Angel and the Assassin

place. When Kael sat down opposite him in a little
    booth in the window, he looked up, his face growing pale.
    “Why do you look so nervous, Stephen; it‟s just me, your old schoolmate,
    Saunders.” Kael‟s mouth stretched into a smile, while his eyes remained narrowed
    and angry.
    Conran looked quickly around him, like he had in the Quebec Pub. “What do
    you want?”
    “Why are you always checking to see who‟s watching when you‟re with me? Are
    you ashamed to be seen with me?” Kael tapped the table, waiting. “Afraid people
    will think you‟re a queer? Do I look like a queer, Conran?”
    “Only when you‟re dressed in leather. Now if it‟s about that bloody video—”
    Kael grabbed Conran‟s wrist very tightly, making him look around again. He
    tried to pull his hand free but stood no chance against Kael‟s superior strength. “It‟s
    not about the video. It‟s about my boy, Angel.” He leaned across the narrow table
    into Conran‟s face, dragging him closer by his arm. “Where the fuck is he?”
    “I don‟t know.” Conran‟s face began to redden. “Take your hands off me. People
    are watching.”
    “Look at me.”
    Conran looked into Kael‟s eyes, his breath short. He was telling the truth; he
    didn‟t know. Kael released his wrist. “He‟s been snatched off the street, and you are
    going to help me find him.”
    “I don‟t know anything about this. I made it right with my people. The boy is
    not in danger from our people.”
    Conran looked incredibly relieved when Kael stood up, but that passed quickly
    when he realized Kael wasn‟t leaving without him. “Get up. We‟re going to your
    office, and you are going to start making phone calls until you find out where he is.”

    * * *
    It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to decline as Kael stood at the

    window of Conran‟s office watching the river. He had felt sick to his stomach with

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    Fyn Alexander

    worry from the moment he knew Angel had been abducted. The fact that he had not
    eaten did not help, but he would not eat again until he found Angel.
    All afternoon Conran had been on the phone to members of the Secret
    Intelligence Service and been back and forth across the river to Westminster Palace,
    talking to various politicians. Kael had followed him everywhere, not allowing him
    out of his sight. Now Conran paced back and forth across the expensive rug, waiting
    for a call from the foreign minister.
    “Get me some water,” Kael ordered.
    Conran glanced at him briefly before obeying. He went to his desk and pressed
    the intercom. “Bring some bottled water in please.”
    A few minutes later Conran‟s stout, middle-aged secretary walked in with
    several plastic bottles of water, which she placed on the desk. Kael strode over and
    took one, smiling his thanks at her. “Mr. Conran, the foreign minister will phone
    you in about five minutes. He asks that you be ready to take his call. He is very
    busy.”
    Conran went at once to his desk and sat down. Kael went back to the window
    and stood looking out, drinking water from the bottle. When the phone rang, he
    walked over to stand beside Conran. After a brief conversation, Conran looked up at
    him.
    “The Bosnians have got him, the group Andresen was selling guns and rockets
    to. A man called Beganovic is in charge. The three in the gay pub, Roughnecks, were
    part of the same group. I know it was you who killed them, and now I know why.
    They were after the boy then, weren‟t they?”
    “Yes.” Kael felt extremely calm. His heart rate did not change, nor his pulse.
    When he was frightened, he went into a state similar to suspended animation.
    Right now he was terrified. “Where is he? Where have they taken him?”
    Visibly relieved that Kael had calmed down, Conran sat back in his desk chair
    and crossed his legs. “They are located in a remote farming area in the hill country,
    in the northwest of Bosnia. They are either there or on their way there. They appear
    to have access to a small plane, so they may well be there by now.”
    “What do they want Angel for?” But he already knew.
    “They have already attempted to ransom him. They must have been planning
    to take him for days because as soon as they snatched him, someone began making
    phone calls.”
    Kael sank down into the leather chair in front of Conran‟s desk. Now that he
    knew what was happening, he felt tranquil. He would get Angel back or die trying.
    “How the hell did they