Tanni rubbed his stubby hands together as he looked at Aaron. "You know you are going to get me fired if I do that."
"From what we have already, I'd be thinking about a good solicitor, not whether you have a job or not," said Akerheart, shifting in his chair to be more intimidating.
Tanni looked from Akerheart to Aaron. The fear in his eyes and the wringing of his stubby hands suggested he knew more than he was admitting to. "Use port 6375."
Aaron was on it as fast as his fingers could hit the keys. Within two minutes, he was past the Remedcon firewall and had what appeared to be unlimited access to the system. "Okay, now how do I see all the cameras in the facility?" Aaron had already gained access to many of the Remedcon cameras but he didn't want Tanni to know.
Tanni gave him the codes, passwords and links to every port within the security system. Aaron worked through each port and found many of the cameras he had not found on his own. Then he went to the lobby cameras and played the surveillance video from an hour prior to the carryall being discovered. Tanni was much calmer as he watched the video feed, but kept wringing his hands.
"Look at that," said Robins. "That guy going into the lobby has a carryall." They watched as the man walked to a set of chairs, put the carryall down and took a seat. He appeared to be typing into his mobile while looking over the top, scanning the room.
"I wonder what he is looking for," said Aaron as they continued watching the video feed. "And I wish he would look up so I can get a good face shot." As if on queue, he looked around the room, stopping to check out the information desk. His face was in full view. "Got ya," said Aaron as he froze the video and took a screen shot. "I'm sending this to Shaun and the police. Hopefully they can find him in their databases," he said as he emailed the picture.
Tanni was staring at the still screen. His eyes suggested he knew the person looking back at him. "Do you recognize him?" Robins asked Tanni.
"I'm not sure, but I think it could be one of the researchers who used to work here," he said.
Natalie and Joanne talked while Tanni showed Aaron how to get past the firewall at Remedcon. Joanne was able to dig into the records for the vaccine trial. "These files are filled with legal and medical jargon to keep the National Department of Health ministers happy. Most of it pertains to how the trial will be run, who will be selected as patients or clients, and how the results will be scored. I dug a bit further and found the results from the first human trial. You were accurate in your assessments of the program, Natalie," she said.
"How? Don't stop there, give me some details."
"The trials were supposed to have three groups of test subjects. But during the first group trial, several subjects had severe reactions to the vaccine. According to the write up, they stopped the trial and went back to study the cause of the reactions."
"I guess that is normal. Things look good on paper and with the lab rats, but don't always work out with humans. So why didn't they try again?" asked Natalie.
"I'm still digging. The files are secured so it takes a lot to get them released. And without a subpoena, I am working around the barriers and restrictions. You want me to continue or do you have enough?"
Natalie wasn't sure if she wanted more and didn't want Joanne to get into trouble. Searching secure databases was her thing, but doing it without legal authorization was a different story. "Let me run with what you gave me. Could you talk with Shaun and get his feel for whether you should dig deeper?"
"Sure thing, Natalie. Knowing Shaun as I do, he will say dig deeper, but I'll wait until you get back to me."
Natalie walked into conference room B as Aaron was looking through video feeds from Remedcon. Tanni sat with his hands in his lap watching his world crumble in front of him. Sitting opposite Tanni, she asked, "What can you tell me about the pneumonia vaccine trials?"
The question brought Tanni to a full upright sitting position. "Why are you asking me, I'm not a researcher?"
"As the head of security, you have information on everything that goes on at Remedcon. What do you know, Tanni?"
He looked at her with hatred on his face. "I've already told you more than I should. If you want more you'll have to talk with Mr. Taylor," he said and stood from the chair. When he was not stopped, he began to walk to the door, and then turned to Akerheart. "You drove me here, so the least you can do is return me to my car."
"Don't even think about changing passwords or access codes, Tanni. If you do, I'm sure the good people at MI5 will find a reason to detain you for a while. Do I make myself clear?" asked Aaron as he looked at Tanni standing near the door.
Tanni said nothing as he, Akerheart, and Robins left the conference room.
"I sent Shaun and the police a shot from the video feed of the lobby. The picture showed a clear image of the guy who put the carryall down, then walked out. Tanni said he might have worked at Remedcon but didn't know his name. What did you get from Joanne?"
Natalie filled Aaron in on the details Joanne was able to dig up. "We need to contact former employees who might have worked on the vaccine project. My gut says one of them is behind this," said Natalie. "Right now, I'm hungry and tired. It's been a long day and frankly I don't want to make it any longer." Looking at Aaron as if he might argue, she continued, "Do I have your permission to call it a day, or do you want me to start contacting the former employees?"
Aaron smiled at her request and said, "You don't need to ask my permission for anything, Natalie. I am your coworker not your boss, remember?"
"Maybe so, but you are heading this case and I don't want to mess things up for you."
Aaron sat in silence for a minute and then said, "Do you have the names and addresses of the people you want to talk to?"
"No, I need help with that. Tanni is not about to help and I'm sure Taylor won't either. Now that you have full access into their system, do you think you can hack their personnel files?"
It took over two hours to get a partial list of the researchers. Joanne called Natalie saying that Shaun was obtaining all the legal papers for her to continue with the clandestine research. She said she would have more information in the morning, including names of test subjects and researchers. Hearing that, Aaron and Natalie called it a night.
"You have any plans for the evening?" asked Natalie as she walked out with Aaron.
"I don't normally go clubbing mid week, but a friend of mine asked me to join him if I had the energy. I need to get some down time and let all this stuff gel. Clubbing might just be the prescription I need," he said as he walked Natalie to her car. "What about you, hot date?"
"The only hot thing I'll be doing tonight is a bath. My body and my mind hurt too much for anything else. Don't stay out too late, we have to solve this before anyone else gets hurt. Want a ride home?"
"No thanks. Walking helps me think and I have lots to think about tonight. See you in the morning."
While walking to his bedsit, Aaron sent a text to Barry, I understand, from Tom, that you are going to the club tonight. I'll meet you there when I can.
He sent another text to Tom, Will be at The Underground around ten. What do you have planned for Barry?
His mobile beeped within a few minutes. Barry was pleased that Aaron could meet up tonight, Tom set this up. He said it would help me get a better understanding of my status. That's all I know, sir.
Aaron smiled as he walked. If Tom set this up, Barry will have a lot to think about when this night is over.
His mobile beeped again as he climbed the stairs to his bedsit. The text from Tom read, Glad you will be there. Whatever you do, don't stop what I have planned. Barry needs to go through this at least once. See you later.
Aaron's mind went into overdrive wondering what Tom had set up and if Barry knew anything about the events that Tom had planned. This ought to be interesting