The Frenchman's Revenge (67 page)

“What? Jesus, Greg, are you crazy? Bai…,” the governor paled and then stammered, “Are you telling me that Bai
…
Bai killed Louie Sinclair?”

“I didn’t see him do it.
But
M
artin did, didn’t you
,
Martin?”

Greg turned to
M
artin
,
who was sh
aking, spittle running down his chin. He
looked as though he might cry.
Puddles of sweat dampened his waistcoat and
an
acrid stench
poured off his body. Greg gave him a terse smile and said in a soft commanding voice, “Tell the governor what you saw, Martin.”

Martin struggled to speak
,
but strangled
on the words
.

Greg saw his fear
;
Christ, he could smell it.
He chuckled to himself
,
thinking this called for a change of plans.

“Actually, Brad, we are surrounded by evil
, c
loser than we
want
to think.
In fact, as difficult as it is for me to say, Martin is involved in Senator Sinclair’s murder.”

Martin flushed and stammered out an incoherent
denial, staring
at Greg in shock.

Greg’s voice was calm, solicitous.

“Martin, please tell the governor the truth.
You were there when Senator
Sinclair
was
murdered
, were you not?”

Martin
clung
to the edge of the desk
,
looking as though he would
vomit
again.
Bright red splotches covered his otherwise stark white face.
He tried to pull himself together and spit out, “
What the hell, Greg?
What the hell are you doing?
What are you saying
?
”

Greg eyed him with
a scornful
twist of his lips
. He
rounded the governor’s desk and
pulled open
the second drawer. He
drew
a
handkerchief
out of his pocket and snapped it open. He
removed
the pistol from the drawer
,
being careful to
wrap the handkerchief around the handle.

“Hm hmm. I thought you had a gun in here, Brad.
That’s good.
You should always be prepared to defend yourself.
You never know when you might need it, right, Martin?”

He walked over to the
lieutenant governor,
who was staring at him in disbelief. Looking over his shoulder at the governor
,
who was as pale as Martin, Greg said in an aggrieved voice, “Much as I hate to tell you this, Brad, Martin is up to his ass in evil
. A
ren’t you Martin?”

Martin’s eyes were wide with shock and for one second
,
understanding flashed across his face.
Any sound he made was
swallowed b
y
the
blast
of the
governor’s gun.
The
g
overnor fell back in his chair
,
his face white with shock
,
staring at
Martin’s body sprawled
on the floor at his feet. The close up gunshot
blew
off the top of
M
artin’s head
,
spewing blood and grey matter across the carpet.

The governor
managed to
choke
out, “Jesus, fucking,
Christ
, Greg.
Damn you
! T
ell me what the
hell
is going on
?
”

“Hmm.
If I had to sum
it up, elected officials seem to be dropping like flies, tonight
,
wouldn’t you agree, Pete
r
?
”

Greg
grinned
at his
cohort
and moved next to the governor
,
who was staring at
them with
a mix of horror and disbelief.
Greg
placed the gun he was holding on the desk next to the governor.

“I
regret to tell you
,
Brad, but you aren
’
t going back to the ball. Nope, enough festivities for tonight.
No more dancing for the governor.
Too bad, Brad. No doubt you could have raised half the money you need for reelection.
But that seems almost frivolous, doesn’t it?
What with two men, a U. S. Senator and your
l
ieutenant
g
overnor, no less, lying dead in your mansion
?
No
, for the
rest of the night
,
you will be busy
trying
not
to get
killed or arrested.
That should keep him busy, don’t you think
,
Pete
r
?”

The two men laughed as Greg moved to the door
,
leaving the governor
sitting
frozen
in
a horrified stupor.

Chris turned to Greg
.

“She is in the ladies’ room. We managed to get her aside when he was talking with Nianzu and told her Lei needed her.”

Greg
licked his lips
,
delighted
that each element of their plan
was
working as intended.

“Pete
r
, I’m going to bring her here.
You know what to do.
Make sure she understands it is the governor’s gun.
And whatever you do
,
don’t hurt her. That
is
my
prerogative
,” Greg said
,
a
wicked gleam
brightening
his eyes.

Chapter
3
2

Elena looked up as she left the ladies’ room to see Greg rushing toward her.
His face was tight with concern.

“
T
hank God, I found you, Elena. I need to talk to you now.
Please come, I need your help.
Something terrible has happened.
We need to warn Bai.”

Greg grabbed her arm
,
but
Elena pu
shed his hand away and pu
lled back.
“Is Bai… is it Bai…
?”

Before she could voice her fears, Greg shook his head and said, “No, no.
Bai
and your father are in the ballroom
.
It’s the
g
overnor and the
lieutenant
g
overnor. Oh
,
my God, Elena, please come
quickly
.
I need your help!”

Elena knew she should find Bai or her father first
,
but the fear in Greg’s face and voice galvanized her.

“What’s wrong?
What’s happened?”

“Quick,
down
this hallway to the governor’s office.
I
’ll
tell you when we get there.”

Elena dashed after him
,
wishing she would see one of their men along the way.
She needed to let Bai know where she was. She also was concerned about Lei.
Peter, Greg’s aide, told her Lei needed her in the ladies’ room
,
but Lei wasn’t there
.
Oh God, I hope we are doing this right.
I don’t know who to trust, she thought
,
as she and Greg ran down the long corridor to the
g
overnor’s private office.

Greg took out a key and unlocked the door to the office and pushed Elena inside ahead of him.
Elena stood in the doorway
, aghast,
trying to understand what she was seeing.
Three of Greg’s men were standing against the wall
,
their faces tight,
t
heir hands
under their coats,
resting
on their guns
.
It took her a moment to recognize the governor.
H
is back was to her
but when he turned to look at her his face was a ghastly shade of
grey
. H
is eyes were wild with what looked like fear. It took her a full m
inute
to acknowledge the body on the ground at his feet.
Only then did she see the gun
on the desk next to t
he governor’s trembling hand.

Elena covered her mouth with her hand
s
to keep from screaming.
She looked at the governor in shock.

“Governor Sampson…my God…What have you done?
What
...
Why
...
”

Greg held her arm and pulled her body next to his.

“I know this is a horrible shock.
But my men are here and they will help us.
You need to stay here, Elena.
We don’t know who is working with him.”

Greg pointed to the governor. “We also don’t know who else he killed.
My men heard a shot in my quarters and are going to investigate.
Unfortunately
,
Chris saw the governor and Senator Sinclair talking in the hallway.”

He hesitated and then in a hoarse voice finished his thought
.

“We can only hope, Elena, that he only got Martin.”

Elena took big gulps of air trying
not to
faint.
Oh God, this is just what they expected
,
but she was here by herself
,
with only Greg and his men to protect her. She needed to get to Bai fast!
She had to warn him!

As if he could read her mind, Greg broke in.

“Elena, Chris just told me Bai is looking for you.
I will find him and bring him here.
Stay right here, my darling.
Do you hear me?
I will take care of you now
. You’re mine now. Y
ou must do what I tell you to, do you understand?”

Elena looked at him in surprise
,
trying to grasp the situation.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
Why was
Greg
talking to her like that? Looking at her like that?

“
No
,
Greg! No
.
I need to go find Bai.
He will be frantic looking for me.
Please, get out of my way.”

She tried to push him aside
,
but he grabbed her arm and twisted it
--hard
. Elena cried out surprised at the pain.

“No, Elena.
You
must
do what I tell you.
It is the only way you will be safe.”

He shoved her away from him and she stumbled against a
chair
,
then sat down
across from the governor
,
staring at
Greg
in disbelief.

Greg turned
to his
men
.

“
Peter, you come with me. Chris, Hank, k
eep her safe.
Don’t let anyone in
,
do
you
hear me?
And don’t hurt her.

“Let’s go, Peter.”

He s
lammed the door behind
them
,
their
footsteps echoing down the empty corridor.

Bai was
standing in the ballroom with Wyatt, Nianzu
,
and Alex. He l
i
t a
cigarette and took a deep drag when he saw Lei come in the
ball
room by herself.
He threw his cigarette to the floor and ground it out with his heel and strode to meet Lei.