Peccadillo - A Katla Novel (Amsterdam Assassin Series Book 2) (42 page)

“And he told me you had to keep absolute rest.” He accepted a cup with warm saké. “How do you feel?”

“Mangled, but mending.” Katla drank her cup of saké. “And you?”

“I thought I’d feel different.”

“Different?”

“I’ve taken a life, but I feel no remorse.”

“No reason why you should. Lau was a murderous asshole.”

“I know. But I don’t know if I should’ve enjoyed killing him as much as I did.” Bram rolled the empty cup between his palms. “I could smell his fear and it excited me.”

“He might’ve been afraid facing you in the dark, but he entered with the intention to kill.”

“That’s not the point. I know it was a righteous kill.”

“Maybe the righteousness gave you a sense of enjoyment. I know you didn’t like being on the sidelines, so killing him also must’ve given you a sense of satisfaction, of accomplishment.”

“You think so?” He rubbed his nose. “Or did I just enjoy satisfying the violence in my nature?”

“Why should it be ‘either/or’? Can’t it be ‘and/and’? Slaying someone intent on killing you and your loved ones can be both righteous and enjoyable.”

“Is that how you view your work?”

“I don’t need justification for my actions beyond financial gain or my own personal safety.” Katla rose from the bench. “I don’t care about righteousness. But then, my conscience isn’t as well-developed as yours.”

From inside Bram’s kimono a jazz tune started playing.

“Probably Zeph, to ask if I’m still able to play the Underwater gig.” Bram fished out his cell phone. “Ja?”

Katla leant back against the wall and looked out over the Zen garden.

“No,” Bram said. “That fucker you allowed to escape threw a knife in my shoulder.”

Katla sat back down on the bench. “Is that Chang?”

Bram motioned for her to be silent while he spoke in the phone. “No, I killed him.”

“…”

Bram laughed. “Because he dressed in a chadri? Loki would never step into your killing jar.”

“…”

“Well, the client was pretty underwhelmed with your sniping skills. Apparently some guys got pretty close to killing her.”

“…”

“Did you clean up the killing jar?”

“…”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Bram said. “Have a good trip back to Hong Kong.”

He broke the connection. “Chang thought the client was Loki.”

“I heard. You sowed enough doubt?”

“Probably,” Bram said. “Like I said before, he’s not that sophisticated.”

“You really don’t like him, do you?”

“I can tolerate shallow people, but their single-minded materialism gets on my nerves after a while.”

Katla patted his shoulder. “I’m sure you can shoulder the burden.”

“Anyway, he used an Irish crew to clean up the office and set a small fire to hide the damage from the shooting, so you don’t have to worry about the 14K. And he told me Loki could always call him if he needed a sniper.”
 

“That’s good to know, although I don’t think I’ll take him up on his offer very soon…”

“That’s what I figured. That’s why I told him not to hold his breath.” He rested his hand on top of hers. “Can I ask you something about Anouk?”

“What about her?”

“Did you have sex with her?”

“You don’t need to beat around the bush, Bram. Just say what’s on your mind.”

“I know she fancies you.”

“So? Do you sleep with anyone who fancies you?”

Bram shrugged. “You mentioned being attracted to her.”

“I remember saying that she was attractive, that’s not the same thing.”

He tilted his head. “Did you?”

“Sleep with her?” Katla paused, studying his face. “Not yet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I might be tempted if you start disregarding your duties in that aspect,” Katla said. “I have needs, you know.”

“You’re just teasing her, aren’t you?”

“Maybe I’m teasing you. I do think you were pretty harsh, dumping her because she slept with another woman.”

“That’s not why I broke off our relationship,” Bram said. “She didn’t tell me, because she thought I wouldn’t find out.”

“Maybe she was afraid of your reaction.”

“Anouk should’ve known better. I’m not the jealous type.”

“Have you ever been tempted to take her back? She still wants you to, you know.”

“I changed,” Bram said. “More than she’d appreciate.”

A bell chimed in the distance.

Time for lunch.

Katla rose from the bench. Bram floated to his feet without using his hands and turned to face her. “I love you,” he said. “And our relationship doesn’t have to be exclusive, if that’s what you want. Just don’t break her heart.”

“Like you broke her back?”

His face became a mask.

“Relax.” Katla put her hand on his arm. “You didn’t know that was going to happen.”

Shame and guilt flashed across his face. “It was an accident. I shoved her away, and—”

“I know, Bram. You couldn’t know she’d slip and hurt her back.” She kissed his mouth. “You have to let go of your guilt.”

She opened the door and stepped inside. Bram didn’t move. She held the door for him and said, “Are you coming?”

The blind man shook himself like a dog coming in from the rain, and followed her inside.

Thank you for reading the Amsterdam Assassin Series.
 

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Martyn V. Halm

For reasons of authenticity, many non-English locales, phrases, and names in the Amsterdam Assassin Series are written in their original language. Instead of breaking the words down into Dutch/Japanese/German/Arabic/Jamaican, I merely list these words alphabetically, adding explanations where warranted. If you spot other words that require translation or elaboration, please send an email to
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so I can include them in this glossary. For the full list that contains all the foreign words used in the entire series, check the blog.

Alstublieft
(Dutch) - shortened form of ‘Als het u belieft’ meaning, ‘If it pleases you’. Most often used as ‘please’. Informal, asjeblieft. Abbreviated, mostly on signs, AUB.

