It was only in the quiet, back in their bedroom, that a thought seemed to occur to Bradley. They sat down together at their laptop and began to do some research on H.L. Lili Corporation.
“Closed down three years ago. They lost their final appeal six months ago and the building was seized by the government for fines and back taxes,” Kay read, paraphrasing the long article she had located.
“So, the government owns the building. That means it is just sitting there empty with no one minding it while they do the paperwork to sell it to the highest bidder, which could take years with all the red tape.”
“How do you know it has no security?”
“I don’t know, but I’m guessing that the company probably kept it under patrol until it was becoming apparent they would lose it. The government isn’t going to lose money by keeping it under survey. They would have just removed any chemicals and valuables from the premises and locked up the fences.”
“But there wouldn’t be any electricity, would there?”
“I don’t know if they need electricity. If they do, there are always generators. I’ve no idea, but there was more than one broken container in the cave with their name on it and the smell down in the cave was still pretty strong. I’m guessing that they moved the lab, either after the girls went missing or after we burned the fields. Must have thought someone might be on to them.”
“And you think they moved their operations here?”
“Maybe. It’s worth a look. Look here,” he said, taking over and opening up a map page. He typed in the address for the H.L. Lili facility that had been on their page and showed it to her. It was not on a main road. No reason for anyone to just be driving by. If you traveled down the road that ended at the facility, then that is where you were headed-nowhere else to go.
“Far enough removed that they wouldn’t be noticed.”
“Exactly. Also, anyone driving up to it would be seen long before they saw anyone inside the building if they operate on the backside of it.”
Bradley pulled up their webpage again and motioned at the spread of trees on either side. You could clearly see the front of the building, but the back and sides were surrounded by the forest. Bears wouldn’t even have to break into the gates. They could come through the woods and either climb or cut into the back fence. With no one checking, it would be a while before it was noticed.
“Let’s go check it out,” she said.
“No. Not again. I don’t want you involved in this anymore than you already are.”
“I’m the only one you can trust right now.”
“I know you are, but still.”
“Still nothing. I’m coming with you. When do we go?”
“Let’s go as soon as the sun drops. Through the woods again, so that no one sees us coming.”
“It’s a date,” she said, kissing him softly.CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXThe rain felt nice against their pelts as they ran through the forest. The plant was only about twelve miles through the woods, more than double that on the roads through town. They made good time, arriving in just over a half hour at the back fence. Rather than going right over it, they took the time to walk along the length of it, finding an opening where it joined one of the corner posts.
Shifting back into human form, they fished their clothes out of the backpack and got dressed. There didn’t appear to be any sort of lookout or anything on the outside. Whoever was doing this was confident that it wouldn’t be found.
“Up there,” Bradley said, pointing to a soft glow of light barely visible through one of the darkly tinted windows on the second floor.
Kay nodded, and they moved slowly through the darkness, edging ever closer to the building to see if they could find a point of entry. They were once again surprised as they reached the back doors. They had obviously been pried open, but no attempt had been made to secure them. Instead, they stood slightly ajar.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.
Bradley nodded and slowly opened the door, holding it for her to step through. The building was dark inside, the light visible from the second floor not evident down here. She was guessing that he had been right about a generator. They seemed to have their work area contained so that it was not detectable unless you were very near it.
Kay opened a small pen light she had brought in the pack and shown it down the hallway, careful to keep her hand over it so that it emitted only the slightest bit of light. Spotting what she was looking for, she motioned toward it.