Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

familiar. Soft black leather in a
    straight style falling just to the thighs.
    It was Daddy‟s!
    Angel was almost at the door when a voice behind the counter called, “ Garçon !”
    Angel looked at the man. “Your coffee.”

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    Fyn Alexander

    “Merci.” He grabbed it and followed Denbigh out into the street. The man
    walked directly to number 43 and went in. Brimming with excitement, Angel pulled
    out his phone. “Mattie, I just saw Denbigh from Herstmonceux Castle.”
    “Christ! Harry „Scared Shitless of Heights‟ Denbigh?”
    “Yeah. And guess what he was wearing? Daddy‟s leather jacket. Daddy‟s in
    that house.”
    “Don‟t make a move. I‟ll be right over.”
    In minutes Mattie met him at the end of the street, and Angel slid into the car.
    “Can I have some of that?” she said when the smell of coffee filled the car.
    Angel handed her the cup. “He‟s in that house.”
    “Just because a bloke—correction—arsehole was wearing his jacket and
    walked into that house doesn‟t mean the man himself is in there.” She took a swig
    of coffee and gave it back.
    “Okay, I guess you‟re right.” Disappointment washed over him. It was a naive
    assumption and showed him just how much real training he needed before he would
    even be close to actually working for SIS. “But it increases the likelihood.”
    “Look.” Mattie pointed at a car pulling up outside the house. An expensive
    silver Lexus. A thin man, no more than five feet eight inches tall and balding, got
    out with two other men. He seemed to be in charge. Mattie held up her cell phone
    and snapped a picture. “It‟s kind of blurred.” She punched in a number and waited.
    “I‟m sending it to Mr. Conran to see if he knows who the bloke is.”
    The men disappeared into the house. Periodically others followed, walking up
    the street, looking nervously left and right before knocking on the door. “These are
    whorehouses, aren‟t they?” Angel asked to confirm his suspicion from last night.
    “No flies on you, dude.” Mattie grinned.
    “What does that mean?” Angel was confused.
    “My mum used to say that to me all the time because I did well in school. It
    means you‟re quick on the uptake.” Her phone beeped, and she looked at the screen.
    “Confirmed. The thin man is Jarogniew Dudek. He‟s Polish and he owns this
    operation. The three houses here and one in Provins belong to him, as well as loads
    of other houses all over Europe.”
    “So if it‟s just a whorehouse, why is the place alarmed and why do the women
    never come out?” Angel looked at Mattie.
    “How do you know they‟ve got alarms set up?” Mattie shifted about to scan the
    house.
    Angel pointed at the windows. “I can see them just inside the window frames.
    Look at the first floor window, top left.”
    Mattie squinted, then took out a very small pair of binoculars and checked
    again. “Bloody hell, mate. You‟re like a bat.”

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    143

    Angel gave a little laugh. “I know. It makes up for being blind in bright
    sunlight. I can see in the dark too. So why don‟t the cops arrest this guy? Why can‟t
    we send them in there after Daddy?”
    “It‟s too big for that.” She maneuvered in her seat to look at him. “Look, you‟re
    not supposed to know any of this. I didn‟t even know it myself until Mr. Conran told
    me in his office yesterday morning. I went with Sir—your daddy—to pick up a man.
    That‟s not relevant to this, but the house we picked him up from belonged to a bloke
    who trafficks in sex slaves.”
    “Dudek?” Angel nodded at the house.
    “Yeah. While Sir was in the house getting the target out, he found a little girl.
    She was being used as a prostitute. Sir came back to rescue her. He wasn‟t
    supposed to, and he came in an unofficial capacity because the operation to close
    that bastard down is very delicate and is under the jurisdiction of the French police
    and Europol. They have to get all their shit in the same bag before they can move,
    but Sir didn‟t want to wait and he came back himself to get the kid.”
    “Isn‟t he great?” Angel‟s heart swelled with pride that his daddy would risk his
    life to save a child.
    “Yeah, he is.”
    “He pretends to be tough…well, he is tough. But he‟s a big pussycat too.”
    The door to the house opened, and Dudek walked out with a man behind him.
    At that moment, a woman was passing with a young boy of maybe fourteen.