Criminal Minds (Fox Meridian Book 4) Read online

  ‘Oh!’ Gilly’s eyes widened a little. ‘But Sister Naomi herself came to tell us you’d be joining us, so we figured you knew her, and… um…’

  ‘My friend knows her. Sam Clarion?’ From the slightly dreamy smile Gilly developed, Marie figured that the novice knew Sam. ‘And when I got the part and asked him about the profession, he introduced me to Sister Naomi. Just lucky, but this is a really great opportunity to make the role work.’

  ‘Wow, yeah, I bet. So, if it’s not the work, why the faces?’

  ‘Period three.’

  Gilly giggled. ‘Oh, yeah. I’d kind of forgotten what it does to your face. I’d say it gets easier, but you’re only here for the week.’

  ‘Huh. Chewing lunch was a real chore, but at least I’m learning something.’

  ‘Well, a lot of the beginners’ classes are theory and role play, so you’ll just have a headache, but watch out for period six on Friday. That one’s a real, um, pain in the ass.’

  Marie winced. ‘Can’t wait.’

  ~~~

  Fox watched the two men in uniforms approaching her and her captive. Her captive noticed them too and she felt him shift under her foot. She pressed down a little harder to remind him that he was to stay put. The victim had given her ID to Fox and left, happily, with her bag, but NAPA had not turned up yet.

  ‘Kit, ID requests on those two?’

  ‘I don’t need one,’ Kit replied, ‘though interestingly enough, they are denying the request. They are, or were, members of Augustine Property Services. The uniform is different, however. Mister August wound down Augustine, but it seems someone else has taken up the slack.’

  ‘Ten minutes and no cops. That’s unusual for the MCD.’ Fox reached behind her back to the pouch slung on her hips, unzipping it and reaching in to wrap her hand around her pistol.

  ‘It is unusual, yes.’

  The men came to a stop, one looking down at the thief, the other giving Fox a thin smile. ‘Park security, ma’am,’ Smiler said. ‘We’ll take it from here.’

  ‘I think we’ll wait for NAPA,’ Fox replied, returning the smile.

  ‘We’re here to make sure the park–’

  ‘There is no “park security” and given that this guy is scared of you, we’ll wait for the real cops to arrive.’

  Both men had their attentions focused on Fox now. Both were big men. Fox pegged Smiler for ex-military from the body form: the muscle on his frame had the slightly over-stuffed look of heavy infantry and he kept his dark hair clipped tight against his skull. His companion was more bulky, steroids and muscle grafts, and his nose had been broken once or twice and not fixed properly. Bulky looked more threatening, but Fox would have been happy to bet that Smiler was the real problem. Both of them were armed, a shock rod on the left hip and a pistol on the right. Bulky put his hand on his pistol, popping the retention strap.

  ‘Having noted and recorded your overtly threatening action,’ Fox said, straightening her back, ‘I am choosing to respond in an appropriate and measured manner.’ She slipped her pistol free of its carry pouch, bringing it to rest against her thigh.

  ‘I’m requesting an immediate status update on their response from NAPA,’ Kit informed her.

  ‘Look, lady,’ Smiler said, ‘we’re here to handle this kind of situation. We’re authorised by the citizenry of–’

  ‘The citizenry of the MCD don’t have the right to authorise private policing of public areas,’ Fox interrupted. ‘You two have no more right of arrest than I do, and since I’ve exercised my right to detain until the police arrive, you two can just back off. And try to keep your friend in check. If he moves that pistol one more centimetre, I’m going to put an extra hole in his head.’ She checked the load: baton rounds, but they weren’t to know that and at close range, one in the face would hurt like Hell. Behind Fox, the sound of rather clompy NAPA armour boots could be heard moving at a fair pace.

  ‘Right,’ Smiler said. ‘Okay, right. You get your way.’ He turned and did his best to look relaxed as he walked away. Bulky gave Fox a glare before pushing his pistol back into place and closing the strap.

  Fox watched them walk away before turning her head to look at the featureless helmets of the two cops who were just arriving. ‘About time, guys. What happened? Get stuck in line at the doughnut shop?’