BKA
- (German) The Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office) is a national investigative police agency in Germany and falls directly under the Federal Ministry of the Interior. As law enforcement in Germany is vested in the states, the BKA only becomes involved in cases of international organised crime or when requested by the respective federal state authorities or the federal minister of the interior. The federal prosecutor can also direct it to investigate cases of special public interest.

Chotto matte kudasai
– (Japanese) Please wait a second, also used as ‘hold the line for a moment’.

Dank u wel
- (Dutch) thank you very much. Often dankuwel, thankyouverymuch.

DEA
- (US) Abbreviation of Drug Enforcement Administration, a federal body mostly specializing in the enforcement of drug laws and persecuting drug crime.
 

Diu
! - (Cantonese) Vulgar expression of dissatisfaction or shock.

Diu nei
! - (Cantonese) More vulgar expression of dissatisfaction or shock

Diu nei lou mou
! - (Cantonese) Incredibly vulgar expression of dissatisfaction or shock.

Eikel
(Dutch slang) - Jerk. Literal translation ‘glans’, the tip of the penis that is shaped like an acorn, which is also called ‘eikel’ in Dutch.

Engelbewaarder
(Dutch) - Guardian angel. Name of a jazz cafe on the Kloveniersburgwal.

Gau!
- (Cantonese) Vulgar expression of disappointment.

Graag gedaan
- (Dutch) literal ‘Happy to have done it’, similar to ‘You’re welcome’.

Gracht
- (Dutch) originally a gracht is the moat around a castle or city, but it’s mostly translated as canal, which can cause confusion as Dutch also has the word ‘kanaal’ which means a (man-made) waterway that’s mainly straight as a ruler. Other waterways are ‘sloot’, a shallow waterway often used to separate meadows from the road and each other, ‘poel’, a natural pool, ‘meer’, a lake, and ‘rivier’, river. Grachten are flanked by ‘kades’ or quays, which are named after the waterway. So riding along the Prinsengracht would consist of riding down the quay flanking the Prince’s Canal. As the quays flanking the grachten are narrow, they’re mostly one-way, with the inner ring heading east to west, and the outer ring west to east. If you need to be at a certain address in the middle of a block, you might have to drive past it on the inner ring, cross the canal by the first bridge and drive back along the other quay to reach your destination. In some cases, the gracht has been filled to make a road, which process is called ‘dempen’, so a ‘gedempte gracht’ is a former canal, now filled up. A ‘burgwal’ is a moat that used to be part of the defense works of Amsterdam. The most famous ‘burgwallen’ are those of the Red Light District: Oudezijds Voorburgwal (Old Side Front Defense Quay), Oudezijds Achterburgwal (Old Side Rear Defense Quay), and the Kloveniersburgwal, which is pretty much untranslatable (the ‘kloveniers’ were part of the ‘schutterij’ (militia), who used a rifle called a ‘klovenier’).

(Dienst)
IPOL
- (Dutch) A division within the Korps Landelijke Politie Diensten (KLPD) concerned with gathering information for law enforcement purposes, anti-terrorism coordination and liaising with foreign law enforcement. Similar to MI-5 or Homeland Security’s ICE division.

Kanji
– (Japanese) Japanese script, drawn with brush strokes. Katakana are symbols used to transcribe foreign sounds/names, for instance ma-ru-te-y-n for Martyn. Hiragana and Hentaigana are more intricate and used for Japanese sounds, names and concepts.

Katagi
- (Japanese) Useful person, contributing to society. See ‘
Yakuza
’.

Katana
- (Japanese) curved Japanese sword.
 

Kimono
- (Japanese) Kimono (literary ‘thing to wear’) are T-shaped, straight-lined robes worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. Kimono are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right (except when dressing the dead for burial), and secured by a sash called an obi, which is tied at the back. Kimono are generally worn with traditional footwear (zori or geta) and split-toe socks called tabi.

Mou lei tau
- (Cantonese) makes no sense, non-sensical, crap.

Nani?
- (Japanese) Informal phrase meaning ‘What?’. Although it sounds rude, it’s the most common phrase people say when answering the phone or intercom, but also to express confusion ‘I beg your pardon?’.
 

Ohayo
- (Japanese) Informal phrase meaning ‘hey’ or ‘hello’.

Oshibori
- (Japanese) a hot damp rolled-up towel to clean your hands and face prior to a meal.

Oyabun
- (Japanese) Literally, ‘Father’, the Oyabun is the head of a Yakuza family, similar to a Mafia Don.

Peccadillo
- (Latin) a minor sin or character flaw.

Quintain
- (archaic) Medieval jousting training equipment, consisting of a revolving cross figure on a stick, with a shield on one arm of the crosspiece and a bag of sand swinging from the other. The goal was to strike the shield accurately to avoid being hit by the heavy bag of sand when the quintain would revolve around the stick.

Shiatsu
- (Japanese) Acupressure massage. A form of massage therapy where points on the body are pressed with the thumbs, fingers and elbows. In Japan many blind people become shiatsu therapists because touch is much more important than vision in the practice.

Steeg
- (Dutch) an alley, often quite narrow. Other roads are ‘snelweg’, motorway or highway, ‘weg’, roads intended for vehicles, ‘straat’, streets intended for traffic to the houses flanking it, ‘dwarsstraat’ is a sidestreet often perpendicular on the main street, and ‘laan’ or lane, which are mostly straight and flanked by trees. Steeg, while already narrow, has a diminishing version, ‘steegje’, meaning small alley. Stegen and steegjes are found most often in the old city quarters built for pedestrian traffic.