Vendetta (9 page)

Myra did her best to stay out of everyone’s way. Truckers doffed their caps to her, waved, grinned, asked how it was going, to which she responded the way she thought Kathryn would. “Things are great, nice seeing you, what’s up’, that kind of thing. She high-tailed it to the side as a rig pulled in, did a quick turn and backed up next to Kathryn’s rig. She sniffed the heady scent of the balsam, a smell she loved. She watched for a few minutes as men started loading the trees into the back of the truck. She’d wondered how it was possible to load twenty thousand trees into one huge truck, but now she saw. Twenty trees to a bundle that were wrapped in some kind of wire mesh. Each bundle was tagged with a destination. Big trees were loaded first, then the rest were loaded according to size, right down to the smallest three-footers.

Myra walked around to the side to make sure she was out of the way. She could hear the men barking orders and clearly heard the conversation of the two men assigned to load Kathryn’s truck. They were laughing and joking. With nothing else to do, she listened, her eyes popping at what she was hearing. Someone named Duke appeared, his voice a low growl.

“C’mon, c’mon, move it. She’s no dummy. You want her climbing up here checking those bundles? C’mon, we got a sweet thing going, eighteen hundred bucks split three ways is Christmas money for the kids. No one is going to miss two trees to a bundle. You need to work faster.”

Myra tried to do the math in her head. Four hundred trees. They were stealing four hundred trees from Kathryn. Trees that sold from seventy-five dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars. Would Kathryn have to pay back the money? Would they call her a thief? Every business would be short-changed two trees to a bundle. If Kathryn was signing off on twenty thousand trees, she would be held responsible. Myra ran as fast as her legs would carry her, dodging truckers and rigs, until she found Kathryn. She yanked at her arm and dragged her to the side. Breathless, she blurted what she’d heard.

Kathryn dropped her clipboard to the ground and ran to her truck. A moment later Murphy was at her side and she was carrying a shotgun that she fired in the air. The depot turned silent when Kathryn clicked back the hammer for another shot.

“Don’t forget those four hundred trees you’re planning on keeping for yourselves! Load them in there now and get the hell away from this truck!”

It took a solid hour to clear it all up, with Kathryn and Myra inside the truck counting trees as other truckers helped load. The police arrived and carted off the three men with apologies from the managers of the depot.

Thirty minutes later, every truck in the depot sounded its horn as Kathryn headed out. She gave her own horn two sharp blasts in return. “Myra, you just earned that shirt you’re wearing. It’s yours forever and ever.”

“And I’ll treasure it forever and ever.”

Myra soon dozed for a while but woke when the cellphone in her hand buzzed. “Should I answer it or do you want to answer it?”

“This is a tricky road with a lot of hairpin turns, so I need to pay attention to what I’m doing. You answer it, Myra.”

Myra’s voice was neutral. “Hello?”

“Myra, is that you? This is Isabelle. I’m trying to reach Kathryn.”

“She’s right here in the truck with me, dear. Or maybe I’m right here with her. We’re together,” Myra said firmly. “We’ve been trying to reach you. Are you at the farm?”

“No, Myra, I’m home. Someone broke into my car and stole everything, even the cellphone Charles gave me. I had it programmed with everyone’s number. Whoever broke into my car damaged the transmission. I don’t have the money to fix it. I can’t rent a car because I don’t have credit cards. I’m stuck here. I haven’t been able to get to the farm. I have been calling every sequence of numbers I could in the hope of reaching Kathryn. If your next question is have I heard from Charles, the answer is no. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t called and whoever stole the cellphone answered it. Have you heard from him?”

“No, dear.”

“Tell me what to do, Myra. I am so sorry. I feel like I let you all down.”

“No, no, dear. No recriminations. I think you were set up. And the reason you were set up is because someone is watching all of us. They, whoever they are, know there is no one at Pinewood. This is what I want you to do. I’ll call the limousine service Charles and I use and have them pick you up at your apartment. I want you to go to Pinewood and stay there. First, though, call the kennel people and have them bring the dogs back during the day. I want them there around the clock. Can you handle that, Isabelle?”

