Angel and the Assassin 3: Sins of the Father

anymore.
    What was it this time, theft or fencing stolen goods?”
    “Kael, for Jesus’ sake, will you stop.” The shrillness of her tone sent a shot of panic
    through him.
    “What the heck’s upsetting you so much?” he asked gently. “You know what
    Shawn’s like, and it’s not as if you’ve never had a boyfriend arrested before. I wish
    you’d find someone who was good enough for you, Mum.”
    When she spoke again, she was so quiet Kael could hardly hear her. “He’s been
    charged with sexual assault.”
    They both fell silent. Kael was reminded of the moment when he’d been knocked
    unconscious with the butt of a gun in Paris last year, the sick hollow feeling in his head,
    followed by an odd faintness before he passed out. Angel was right.
    “Kael?”
    “Yes.”
    “He didn’t do it. He may be a thief. He is a thief, and he’s lazy and not all that
    bright, but he’d never diddle a kid.”
    “How old was the boy?” Kael asked.
    “A teenager, thirteen or fourteen, something like that. But he didn’t do it. He
    swears up and down he didn’t do it, and I believe him. You know Shawn. You know he
    wouldn’t do anything like that.”
    Kael glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard. It was already a quarter past
    four and it would take him twenty minutes to get through the heavy rush hour traffic to
    Angel. He put the phone on speaker, put his seat belt on, and pulled into traffic. “Listen,
    Mum, I’ve got an important job over the next few days. When it’s finished, I’ll drive up
    and sort this out.”
    “We can’t leave him in jail on a charge like that. He’ll get beaten up. Everyone says
    child molesters get beaten up in jail. Even if they’re not guilty.”
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    The fucker was guilty all right. “There’s nothing I can do. I have to interpret for a
    foreign politician. No one else can speak his language. I’ll come when I can.”
    “Can’t you just transfer the money? All I need is to prove I’ve got it in my bank
    account. I’ll make sure he gets to court when he’s supposed to. You’ll get it back.”
    “Mum, I have to go. The traffic is really bad, and I have to pick up Angel. I’ll be
    there in a few days. Leave Shawn where he is unless someone in his family wants to
    bail him out.”
    “That lot haven’t got two pennies to rub together,” she said. “Kael? How did you
    know it was a lad?”
    “Bye, Mum. I love you.”
    Twenty minutes later, Angel got into the car outside Redmond College. “You
    okay, Daddy? You’re late, and you don’t look well.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I’m fine! The traffic’s bad, that’s all. You know how irritable I get when I’m held
    up.”
    Looking straight ahead, Angel replied, “I sure do.”

    * * * *
    For two hours, they worked out in the weight room until Kael was dripping with

    sweat and some of his initial feelings of anger and betrayal at Shawn were blunted.
    Angel’s fair cheeks were pink with exertion, and he looked tired. Now they stood side
    by side, running on treadmills.
    Staring straight ahead, Kael refused to make eye contact with anyone and did no
    more than nod hello when any of the staff or regulars spoke to him. He had never been
    terribly friendly in all the years he’d been going there, though he’d had a fair number of
    sexual encounters after his workouts. A few years ago, he’d heard one of the staff refer
    to him as The Machine because he went in, worked out for hours at a time without
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    speaking or smiling, and then left. But everything was different with Angel. They all
    knew his name and chatted with him whenever he took a break. On Angel’s first day
    there, one of the trainers had wanted to set up a workout program for him and kept
    coming over to give him instructions on the machines until Kael had finally said, “Get
    lost. He’s my boy and I’ll train him.”
    “What are you doing?” he asked when Angel turned his treadmill off.
    “I’m exhausted, Daddy. I already had soccer this morning as well. I can’t keep up
    with you. I’m going over to the reception to get a drink.”
    “Come right back,” Kael said without altering his pace. Watching his boy stroll
    over to the reception area and lean on the counter, he took note of how much more
    muscular Angel was becoming, though he was still very slender. Sweat ran down the
    fair skin of Angel’s bare back. Kael wore only a