  ~~~

  Mostly because there was a new novice in the dorm, the evening’s recreation period turned into a chat session. Marie was observant enough to notice that a lot of the stiffness had gone from her fellow Sisters: Gilly had passed the word around a little after chores. That was fine with Marie, because a week with four other girls who thought she was some prissy actress would have been Hell.

  ‘So you know Sam Clarion?’ The speaker was DeeDee, one of the Sisters. Her name was actually Delia Dunn, but Marie could have suspected the nickname came from her chest, even if she also suspected that double-D was an underestimate. Pretty, of course, and ash-blonde, DeeDee had perked up and become a lot more outgoing since lunch.

  ‘Uh, yeah,’ Marie said. ‘Well, he’s my boyfriend.’

  Eyes widened. ‘Damn, girl, did you save the planet in a past life or something?’ That was Sister Niamh, a tall, slim, brunette who seemed to be following Naomi down the dominatrix line.

  ‘Must’ve. I mean, I do have to pinch myself some mornings. Then again, the woman I was with before Sam was… Maybe I saved a couple of planets or something. I live with them both. I live in the basement apartment, when I’m not waking up beside Sam, and that’s where I do the cleaning. Sam says we have to talk about the whole maid thing when I’m a famous actress.’ She grinned. ‘Like that’s going to happen.’

  ‘Where are you from originally?’ Demeter, the Senior Sister, asked. She probably had a decade on her charges, and looked older than they did, but she pulled off the added years very well. Her eyes had the same sort of cool, blue-green colouration as Fox, but set in the kind of make-up that Fox rarely wore, and capped with highly arched eyebrows. Her body was more voluptuous than the slim frames which seemed more common among the Sisters, with a full chest and wide hips, and she had a somewhat motherly attitude, both in terms of the care she took and her firmness if she thought you were doing something wrong.

  ‘Originally, Sioux Falls in the Kansas Belt. I moved out here when my Mom died. Sixteen and sure I could become an actress. Yeah, I know, stupid. I got lucky and got a job doing housekeeping for an old guy, Felix, and that saved me from doing illegally what you’re learning to do now.’

  ‘But now you’re living with Sam?’

  ‘Felix… was murdered. He left the house to Sam, so Sam sort of inherited me too. And Felix left me some money to pursue my dream, and Sam knows an agent who helped me along.’

  ‘Did they catch the killer?’ DeeDee asked. She sounded shocked.

  ‘Fox caught him. She’s our other housemate, the woman I was with before Sam. She’s beautiful, strong, really smart. If there’s anyone you want on your side if you’re in trouble, it’s Fox. And we’re still friends, which I think says more about her than anything.’

  ‘All right, girls,’ Demeter said, ‘enough interrogating our new novice. Poker before bed and we can chat through that.’

  ‘Poker?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Niamh said, grinning. ‘We have to get undressed anyway, so Sister Demeter is teaching us to play strip poker, Texas Hold ’Em rules.’

  Marie sagged in her seat. ‘Well, I won’t be playing for long then.’

  17th August.

  ‘Thanks for seeing me so quickly,’ Fox said. Harper August had arranged a meeting almost as soon as she had asked for it, limited only by having to go through NAPA for authorisation.

  The old man was sitting at his desk, one wall of his room flooded with stock reports and accounting information which Fox neither understood nor wanted to. He was, she thought, looking a little better than the last time she had seen him. There was a light in his eyes she had not seen before, even before his arrest
.

  ‘I wanted to talk to you anyway,’ August said, ‘concerning the foundation.’

  ‘You got a name for it yet?’

  ‘The Patricia Randall Foundation for Criminal Justice. The paperwork is already going through. I’ve recruited my executive board and a few more advisors. We’re currently negotiating with a number of experts we would like to have working for us. I’d like to organise a virtual conference this week. Nothing too terrible. A meet and greet as much as a business meeting.’

  Fox settled into one of the guest chairs, noting that the terrible, uncomfortable straight-backs had been replaced with something more to the liking of her behind. ‘Well, I’m buried under legislative documents, but if you coordinate with Kit, I’m sure we can fit it in.’

  ‘The regional private policing legislation. Of course. I’m more interested in the metro resolution, obviously, but I’m watching the current round.’

  Fox nodded. ‘That’s kind of what I wanted to talk about. You dissolved APS, right?’

