“Of course we can keep her.” Adam looked at his husband. “Freddie?”
Freddie"s furrowed brow showed his concern. “We"ve got two kids already.
They"re such a handful, and you don"t know what she"s seen and been through.
She"ll need help.”
Adam couldn"t take his eyes off Ekaterina. He looked as if he wanted to snatch
her up and hug her. He"d shown himself very insightful and loving with his own
daughters, and Kael knew Adam could give Ekaterina far more than he could, and
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that Adam would give slowly and carefully. “Freddie, it"s temporary. We can"t turn
her away. Poor little mite.”
As if he was waiting only for Adam"s encouragement, Freddie said, “No, of
course we can"t. And we have an extra bedroom.”
It took twenty minutes of tears and gentle persuasion to convince Ekaterina to
relinquish Kael and go with Adam upstairs. Kael promised over and over that he
would come back to see her soon. At last, barely able to stand with exhaustion, he
got back into the car with Angel, and Mattie drove them home.
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Chapter Seventeen
“Daddy, should I get the door?”
“No, you get that crumble on the table because I"m dying to taste it,” Kael said
as he headed down the hall. There was nothing Angel loved more than praise for his
cooking, and Kael knew his boy had a huge grin on his face at that moment. At the
door, he looked at the CCTV.
Conran
. Kael pushed the button that released the
lobby door and stepped outside to watch the lift doors open.
It was Sunday, and Conran was wearing brown corduroy trousers and an
argyle sweater over a denim shirt. He looked like a complete twit, but Kael couldn"t
hold back an odd surge of affection when he saw him. Familiar things and people
meant a lot after captivity, even one as short as eleven days. “It"s been four weeks
since I got back, Stephen. I thought you"d have come over with flowers before now.
Come in.”
“No, you didn"t.” Conran followed him inside. “But you were always rather
vain, so I thought I"d let your face heal before I viewed it. According to Thornton,
someone made a terrible mess of you.”
“Harry fucking Denbigh and a few of his mates made me look like someone
had taken a cricket bat to me, but it was mostly fists and feet.” Kael tapped his
chin. “As you can see, I"m back to my usual perfection.”
“Vain as ever.” Conran gave a little laugh, which Kael had rarely seen, then
added quietly, “I"m very happy that you"re better, Saunders. You look well. How are
the ribs?”
“Everything is good. I didn"t want to, but I ended up going to the hospital for
X-rays and treatment.”
“Yes. I got the report.” All MI6 operatives attended a particular private
hospital since a regular National Health Service hospital would have to report
serious injuries or gunshot wounds to the police.
“And now I"m almost back to my old self. Come into the kitchen.”
Angel was serving two helpings of blackberry and apple crumble with ice
cream, but when he saw Conran, he put down the dishes and hurried toward him.
“Mr. Conran!” Angel threw his arms around Conran"s neck, hugging him tightly.
Slightly pink in the cheeks, Conran hugged him back.
Surprised, Kael watched. “What the hell did you do to make my boy like you so
much?”
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“Daddy, I told you how kind Mr. Conran was when you were missing. I was so
worried about you, and he made me feel so much better.”
Kael had been told the whole story by Mattie of Conran calling her in to search
for him unofficially. “Right. Well, you"d better give him some crumble then, hadn"t
you?”
“I"ve already had dinner,” Conran said as Angel went to the cupboard to fetch
another bowl. The smile on Angel"s face faltered slightly, and Conran amended,
“But I"d love to try it.” Kael poured him some coffee, and they sat around the
kitchen table. Kael could hardly believe it: he and Conran doing something civilized
together.
“Goodness, Saunders, I had no idea you did ordinary things like eating
dessert.”
“You think I"m some kind of robot? A Borg wandering through the universe
assimilating everything in my path. I assure you I eat, sleep, and shit like you do.
And as I found out recently, if „you prick me, do I not bleed?"”
“Oh don"t be so dramatic.” Conran laughed. “Yes, I"ve always seen you as some
sort of superhuman. You did survive for ten days without eating and on only a
cupful of water.”
“Eleven,” Kael corrected. “But yes, you"re right. I"m superhuman.”
“And he was naked lying on a freezing cold concrete floor.” Angel set the
dessert in front of them and sat down.
Kael spooned up a mouthful of crumble. Angel sat unmoving in his chair,
watching, his face intent, expectant. He laid a hand on Conran"s arm as if he needed
support while the judgment came down. Kael knew all eyes were on him, and he
made a great show of visually inspecting the offering before slowly putting it into
his mouth. He paused and began to savor the tartness of the blackberries and the
sweetness of the apples. He sank his teeth into the crunchy crumble topping. With
his eyes closed, he sat back and finished the mouthful.
At last he opened his eyes, looked at Angel, and said, “Superb.”
Angel clapped his hands, his eyes sparkling. Even Conran was laughing at the
spectacle. For several minutes, the only words spoken were
excellent
and
delicious.
“What"s happening with Ekaterina?” Kael asked when they had finished. “I
might have died without that kid. She was so good. I was lying in my own mess at
one point, and she cleaned it up. The older girls wouldn"t come near me, they were
so afraid of the men.”
“That"s the other reason I dropped by, aside from wanting to see how you were
recovering.” Conran put his spoon into his empty bowl. “I found Ekaterina"s name
and photograph on an international list of missing children. She was snatched right
off the street in Moscow three years ago on her way to school. Broad daylight. There
were several witnesses, but no one could do anything. She was dragged into a car
and was gone in seconds. She was targeted because she"s fair and so pretty. Within
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157
weeks she was sold to Dudek and channeled into the sex trade in Europe.” He
sighed. “Sadly her story is not rare.”
