Be Brave (32 page)

weak and beat-up, and he had no weapons. How the hell were they going to get out

of this mess?

Naked, his pale body bony and hairy, Dudek got on the bed on his hands and

knees. “Drop your pants and fuck me. No condom.”

“Yes, sir.”

Angel panicked. He"d never fucked another man, and he knew he would never

get an erection for this toad. From his pocket, he took the scalpel and positioned it

in his hand. Shaking, he fiddled with the zipper on his jeans.

“Come on. Now!” Dudek yelled. He spread his thighs, showing his hairy ball

sac and erect cock.

Finally managing to work the zipper, Angel lowered it and pulled his pants

down to his knees. Awkwardly he shuffled onto the bed behind Dudek"s ass,

pressing his groin against the pale, pimply buttocks.

“What are you doing? Get your cock in and fuck me hard.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry. I"ve never fucked a man before.” Angel gripped his cock with

his right hand, applying some friction, but it remained small and limp. The

atmosphere, the smell, and the ugly man before him all coalesced to make the

consummation impossible. Taking a long breath to steady himself, Angel leaned

down, pressing his belly onto the man"s back.

“Get your cock in.” Aroused and becoming frustrated at the delay, Dudek"s

voice was hoarse with anticipation.

With his forefinger, Angel found the exterior jugular vein and, without pause

to consider, pressed the release button on the scalpel. The blade shot out, cutting

deep into the vein. Dudek let out a cry and began clutching at his neck and bucking

in an attempt to throw Angel off his back. Angel threw his full weight on the man"s

back as he struggled, and pushed him down onto his belly. Only when Dudek

stopped moving did Angel roll off, drawing the blade out. His hand was covered in

Dudek"s blood, yet he felt exhilarated. Panting, he scrambled off the bed, pumped

with adrenaline.

Daddy had warned him that sometimes you got such an adrenaline surge you

thought you could do anything, and you had to slow down and run a checklist. He

dropped his shoulders, closed his eyes, and breathed.
Clean off the blood. Get the

gun. Go carefully down the stairs.

He opened his eyes and saw Dudek, his body turning white as it bled out, limp,

naked, and no longer a danger to anyone. A job well done.

Using the bedsheets, he wiped his hands and then carefully cleaned the

scalpel. He pulled his pants up, checked himself in the mirror for blood, and saw for

150

Fyn Alexander

the first time that his left eye was red and swollen from the blows he had received

earlier.

At the window, he pulled back the curtain, surprised to find it still broad

daylight. The last few hours had felt like twenty-four, and he was sure it was night

already. Mattie stood beside her car on the phone, talking. He caught her eye and

waved. Then quickly he searched Dudek"s clothes for a weapon. A small subcompact

GLOCK had fallen from his trouser pocket. Angel picked it up, checked that it was

loaded and the safety catch was off. At the door, he took a deep breath. Daddy

always said to let the silence descend, but Angel wasn"t exactly sure what that

meant. He walked boldly down the stairs and into the front room. Two men sat at a

table playing cards. Denbigh was no longer there. Angel shot them one after the

other before they had time to reach for their weapons. His aim was perfect, his hand

never wavering. He was on a roll.

The gun had no silencer, and it brought the girls in the basement running up

the stairs screaming. The narrow hall was suddenly congested with the girls—and

in front of them was Harry Denbigh, who had come out of Dudek"s office. For a

moment he stopped short, stunned to see Angel there.

“You! The Black Widow"s bitch.” His face contorted with an angry sneer as he

pulled out a GLOCK 26. “Shut up, you fucking tarts,” he screamed at the women

behind him. Frightened and confused, they scurried into the empty office. “Drop the

gun, you stupid little fuck. I"ll kill you before you"ll kill me.”