  ‘I am in the process of so doing. I still have people employed to look after my properties, though I’ve sold a number of those to commit the funds to the foundation. I’m currently in negotiations to have those duties contracted out and then I’ll be able to liquidate APS.’

  ‘Negotiating with Palladium. I heard. Thank you for your business.’

  ‘Miss Meridian, I trust Wayden no further than I can comfortably spit a full-sized rat.’

  ‘That far, huh?’

  ‘At my age, the distance is significantly reduced.’ Yes, his humour seemed much improved.

  ‘Okay, so who’s wandering around Central Park pretending to be an authorised police force? The men I came across used to belong to APS.’

  August frowned. ‘They are not mine and I’m rather “out of the loop” concerning events outside this house unless NAPA approve my involvement. I may be able to make some enquiries. I assume from your question that the men you met were not behaving in a suitable manner?’

  ‘They were more like paid thugs than cops. What bothered me more is that the response from NAPA was pretty substandard, and they’re normally sickeningly fast in the MCD.’

  ‘APS had something of a relationship with NAPA concerning crime in the park. It’s possible that one of my ex-associates has pressed that connection to more of an extreme.’

  ‘I don’t see that as a good thing. I’ll admit to being a little ambivalent about the regional policing vote. NAPA didn’t do that great a job outside the metros and the new regime may provide some improvements. In the metros… not so sure. And hired thugs taking over even before there’s a vote is not good.’

  ‘I will not disagree,’ August said, surprising Fox a little. ‘I think my own activities show that it can, and perhaps will, go wrong.’

  ‘I’m glad you think that. I’m hoping I can get some support from your foundation when I try to do something about it.’

  ‘Remember that I intend to stand down as soon as the foundation is formed, Miss Meridian.’

  Fox raised an eyebrow. ‘I may actually consider trying to change your mind about that, Mister August.’

  August’s lips actually twitched a little: the idea of him smiling was almost unthinkable, but there it was, trying to break out. ‘Really? Most interesting. Tell me what it is you wish to do.’

  ~~~

  ‘I want to put forward an amendment to have all current security organisations dealing with the public to be governed by the same regulations as the regional forces,’ Fox said. ‘It would cover private parks with public access, all residential buildings, and anyone mounting street patrols for whatever reason.’

  There were frowns all around the table, though less so from Vaughn who nodded as she frowned. Eaves spoke. ‘It’s going to mean additional overhead for our current operations.’

  ‘Yes, but it’s likely to push out the smaller operators and open up new sites for us. In addition, we can press to extend the time we have to investigate internally before we call in NAPA, and it strengthens the argument for access to NAPA case files and information.’

  ‘We could run the numbers and see what the pros and cons are,’ Vaughn suggested.

  ‘Do it,’ Eaves said without further thought. ‘Fox, you’re going to have to come up with the draft amendments here for the legal department to go over.’

  Fox grimaced. ‘I figured you’d say that. You mind if I draft them and then you redraft them? I’m pretty damn sure I’ll get it wrong.’

  ‘I’ll be happy to look them over. Copy to Ryan and he can give them a look too.’

  Jarvis glowered across the virtual table at Fox, his expression somewhat marred by the twinkle in his eyes. ‘First a development project to run and now this?’

  Fox held up her hands. ‘Sorry. Oh, I’m going to call Topeka later and see what the regional view is on the regs. Maybe they’ve seen something we haven’t.’

  ‘Good call,’ Eaves agreed. ‘And you do have an in with the locals.’

  ‘I sure do.’

  ~~~

  Sister Hillary narrowed her eyes a little at Marie. ‘I understood, Sister Marie, that this was your first week.’ Hillary was a House Sister, a little older than many of the women in the chapter house, and not in the least ashamed of the odd wrinkle that showed on her face. She taught etiquette, savoir faire, and a few other similar subjects, and she had a reputation as a hard taskmaster.

  Marie did not bow her head, because she was focusing on keeping her chin up and her back straight as she walked through a sensor grid which was checking her posture. ‘It is, Sister Hillary, but I’ve had a few deportment classes before.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Technically it was walking for a role. If you’d like “slouching vagrant” or “femme fatale in killer heels,” I can do those too.’

