Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

didn‟t scream. He cried quietly for a long time while Angel held him.

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    167

    Chapter Eighteen

    Bangkok, Thailand

    The smell was noxious to Kael‟s sensitive nose, but it didn‟t distract him. The
    humidity, the noise, and the crowds in the busy market faded to the periphery of his
    landscape. The assassin was on the hunt, and nothing mattered but the hit. “ Killing
    brings me close to God ,” he had joked to Conran. But Kael didn‟t believe in God. He
    believed in himself, and he knew what he was doing was right.
    This is who I am. This is what I do.
    Every cell in his body was calm. He was in the zone, always scanning his
    environment, yet completely focused on the man whom he allowed to be no more
    than twenty feet ahead of him at any given time.
    Darkness fell quickly in Bangkok, despite the city lights. The alleys, the
    narrow passageways, the darkened entrances to crowded, dirty buildings in this
    shabby part of the city hid a million secrets and gave cover to a million vices. Kael
    knew exactly where the man was headed: a restaurant that looked respectable on
    the outside. But every man who liked sex with children knew what could be bought
    in the rooms behind.
    The front of the restaurant was open to the evening air, like many Bangkok
    restaurants. The man walked in and up to the bar, where he ordered a beer and
    chatted like a jocular, regular patron with the barman. Kael stood across the street
    in a doorway with a clear view, but there were simply too many innocent people
    enjoying their evening to risk firing through the crowd. He crossed the street and
    walked through the restaurant, reaching the bar just as the target walked
    confidently through the beaded curtain covering a door in the back.
    Now.
    The passage was narrow, very dark, and at that second, empty. “Stop and drop
    to your knees. Hands behind your head.”
    Five feet ahead of him, the man halted and began to turn.
    “Don‟t turn. Drop.”
    The man obeyed.
    “Now you can turn.”
    Shuffling around on his knees, the man said, “You again. You can‟t take me
    back to England. They‟re done with me. I‟ve been paid off. I‟m free.”

    168
    Fyn Alexander

    “I‟m not here in an official capacity, and you‟re not going to England ever
    again. This is just for me. Every now and then, I get the urge to sweep the streets,
    and you‟re a piece of shit that needs sweeping away.” Without taking his eyes off
    Graham Clement or lowering his gun, Kael said, “Do it now, exactly as I told you.”
    Angel pulled his GLOCK subcompact from the shoulder holster concealed
    under his lightweight jacket. His hands perfectly steady, he aimed and fired.
    Graham Clement crumpled to the ground with a bullet in the exact center of the
    forehead. Third eye is how Kael had described it to him. “Good lad! Go!”
    He followed Angel out into the restaurant, running all the way, and into the
    alley exactly as they had planned. They ran until they reached the rented car and
    were on the main road out of Bangkok before either spoke. “Has your heart slowed
    down yet?” he asked Angel.
    “I‟m good, Daddy,” Angel said calmly. “That was my first hit. Not my first kill,
    but my first hit.”
    “It wasn‟t official. No one but us knows what we did.”
    “I know. But it was the right thing to do, wasn‟t it, Daddy?”
    “Yes, it was, and you are growing into a man I am proud of.”
    “I feel really good,” Angel said. “I feel peaceful.”
    Kael took his hand and squeezed it. “That‟s my boy.”

    Loose Id Titles by Fyn Alexander

    Precious Jade

    The ANGEL AND THE ASSASSIN Series
    Angel and the Assassin
    Be Brave

    Fyn Alexander

    I grew up in Liverpool, England, with a great love of books and the English
    language. As an adult I moved to Canada, but I return to England to visit every few
    years to remind myself of my roots. I love writing and I love romance, so bringing
    the two together is a perfect fit. Precious Jade, my first published book, was
    inspired by a visit to the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, in early 2009. I have always had
    a fascination with assassins and could not resist writing about one in my new
    series, Angel and the Assassin .