The Frenchman's Revenge (34 page)

Bai
waited until she looked back at him
and
locked
in
on her gaze.

“
I will also tell you that Aldo Ma
rcello will die a painful death
.
Soon.
His death
,
as hideous as it will be
,
cannot take away what you have suffered or the evil he has done to
you and
others. It
is the most we can do now.
”

T
ears
spilled down her cheeks
.
Bai
ached
,
seeing the pain on her face. It was as though
she had shed a
thick
layer of skin
. She was
like an injured snake capable
only
of roughing off
lone
chunks
of skin
at a time
. J
ust
the flash of hope in her eyes when she looked at Bai hinted at the rainbow coloration possible beneath
.
Instead of
the
hard,
scornful
woman who had walked
in
the room
, she looked like what she was – a young girl who had been terribly wounded
.
Bai
wanted
her
to know
that
for the first time
,
she didn’t have to face the world alone.
He chose his words carefully.

“One
final thing
, Jeng Ming. W
yatt
,
Nianzu
,
and I and every man who rides with us – and
we
are a world wide force – will protect you as long as you live.
No one will hurt you again.
That
is my
sacred
pledge to you.
”

Wyatt shared a
glance with Lei
and Elena,
neither
of whom
were trying to hide the
tears flowing down their cheeks
.
He looked down at the tiny young woman next
to him
. He
reached out and w
rapped his strong arms around her
. When she
tried to push him away
,
he
pulled
her close to him
and held her
as her sobs wracked her small body.

Wyatt
’s
usual twinkle
was gone
. H
is voice was gruff.

“Honey, I want you to know that Bai isn’t exaggerating.
O
ur men are in every country on earth. We are Chinese, every variety of white man and a couple of fierce Indian tribes thrown in for good measure.
Every one of us will protect you
with our lives--
the way we do Lei and Elena.
And
each
of us will do our damndest to convince you that those evil assholes you have lived with are an aberration
. I
hope to hell you will give the rest of the male gender a chance to prove we are worthy of you.”