  Hillary’s lips twitched. ‘I don’t believe we have a need for the former, and the latter will be in tomorrow’s class. Now, relax a little. We’re aiming for a smooth but formal appearance rather than something from a Swiss finishing school. Be thankful we have this technology to determine success or failure. When I learned this, it was with a pile of textbooks perched on my head.’

  ‘That’s how I learned it,’ Marie admitted. ‘My acting coach is a little old school.’

  ‘It hasn’t done you any harm. Keep practising. Sister Gilly…’ Gilly set herself at the start of the sensor track and then began to walk, a look of barely suppressed terror on her face. ‘Excellent!’ Hillary said. ‘Someone I can abuse for our art. Shoulders back, girl, shoulders back.’ There was a crack as Hillary employed the riding crop she seemed to carry everywhere to slap Gilly between the shoulder blades.

  Marie decided that she was really glad of the lessons she had taken previously.

  ~~~

  ‘Hey, Mom,’ Fox said as her mother’s image appeared across from the sofa. ‘Dad joining us?’

  ‘As soon as he’s got his headset sorted out,’ Andrea Meridian replied. She bent forward, coppery braids swinging out around her narrow face like curtains. ‘He’s getting an implant put in,’ she mock whispered.

  Jonathan’s avatar appeared beside his wife, not visibly wearing a VR visor, but there had to be one there in real life. ‘I can hear you, you know? Afternoon, Fox.’

  ‘Hey, Dad. I thought you were too old to have things drilled into your brain.’

  ‘I looked into the latest procedures and it doesn’t look as bad as I thought. And I can’t deny the utility, even for running my equipment out in the fields. Getting a MarTech VirtAI eleven. I’m told it’s the best.’

  Fox grinned at him. ‘That depends on what you need it for, but Jackson doesn’t let a product out the door unless he’s happy with it. Kit swears by it, not that she’s ever run on one.’

  Kit, of course, popped into the conversation instantly. ‘The VirtAI series,’ she said, ‘is AI-ready, with a dedicated processor for neural network tasks and with quantum emulation capabilities, and it has received
an aggregate average nine point six customer satisfaction score. Good afternoon, Mister and Mrs Meridian.’

  ‘Afternoon, Kit,’ Jonathan responded, ‘and if you recommend that model, I’ve obviously made the right choice. I’m not putting a VA on it yet. I figure it’s one step at a time.’

  ‘Hello, Kit,’ Andrea said. ‘I hope you’re looking after my daughter.’

  ‘As best I can, Mrs Meridian,’ Kit replied, smiling.

  ‘It’s tough,’ Fox said, ‘but she’s persistent. Okay, so you got your resolution passed, Mom. How do you think the legislation is working out?’

  ‘Well…’ Andrea frowned a little. ‘Your father and I think it’s going fairly well, though there are a number of amendments we’re concerned about. A few of the more, um, enthusiastic Watch supporters are up in arms about being tied down by red tape.’

  ‘Kind of what I expected. What are the amendments you’re worried about?’

  ‘The one fixing encryption standards,’ Jonathan said. ‘Not my area of expertise, but it looked… dubious.’

  ‘It is,’ Fox replied. ‘We have a counter-amendment going through. We’re suggesting the use of any internationally recognised encryption system.’

  ‘There is the approved weapons list,’ Andrea said. ‘We’re not too good on guns, to be honest. Jonathan knows his hunting rifles…’

  ‘And shotguns,’ Jonathan added. ‘There’s a couple of those on the list, but no hunting rifles, unless you count the McCallum fourteen seventy-three.’

  ‘That’s a sniper railgun, Dad.’

  ‘Make a helluva hunting rifle.’

  ‘It’d more or less melt your target!’

  ‘Pre-cooked!’ Apparently Jonathan’s headset was sophisticated enough to pick up facial expressions, because his avatar was grinning like a maniac.

  ‘Point is, what’s a high-calibre, anti-materiel rifle doing on a list for use by local law enforcement? Kit, give me the list, would you?’ Kit pushed up the list as a virtual display and Fox scanned over it. ‘I haven’t really looked at this. I guess I’d have got around to it, but… Guided minimissiles with shaped-charge warheads? And that’s a point-defence emplacement. Rapid-fire, automated radar and ladar targeting.’