Inescapable Read Online Free Page A

when
intimidating suspects.
    Fox was fairly
good at intimidation too. Her own eyes narrowed; hers had a hint of
green in the blue, but it was not the colour that worked for her:
it was the hard edge behind them. Her face was all hard edges and
angles, even if it could soften into something quite beautiful when
she wanted it to. ‘And you were always a poor excuse for one.
You’ve arrested my neighbour. I’d like to know why.’
    ‘I don’t have
to tell you squat!’
    ‘No, you
don’t.’ She waited a beat to let Brownlow begin to turn away. ‘Of
course, a man who has two reprimands on his record, that I know of, for mistreatment of homosexual men would probably not want
to be seen hauling in a bisexual without good reason, so why don’t
you give me your reasoning before I get the harassment proceedings
started.’
    Brownlow’s eyes
flashed, but his voice was level when he spoke. ‘I’ve got a body
and a licensed pro with a gun. Do the math.’
    ‘Cause of
death?’ Fox was looking at the images Javen had passed on to her,
which were what Sam had seen when he found the body. The cause of
death was, at least superficially, obvious.
    ‘You don’t get
to–’
    ‘Come on,
Brownlow, this is elementary stuff. You’ve run a forensics swarm
over the body by now. You know the time of death, the likely means.
How and when did he die?’
    ‘His throat was
cut. Time of death is estimated at seventeen-thirty.’
    ‘So, the fact
that Sam was carrying a licensed firearm is irrelevant
because your victim was not shot, and at five-thirty Sam was
sitting in my apartment. My personal assistant will provide
timestamped video of that to you on request.’
    ‘I still want
to question–’
    Fox felt her
anger flaring and pushed it down. ‘Sam will voluntarily attend HQ
in the morning to make a statement, if such is required for your
investigation. As it is, I am going to recommend to Sam that he
initiate an unlawful imprisonment suit if you don’t take those
cuffs off right this minute .’
    Brownlow’s jaw
clenched. ‘Let him go,’ he said through gritted teeth, and then he
stepped closer to Fox, lowering his voice. ‘You’re not a cop now,
Meridian. Be careful who you piss off or you might just find
yourself in a cell.’
    ‘Don’t threaten
me, Brownlow. You’re too stupid to get away with trying to frame me
for something, and don’t expect NAPA to have your back if you fuck
up again. Canard will toss you to the wolves so fast you won’t have
time to wonder what’s biting your ass.’ Fox turned away before he
could reply, checking that Sam had been released. ‘The gun. It’s
not evidence. Hand it over.’
    Teeth gritted
so tightly Fox wondered what Brownlow’s orthodontist would think,
the detective pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, deliberately
broke the seal, and handed the weapon to her. ‘Don’t let me see you
again, Meridian.’
    ‘I know we’ll
both be happier if we can manage that, Brownlow.’ Fox turned away
and Sam fell into step beside her. She handed him his pistol and he
tucked it away without a word. They looked something of an odd
couple, her in her leather jacket and jeans, him in an expensive,
casual suit and a matching dark coat.
    ‘Thanks,’ he
finally said when they were out of earshot of the police. ‘I wasn’t sure that that guy was bad, but…’
    ‘Brownlow’s an
ass-hat. Everyone knows he’s homophobic, but he manages to slip
past the psych tests and he usually keeps his baser tendencies
under control. Like I said, he has a couple of reprimands. That’s
why he’s never made inspector and he won’t survive another dent in
his record.’
    ‘You still see
it. There are laws, of course, but you still see it. Brownlow isn’t
going to do a sterling job on finding Felix’s murderer, is he?’
    Fox’s brow
furrowed. ‘A homicide involving a homosexual male, killed in his
home. Throat cut so it’s a close-range, personal attack.’
    ‘Felix probably
knew the attacker.