The Grandmaster's Legacy (HOT Historical Suspense, Box Set)

by Taylor Lee

  “Jesus, Bai. God, no! You know me better than that. You know that isn’t true. Hell, we can’t just go on private property without permission and confiscate someone’s property. You know that!”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I’m well aware of that legal nicety, Jim. By the same token, you cannot come on my property without my permission. To be clear. As much, or as little, as I enjoy your company, this is as far as any of you will be going today.”

  “Bai, please understand. We are trying to help you. Christ, the Marcello gang is the most vicious gang in the Costa Nostra. They’re gonna tear you apart if we don’t get those girls back. They think their property has been stolen.”

  The sheriff shook his head in distress and looked around the table at his colleagues for support. When no one else spoke, he took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

  “Hell, I never thought I would suggest this. In fact I can’t believe I’m saying it. Except that I know you are an honorable man, as is your father. And Christ, Wyatt and I have been friends for twenty years. I want to protect you, Son. Have you thought of trying to share some of your territory with those assholes? It might work.”

  Seeing Bai’s impassive expression, he implored, “These guys are serious, Bai. They’re backed up, tighter than a swarm of bees crawling up the queen bee’s ass. Ask Peter here. Our counterparts in New York and Boston tell us there’s barely a police force in any Eastern city that isn’t owned two thirds or more by one of the gangs.”

  Bai took out his wolf’s head clipper and began clipping the end of his cigar. He took his time lighting it. With a broad smile, he leaned back in his chair and puffed on the cigar, looking at the sheriff through half closed eyes.

  “You’ve known me for how long, Jim? About twelve years now? In that time, have you ever known me to share anything?”

  Jim groaned and put his head in his hands in despair.

  “Look, gentlemen. Just as Martin, our esteemed lieutenant governor, has a well earned reputation for… well, perhaps it is better left unsaid what Martin has a reputation for,” Bai said with an ironic grin at the openly corrupt politician who was seething with rage, “I also have a reputation of which all of you are aware. It is a reputation I have earned with blood and treasure. It is one that I cherish.”

  He paused for emphasis and turned back to the sheriff.

  “No, Jim, I don’t share. And no one comes into my territory or my enterprises and takes anything human or otherwise that belongs to me or that I am responsible for. As the leading Chinese entrepreneur in this country, you can be damn sure that includes Chinese children who are being raped by depraved animals.”

  He sat up straight in his chair, all semblance of good humor gone. He looked from the sheriff to the U.S. marshal.

  “And, parenthetically, Jim, and you, too, Peter, while the police and marshal service in the East is fifty percent or more mob controlled, yours is at least that. Hell, they’ve been here less than two years.”

  Peter said, “That’s not possible, Bai. We’d know it if it was.”

  Bai raised an eyebrow and put up his hands, making it clear that he could back up his statements.

  “I’m not sure what happened last night. My sense of it is that Mr. Marcello doesn’t do a particularly good job of protecting his men. It is my understanding that every goddamned one of them died last night.

  “In contrast, Jim and Peter can confirm that we protect our own. And we protect our friends. Given last night, I think we protect ours a hell of a lot better than the mob does. Allowing twenty of my men to be burned alive is not something that will ever happen on my watch.”

  Bai sat quietly for several minutes smoking his cigar. No one spoke. He could tell by the look on his face that Alex was horrified. Bai realized that, unlike everyone else at the table, Alex had no knowledge of what had happened. He thought with a grimace that it was probably a good thing that his soon to be brother-in-law didn’t have any misconceptions about the severity of the issues confronting them.

  He turned to Greg. “Greg, and you, too, Tim. Keep your eyes open. It’s not just law enforcement that these guys are infiltrating. There’s nothing they like better than squeezing the balls of a corrupt politician.”

  He grinned at the lieutenant governor. “Careful, Martin. Nothing is sweeter to the mobs than blackmail. You better pray to God they don’t get anything on you. If they do, those fuckers will make you pay through your ass for the rest of your life.

  “But I tell you what. If you or anyone you know wants or needs protection, you can pass the word they might want to think about us. No one is more protective of our friends than we are. I might add, no one--including the mob--is more ruthless with our enemies. Nianzu or Quitin are your best contacts.”

  Bai ground his cigar out and sat up straight in his chair. He put both hands on the table in front of him.

  “One final note. We have no intention of letting the Italians or the Irish take over this city, or frankly this country. That is something Mr. Marcello, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Regen, and all the rest of them will soon understand. They may be backed by countries in Europe, but we have a whole fucking continent backing us. The mobs will always have recruits from Ireland and Italy, but the boats also run between China and America. As the gangs can tell you, you’d be amazed how many human beings you can cram in the bottom of cargo ships. Even though there is a prohibition against Chinese immigration, given the way I train my men, they blend nicely in any environment. And, I might add, can do extensive damage.”

  He stood up and looked at each of them.

  “Not to be rude, gentlemen, but I have a wedding to prepare for. I am told my role is somewhat central. Although I expect to be outshone by the most beautiful woman in the world, who to my everlasting joy has agreed to be my wife.

  “Your deputies are saddled up and waiting for you at the turnoff to my property. My men will escort you to them.”

  He nodded to Wan and Wyatt and Alex and said, “Father, Wyatt, Alex, shall we?

  He turned to the other men, who were all staring at him with various levels of disbelief.

  “Thank you all for coming. Nianzu will show you out.

  “Good Day.”

