Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

to sound outraged, but it rang very hollow.
    “He‟s eighteen, ma‟am. Nothing illegal is going on here, and I suspect you
    knew that. The young man may look a little younger than eighteen, but he does not
    look fourteen. You had better leave Mr. Saunders alone.”
    “He should leave me alone. He broke into my flat this afternoon.”
    “You didn‟t report a break-in, ma‟am. Was anything stolen? Would you like me
    to come in and look around?”
    Still furious, Kael walked inside and closed the door. “I‟ll kill that bitch.”
    “Not a good idea, Daddy. What happened? Who called the cops?”
    “She did. Why did you call me Kael?”
    “I didn‟t think it was a good idea to say Daddy in front of child protective
    services. Anyway, our relationship is none of their business. I‟m of age.”
    “How did you know who they were?”
    “Daddy.” Angel threw his arms around Kael‟s waist. “It doesn‟t matter which
    country you live in. Those guys all look the same, and I‟ve seen so many of them. I
    took one look at them and I knew who they were. How come she said you broke into
    her apartment? Come to think of it, you were coming out of there when I got home. I
    was so excited telling you I won that chess game that I forgot to ask.”
    “Don‟t worry about it. The woman‟s a nut.”
    “What made her suddenly call CPS like that?” Angel asked.
    “She kept asking me to have dinner with her, so I told her she was too old for
    me. I think that might have done it.”
    “You think!” Angel said. “I‟m surprised she didn‟t take a kitchen knife to you.
    You‟re lucky to be alive.”
    He pondered the words for a moment. Angel was right. If only Kael could learn
    to be circumspect. “Come on, sweetheart. Off to bed. I‟ll tuck you in. I‟m not ready to
    go yet.”
    When Angel was in bed, Kael returned to the living room with his diary,
    poured a whisky, and began to write.

    My mum was the only woman I ever loved until I met Misha. After Misha took
    me on my first hit we were partnered as equals on a couple of jobs, but mostly we just
    hung out together when we could. We would go to the firing range and compete with
    each other. We’d go swimming, but my being so tall and strong, I always beat her in

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    117

    the pool so she would do sneaky things like pushing me in, or going under and
    grabbing my swimsuit and pulling it down. We had such a laugh. Everyone thought
    we were dating.
    It was the middle of August. I was twenty-six and she was thirty-two. A small
    group of us were taken to Wales for a weekend of rock climbing at a mountain called
    Moel Famau to reinforce the skills we already had. It was a popular place with
    hikers, but we were on the rough side where we could test our skills. We chose
    partners and I was with Misha as always. We did everything right and put everyone
    else to shame, just as we always did. On the last evening the instructor let everyone
    walk down the mountain to go to the pub in the village. Misha and I were late
    returning to camp because we had got involved in a darts match and as always we
    had to compete with each other. We were so loud about it and having such a laugh
    that people started betting on us and it was closing time before we left.
    It was very dark on the mountain, we were both a bit drunk, and we had to get
    back to our camp. She had won the last match and I wanted to get her back by
    playing a trick on her, so I waited until we were almost halfway to the camp. The
    situation was already risky so when I pretended to skid on the loose flint, she said,
    “Careful on the shale, Kael,” and laughed. I skidded a few feet and then went down
    on my back. “Are you all right, mate?” she called, coming down after me.
    I didn’t answer. I just lay there holding my breath so she would think I was
    dead. I was great at holding my breath and I thought I’d give it another full minute
    before opening my eyes and growling or something stupid. But I never made it
    another minute because she dropped on top me and started CPR. I grabbed her
    shoulders and shoved her off. I got up laughing hysterically. For a minute she was
    absolutely silent, then she began to hit me. I just kept laughing but when she gave me
    a straight-fingered jab to my solar plexus that winded me to the point where I
    dropped to my knees, I realized she was serious. I looked at her and she smacked me
    across the head. “Fucking dick!” she screamed at me