Chapter 7 - Pimp My Ride

As Finne pulled out onto the street level of the seven under-story garage beneath his building, he squinted as the setting sunlight broke through the open barricade and into the dark shadows of the parking structure. Effortlessly he dropped the Revo 3050 Flex sunglasses on his head to his eyes and folded down the tan leather visor in front of him. Finne gave thought to the fact that it had taken a significant amount of work to get to where he was in life despite the advantages he had in life.

Pulling onto 14th street in his navy blue, late model BMW 325i heading towards Constitution Ave., Finne tried to recall his early childhood – a time of amazement, and a time of importance. Finne was born into a successful family that grew up on the fringe of politics and in the heart of government. His father had been a dedicated public servant through six administrations within the Department of Defense. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1958 initiating a fast-paced rise though the military ranks. He had excelled in the sciences at the academy and participated in many of the early R&D projects the academy facilitated for the active service during his time on the yard. Oscar Seldnac had led the development of military research programs for thirty years before passing away. When he had died, his funeral was attended by more than seven hundred staff, friends and family at a full color ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Twenty One shots were fired by the national Drill Team as three bursts of seven shots in disciplined and somber order. Finne’s family had brought him within the circle of importance that surrounded Washington, DC.

Finne stepped on the gas as he rounded the turn onto Constitution Ave knowing that he needed to get ahead at least three blocks in the next twelve seconds to beat the lights between 14th and the Memorial Bridge ahead. He felt comfortable in the leather seats that held him like a glove as he shifted into fourth gear with a steady rapid acceleration. Finne knew that MPD had much more difficult challenges to battle than the flagrant speeding that occurred between mid afternoon and the end of rush hour as the throngs of government employees vacated the city each night. Finne had the drive down to a routine. Right lane for two blocks, than center lane until just before the first bus stop, and finally left lane over the bridge and past Arlington along interstate 66 towards northern Virginia. DC’s latest investment on cross-walk timers showed Finne exactly how much time before the green lights in front of him turned to yellow. As long as he stayed ahead of the yellow lights past the Federal Reserve, he would sail past them all and be on his way without impediment to the highway.

Finne had gotten a sweet deal on his car just six months ago. Miraculously, the exact make, model, and color certified BMW was sitting on the lot he drove past on a daily basis. He had been searching the internet and shopping at all of the local dealers for over a week without any luck.. Finne had come close to buying one through Car Max that had the same package as this one but without the sunroof and Bose speaker package. However, that car was sold off the lot before it had been cleared from the internet site, so he missed it. Then this beauty jumped out in front of him. It had a package of factory additions that nearly mirrored the “wish-list” he had created on the Kelly blue book website. Finne faired well in the negotiations resisting the offers for unnecessary warranties, add-on electronics, and “life-time” service plans that weren’t all that they were sold to be. He paid just under the KBB price for a car in Fair condition and was surprised to have made his deal so easily. He thought his timing couldn’t have been worse, the dealer’s blow out end of month, end of quarter sale had just ended and then this car showed up. He knew he couldn’t hold a poker face with such an exact match of a car and figured he would be take for the ride in this negotiation. However, he stuck to his price and felt he had bettered a tired veteran salesman that was looking to get one more sale in before going home for the first night of the past five before 1:00 AM. In fact, Finne had met one of our agents portraying a very convincing battered down swindler and had bitten our hook with his mouth wide open.

The navigation system and satellite radio features Finne had foregone during the sale of the car had already been installed. However these systems were not visible nor known to the new owner. The GPS beacon was for our tracking purposes and not to alleviate Finne’s navigational dilemmas. The satellite system in this car was bi-directional and completely disguised. What sounded to the passengers of this vehicle as local DC radio broadcasts were actually prepared pre-packaged music and news information bursts tailored to the needs of the DNI. Finne heard only what we broadcast into his car except when he played a CD of his own. Finne also broadcast every sound within his vehicle through the network of satellite transponders at our disposal to our global receiving and cataloguing station in nearby Baltimore, MD. From there the signal was split between the recording and indexing server network and the international communications bridge that allowed us to monitor him through our com channels. Finne drove the most expensive BMW in DC and no one would ever know it due to the elaborate camouflage techniques employed. Finne had gotten a lot more than he bargained for.
The mid afternoon traffic was surprisingly light, Finne thought. There seemed to be little merging traffic ahead on 66 and he felt that he could make it to Reston in less than 45 minutes if he could keep this pace. He did need to be cautious of the Virginia State Police, as they regularly setup speed traps along the highway, but Finne banked on the knowledge that they were almost always past the turn toward the Dulles Toll Road which he would be taking. Finne checked the speedometer which read 85 miles per hour – which was thirty miles an hour over the speed limit. He backed off the accelerator and let the car cruise along at 79 to feel more comfortable and then he let his mind drift off as he payed more attention to the colors of the changing leaves that lined the highway and the blue sky overhead. Before he noticed, Finne had sped through the Smart Tag lanes at the toll booth and was motoring on towards Reston. It was only 43 minutes in total before he pulled into Target’s parking lot. Not bad at any time of day especially now. Finne felt good as he clicked the key fob to lock the car behind him as he walked towards the front door of the mega retailer. Today was a good day, he thought…..