“Yes, Myra. I must be stupid. I thought it was just a random car-theft thing. They took everything, even my clothes. I’ll call the kennel right now. When do you think you’ll be home?”

“When you see me, Isabelle. I have a job to do. Bye, dear.”

“What? What did she say? Tell me everything,” Kathryn said.

Myra related the whole conversation, then said, “Pinewood is unattended at the moment. That worries me, Kathryn.”

“It worries me, too,” Kathryn agreed.

The caravan of luxury cars sped through the dark night toward Li’s home. At some point during the evening, Li, with Charles’s approval, had invited other guests to join him for an overnight stay in honor of his American guests. John Chai’s father had declined the invitation, saying he had early-morning meetings scheduled, but his son John would be honored to attend. As it turned out, John drove himself there, with the other guests following in limousines and luxury cars.

Jay’s passengers were tense and jittery.

“It’s showtime, girls,” Alexis kept saying. Every time she said it, Nikki’s stomach heaved.

Charles opened one of the side compartments in the door to take out a pencil and paper. He scribbled furiously.
I can’t reach Myra
.
No one is answering the phone at the farm
.
Isabelle isn’t picking up either and for some reason my calls to Kathryn’s cell get disconnected
.
I’m worried
.

Nikki reached for the pencil and paper.
Minor problem
.
They’re big girls
.
We need to worry about the passenger in the car behind us
.
What made you decide to invite other people? How can we carry out our plans with so many people around?

Charles replied immediately.
They’re elderly and will retire early
.
It was Li’s idea
.
He is our host
.
Trust us
.

The girls settled back in their seats, each busy with her own thoughts.

The silence was unnerving. Twice Charles rolled down the window, held his cellphone out and tried to call Myra. The call did go through but he clicked off when the answering machine came on again. The girls heard him muttering under his breath as the window rolled up, at which point he started to converse with Li in fluent Chinese.

The women bounced all over each other when the car finally came to a stop.

“Ladies! Ladies! A little decorum, please,” Charles said quietly. “Li said drinks and sweet rice cakes will be served in his entertainment room. He has a new martial arts movie that will be shown if anyone is interested. For you young people, as Li so charmingly said, there is an American jukebox — a real Wurlitzer — and a fully stocked bar. The La Ling sisters will retire when their parents do, so that won’t pose a problem. Mr. Quon Zheyuan, a friend of John Chai’s, will probably pass out shortly as he has already had far too much to drink. The man smokes a great deal of opium and anything he says is usually discounted. Wing Wu will be your only problem. He is a quasi-friend of John Chai. I’m sure you can entertain him when the time comes.”

“Oh, it’s raining,” Alexis mumbled as she got out of the car and ran toward the house, Nikki and Yoko right behind her.

Inside the house, the women stepped aside to allow Li and his guests to precede them to the family area. A lot of bowing went on before the young people split off to be led to the entertainment room, where a small buffet table had been set up with classic American food and American beer in silver buckets full of ice.

Nikki tried to work some excitement into her voice. “Hey, guys, give us a few minutes to change out of these gowns. It’s kind of hard to dance with so much material to drag around. In the meantime, help yourselves to the beer and food. Put on some lively music and we’ll be back before you know it.”

“I’ll count the minutes,” Chai said. Nikki wished she could wipe the smirk off his face with one good right hook. Instead, she smiled and winked. Wing Wu leered at her and said something to Chai that sounded suggestively dirty.

Yoko walked over to the pockmarked La Ling sisters and in Chinese invited both young women to join them. They declined and sat demurely, their hands folded in their laps. “They’re no fun,” Yoko said to Nikki and Alexis.

The three women raced down the long hall to their rooms where they changed into brightly colored spandex mini skirts with fishnet stockings and spike-heeled shoes. They chose sleazy-looking tops that showed off a generous portion of their bellies and a lot of cleavage.

Nikki looked at herself in the mirror. “Oh my God, I feel like a slut!”

“You look like one, too,” Alexis laughed.

“Who is carrying the drugs?” Yoko asked.

“You are, darling,” Alexis said as she held out six small white pills. “All you have to do is drop these in their beer bottles and within seconds they’ll all be loose as a goose. We’ll be dancing with each other because they won’t be able to stand up. When I tug on my ear, you do the deed. Our beer bottles are filled with apple juice and we’re drinking Beck’s. The boys are drinking Chinese beer. The La Ling sisters are probably guzzling hot tea, but who knows?”

