The Mind Virus

Chapter 11 - Part 1

Walking into the police station, Jim wasn't sure whether he felt like a master sleuth or an amateur in for a rude awakening. Miller's shift would be ending soon. He was probably in the rest area right now enjoying a hot beverage, but Jim wasn't going there just yet. There was still some time left, and he had a vital task on his to-do list before he would begin to follow Miller.

The computer hummed as the login screen appeared. Jim entered his password, hoping that the lone IT guy in the department wasn't keeping track of who was logging in when. After all, the dress shirt and tie that Jim was wearing was only to keep attention away from himself and prevent other officers from noticing that he was in on a day when he wasn't supposed to be. Fortunately, he was used to being invisible, so not much effort was needed.

G Drive... Operations... Fleet... navigating through the directories was second nature to Jim. His position as an eternal intern in the department meant very few boots-on-the-ground-type duties and a lot of paperwork and other office jobs. He probably knew the station computers better than any of the other officers.

UC_fleet.xlsx. Here it is. The Cedar Grove Police Department had a small collection of vehicles used for undercover work. Admittedly, "undercover" made it sound more grandiose than it was. These vehicles were mostly used to buy drugs and pick up prostitutes right before a black-and-white cruiser would show up and arrest the offending parties. The plainclothes officers would be mock-arrested as well until the suspects were carted away, at which point the handcuffs came off, the cruisers disappeared around the corner, and the plainclothes officers got back in the cars to buy more drugs or pick up more prostitutes. A few times, Jim had been responsible for drawing up the use dates for these undercover cars, and so he was intimately familiar with the log – the log that was staring at him from the computer screen right at that moment.

No undercover cars in use tonight. That was good news. Jim could easily sneak away in one of them without anyone noticing. Most of all, Miller – who may or may not recognize Jim's shitbox of a car – definitely wouldn't notice the plain white Toyota Camry that he planned on taking from the station. There would need to be precautions, of course – not getting too close, that kind of stuff – but by and large, the white Camry would be less of a shining beacon than his own gold Intrepid.

The computer made its characteristic farewell sound as it shut down, but Jim was already circling around the cubicle and heading toward the board of keys down the hallway. Looking behind him to make sure Miller wasn't around, he plowed right into a group of officers leaving the briefing room.

"Sorry about that," Jim mumbled.

"Eyes on the road, kid," said an older officer whom Jim thought he recognized. The three chevrons on the man's arm tipped him off as to where he knew him from.

"Sergeant Brown, you guys are a bit early, aren't you?"

"No point just sitting around, is there... James, is it?" The sergeant glanced down at Jim's ID.

"Jim. Good to meet you." He held out a hand. "It looks like your team is one man short. Where's Officer Spaulding?"

Sergeant Brown shook his hand. "Hasn't showed up yet. Cory's normally early. All of us are. No idea why he's not in yet today. My guess is he's sick, though if he's called in, no one's told me about it. I've left him a note in the briefing room. If he comes in later, he'll know what to do, and if he doesn't, we'll be fine. Tonight's looking like a quiet night."

That couldn't be farther from the truth as far as Jim was concerned, but the less the other officers knew about that, the better. "Yeah, looks like it."

"So what they got you doing tonight?"

"Just looking over some logs." It wasn't a total lie.

"Right, well don't wear yourself out doing that. I'll see you around... James." Sergeant Brown glanced again at Jim's ID.

"Yeah, see you around, Sergeant."