Human Frailty, a Detective Mike Bridger novel Read Online Free PDF

away slightly as
she fumbled with the fastening, trying to give herself some room.
The girl stumbled backwards into her friends arms, they immediately
shoved her forward again, eager to help the violence. She stumbled
towards Gillian.
    "I told you to stay back", Gillian said as
she raised her small blue canister in front of her for a second
time that night.
    The girl regained her balance, raised her
fist in an exaggerated manner and kept advancing.
    Her intentions clearly signaled by her
actions, decision made, Gillian depressed the button at the top of
the canister. She heard the hissing sound of the canisters pressure
filled contents expelling, but saw that the girl was still
advancing. She tried to focus her eyes to pick up the stream and
direct it into the girl ’ s face, the girl kept advancing. There was no
stream.
    She realised the hissing sound was the ugly
sound of an empty canister. Then the hissing stopped, the canisters
pressure was exhausted.
    Gillian did not see it coming but she sure
felt the girl’s fist connect with her left eye, it was a
surprisingly heavy blow. She felt her knees go weak, stars sparked
around inside her eyes.
    Dizzy and losing her balance, she stumbled
backwards and sat down heavily, winding herself. The girl was
standing over her, looking between Gillian then back at her friends
for praise. Momentarily infamous for her actions, buoyed up with
what she had done. Crossed a line that she thought she was the
first to cross.
    Gillian was struggling to regain the
upper hand. The girl was still standing astride her, trying to work
out what to do next, she aimed an ineffectual kick that glanced off
her shoulders. The girl ’ s initial dose of anger had seeped out of
her, replaced by uncertainty. The more rational side of her mind
was fighting against the alcohol soaked majority.
    Gillian reached for her extendable
baton; it was not where it should be. Shit, it must have fallen out
when I fell, she thought. She frantically searched the ground
around her, not taking her eyes off the girl. She was scratching at
empty ground. The girl ’ s eyes locked on hers, alcohol winning the
battle. The evil smile on her face painted a vivid picture in
Gillian's mind as she watched her raise her foot and smash it down
towards her face.
    Her intoxication had caused the girl to
misjudge the distance between them and the stomp connected squarely
with Gillian's chest, her stab proof vest taking most of the impact
out of it.
    Gillian was now flat on her back.
Above her, she could see the girl ’ s triumphant look turn to shock as a
flash of blue uniforms shoved her roughly to the ground
    She looked over towards the mound of
bodies. Jo Williamson had a knee in the small of the girls back;
her blonde hair had come out of its tie and was hanging down over
the girl as she struggled to place the handcuffs on the
girl ’ s
wrists. She watched as Jo stood up and hauled the girl to her feet,
both girls red with exertion. Both Jo and the girl were of similar
ages, both had blonde hair, but the difference was startling. Jo
looked almost angelic against the struggling, snarling mess beside
her, Beauty and the Beast.
    Gillian laughed inside at the comparison.
The only other female on her group, Jo Williamson was a likeable
and capable police officer. She would have to remember to tell
her.
    The angry noise in her head was
fading, looking around her she saw the legs of running people, the
noise that had greeted them had died to a hushed silence. The sight
of a police officer being hit and falling to the ground had made
the crowd realize the seriousness of the situation. Most of them
had decided that they did not want to be part of the crowd anymore
and had disappeared. The girl ’ s friends had disappeared, leaving their
friend to her own fate.
    "Are you Ok? ” Steve asked, crouching down beside
her.
    "Yeah, just a lucky shot that's all".
    "Well it looks like you're going to get a
black eye at the very least for your