“OK, girls, let’s do it! We bound into the room like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders when they hit the field at half-time. Show lots of teeth. Gyrate for all you’re worth and, if you can, whisper dirty little ditties in their ears,” Nikki said as she tugged on the spandex skirt.

Yoko opened the door, took a deep breath and raced down the hall. She threw open the door and made a grand entrance by somersaulting to the middle of the floor and then doing a neat split. Nikki’s jaw dropped as she ran over to John Chai, reached down for his tie and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s see your moves, Chinese boy!” she said as she rocketed to the middle of the dance floor. She was like a wild woman and all Chai could do was stare as he tried to get his feet to work.

The La Ling sisters tittered behind their hands. Alexis literally dragged Wing Wu to the dance floor. He was no match for the athletic longlegged beauty, but he did try. The La Ling sisters continued to titter.

Yoko looked down at Quon and flashed a smile. She bent low, looked into his vacant eyes, and whispered in his ear. “I’m a virgin! You wanna dance?”

Quon tried his best to focus on Yoko. He grinned as Yoko yanked him to his feet and literally dragged him out to the middle of the floor where Nikki and Alexis were whooping and hollering at the men who tried to keep up with them.

Wing Wu and Chai were sweating profusely — so profusely that their shirt fronts were drenched with sweat. Both men were staggering back toward their seats when the next record dropped on the turnstile.

“No, no! We came to dance! Take off your shirts. You take off yours and I’ll take off mine! Woooooo, let’s do it!” Alexis said, tugging on her ear, at which point Yoko gave Quon a stiff push. He folded like a wet noodle and slid across the polished dance floor to land near the La Ling sisters’ feet. They tittered loudly and pretended not to notice the wild shenanigans around them. They were saved from further embarrassment when a servant came to escort them to their quarters. They shook their heads and spoke in hushed tones. The servant left quietly, leaving the sisters there.

The music ended. Gasping for breath, the couples headed for the table. Yoko was there in an instant, handing out bottles of beer. “Chug a lug!” she giggled.

Chai upended his bottle and was the first one done. He held it up triumphantly. Wu was a close second.

“And the winner is…John!” Nikki screamed as
Jambalaya
started playing on the Wurlitzer. “C’mon, let’s dance!”

“I need to sit this one out,” Chai mumbled.

“Chinese boy, you are disappointing me,” Nikki said. She looked over at Wu and made a face. “What kind of party boys are you guys, anyway? C’mon, girls, let’s dance by ourselves.”

On the dance floor, Nikki shouted to Yoko so she could be heard over the music. “Go over to the sisters and ask them what’s wrong with the boys. Sound disgusted. Play it up, Yoko. Shit, they’re asleep. Keep dancing, Alexis, pretend you don’t notice. Keep dancing. Five bucks says both of them will slide off those chairs within three minutes.”

“That’s a sucker bet,” Alexis said as she twirled and whirled. “I’m too old for this, I’m getting tired.”

“Tell me about it. My heart feels like it’s going to jump right out of my chest. Oops, there goes Wu Wing!”

“Wing Wu.”

“Whatever. There goes Johnny. Oh, God, my hips and thighs are never going to be the same again.”

Heaving and gasping, Alexis and Nikki made their way over to the La Ling sisters and Yoko. They bowed slightly to the sisters. “Yoko, ask the girls if we can get them some food. Tell them how disappointed we are in their friends. Do they speak any English?”

“They say no English. I am not so sure. They are not hungry but thank you for the offer. They wish me to tell you they adore your outfits and want to know where you got them. They want to know where you learned to dance like that.”

“JC Penney for the clothes, Arthur Murray for the dancing.” Alexis smiled. “What’s with the guys?”

Yoko shrugged. “They say they are not so nice. They think it’s funny that they fell asleep with three beautiful women like us wanting to dance with them. They have scurrilous reputations,” Yoko translated.

The servant was back to escort the La Ling sisters to their quarters. “You come now. Father says now!” the servant said. Yoko translated again for the girls.