she supposed, but there was something nice about it. Often she felt like she was holding people up, but Hutch seemed perfectly comfortable with the slower pace.
“Do you know what Madison was working on? And I’d love to see any kind of reports on the accident in her lab.”
While they’d waited for MaeBe and Kyle to text them that they were ready to go, they’d talked about the case. He’d gone over how a hacker could get into her system, patiently explaining the methods and answering her every question.
He’d also offered her candy. He had a surprising amount of candy on his desk.
“She was working on something top secret. I think it’s some kind of biochemical experiment,” she replied as they stopped on the ground floor of the garage. “She had every technician who worked with her under some hard-core NDAs.”
Everyone signed a nondisclosure agreement when they started work at Genedyne, but Madison had her own to cover her specific lab.
“So you work on whatever you want to?” Hutch had a bag in his hand. Apparently he kept a spare set of clothes and a toiletry bag at the office in case he got stuck working late.
“Consider Genedyne as something of a think tank combined with a university, but making money like a corporation.” It could be hard to describe the way these new firms worked. “They’re all about the patents they potentially get coming out of this.”
“So you do the work and the company gets the patent, and the patent is what makes money. Doesn’t seem fair to me, though I know it’s how the system works.”
“If I was at a university, they would own my research. I honestly wouldn’t have research if I didn’t have company money backing me up. I get a generous salary, my name on everything, and bonuses if the idea works out.” She loved her lab. “If I hadn’t been hired by Genedyne, I would probably be working in some company on someone else’s research. I’m female and young, so getting to do my own work is a miracle.”
“How did you get hired?”
“The normal way. Everyone knows once you get hired there’s the internal fight for a private lab. I liked the fact that ideas were more important than past experience at Genedyne. Not that I would have kept my lab if I screwed up. Jessica is quick to hire and even faster to fire,” Noelle explained. She didn’t talk about the fact that an employee who got fired was lucky to merely slink away. Sometimes the employee got fired or accused of trying to steal company property.
“Do you know what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world? Of course you don’t. She has to be tough or they’ll eat her alive.” She knew the rumors, but she was giving her boss a chance. “Look, I’m careful. I want to stay off her radar as much as possible, but I also recognize the amazing opportunity she’s given me. I know a lot of what she does is theatrical, but it’s how she gets attention for the company. She’s always been considered an innovator. Is she perfect? Of course not.”
“Hey, it’s not like there aren’t many controversial tech figures. They kind of try to be controversial, so I understand the marketing play,” he replied. “I work for Ian Taggart. Trust me. When I first met the man, I’d heard lots of rumors about him.”
“From the CIA?” She couldn’t help it. She was curious about Hutch. She wanted to ask him what exactly he’d done that shut down everyone the minute he mentioned his “sacrifice.” He was an incredibly handsome man, but he didn’t look like a guy who’d been in the Army and the CIA. Of course, according to most people, she didn’t look like a badass scientist, and that’s exactly what she was.
“Yes. I was working with a CIA team when I first met the Taggarts,” Hutch explained. “The first time I ever went into this building we were raiding it.”
“Raiding it?”
He nodded and pointed up to the ceiling. “We came in on a helo, landed on top of the building, and came in through the front door with flashbangs. Shock and awe did not work on McKay-Taggart.”
“Okay. The last time I checked, the CIA was concerned with foreign countries. I know Texas sometimes seems weird, but it’s still America.” She had a million questions, and there was a flutter in her stomach