Be Brave (24 page)

worry in case something happens to you when you"re working.”

“Nothing will happen to Daddy.” He kissed Angel and held him until the boy

was fast asleep in his arms.

Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

109

Chapter Twelve

Kael"s afternoon class on gaining entry to secure premises had been a great

success. Angel was doing well at college. His mum had phoned that morning

insisting he and Angel go to Liverpool for Easter, and he had agreed. Everything in

Kael"s life was good. So why was he distracted and short-tempered?

Because that morning, more than a week after successfully returning Graham

Clement to England, he had caught sight of Angel standing by the window, the sun

gleaming on his blond hair—and he had thought of Ekaterina again. “
I’ll come back

for you
.” The trust in her young eyes was the same trust he"d seen in Angel"s eyes

when he had told him the day they met that he wouldn"t hurt him. Angel had

believed him at once.

Snatching his secure-line phone from his belt, he punched in the code.

“What is it?” Conran"s surprise was evident in the cautious question. Kael

never phoned him.

“I"m outside by the river. I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Outside now.” He snapped his phone shut.

When Conran arrived, Kael was leaning on the railing, looking at water alight

with golden shards of fading sunlight. It would be dark in another hour and a chill

was beginning to set in, but Kael was not cold. When he was focused on something,

his bodily needs faded into the background. “Did Clement testify yet?”

“That"s none of your concern.” Conran looked at the water. “It"s a miracle he

can talk at all after what you did to him.”

“I want the addresses of the houses in Paris.”

“Out of the question,” Conran said in a decisive voice that irritated Kael

enormously. “Even if I had the information, I couldn"t give it to you. But the fact is I

don"t have it.”

Kael turned to look at him. “You can get it.”

“Is this about that child again? Forget her. There"s nothing you can do.”

“Yes, there is something I can do. I can get her out of there, just like I got

Clement out of there. But there"s no point in just going back to Provins if she"s been

moved. I need to know all the possibilities of where she might be.”

110

Fyn Alexander

“She could be anywhere in the world by now.” Conran wore a dark wool

overcoat that he began to fasten. “You are to stay out of this and leave it to the

proper authorities. I have tipped them off that there is a very young child involved.”

“What did they say?"

“They said she"s not the only child that"s been trafficked and it"s unlikely she"s

the only child that young that Dudek has in his stable. They"ll move when they can,

but they can"t just barge in there. There"s an entire operation to take down. It"s all

carefully planned. You know what goes into these operations and how long they

take. It"s sad about the child, but you can"t rescue them all.”

I didn’t promise them all, just that one child. I promised her.

“I want those addresses.”

“What are you going to do if I refuse? Threaten to expose me with that

compromising video again? Kill my children?”

Kael was instantly impatient. “You know that was an idle threat. I would have

shown that video if I"d had to, but I"d never harm a child.”

Conran looked up at him. “Because you"ve been spending time with Freddie

Merchant and his family?”

Kael grabbed Conran"s lapel. “Have you been spying on me again?”

“It"s part of your job; you know that. You"ll always be under surveillance at

some level.” He tried to push Kael"s hand away. “How is Freddie these days? I know

you were as thick as thieves with him at school.”

“He"s very happy.” Kael smiled as he said it, remembering his birthday dinner.

“He"s a very successful barrister. That man he"s married to was just a clerk in

his office, you know.”

“Didn"t he go to the right schools?” Kael asked.

“No, he didn"t, as a matter of fact.” Conran looked pointedly at his lapel,

waiting for Kael to release it.

“Freddie was always in the habit of taking on friends beneath his social class,”

Kael said. “I was the first. You wanted nothing to do with me.” The last thing Kael

had ever cared about was the
right sort
of friends.

“You may have been poor, but you were unique. He was probably in love with

you.” Kael finally released his hold on the man"s lapel and Conran turned away.

“But it"s nice that they"re happy. You don"t tell him anything about me, do you?” he

asked quietly.

“About how you enjoy a good arse slapping from time to time?”

Conran"s head almost did a three sixty. “Shut up, for God"s sake.”

Kael laughed. “You know perfectly well I never tell anyone anything. I want

those addresses, and if I don"t get them, I"ll ask again, and I"ll be louder next time.”

“Meaning what?”

Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

111

“Just get me the addresses and save me the trouble of threatening you again.

Oh and about my nosy neighbor. She"s watching my every effing move and making

passes at me.”

Conran started laughing. “Oh dear. Is she making you nervous?”

“Yes, very.” Kael was not amused. “I"m warning you, if she works for you like

Dragana did, I"ll get rid of her.”

“Do you honestly think anyone I put on your tail would be so obvious? Dragana

was good at her job. That"s why you didn"t read her. There"s only sporadic

surveillance on you at the moment. You"re far less dangerous since Angel"s been

living with you. That boy has calmed you down. You"re almost human since he came

into the picture.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for that remark?”

“I"ve already had Mrs. Chalmers checked out. She"s nothing more than a lonely

divorcée. Deal with it, but do not kill her.”

“Get me those addresses. You"ve got twenty-four hours.” Kael walked away,

heading for the Tube to take him home to Angel.

* * *

was SIS. The man was young and was there only about three times a week. On the

other days, there was an older man, and a different one for nights. But out of the

three, this was definitely the one. He watched Kael"s comings and goings, and he"d

seen Freddie and his family visiting there. “What"s your name?” Kael asked politely.

“Dawson, sir.”

