Free Fox Hunt (Fox Meridian Book 1) by Niall Teasdale

got to her feet. ‘Have a good weekend, Inspector,’ he added.
    ‘Thanks, same to you,’ she replied as she walked out. The problem with hearing Canard say something nice to her was that she felt like checking her back for knives.
    ~~~
    Fox knew she had forgotten something as soon as she walked out of the elevator car and turned down the corridor to her apartment. Sam was standing outside his own apartment door, a slight twist to his lips indicating that he was amused and waiting for her. Generally, a woman who found herself the subject of Sam’s attention was rather pleased. He was an attractive man with a firmly muscled, slim body, the result of training and not enhancement. His oriental features were distinctly pleasing to the eye: his eyes were dark, his lips quite full, his hair long and very black, perennially braided with silver beads to hold the ends and pulled back behind his head. Right now he was standing there in just a pair of jeans and she could see the programmable tattoo he wore over his right nipple, and she thought it likely that it was good that she could not read whatever Chinese character it was displaying.
    ‘Aw… shit, I forgot,’ Fox whined, slumping as she walked closer. ‘How the Hell did you know I was even in the building?’
    ‘I actually talk to my agent,’ Sam replied. He had a good voice, Boston educated, and very smooth. Fox kept going to her own door and he followed her; she did not object to this. ‘Javen asked Kit to let him know when you were back.’
    ‘Uh-huh,’ Fox grumbled as she sent the necessary signals through from her VA to the apartment’s security system. She had done a thorough job of locking the place down before going away for a month.
    ‘You have one of the most advanced personal agents there is, and you don’t actually talk to her. What’s with that?’
    The door opened and Fox walked in. Her apartment was one of the few areas of the world where she always allowed virtual reality to override real reality. It was cheaper and a whole lot easier than actually decorating. In contrast to the bland, rather sterile, corridor which she knew the building owners had tagged with virtual planters and a few scenic views, Fox’s apartment was, she thought, tastefully decorated in warm earth tones. Off to the left as you walked in was a huge window, currently blacked out, but it was actually a window. Sam’s apartment only had the virtual kind, but Fox was unusual in thinking that the construction site for the North Hudson Barrier was worth looking at. Property prices along the Esplanade had taken something of a dip after the announcement of the New York Flood Defences project, which was why she could afford to live in a location so convenient to the precinct HQ on Governor’s Island.
    Aside from the window and the large, curved sofa, the kitchenette and dining area on the right, and the bulky form of Fox’s crime scene kit waiting beside the door, the lounge had an additional feature which was watching them enter from where it appeared to stand in front of the window. ‘I must admit I would like to know that myself,’ Kit said. ‘Barely any contact for a month. Most people wish to at least check in with their agent, even when off-world.’
    Fox sagged a little more and had her VA set coffee brewing. ‘Well… I’m just not used to having a proper agent.’ She brightened a little. ‘Terri said you were really capable, so I figured you could manage without–’
    ‘Even the most capable agent needs some training,’ Sam said, dropping onto the couch. ‘You’ve barely got to know Kit. I’m assuming you can see her, by the way, because she’s invisible to me.’
    Fox glowered. ‘Make yourself visible to our guest so I don’t look like an idiot.’
    ‘You told me to remain unseen to anyone but yourself unless specifically ordered to appear,’ Kit replied, and then gave a nod to Sam.
    Sam glanced up and nodded back, not bothering to hide a smirk. ‘Nice to