AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

passed out. But eventually he roused himself and started the car, banged it into the car in front and finally backed out onto the street. He drove erratically and two blocks away from the school almost ran off the road when a flashing fire truck and a sheriff’s car passed him going the other way.
    Thank God, Munroe thought when he saw the emergency vehicles. Please be all right Linda.
    After leaving Gilcrest, the driver rallied and made it to Interstate 25 without incident. He was now heading southbound, approaching the Denver metro area, driving only 10 miles above the speed limit and no longer weaving. Munroe sat beside him, trying to drink in every detail of the man, or at least every detail on the right side of him. He noted the pierced ear, the scar on his bald skull and his clothing should he need to identify him. He had checked the contents of the car as well, seeing nothing more incriminating than printed directions to the school. In the back seat, he saw a gas station receipt and noted the time, date and location and the last four numbers of the credit card.
    Munroe looked up and saw that the driver was leaving the highway at a Northglenn exit and was heading east. They entered an industrial park and as they entered the parking area they passed a black car, a nondescript vehicle like a Ford Taurus, leaving. A car leaving an industrial area at 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day seemed suspicious. Munroe rushed to the back seat but couldn’t make out the plates.
    Munroe’s driver parked at the loading dock of one of the small office/warehouses. The man left the car and Munroe tagged close behind.
    The dock doors were open and Munroe saw three men unloading a panel truck, possibly the one from the school. One of the men on the dock saw the injured man climbing the stairs to the dock and hurried to meet him. Munroe tried to commit this person to memory and then moved up onto the dock to peer into the warehouse.
    He saw that the warehouse held dozens of boxes similar to the one he’d seen in the gymnasium. He entered to get a closer look.
    Two more people, a man and a woman, were inside, standing near a desk, and he recognized both from the school. The woman was Duggan and she appeared to be giving directions. She looked away as she noticed Munroe’s driver approaching, being helped by the same man who had met them at the stairs.
    He took the time to see the room in 360, trying again to capture any details that might help later. He did a quick mental count of the boxes, aided by their being neatly stacked in rows. He did a quick inventory of other items in the room, including pallets of particleboard and power tools for making more cubes. He noted a schedule taped to a wall that corresponded to the dates he saw at the Explorers headquarters. He also saw that the wastebasket next to the desk held a FedEx mailer with a torn shipping label, the words “CENTER FOR” all that remained.
    His attention was drawn back to Duggan. She was obviously agitated and was shouting at the men. Munroe wished that he were better at reading lips. He could, however, follow her gestures and she pointed again and again at the desk and at the laptop it held, presumably the same one he saw at the school. Then he noticed that connected to the laptop was a portable AfterNet terminal, a competitive model to Yamaguchi’s, apparently in sleep mode.
    Why the hell would she need a portable terminal? he wondered. Does she taunt the people she captures?
    The other men from the dock had joined the discussion, although the injured man was sitting slumped on one of the boxes. The man who helped him was shouting back at Duggan and he started jabbing her in the shoulder with his finger. The last jab staggered her back and she caught the edge of the desk for support. The laptop screen flickered to life and at the same time, the terminal’s field popped into being, startling Munroe.
    The field felt great, even better when he realized the terminal was set to anonymous access. And on top of that, the laptop was booted into the Linux version of the AfterNet OS and the last user was still logged in.
    He quickly went to the emergency services forum and thanked God Steve Hanzon was still one of the volunteers on duty.
steve.hanzon2: ?s ur emergency
jollycopper: Steve, it’s Alex Munroe, 11578 Sherman Street. Building D. No 34. Send police now.
steve.hanzon2: Alex? ur IDs not confirmed. Give me your partner’s badge number.
jollycopper: 5436
steve.hanzon2: