Read Online Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan - Free Book Online Page B

less than three, don’t shout me down, Detective, three klicks inside the cordon. Yes, you’re fucking right I shot them.”
    The screen in front of Chris lit up with a grimy, gum-chewing face.
    “Yeah, Mel’s AutoFix.” He caught sight of Chris. “Need a tow?”
    “No.” Chris cleared his throat. “Could I speak to Carla Nyquist please.”
    “Sure. Be a moment.”
    Behind him, Bryant went on with his tirade. “They were just about to take me and my colleague to pieces with machetes. What? Well, I’m not surprised. Probably got scavenged by someone last night. Listen, there were five of them to two of us. Hardcore gangwits. Now, if I can’t claim that as self-defense then—”
    Carla appeared, knuckling grease across her nose. There was a fairly obvious scowl under the black marks. “What happened to you, then?”
    “Uh, I stayed over at Mike’s place. There was some, uh—” He glanced at Bryant, who was listening to the other end of his own call with a face like thunder. “—trouble.”
    “Trouble? Are you—”
    “No, I’m fine.” Chris forced a grin. “Just a headache.”
    “Well, why didn’t you call me? I was worried sick.”
    “I didn’t want to worry you. It was late, and I was going to call first thing this morning. Must have overslept. Look.” He turned to Bryant again. “Mike, are you going in to Shorn today?”
    Bryant nodded glumly, covering the phone mouthpiece again. “Looks like it. I’ve got to fill out half a hundred fucking incident reports apparently. Say an hour?”
    Chris turned back to Carla’s waiting face. “I’m going in to pick up the car with Mike in about an hour. I’ll pick you up from the garage and tell you all about it then. Okay?”
    “Okay.” It was grudging. “But this had better be a fucking good story.”
    “Deal. By the way, I’m in love.”
    Mike Bryant shot him a peculiar glance across the kitchen.
    On screen, Carla kept her scowl. “Yeah, yeah. Me, too. See you at four. And don’t be late.”
    She reached for the phone, and the image faded. Chris turned just in time to catch the last of Bryant’s call.
    “Yes, I am aware of that, Detective. Well, next time I’m attacked on the street, I’ll be sure and remember it. Goodbye.”
    He snapped the phone angrily shut.
    “
Asshole.
Get this, the corporate police,
our
fucking police, want to conduct an investigation into whether this was an unlawful shooting. I mean—” He gestured helplessly, lost for words. “—defend yourself, and you’re fucking breaking the law. Meanwhile some piece-of-shit gangwit cracks a fingernail in a back alley and you’ve got citizens’ rights activists screaming for someone’s neck. What about us citizens? Who’s looking out for us? What about
our
rights?”
    “Michael!” Suki appeared in the kitchen doorway, a coffee cup in each hand. “How many times have I told you, don’t use that language in front of Ariana. She just comes right out with it at the playgroup, and I get dirty looks from the other mothers.” She put the coffee cups on the table and went to clean some of the surplus food from around her daughter’s mouth. Ariana made a halfhearted protest, all the time squinting shyly at Chris. “That’s right, don’t you listen to Daddy when he talks like that.” She turned a fraction of her multitasked attention in the same direction as her daughter. “Take no notice, Chris. He’s always moaning about citizens’ rights. This’ll be the second time he’s been in trouble,
there,
is that better, darling, the second time he’s been in trouble with the police this year. Use of undue force.
Yes,
who’s a
clean
girl? I think he just likes living dangerously.”
    Bryant made a disgusted noise. Suki went to him and put an arm around his waist. She kissed him under the chin.
    “Maybe that’s what I see in him. You’re married, aren’t you, Chris? Was that her on the vid?”
    “Yeah.” To Chris, his own voice sounded unfairly defensive.