Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

happen. Confusion was replaced with
    panic and then confusion again.
    “Mr. Conran, calm down, sir. It‟s just me, Angel Button.”
    “I know who you are.” He looked up at the ceiling as if he could check that his
    wife was still up there unharmed. “The housekeeper left for the day. Who let you
    in?”
    “I came in through your French windows in the lounge.”
    “Through the drawing room?” he said stupidly. “How? Why?”
    “How?” Angel pulled out the shiv and held it up. “Don‟t worry, I didn‟t leave a
    mark. Daddy taught me how, and he‟s an expert.”
    Conran spread his hands, exasperated. “What is he training you to be? Some
    sort of modern-day Oliver Twist?”
    “Not sure what that means, sir,” Angel said.
    “Why didn‟t you knock on the door? No, don‟t tell me. Saunders never knocks
    on doors.”
    “I wasn‟t sure if your wife should know I was here in case she asks why.”
    “I‟m asking. Why are you here?”

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    131

    “Sir, where‟s my daddy? He left nine days ago. He said he would only be gone
    three days, maybe a little longer, and he said if he was delayed, he would contact
    me to let me know he‟s okay. I haven‟t heard a word, and I‟m really worried.”
    “You could have knocked on the front door to ask that,” Conran pointed out.
    Angel shrugged and walked toward the desk. “Sorry, Mr. Conran, but I know
    you work for MI6 and so does Daddy. I thought I had to keep it secret.”
    Conran smiled slightly. “And what do you think he does for MI6?”
    Daddy had told him never to tell anyone what he knew, especially about the
    death of his stepfather, so he adopted the most innocent smile he could muster. “I
    think he‟s like James Bond. Look how he rescued me in Bosnia last year.”
    Conran smiled in response. “And where did you meet him?”
    Mr. Conran was trying to see exactly how much he knew, and Angel easily
    repeated the lie Daddy had told him to tell. “I met him on the beach outside the
    house in Cape Cod the night Sven was killed. It‟s a really good job he was there
    because those guys who killed Sven might have killed me too. Daddy saved my life
    that night.”
    “And what was Saunders doing in Cape Cod that night?”
    After a slight pause, he said, “He was on vacation.”
    “And you just went home with him?”
    “Yes. My mom left for France without me. My stepfather would have thrown
    me out the next day if he hadn‟t died.”
    Footsteps on the stairs made Conran rise quickly and go out into the hall,
    closing the door behind him. Angel listened. “Are the children in bed, dear? Are you
    off out now?”
    A few minutes later, Conran walked back in. “My wife has gone out to play
    bridge. Come into the kitchen.” Angel followed him along the hall into the large
    kitchen. A big table dominated the center of the room. It still bore the remains of
    the children‟s bedtime snack, and wax crayon drawings were scattered at one end.
    “Have you had dinner?”
    “Yes, sir. Daddy insists I have healthy meals, so I always make sure I eat
    properly when he‟s away. I‟m not perfect when he‟s home, but when he‟s away it
    would be wrong to disobey him, so I make extra effort.”
    Conran nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, it would. Would you like some apple pie?”
    “Yes, please,” Angel said at once. He wandered around the kitchen looking at
    the children‟s drawings stuck to the fridge with alphabet magnets. A row of colorful
    Wellington boots in little sizes were lined up by the back door. From being there
    before, he knew the rest of the house was beautiful and perfect, but the kitchen was
    plainly the family‟s hub of activity.
    “Here you are, Angel. Come and sit down.” Conran placed a big slice of apple
    pie and a glass of milk on the table and gave Angel a fork and a napkin. Angel sat
    down and began to eat while Conran sat across from him, watching.

    132
    Fyn Alexander

    “I was wondering if you got in touch with him after he left and told him to do
    something else and maybe there was no way for him to contact me. Could that be
    what happened?” Angel asked.
    “Where did he say he was going?”
    “He never tells me where he goes,” Angel said truthfully. “You know where he
    is, don‟t you?”
    “I know where he went, yes, but he may not be there now. Leave this with me.
    I‟ll see if I can locate him. Give me your mobile number.” Angel took a red wax
    crayon and a piece of paper and