Read Criminal Minds (Fox Meridian Book 4) for Free Online Page A

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