Angel and the Assassin 3: Sins of the Father

a partner.” The warmth that rose in him when he spoke those
    words surprised him. He had been asked before if he was married, and his answer was
    always an angry “I’m gay” or “I’m queer.” He was thoroughly insulted by anyone
    thinking he was straight.
    “You don’t look gay,” she said.
    Gripping the wooden arms of the chair until his knuckles turned white, Kael said,
    “What’s that supposed to mean? Because I’m masculine and don’t have that voice, I
    can’t be gay?”
    With a calm smile, she said, “I was being a bit tactless, Mr. Saunders. Like you
    when you said I needed a kick in the bum and you thought I was fifty.”
    “Oh, I see.” And the miracle was, he did see. With Angel’s help, he was improving
    his people skills all the time. “I think what I should have said was, you’re looking really
    good these days, Mrs. Lane.”
    Fyn Alexander | Sins of the Father
    115

    “To which I would have replied, thank you very much, Mr. Saunders.”
    Conran’s door opened, making Kael sigh with relief.
    “Saunders, come in.”
    “No. I’m picking Angel up at four to go to the gym. Where’s the letter?”
    “I need to speak to you. We might as well do it now.” Conran held the door until
    Kael walked through. “Sit down. Do you want a drink?”
    “No, I brought the car. Did you get the letter?”
    “Yes, it’s right here.” Conran sat down behind his desk and passed Kael an
    envelope. It was on official parliamentary stationery. “Hope it does the trick for you.”
    “So do I.” The envelope was not sealed, and Kael slid out the letter and skimmed
    it. “The deputy prime minister? Well done, Stephen!” He looked up. “He says here he
    met Angel.”
    “He did, for about five minutes at my New Year party.”
    Feeling victorious, Kael tucked the letter into his inside pocket. “Now, what do
    you want?”
    “Romodanovsky arrives at Dorneywood tomorrow with his son, Dmitri. I’m not
    sure why he’s there. To spend some time with his father, I suppose. He’s at
    Cambridge.”
    “I know. Romodanovsky decided to share his family details with me, as if I
    cared.”
    “They’ll spend two nights at Dorneywood. Friday and Saturday. And they’ll leave
    at noon on Sunday. All meetings will be held on site. The usual security, which consists
    mostly of Specialist Operations officers and a few local police, will be in place. The
    perimeter is already secure. You will have the same team you had at Downing Street.
    Thornton, Crosswell, Mackie, and Ellis.” He paused before saying, “And Angel if you
    want. It will be a good learning experience for him. Do you want me to get him a
    security pass?”
    Fyn Alexander | Sins of the Father
    116

    “All right. Get it, and I’ll decide tomorrow.”
    Kael stood and put the letter into his inside jacket pocket. “I’m going to be late for
    Angel. Talk to you soon. And thanks.”
    “We’re almost civil with each other these days, aren’t we?” Conran smiled.
    “Almost,” Kael agreed. “How’s your arse?”
    Conran smiled. “Bruised.”

    * * * *
    The sky was overcast when Kael walked out of the building onto York Road.

    Traffic whizzed past and car fumes assaulted his nostrils as he strode quickly to his car
    a few hundred yards along the street. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he pulled out his
    mobile. There was no text from Angel, but there were four missed calls from his mum.
    Something must be important. Kael punched in her number at once, and on the first
    ring, she said, “Kael?”
    “Hello, Mum. I had my phone turned off because I was teaching and before that I
    was at school with Angel. We sent off his university applications and—”
    “Kael!” she interrupted.
    The panic in her voice frightened him. “Mum, what’s up?”
    Several seconds elapsed before she said, “Can you lend me £2000, luv?”
    “Two thousand? That’s a hell of a lot of money. What do you need it for?”
    Without pause she said, “Bail. Shawn’s been arrested.”
    Yes ! Kael felt like punching the air. Shawn in jail meant the useless git was out of
    his mum’s life, at least for a while. “If he’s been arrested, he has no one to blame but
    himself. Let him stew. He can plead guilty, serve his few months, and he’ll be out to
    break the law again before you know it.”
    “No, luv, this is different.”
    Fyn Alexander | Sins of the Father
    117

    “It’s not different. He’s going to be doing this until he’s too old to do it