SUV waiting. I glanced at the dashboard clock and saw the time was 2:06 a.m. Gray was in the driver’s seat, me in the passenger seat with the laptop on my lap and plugged in, and Barbie, Basia, and Gwen in the back.
Night had settled fully around the lab. The building itself looked different at night—the minimal exterior lighting implied that their exterior cameras were low-light sensitive. Visually, everything looked muted and unassuming. The kind of place that relied on anonymity as much as security.
I connected to their Wi-Fi and security system through my laptop. I inhaled and nodded at Gray. “It’s time.”
We’d been here five minutes and there was no sign that anyone had detected or recognized our presence.
Gwen swiped open her phone, called Angel, and then looped in Barbie and me. I put my phone on speaker so Gray and Basia could hear. Barbie put in her earbuds, and Gwen tested the communications between all of us.
Barbie slipped the band holding the GoPro camera onto her forehead. She then pulled a knit cap over her head, leaving the camera exposed. She reached up and turned it on. It would serve as my eyes so I could see what Barbie saw and guide her in real time. If someone saw her, she could easily flip down the cuff of the cap and hide the camera until it was safe to uncover it again.
