“Oh my God.” Rachel spun around in a panic, staring into the darkness in the direction of her car. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know.” Yamada’s face became grim. “I don’t know.”
“I was ready to give Masten the benefit of the doubt…”
“Why?”
“Because I thought the police might have been wrong. That Perry could have died of a heart attack. But now, with him. And your cousin. And the hackers.”
“I don’t know that part for sure.”
“Does it matter? The timing can’t be coincidental.”
“No, it can’t.”
Rachel then gasped. “Wait. Do they know that you know?”
“Who?”
“Robert and Nora. Do they know that you know? About what the hackers found?”
“I don’t think so.” Yamada’s eyes switched from reflective to worried. “Do they know about you?”
Rachel stopped to think. “I don’t know. Perry told me outside. So, I can’t see how they—”
“Wait,” interrupted Henry. “Outside where? Our building?”
“Yes.”
“Oh Jesus, Rachel! That building has cameras all over the place! Inside and outside! Where were you when Perry talked to you about it?”
“You mean—”
“Where were you standing?”
“Uh, about a hundred feet from the entrance. Maybe farther. Near the street.”
“Right in front of the building? Are you two stupid? That whole area is covered!”
“I didn’t know!” she shot back. “How were we supposed to know?”
Yamada closed his eyes. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. You didn’t know. But, we have to assume those cameras picked up everything you said.”
“Not that far away!”
“It’s possible,” said Yamada. “Even if they didn’t, Masten and Lag- ner would probably suspect you two were up to something by leaving the building. Either way, we have to assume they know that you know.”
“This can’t be happening,” Rachel said, shaking. “This cannot be happening!”
Yamada sighed. “We need to go to the police.”
“What?”
“I said—”
“I heard what you said. But Perry said we shouldn’t. He was adamant.”
“That was before he was dead! And my cousin.”
She stared apprehensively at Yamada in the night air. Lingering, saying nothing, until finally acquiescing in a nod.
“We have to talk to the cops and give them everything.”
Still in thought and nodding, Rachel suddenly froze. “Wait, what?”
“We have to tell them everything.”
She slowly shook. “You said give them everything.” When Yamada didn’t reply, she inched closer, squinting. “Give them what, Henry?”
He didn’t answer.
“Give them what, Henry?” she repeated, louder. Then, while she stared at his darkened face, it hit her. “You have a copy.”
Yamada swallowed.
“You have a copy?”
“Yes.”
“You’re worried about them knowing about me while you have a copy of what the hackers found?”
“My cousin sent it to me. Before.”
“And you don’t think that if they knew about your cousin and the hackers, that somehow they wouldn’t know about you, too?”
Yamada mumbled, “Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Okay, fine. They might find out. Probably. Eventually.”
Rachel raised her hands to her face. “My God,” she said. “Then, whoever did this to Perry and your cousin also knows about you and me.” She shook again, almost crying as she spoke. “This just cannot be happening.”
“Time to go to the police,” he said.
With her eyes closed, she dropped her hands. “How bad is it?”
“How bad?”
“The information they found.” She opened her eyes again. “How bad is it?”
“It’s pretty damning. Not just for Robert and Nora, but some of our consulting doctors are in on this, too. And it may go even deeper than that. Or should I say higher.”
“Then don’t tell me any more. Let’s just take it to the police.”
Resigned, both took a deep breath and turned back the way they came. Stepping carefully along the winding footpath as it descended back out from the trees toward the park’s giant sign.
They made it twenty feet before Rachel slowed and grasped Yamada’s arm. “Wait! What happens when we turn them in?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what happens, specifically?”
“To them or us?”
Rachel blinked and gazed past him over the distant lake. “Not to them, by them.”
“I don’t follow.”
She looked at Yamada. “What are they going to do?”
“You mean like deny it?”
“No, like covering it up.”
He thought a moment. “I guess that’s possible.”
Rachel, still staring, then asked, “How hard would it be to cover it up, Henry? Everything.”
“The whole project?”
“The whole project. It’s not that big. How long would it take them to get rid of it all? Like emptying out the labs?”
“That’s a good question.”
“They wouldn’t even have to get rid of it all,” she said. “Just the main systems. The Machine. Most of the testing units. The DNA sequencers. A few other things.”
“But the rest would still be there. If someone came to investigate…”
“The easiest thing to do, and the most expedient, would be to divert, not deny.”
“What does that mean?”
“Think about it. Cleaning everything up would take time. But just a little cleanup would be faster. A lot faster.”
“But the lab would still be there,” he repeated.
“That’s what I’m saying. They don’t have to get rid of it all. A diversion rather than a denial could make things much easier. And more believable.”
“What diversion?”
“All labs look the same,” said Rachel. “At least most of them, to an untrained eye. All Robert and Nora would have to do is get rid of the cryo-related systems and claim Recrudesce was something completely different.”
Now Yamada got it. “Wow. I didn’t think of that.”
“It would be the easiest thing, right?”
“That’s evil genius.”
She nodded and gripped his arm again. “And we both know how methodical Robert is.”
“And Nora.”
“And Nora,” agreed Rachel. “So, what do you think the odds are that they already have a backup project in mind as a contingency?”
“Jesus,” breathed Yamada. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“Neither would—” Rachel gasped. “Oh my God, Henry!”
“What?”
She stared up at his darkened face. “If they have to get rid of everything relating to the project, that would also have to include John Reiff.”