Stiff from spending eleven days lying on a concrete floor with his wrists, knees,

and ankles bound, Kael had just managed to struggle into his trousers and shirt

when he heard the first gunshot. He couldn"t find his shoes, and he knew Denbigh

had taken his jacket. The only thing in the jacket pocket, aside from the charm

Angel had given him for his birthday and some cash, was the secure-line phone. But

Denbigh would never have been able to use that without the code and had probably

tossed it by now.

Without a sound, Kael climbed the stairs faster than he thought possible given

how stiff his limbs were. At the top of the narrow stairs, he saw the girls, Ekaterina

among them, crowded into a small room. He put his finger to his lips and turned

into the hall, coming up behind Denbigh. He slid his left arm around Denbigh"s

neck, pressing on his windpipe and removing the gun from Denbigh"s right hand in

one smooth movement.

“Get on your fucking knees, you piece of shit.”

With the gun to the back of his head and Angel standing in front also pointing

a gun at him, Denbigh complied without protest.

“What"s the code for the alarm?” Angel asked in English.

Denbigh told him the number, and Angel punched it into the keypad and

opened the door. Mattie came in, gun raised.

Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

151

“Dyadya?” The little girl came out from the office door holding a rag doll in her

arms, the same doll she had laid beside Kael several nights to “keep him company,”

as she put it. The same doll that had caused him to be taken captive. Kael spoke to

her in Russian, and she walked past him and took Mattie"s hand. When she was

outside in the street, he stepped away from Denbigh.

“Turn around, you fucking little fart. Look what you did to my face. I look like

a frigging cage fighter.”

Still on his knees, Denbigh turned, looking up at Kael. “I"m sorry, sir,” he said

quietly. “Look, can we work this out? I didn"t do any worse to you than you did to

me.”

“Yes, you did. You started working for a fucking pimp who kidnaps women and

kids to be raped. Now get my jacket off.”

Denbigh removed the jacket and handed it to Kael, who indicated with the gun

for him to toss it on the floor. “I had to do something, sir. I had no job.”

“You came back into the cellar and kicked the crap out of me every day when I

was tied up. You stuck your frigging gun muzzle up my arse and threatened to fire.”

“I"m sorry. I"m sorry. Please let me go,” Denbigh begged.

“Stop whining.” Kael fired, and Denbigh fell backward with a bullet through

his forehead, twisting awkwardly in his kneeling position.

“Where"s Dudek?” he asked Angel.

Angel looked up at the ceiling. “I killed him with a scalpel.”

“Good lad. Let"s get out of here.”

“What about the girls?” Angel asked, picking up the jacket.

Kael called over his shoulder in Russian, “The guards are dead. The door is

open. You can leave if you want.” He took Angel"s hand and walked outside. Mattie

had brought the car to the door and put Ekaterina in the front seat. Moving very

stiffly, his body screaming with pain, Kael folded himself into the backseat of the

small car, and Angel got in through the other door. Mattie started the engine,

moving quickly into traffic.

“Good to see you, sir.” She grinned at him in the mirror. “Though if I"m honest,

you"ve looked better.”

“Very funny.” He could hardly speak, his mouth was so swollen.

Angel put his arms out to hug him but did it very gently.

“Dyadya.” Ekaterina looked between the seats at him. “Are you all right?”

“I"ll be fine.” He tried to smile, but his face hurt.

“Why is she calling you daddy?” Angel asked. “What did she say?”

“Dyadya means uncle.” He sighed and closed his eyes. The sense of freedom

was heady, but the pain made any celebration impossible.

“You need to go to a hospital, Daddy,” Angel said.

152

Fyn Alexander

“No. I"ve got cracked ribs and I"m beaten up and dehydrated, but that"s all. I

need fluids and paracetamol and I"ll be fine.”

“Let"s get out of Paris and we"ll stop for some Lucozade,” Mattie said. “That

stuff works wonders for dehydration. It"s the best energy drink you can get. Can you

manage till then, sir?”

“Just keep driving. Get me the hell out of Paris.”

“Did they give you any food?” Angel asked.

