Read Online Fox Hunt (Fox Meridian Book 1) by Niall Teasdale - Free Book Online Page B

Turning, she leaned back on the lounger. ‘I do feel like I’ve been on my feet for twenty-four hours straight.’
    Jackson shrugged. ‘Don’t mind me. Nod off if you need it. I’ll say, under oath, you were interrogating me for a couple of hours.’
    ‘Oh yeah, the captain will believe that. Sure.’
    ~~~
    Grant J. Canard, Captain in the North American Police Administration and the head man of precinct 19, had left middle age behind him, but you really could not tell. He prescribed to the theory that age did not make you look distinguished: it made you look old. He looked little older than Fox, but had actually been born a decade before Jackson Martins. His face still held a flush of youth, his body was firm and carefully sculpted to appear fit, he had a strong jawline, straight, narrow nose, and blue eyes which sparkled. His hair, mid-brown without a hint of grey, was cut into an authoritative, very sharp, flat-top.
    As with many people rising up the social hierarchy, Canard was media-savvy and politically astute. Fox’s VA told her that his current level of delegated votes had gone up in the last month, which suggested the bastard had had a good Christmas season attending the right parties. His suit looked like it was a step up from his usual designer too.
    Fox disliked Canard because she thought he was superficial, overly political, and a lousy cop. Canard disliked her because despite not being political, she still managed to move in circles he found it difficult to get near. Despite their mutual dislike, he indicated a seat in front of his large, stylish desk as soon as she entered his office. She knew the room was v-tagged with a host of images that made it look less utilitarian, but she had a policy of turning decorative tags off when she was working: she wanted to see things only when they were really there.
    ‘I’ve got your report on the scene,’ Canard said. ‘So we’re looking at a hit? Political?’
    ‘A MarTech salesman hit for political reasons? No, this isn’t political. He was probably a spook.’
    Canard’s eyes tightened: wariness, Fox thought. ‘Evidence?’
    ‘Circumstantial at this point. His entire life looks manufactured to me and he was apparently nosing around some research facilities on Luna which he shouldn’t have been interested in.’
    ‘This would be according to Mister Martins, I assume?’
    Fox nodded. ‘There’s a commercial sensitivity aspect to the information. MarTech is doing some research which a lot of other people would like to get their hands on up there.’ She knew that he knew that she knew what the research actually was, and she also knew that that fact was probably pissing him off. For some reason she could not quite bring herself to be unhappy about that.
    ‘Autopsy and analysis of his possessions should be done by tomorrow.’
    ‘I’ll pick the data up through my home system and go over it. Chances are we’re never going to close this one. If he was NIX they aren’t going to admit it, and the killer could easily be well outside our jurisdiction.’
    ‘Do what you can,’ Canard growled. ‘Our clean-up rate isn’t looking too bad at the moment, so losing one won’t make too much difference.’ Which was probably true, but she expected he would shaft her over it at some point in the near future. ‘How did the training assignment go?’
    ‘Fine. The incident with New Moon Data Security was a bit of a surprise, but it showed they were up to the task. Their commander gave a rousing speech at the dinner afterwards about collaboration being the best path to high-quality policing. I don’t suppose we’re going to see any of the money they’re paying NAPA for my time?’
    ‘Huh.’
    ‘That’s what I thought.’ There were, Fox had to remind herself, one or two things about the job which Canard and she agreed upon.
    ‘Keep me apprised of developments in the case,’ he said, which was as close to a dismissal as she was going to get so she nodded and