“Really?” Kael lifted his hand as if he was about to give him a tip, but his hand

was empty and he smacked the young man a good one across the ear. “Tell Conran

to fuck off, and don"t let me find you here again,” he said and continued into the

beautiful marble lobby. He pressed the button to call the lift and looked up at the

numbers. It was stopped on the fourth floor.
That bloody woman. I bet it’s her.

He went quickly across the lobby and into the stairwell just as she stepped out

of the lift. Dawson had recovered himself sufficiently to open the outside door for

her. Kael breathed a sigh of relief.
This has got to stop. I’m terrified to walk into my

own building.

When he reached the flat and found that Angel was not yet home, his first

reaction was anger.
If he’s hanging around with his friends and not coming home to

get on with his work, I’ll spank the hell out of him.

Glancing at the calendar in the kitchen, he realized his anger was unjustified.

Angel was a good boy, and today was Wednesday. Every Wednesday he stayed at

college late for the chess club. All the years Kael had come home alone to his silent,

perfectly clean flat, not a thing out of place, not a speck of dust or a knife out of

place in the kitchen drawer, and he had thought nothing of it. It was his life. Now,

112

Fyn Alexander

after only six months of living with a chatty, busy, loveable, laughing boy, he hated

walking in to find the flat empty.

In the living room, he poured a glass of whisky and tossed it back in one gulp.

His biggest fear when he had brought Angel home was that the boy would make a

mess. Thoughts of crumbs on the floor and smears on the perfect glass and oak

coffee table had consumed him. If Angel put a sock on the bathroom floor even for a

second, Kael had pointed at it and would not move until Angel picked it up. But

after a couple of rebellious looks from Angel, he had backed off and realized that if

Angel saw a smear or dropped a sock, he would take care of it very quickly.

Coming to a decision about Penelope Chalmers, Kael went out into the corridor

and looked carefully. It was quiet, and he strode quickly along to her door. She"d

had her coat on when he saw her downstairs no more than fifteen minutes ago, so

she must have been going out for a while. From his pocket, he removed the shiv he

had used that afternoon in class and carefully opened the dead-bolted door without

making a mark on the door frame. Inside he heard the familiar beeping of the

alarm.
Shit! What an idiot
. He set his alarm when the flat was empty, so why

wouldn"t she? He quickly disabled hers.

Unlike his flat, this one was cluttered. Magazines were strewn on the couch

and coffee table. Used teacups sat about. In the kitchen, dirty dishes were on the

counter and the dishwasher was full of clean ones. Opening drawers as he went,

checking everything, looking for something that would mark her as SIS, Kael went

from room to room. Given the state of the rest of the place, he wasn"t surprised to

find the bed unmade and the bathroom untidy. The place was by no means filthy,

but by his standards it was unkempt and marginally unhygienic.

It took him less than five minutes to do a thorough search and determine that

Conran had told the truth. She was a lonely, middle-aged woman who ought to be

looking at tea dances for a boyfriend instead of annoying him. In the bedroom, he

noticed a carefully posed photograph on the wall of Mrs. Chalmers sitting on a chair

with three grown young men standing behind her.

A small
click
made him hurry to the bedroom door. The front door was

opening.

Fuck!

He froze. She was back. His options were to hide until she was occupied in

another room and then sneak out the front door, or go boldly out to confront her.

Not wanting to waste time, he decided on the latter. Just by listening, he knew

where she was—in the living room by the coffee table. He called out as he walked,

though, “Mrs. Chalmers, don"t be alarmed. It"s just me.”

“Oh,” she cried, staring at him, confused, as he strode into her living room.

“You left your front door open. I was concerned in case you had fallen, had a

heart attack or a stroke or something.”

Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

113

Vanity immediately replaced fear and surprise. “I"m hardly in the age group

for those sorts of calamities. I"m far too young.” She looked down the hall to the

front door. “You say I left the door open? I distinctly remember locking it.”

“No, it was open. I spotted it as soon as I came up a little while ago. I called out

but got no answer, so I came in. I"m sorry to startle you, but I was trying to be a

good neighbor.”

She smiled. “You"re very kind, Mr. Saunders. Won"t you have a drink?” Before

he could protest, she had poured them both a glass of sherry from the tray on the

sideboard. He hated sherry but took it anyway. “Come and sit down.” She sat on the

couch, patting the cushion next to her.

Kael remained where he was. “I have to go. Angel will be home in a moment.

I"m very glad you are well. I feared I might find you on the floor.”

“Would you have performed mouth-to-mouth?” She gave a little laugh.

No, I’d have left you there to die before I’d get that close to you.

Kael placed the untouched sherry on the coffee table. “I"m rather clumsy at

that sort of thing. I would have called an ambulance.” He smiled. “I couldn"t help

but notice a photograph of you in the bedroom with three young men. Are they your

sons?”

A tight smile gripped her face. The sons were clearly in their late twenties.

“Yes. You must understand that I married very young.”

“Yes, I see that. Well, if you"ll excuse me.” He headed for the door.

She hurried after him. “Will you have dinner with me this evening? I"ll cook.”

“You"re very kind, but I wouldn"t dream of troubling you,” he said.

“It"s no trouble. I think we may have a lot in common. I"d love to get to know

you better.”

His patience gone, Kael said, “I don"t think we do have anything in common,

and I"m very busy.” He opened the door. “I don"t want to seem impolite, but I would

prefer it if you didn"t keep asking me because refusing is becoming tiresome.” He