“No, I haven"t eaten since I left home. But you know me. I"m a boa constrictor.

I can go weeks on one meal.”

“That"s not entirely true, Daddy. You"ve lost a lot of your muscle mass. You"re

looking thin.”

“I"m free. I feel on top of the world. How the hell did the pair of you pull this

off?”

“It"s a long story, sir, but it began with Angel going to Conran and telling him

you were missing,” Mattie said.

“I bet he was pissed.”

“Daddy, he wasn"t. He was really worried. He was so kind to me. He asked me

if I had money, and he said he"d take care of everything. Then he got hold of

Mattie.”

“He told me to come and find you, sir. He even said he"d pay the expenses

himself because you weren"t on official business and he couldn"t tell anyone you

were missing.”

Kael started to laugh, but his ribs hurt too much. Aside from that, it was

probably a touch of hysteria. “Conran was willing to pay to get me back? There was

a time he would have gladly paid to put a hit on me.”

“Does the little girl speak English, sir?” Mattie asked.

“No, just Russian. That kid kept me alive. She came in every day and gave me

water. She"d have been beaten if anyone had caught her. She was too afraid to do

anything else to help, but she kept me alive. And then my brave boy came to get

me.” He looked at Angel, whose face was swollen above his left eye. “Who did that to

you?”

“Doesn"t matter, Daddy. The bad guys are dead.”

“Sir, what are we going to do with the child?” Mattie asked.

“She"s not coming to live with us, is she?” Angel looked horrified, then quickly

apologized. “Daddy, I"m sorry. I didn"t mean that. It"s your choice.”

Kael slid down in the seat and laid his head in Angel"s lap. The feel of his boy"s

gentle hands stroking his head and shoulder made his eyes brim. “No, she can"t live

with us, but I"ve got an idea. I"ll sort it when we get back to London.”

“Guess what happened while you were gone, Daddy? Mrs. Chalmers moved

out.”

Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

153

Kael gave a little chuckle despite his ribs. “Ding-dong, the witch is dead.” He

took his jacket and felt in the pockets. Predictably the mobile was gone, but tucked

into the inside breast pocket was the little pair of cuffs. He held it up. “My good-luck

charm.”

* * *

hall with Angel beside him and Ekaterina clinging to his waist. Half a dozen bottles

of Lucozade and some food had helped him feel a bit better, but he was so tired and

sore he could hardly stand up. He desperately needed his bed, and he wanted a

shower more than he had ever wanted one in his life. He was filthy.

Freddie and Adam, wearing matching dressing gowns, looked at the trio with

obvious concern. “Come through.” Freddie led them into the living room. Kael sat

down on the nearest chair. “What the hell has happened? Kael, you look like you"ve

had the shit beaten out of you.”

“I have. And I can"t tell you anything about it, Freddie. Maybe in a few

months, but not at this moment.”

“Who"s this?” Adam asked gently, looking with soft, kind eyes at the little girl.

“This is Ekaterina. You can call her Katya. She"s Russian, and she can"t speak

English. Can you look after her for a while? You speak Russian pretty well,

Freddie.”

“Not too bad,” he agreed. “Who is she?”

“I can"t give you any details right now. To be honest, I don"t know much about

her, but she was trafficked.”

“Good God. You mean, for sex?” Adam looked horrified. He reached out a hand

in a small gesture of comfort, but Ekaterina shied away and wrapped her arms

around Kael"s neck. “She"s attached to you, Kael.”

“Daddy rescued her,” Angel said.

“We all did.” Kael looked at his boy. Angel was also exhausted. God knows

what he had been through, especially when he was alone with Dudek, but he

seemed determined to give Kael all the credit. “I need a couple of weeks to recover.

I"m exhausted. Can you keep her, just for a while? I"ll find out if she has any family

she can return to. But right now she"s got no one except me, and I"m hopeless with

kids.” He spread his hand. “Anyway, look at the state of me.”