Jeng Ming stood quietly for a moment
,
then pulled away from him.
She didn’t try to wipe away the tears on her face
. T
he pain and anguish w
ere
gone
, but
once again
were
masked by
a protective layer of dis
d
ain.
She squared her
slender
shoulders and bowed to Bai and nodded to the others. Without
speaking,
she turned and walked out of the room, her head held high.

~~~

Later that evening
,
Carlos drew up to his full height
. T
aking a deep breath,
he
knocked
on the door to Aldo’s private quarters.
He was greeted with
a torrent of Aldo’s prime invective.

“Goddamn you
,
Carlos,
you fucking son of a bitch. W
hat the hell do you want and it goddamn well better be good.
You know better than to interrupt me when I’m breaking in a cunt!”

Carlos stared at the
furious
little man in front of him
,
then looked away in disgust.
Aldo
’s trousers were hovering at his ankles and
his
shriveled up prick was sticky with
dark residue.
Carlos
averted
his eyes and tried to ignore the
moans of the
young girl lying on the floor
,
a pool of blood between her
thighs.
O
ne of
the tools
Aldo used to prepare his virgins for his assault
s
was
lying beside her
.
Like the young girl and the ugly little man who had used it on her,
the iron rod
w
as covered with blood and feces
.

Carlos’s voice was grave.

“Aldo, you need to call back our men, the ones we’ve sic
c
ed on
t
he Frenchman.”

“What the fuck are you talking
about? You stupid piece of horse shit, you…”

He stopped in
midsentence
when Carlos handed him a large
folder
.

Aldo’s
face was dark with
fury
.
He ripped open the
folder
and dumped a stack of photographs on the table.
His face turned
a ghastly shade of
white when he saw what they were. One by one
,
he laid them out on the table and looked in horror at close up pictures of his daughters and his four grandchildren. The pictures
showed
them
laughing,
playing or talking to one another
,
all clearly
unconcerned about
the photographer taking their pictures.
Aldo realized with a sickening jolt, the photographer was someone close to them
,
so familiar he wouldn’t have caused alarm.
On each picture
,
an address
was
written in the margin showing the location of the subjects.

Trembling with rage, Aldo knew he had at least four informants, traitors in his midst close to his virgin daughters and
his
holy
grand
children.
When he thought about the danger they faced
,
he was overcome by fear, an emotion he didn’t recognize
,
it had been so long since he felt it

Aldo’s hands were shaking
and it took him a moment to open the
folded note. Spreading it on the table he read:

“I look forward to making
each of
their acquaintance
s
.

At the time and place of my choosing.

The Frenchman
.”

Chapter 1
5

The next morning
,
the complex was a flurry of activity preparing fo
r
the
wedding the nex
t
day.
The excitement was palpable from one end of the complex to the other.
A cacophony of voices rang out across the
v
illa
,
everyone eager to do their part to make the celebration as festive and glorious as possible.

The wedding
would be
in the main
garden
bordering a small pool.
The pool was an
engineering masterpiece.
Looking for all the world as though it had been there
since Eden
, the Chinese gardeners had created a
seven layered
spring fed pool filled with exotic fish,
lush
vegetation
and an elaborate
rock waterfall
. A
discreet system of
lights showcased
the
unique
plants and water life.

Workmen had strung hundreds of Chinese lanterns and
positioned
candles throughout the garden
s
and surrounding patios.
The gardeners had been working for months to ensure that the flowers in the main gardens were varieties that would bloom at the time of the wedding
and all of the plants flowered as expected.
The result was a riot of colors and exotic scents that ravished the senses of all who passed by. Rare
,
colorful birds imported from China and the East Indies
hovered in
exotic
trees
and bushes
, an open
aviary for the precious birds and insects that graced their branches.

Bai and Elena were determined that their wedding would be a
private
affair—the only invitees
were
individuals who lived at the complex.
Given that there were over a hundred servants and workers
,
as well as a hundred or so Sing Leon members
present at the compound at any one time, the “guest” list included several hundred people
,
and that was before the influx of the young Chinese prostitutes.

Given the
growing numbers
,
Bai and Elena
decided t
o say their vows
before three traditional altars
under a leafy arched bower to the side of the pool in
the presence
of their immediate family
,
which included Wan, Wyatt, Lei, Elena’s brothers, Nianzu
,
and Quitin.
The rest of the celebration
,
which was sure to be
spectacular,
would
include all 200
-
300
‘
residents
.
’
”

Rather than being problematic
,
the addition of the young Chinese girls added a
prescient clarity
to the celebration.
While Bai and Elena would be celebrating their love an
d the
beginning of their married life together, the presence of the girls
was a stark reminder of
what their life together was likely to be.
I
t underscored the danger that would always be present in the life of
t
he Frenchman and his bride.
In a perverse way
,
it also
highlighte
d the hideousness and depravity of the world around them.
But the overriding message of the young girls w
as
the power
Bai and Elena
had to use their formidable resources to light
the
darkness.
It was an inspiring message and a challenge to the bride and groom of their obligations
and opportunities
.

In a practical sense
,
the presence of the girls turned months of detailed minute by minute planning upside down and every one from the
cooks,
servants
,
and
healers to the workmen
and
guards were scrambling
to fulfill the new requirements.
But the challenge was a welcome one
,
and to a person
,
the household pulled together to make this celebration one that no one
,
particularly the young girls
,
had ever seen or were likely to see again.

That morning
,
cartloads
of boxes from every dressmaker in the city of San Francisco
began arriving
at the
v
illa. Elena and
L
ei had spent hours the day before contacting
clothing
store
s
and
dressmakers
,
ordering clothes for the girls.
With the help of
Jeng
Ming and multilingual
servants
,
Elena
c
reate
d
a chart indicat
ing the age and measurements
of each of the girls.
She insisted that
each
girl was to have three sets of
underwear
, a nightgown, two “practical” dresses
, pants and a blouse
,
and
,
of course
,
a spectacular
dress
for
the wedding.
Naturally
,
ribbons, appropriate jewelry
,
and other
accessories
were also on the list.