The Frenchman's Revenge (22 page)

T
he
staff members
looked
up f
rom
their work with mild inter
est at the troupe of outsiders
who were
staring
wide-eyed
at the activity in
the busy center.

Nianzu nodded to the
staff
,
then
pointed to
several large
suite
s
on one side of the c
enter
and said to the guests, “This is Wan Chang’s private suite and this is Governor McManus’s.
Wyatt and Bai have a number of projects in common and Wyatt has found it convenient to have rooms for his personal staff
here at the complex
.
Bai and Wan also have offices at Wyatt’s Wyoming ranch.
Bai’s office is straight ahead
,
but we will meet
in the conference
room in
the back of the center
. Please follow me.”

He ushered the group to a large room with
walls of windows on three sides.
Each wall had French doors that
op
ened to the surrounding gardens
.
The sounds of birds chirping and the smell of flowers and
fresh turned earth wafted
through
the wide open windows
,
creating
the sense of meeting in the
heart of
an exotic
botanical garden.
A
sixteen
foot mahogany table
anchored
the center of the room.
For the convenience of the guests, h
umidors and trays of cigar and cigarette
accessories
were
stationed every three feet
along the table top
.
A service
buffet with urns of coffee and tea
,
along with platters of delicacies
,
took up most of the space on the entrance wall.
Three Chinese servants stood discreetly to the side of the buffet and waited until the dignitaries had been seated
around the massive table
,
then offered them refreshments.

~~~

Bai stopped for a moment to answer a question from one of his associates
in the business center
. He
indicated
to
Wyatt, Wan
,
and Alex
to
go
ahead
to the conference room.
He smiled to himself
,
knowing that the
interruption
allowed him to enter
the meeting
after everyone
was
seated, underscoring
that
he
controlled
the
agenda
.

He
chose
not to put a jacket or waistcoat over his silver and dark grey striped silk shirt.
T
h
e
open collared shirt and fitted black trousers
co
nvey
ed
the impression that
this w
as a casual meeting
--
one of many that he would convene today.

His guests started to rise when he entered
,
but he put up his hand
to stop them.

“
No
n
,
non
,
please be seated. I trust you all have something to drink and
I
urge you to try some of Wenco
Ming’s
pastries. She begins baking at three
o’clock
each morning and by
nine
o’clock we are lucky if there are any left.”

He walked around the table and shook hands with each of the guests
,
then moved to the head of the table and sat down.
Taking a cigar
from the humidor in front of him
,
he
pointed to the
humidors
spaced a
long
the
table
.

“I prefer Bolivian cigars, but there are Cuban and Columbian cigars
,
as well
,
in the humidors. Please help yourselves.”

He assumed a casual
,
pleasant demeanor and looked around the table with a slight smile.

“You all know my father,
the honorable
Wan Chang
,
and my soon to be father
-
in
-
law, Governor McManus
. O
f course
,
you know
Nianzu
,
my lieutenant.
For those of you who have not met him, Alex McManus
,
is
my fiancée’s twin brother and in two days will be my brother
-
in
-
law.
Alex arrived from China yesterday in time for the wedding.”

“Alex, I don’t know if you had the opportunity for introductions, but allow me. Greg Forester, the governor’s chief of staff is to your right
. N
ext to Greg is Mayor Alono’s chief, Tom Creighton.
I believe you
know Lt
. Governor Martin Quince
. T
hose two formidable looking lawmen at the end of the table are U.S. Marshal Peter York
and our
good friend
,
Sheriff Jim Thompson.
”

He nodded to
each of the
guests
as he introduced them and then
singled out the U
.
S
.
Marshal
.

“It’s damn good to see you
,
Peter.
I haven’t seen you since
that Department of Justice event in Washington last fall. I’m sorry you didn’t make it to our party last night
.
I’m pleased you can join us today.”

Before anyone else spoke, Bai leaned bac
k in his chair
and allowed a
wry
smile to cross his lips. He nodded to the
s
heriff
.
“And, now, Jim,
please don’t keep us in suspense. T
o what do we owe this
honor
?”

The sheriff didn’t try to hide his discomfort.
His ruddy face was more flushed than usual and he had a pained look on his face.

“Goddamnit, Bai, you know I hate like hell to be here
. But, damnit,
I didn’t have a choice
.”

Bai nodded, as if in sympathy
for the sheriff’s plight
. Before
t
he
sheriff
could continue, Greg Forester
interrupted
in
his
pompous
,
supercilious
manner.

“Bai, I’m here on behalf of the governor
, his emissary, and
,
of course
,
as your friend.
The governor
wanted you to know of his concern
. Asked me to
see if we can help in any way.”

Bai looked at the man who had been the most ardent of Elena’s many suitors and
Bai’s
least favorite
. H
e
couldn’t
resist a
jab.

“Always a pleasure to see you,
Greg.
Sorry Elena can’t join us. She has a few things to do in the next two days
,
preparing
for our
wedding.
However, we should let Jim
proceed
so I will have some idea of the nature of the governor’s concern.”

With a dismissive nod at Greg, Bai said, “Please continue, Jim.”

“
Look, Bai, you know we had a hell of a mess in San Francisco
last night
. Madam Torrento’s brothel burned to the ground
. F
ifty prostitutes were kidnapped.”

Bai quirked an eyebrow.
“Hmm, kidnapped? How dramatic.”

The
s
heriff frowned.
“A lot of people saw you and your men in the city last night, Bai. And
,
hell
,
you arrived late
to
your own goddamn engagement party.
I didn’t see you
before I had to leave
and I
was here
until nearly ten
o’clock
.
”

“Ah, yes
,
I was
somewhat tardy
.
I had business to take care of.”

“Bai, this is a fuckin’ big deal.
The city is in shock.”

Bai nodded
in thoughtful agreement
.

“
I would expect so.
I heard about the incident
.
I trust all of
us
were shocked to learn that a supposedly
upstanding establishment like M
adam
Torrento’s
had girls as young as
ten and eleven working as prostitutes
--
a
clear violation of
the
law.
I’m not surprised the city is shocked
.
It is inconceivable that something
as
dastardly
could be going on and nothing was done about it
by any of our law enforcement or political
entities
.”

“Fuck it, Bai.
I’m just gonna come right out and say it. We got fifteen deputies with us
. W
e need to go out on your property and
take a look. I
f there are any Chinese girls here
,
they will need to come with us
.”

“Hmm, w
ould
that
include my sister Lei,
who is
Wan’s daughter
,
Wyatt’s
wife
,
and
Alex’s stepmother?
My servants?
Wenco
Ming, perhaps
,
who made these lovely pastries?”

The s
heriff sh
ook
his head
with a disgruntled sigh
.

“Y
ou know wh
o
I am talking about
,
Bai
.”

“Actually, Jim,
I
’
m sorry
,
I don’t
.
As you know
,
we
will
have a wedding her
e
in two days
. W
e’ve
had to
import
a
dditional
help
. You might indeed see Chinese girls and women on my property
. I should add
, none of whom will be leaving with you or your deputies.”

Lt. G
overnor
Quin
ce
drew himself up to his full five and a half feet
. He
scowled
at Bai
,
as if he
was a
schoolmaster
chastising
a
recalcitrant
child.

“God
damnit, Bai.
You could have burned down the whole
damn
city.
There’s gonna be more than criminal penalties involved in this.
Someone is gonna pay through
his
ass for
Madam
Torrento’
s
loss.
”

Bai
looked
a
t
the fat little man who had always reminded him of a
bloated
toad
. He
didn’t try to hide his
distaste
.