The Mind Virus

Chapter 5 - Part 3

Jim beat a hasty retreat before he could bury himself any deeper. The front door resisted his attempts to open it, as if to prolong his awkwardness. Finally succeeding in getting it to budge, he turned back toward Anne to wish her one final goodbye as he walked out.

"I'll see you around. Or I'll hear from – oof!" Jim walked right into someone. Turning his head around to look, he felt his spine go cold as he gazed upon the figure in his way. She was not an imposing woman – that wasn't it – but in spite of her smart dress, she radiated an aura that projected unease and discomfort. Her icy eyes cut right through Jim as she stared at him. His mind struggled to understand what he was feeling. All he knew was that there was a darkness emanating from this person, and he wanted to get away from her as quickly as he could.

"Everything all right there, champ?" As she spoke, her outward appearance dissolved and reformed itself before Jim's eyes. Her stance and facial expression seemed amicable now, and yet, her eyes seemed... evil? Was that what Jim's instincts were telling him?

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where – uh, yeah, sorry about that." Jim wanted to pull away, but he couldn't break eye contact with this woman. He felt like she was flaying him with her eyes – not his body, but his thoughts, his very soul.

"No need to apologize," she looked down at his ID hanging from his belt, "Detective James Ford."

Jim's blood drained from his face. How had he not realized that his ID had his full name on it, and on full display, when he gave Anne the fake name? He couldn't even bear to turn around to see if Anne had picked up on this... whoever she was, revealing his identity. An internal battle was taking place in his mind. He wanted to ask who she was, but he also questioned the wisdom of sticking around when his cover was on the verge of – if not already – getting blown. He made his choice.

Breathe in, breathe out. "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

The woman laughed dryly. "Why? Am I a suspect, Detective?"

Breathe in, breathe out. "I don't know, ma'am. Are you?" Whether Jim's tone came out as coy as he intended or as idiotic as he was feeling was anyone's guess.

"Jess Van Zandt. I'm with the insurance company." She held out a hand.

"Pleasure to meet you." Jim took her hand. "I'm Jim Sm– uh, Ford."

"The pleasure's all mine, Detective." How was this woman managing to appear so friendly all of a sudden? Had Jim just been imagining it earlier? He wasn't exactly a social butterfly, so it wouldn't be entirely unusual for him to misread social cues or body language, especially in a time of high anxiety.

"Which insurance company did you say you were with?" Breathe in, breathe out.

"Hanover Life. I'm here to look into the recent death of a client. Can I assume you were here for the same reason?"

"Yeah, just following up."

"So you're the detective on this case then, Detective Ford?"

Jim winced. He wished she would stop saying his name. Truthfully, he didn't know whether Anne was still within earshot, or whether the door behind him was even still open, but he didn't have the stones to turn around and check. Ignorance truly was bliss. "No, like I said, I'm just here to follow up."

"That's quite the notepad you've got there." Jess gestured to the diary nestled under Jim's arm.

"Right, yeah, well, you can never have too much paper, right?"

"Right." Jess violated him again with her eyes as the uncomfortable silence filled the air. "Do you have heart stickers on all your notepads, Detective?"

Breathe in, breathe out. "I like to bring a little bit of levity to my work, Miss Van Zandt." Jim managed a forced smile. "It was nice to meet you, ma'am. I'll be going now. I'll see you around."

"Take care," Jess cooed after him as he shuffled off.

After spending an excruciatingly long time trying to jam his keys into his car door, he finally got them in, opened the door, and slid into the driver's seat as quickly as he could. He still couldn't bear to look toward the apartment to see how much of that conversation Anne had overheard, and he was going to keep it that way.

"Hi, are you with Detective Smith?" Anne's voice came from afar.

Fuck! Fuck! It's over! Jim didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation. He rolled up the last inch of his window and drove off.