The Frenchman's Revenge (6 page)

The Frenchman nodded
.

“How many men did you leave inside?”

“Quitin said there were t
welve
guards in addition to the men
we
had in the back room with Tony.
Louie identified each of them by name to make sure they were
mob
.
Our men
tied them to the wall
in the main parlor
and sprinkled them with a little gasoline.
We have
three
drums positioned around them.
Those screams you hear are from them. No doubt
,
they have a hell of a good idea of what’s about to happen.”

The Frenchman
flicked his wrist.
“Light it.”

Nianzu signaled the men standing next to the building
. S
ix of them picked up bottles of gasoline with wicks at the top, lit the fuses, and together threw the bottles in the building. Thirty second
s
later
,
there was a huge explosion followed
in rapid succession
by two
more
.
The crowd jumped back
as
flames shot out of windows and
the
crumbling walls of the brothel
. T
he
horr
endous
screams of the men l
ocked
inside
filled the air
.

The Frenchman and Nianzu stood quietly for a moment
,
then turned to watch their men
loading more girls into the carts.

Nianzu
’s voice was
racked with pain
.

“
Jesus
, we’ve got at least
thirty girls at this point
. T
he oldest is fifteen, maybe sixteen.
By the time we get them all in the carts, I know we’ll have forty
to fifty
girls.
”

 
He shook his head
, g
la
ring
at the burning building
.

“Goddamn, I hope those
animals are dying slowly.
Most of th
e
girls
are ten or eleven years old.”

The Frenchman just shook his head and took a drag off his cigarette.

Nianzu said, “We’re
taking any of them who want to come
, even if they
’
re not Chinese
.
Is that ok
ay
?
”

The Frenchman nodded
. He
stood quietly off to the side as Nianzu went to
give directions to the men who we
re
preparing to drive
the carts and
their precious cargo to safety
,
making
way for the fire department
’s
horse drawn steam engines arriving on
the scene
. The Frenchman had arranged for fifty Sing Leon members to help control the crowd and ensure that the fire did not spread beyond the brothel.

The Frenchman
stayed above the fray
. H
is eyes mov
ed
from scene to scene
,
aware of everything that was happening
. N
othing was beyond his notice.
Though
he heard the screams of the burning men
,
he didn’t let on
. R
ather
, he
felt
calm
,
satisfied
that
his work for the night
was
done
.

He took out his cigarette case
with
the
embossed wolf’s head. T
he
wolf’s
topaz eyes
twinkled in the
light
from
the burning brothel
.
A
s
he took a drag
off his cigarette
,
anyone
close
enough
to
t
he Frenchman
to see his face
might
think
the wolf had come to life
.

Nianzu walked up
,
leading their horses.

“
The fire department has the fire under control.
We need to get going, Bai.
T
h
ere is a party waiting for you.”

Bai nod
ded
and
mount
ed
Noire
. He
and Nianzu
rode
off,
leaving the
burning brothel
, the
screaming men
,
and the
turmoil behind.

Chapter 3

Earlier that day,
Wyatt
McManus sat with his son
in the
Last Chance
T
avern
on
San Francisco
’s
teeming
wharf
. Through the grease
streaked
windows
,
they watched
the
crews unloading cargo from the myriad of ships anchored in the busy port
.
They were
waiting for the porter to bring Alex’s
trunks
from the ship that had arrived from China
that morning
.
Wyatt looked at his son’s furious face, took a drag off his cigarette
,
and poured them both another shot of whiskey
.
Even through the closed door
,
the smell of rotten cargo, animal dung
,
and filthy men too long sequestered below
ship
board permeated their space.

“You need to understand, Alex
.
Elena refused to let us contact you. She was adamant that you stay in China
.
She knew if you found out what happened to her
,
you would insist on coming home.”

“My only sister, my twin sister, for God’s sake
,
is attacked and almost raped and
killed
? A
nd
I find out about it six months later?
What the hell
were
you thinking
,
Father?
You know
what
Elena
means to me
.
She needed me
. G
oddamn
it,
I didn’t even know she
’d
been hurt.
If I had been here
,
I never would have let it happen
. A
nd he wouldn’t have had to save her.
”
Alex’s face
contorted
with anger and pain.

H
is voice cracked with anger.

“That’s why she is m
arrying him, isn’t it, Father?
S
he’s grateful to the son of a bitch and she shows it by marrying him?
Goddamn, is she crazy?
Are you, Father?
Do you have any idea what you are letting her do?”

“Okay, Alex, settle down.
Let’s get a few things straight.
Yes, Bai did save Elena’s life.
She
would have been brutally raped and killed by the four men who attacked her
if Bai hadn’t
killed them
all
.
Not only that
,
but he saved her life a second time when the Rongue Ri
tried to
kill
both her and Nianzu
. They
would have succeeded
if Bai hadn’t
arrived in time and
killed their leader. You need to understand
,
Alex
. W
e
’ve come
out of one of the fiercest uproar
s
among the Tongs
in years
.
Bai almost singlehandedly stopped the violence from becoming an all out war.”

Alex slammed his fist on the
table knocking
his glass to the floor
where it shattered in pieces
.
He stood up
,
shaking with rage
,
and leaned
over
the table
. H
is face
was
inches from his father
’s
. He
spit
out the words
in his father’s face.

“
I need to understand?
No, Father, you need to understand! I
will not let this happen.
Do you
hear
me?
I will not permit Elena to marry that man.
He will destroy her like he destroys everything else.”

Wyatt sat back in his chair
,
his eyes harden
ing
.

“Sit down, Alex.
NOW.”

Alex stood for a moment
,
leaning
over the table
. T
hen
,
squeezing back angry
tears
,
he
sunk
down
in his chair
,
avoiding his father’s eyes.

Wyatt motioned to the
Chinese man behind the bar
to bring another glass and a bottle of whiskey.
He reached over and filled Alex’s glass
, then
refilled his own. Wyatt sat quietly for several minutes
,
giving his son
time
to regain his composure. His eyes were
soft,
gentle
. H
e loved this
young man
with all his heart
. He
understood the pain and confusion he was feeling.
He also knew that Alex was wrong
.
H
e waited until Alex looked up and nodded that
he was
ready to listen
.

“Alex, you
know Elena. The two of you have been inseparable
even
before
you were born.” A shadow of
distant
pain
tugged at
Wyatt’s
heart
, remembering his young wife who died giving birth to the twins
twenty
years ago
.
Alex looked the most like Vivian
. H
e had her blond hair and was the only one of Wyatt’s five children who didn’t have
Wyatt’s
trademark blue eyes.
Like Vivian, Alex’s eyes were brown, almost black.
Wyatt
thought with a start that Vivian was only eighteen when she died
,
two years younger than the twins were now.
He pushed
back the old sadness
and smiled at the son he loved.

“Hell, Alex, even though she kept you on a tight leash, everyone knows how close you and Elena are. I don’t think the two of you were apart more than a couple of days your whole lives
. Until
you went to China and Elena went to your grandfather’s compound to study with Dr. Oleong.

“Son
, if anyone knows Elena, you do.
No one
‘
permits
’
Elena to do anything.
Hell, I haven’t
tried
since she was five years old
when I
gave in to the fact that all she had to do was flash those
sapphire
eyes at me and toss that red hair and I was a goner.
But it’s more than that, Alex.
Elena
loves
Bai
. T
hree days
from
now
,
they will marry
.
Bai will be
Elena’s husband and
your brother
-
in
-
law.”