Angel and the Assassin 3: Sins of the Father

and the depths to which
    people would sink, he had still believed until just last week that he was the only boy
    Shawn had been interested in. “How many others were there over the years?”
    Shawn shrugged as if it was nothing. “There was a few.”
    “And is that your age of preference, fourteen?”
    “Yes. I’m dying for a smoke.” Shawn looked away across the crowded visiting
    room. “Just make the bail application for me. It’s seventy-two hours to get before a
    judge.”
    This was the moment, and Kael savored it. He paused, looking at Shawn as if the
    man were a stranger. “I’m not getting you out, Shawn. I’m not signing for anything.
    And you’re going to plead guilty, or I will go to the police and tell them what you did
    to me. You’ll go down for a hell of a lot longer with two of us testifying against you.”
    Rising suddenly to his feet, Shawn shouted, “You frigging wanker!”
    Two guards moved quickly over to the table. “Sit down or your visit’s over.”
    Quietly Shawn sat. “When the fuck did you get a conscience, Kael?” The spiteful
    little man Kael now knew Shawn to be came out. “Does your mum know? Does she
    know you and me were shagging when she was out working? She’ll hate you when she
    finds that out.”
    Kael watched him, giving nothing away, making sure not a muscle moved in his
    face, just as he had been taught. He consciously controlled his heart and pulse rate. It
    had always been his fear, even when he was fourteen and madly in love with Shawn,
    that his mum would find out and hate him.
    “This place stinks. I need some fresh air.” He stood.
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    The smug expression on Shawn’s face changed to one of pleading when he
    realized he had made no impact. “Please, mate. Get me out of here, please. I’ll plead
    guilty when I go to court and do my time. But get me out of here now. I’ve already been
    beaten up.”
    “You’re staying in jail. You’re going to plead guilty when you go to trial, and
    you’ll keep your hands off kids. If you don’t, I’ll talk to the police, and if that doesn’t
    work, I’ll come and get you myself.” With that he walked out.
    The traffic wasn’t bad since it was Sunday, and Kael was back at the Albert Dock
    in thirty-five minutes. All the way home, he agonized about telling his mum what he
    and Shawn had done, but as he stood outside the flat and pulled out the key he always
    kept, he knew he wouldn’t tell her. He’d make up some excuse about why he hadn’t
    made the bail application, but he would not break her heart and have her despise him.
    In the hall, he hung his leather jacket in the cupboard and arranged a neutral look
    on his face. They wouldn’t accept a bail application because of the charges. He has to stay on
    remand until he goes to trial. There was nothing I could do.
    The moment he entered the living room, he knew something was wrong. Angel
    rose to his feet from his seat on the couch. His mum had obviously been crying.
    “Daddy, I’m sorry. I thought she knew.”
    “Knew what?” He looked back and forth between them. “Knew what?” The
    expression on Angel’s face changed quickly from fear to tears. Chin quivering, Angel
    blinked rapidly. “What did you tell her?” His voice came out strangely quiet, but when
    he repeated the words, it filled the room, making Angel jump. “What did you tell her!”
    His mum answered instead. “You should have told me about Shawn, Kael. You
    should have told me what he did to you.”
    An overwhelming sense of shame and anger—and other emotions he couldn’t
    identify—made his face grow hot. Adrenaline surged through his muscles. Before he
    could think about his actions, he crossed the room and slapped Angel so hard across the
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    face that the boy staggered. Raging and out of control, he slapped him again. “You little
    shit!”
    “Kael!” Sharon screamed. “Don’t you dare hit him! Don’t you dare!”
    Her screaming and the horror in her face pulled him up short. And then Angel’s
    plaintive, frightened voice. “Daddy, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought she knew.” The
    boy pressed his hand to his pink cheek.
    When he felt a punch in his shoulder, Kael was shocked to see his mum standing
    in front of him. “Don’t you hit him. That makes you no better than the useless pricks I
    went out with all those years.”
    Unable to look at her, he hung his head. She was