“Right off the street? The traffickers are getting bold,” Kael said.
“They are indeed,” Conran agreed. “Her mother and grandmother have been
located and informed. There"s no father in the picture. It seems the mother fell to
her knees, completely overcome, when she was given the news.”
Angel leaned his head on Kael"s shoulder and hugged his arm. “Ekaterina
loves Daddy. We visit her at least three times a week at Freddie"s. She always runs
to him.”
Conran smiled every time he looked at Angel, seeming very fond of him. “I
spoke to Freddie this morning. I"ve arranged for the child to be escorted back to
Russia tomorrow by a woman from children"s services.” He looked at Kael. “After all
you did for her, it would be nice if you could go with her, but there"ll be a good deal
of media attention when she arrives and you can"t be part of it, I"m afraid. You"ll
have to say good-bye to her quietly. But I applaud your persistence in rescuing her.”
“You"re not a bad bloke, are you, Stephen?” Kael said.
“I try to be a good person, you know, to make up for being a snotty little fuck at
school.” Kael laughed out loud and looked at Angel. “And you"re more human than I
ever assumed you were too, Saunders. Risking your life to save a child? Speaking of
which, you killed Dudek. That wasn"t supposed to happen. There are a lot of people
very unhappy about it. They were ready to start the operation, and they wanted
him on trial to make a big public spectacle and garner awareness of the whole
human trafficking situation.”
“Actually that was me. I killed him,” Angel said. He picked up his glass of milk
and took a long drink.
“How did that come about?” Conran asked, shock plain on his face. “You know
the girls phoned the police as soon as you left the house? Dudek died from a precise
cut to the jugular, according to the autopsy.” He looked at Kael. “I assumed that
was you.”
Angel put down his glass. “Mr. Conran, that house was rigged with alarms.
The moment Dudek got me in there, he beat me up to show me who was boss. All
the dudes guarding the place had guns. The only way out was to start killing people.
I killed Dudek because it was the only way to get Daddy and the little girl out of
there alive.”
“With a scalpel in his jugular?” Conran looked at Kael again. “Who taught him
that?”
Kael shrugged. “He"s my boy. I teach him my skills just as I assume you teach
your boys things.”
“Yes, golf and chess. That sort of thing.”
Kael laughed. “We teach our boys what we know. What we"re good at.”
Conran crossed his legs. “Are you still adamant about keeping him out of the
service? Still wanting him to have a respectable job as a diplomat or something?”
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“Daddy, no!” Angel pouted childishly.
Kael kissed the top of Angel"s head, inhaling the fresh, delicate smell of the
boy he loved. “I don"t want him in harm"s way, though he seems unable to avoid it.”
“Angel, how did you feel about killing Dudek?” Conran asked.
“He had it coming. The dude was a piece of shit.”
“But how do you feel now, a few weeks later?”
“I had no regrets about the guys in Bosnia, and I have no regrets about Dudek.
I haven"t lost a moment of sleep, and my appetite is great.”
“That"s my boy.” Kael grinned.
Conran looked at him thoughtfully for half a minute, then stood up decisively.
“I must go. The crumble was delicious. Thank you, Angel.”
“You"re welcome, sir.” Angel smiled.
“Dishes.” Kael pointed at the table and walked Conran to the front door.
In the privacy of the hall, Conran said, “You could be an amazing team. Plato"s
army of lovers and all that.”
“I know,” Kael admitted. “We"ll see how things go. I want him to finish school
first.”
Conran looked down at his feet while he said, “You know, we can provide
psychological counseling. Hostage situations can have long-term effects.”
“I"m fine, mate. This is me you"re talking to, Kael Saunders. Master of all I
survey.” He chuckled.
“What kept you going—psychologically, I mean? At some point you must have
given up hope of getting out of there alive.”
“No.” Kael shook his head. “I"ll tell you exactly what kept me going. Thinking
about my boy kept me going. Angel needs me.”
“And you need him,” Conran said.
”Yes, I do. Thank you for being kind to him and for sending Mattie after me.”
“Angel was not supposed to go. You do know that?”
“I know everything. Angel and Mattie told me the whole story.”
Conran put his hand on Kael"s upper arm in a gesture of gentle affection. “I"m
very glad you"re home and well again.”
“Were you worried about me?” Kael teased.
“Yes,” Conran said quietly. “I was. And by the way, Clement testified and has
left the country. I doubt we will see him again.”
After Conran was gone, Kael sat on the couch waiting for Angel. When the boy
had finished his work in the kitchen, he joined Kael in the living room, his face
breaking into a smile as it always did when his gaze met Kael"s. Despite Angel"s
protests about wanting to look after him, Kael had sent him back to school after a
few days. He had needed time to reflect and sort some things out. While lying on the
floor in the cellar of the house in Paris, he had realized just how vulnerable Angel
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159
was, still so young and with no one else who cared about him. He doubted
Samantha St. Germaine would take care of him if Kael had died. So he had gone to
see a solicitor that Freddie recommended.
“Daddy, I"m turning into such a great cook, don"t you think? Wasn"t that the
best crumble ever?”
“Yes, it was and you certainly are. Come here.”
Angel had the habit of leaping up and landing on both knees on the couch
beside him, just like his habit of leaping into bed. But he had been very solicitous of
Kael since his captivity and got carefully onto the couch beside him. He slid his
arms around Kael"s neck and hugged him tight.
“Daddy, I was thinking about the weekend in Paris you promised me. Can we
go to Rome instead?”
Kael laughed. “Rome it is. I don"t ever want to see Paris again.”
“Me neither. I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too. And when I was trapped in that cellar, all I could think of was