  Without looking back, he left the room, followed by Wan, Wyatt, and Alex.

  ~~~

  Silence filled the room.

  Greg’s face was red. His eyes flashed with anger.

  “Am I crazy or did I just hear that insufferable, arrogant son of a bitch say that he thinks he can take on the whole fucking mafia?”

  Peter York responded coolly, “I believe that is precisely what you heard, Greg. However, I believe he doesn’t think he can do it, he intends to do it.”

  ~~

  Chapter 10

  Alex stumbled out of the room behind his father and grandfather. He was stunned, overwhelmed by what he had seen and heard. Good God, was he the only one who didn’t know that his soon to be brother-in-law had burned down a San Francisco brothel last night AND killed twenty men? Damn, not only killed them, but burned them alive? Jesus Christ, he thought with a start, his father and grandfather and Elena and Lei, for Christ’s sake, had sat calmly at the breakfast table with a mass murderer, joking about Elena’s risqué dancing! He thought with a hard shudder, Christ, this was the man he had challenged to a fucking kung fu match? And his grandfather and father had let him?

  Alex followed Wan and Wyatt as they headed to Bai’s office, but came to a dead stop when Wyatt turned back and said, “Will you join us, Alex? We are going to discuss our strategy for dealing with the issues we face.”

  He stared at his father as if he was crazy, then stuttered, “No, no … I …I need to get some air.”

  Bai smiled a slight sympathetic smile.

  “Sorry you had to hear about last night’s incident this way, Alex, but you are welcome to join us.”

  Alex stared at his father and Bai in disbelief. They were acting as though they were inviting him to discuss a business oppo
rtunity like buying a goddamn bank or investing in a fucking land deal. He couldn’t hide his astonishment. He was still shaky from his injuries and felt a wave of nausea. He knew he had to get outside, away from the three of them. He started to speak, then shook his head and dashed out to the courtyard.

  He sunk down on one of the benches in the side courtyard, put his head in his hands, and took deep breaths, pushing down his nausea. Goddamn, it was like he was in a grotesque house of mirrors, the distorted faces of his family looming up like circus freaks. Was he the only sane one in the bunch? Did no one else find it unusual or worthy of comment that Bai calmly came to his engagement party last night and danced with his bride to be a couple of hours after he killed a good sized contingent of men, members of the fucking mafia, no less?

  Hell, he had to admit the guy was a master. He strolled into that room like a royal prince deigning to meet with his subjects. Only those subjects were the governor’s chief of staff, the mayor’s main guy, a fucking United States marshal and the sheriff, who had fifteen deputies waiting in the wings. And, Christ, he flat out taunted the lieutenant governor of the State of California, practically called him a corrupt asshole to his face!

  As appalled as he was, Alex had to admit that Bai was a force to be reckoned with. There wasn’t a person in the room who didn’t know who was in command. It was the handsome elegant man at the head of the table coolly smoking a cigar that controlled the room. Never once did he raise his soft spoken French tinged voice. But, it was more than his arrogance, his wit, his calm ruthlessness; it was his power. Alex had spent his life watching his father and grandfather intimidate and overpower rooms full of important men. He knew remarkable men; he had been surrounded by them all his life. And, goddamn, even he had to admit that Bai was one fucking remarkable man.

  He looked up to see Elena and Lei coming toward him and he had an overwhelming need to talk to Elena.

  Elena’s face lit up when she saw him and she called out as she rushed toward him. “Oh, Alex, I’m so glad to see you. Is the meeting over? Are they all gone?”

  Alex ignored Lei and grabbed Elena’s hand and pulled her down on the bench next to him.

  Without preamble he said in a rushed, urgent voice, “Elena, I have to talk to you. You need to tell me. I need to understand. Do you truly know who you are marrying? Do you? Do you understand who he is? What he is?”

  Elena frowned and pulled back. At first she looked surprised at his outburst, then her face hardened. To his dismay, Alex saw that she was angry and that she was looking at him in a way she never had; her expression was cold, closed.

  Elena pulled her hands away and went to stand by Lei. She hesitated, as though she was going to speak to him, then changed her mind and turned to walk away.

  “Elena, wait! Goddamn, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you angry, but you need to understand what you are doing. Do you know what happened last night? What Bai did last night?”

  Elena and Lei shared a strained look and both stepped away from him. Elena took a deep breath and said in a solemn voice, “It just so happens, Alex, Lei and I are on our way to see the results of what Bai ‘did’ last night. Perhaps you would like to accompany us.”

  She turned on her heel and grasping Lei’s hand, the two of them stalked off without a backward glance at Alex. He shook his head in frustration and tried to stifle his hurt. He had never been estranged from either Elena or Lei, the two women he deeply loved. All his life, they had fussed over him, supported him and made him feel special. But now they were disappointed with him. Hell, it was clear they were angry with him. And it was because of that arrogant son of a bitch who had turned all of their lives upside down. Knowing that somehow he had to reach his sister before she made the mistake of a lifetime, Alex swallowed his pride and followed them to the infirmary.

  ~~~

  Years later, Alex would see groups of innocent young children playing together and he would remember that day in the infirmary with fresh anguish. There were twenty beds in the infirmary and in each of them was a young Chinese girl, none more than twelve or thirteen years old, many seemed younger. They looked like dolls, quiet little wide-eyed girls cowering under their blankets in beds that dwarfed them. Uniformed aides and healers moved through the room talking softly, occasionally plumping a pillow or holding a child upright to help them swallow an herbal drink or take medication.

  In the dining room next door, another thirty girls were sitting at tables, many of them staring blankly at the food in front of them. Given their ages and the number of girls, at first glance, it looked like a dining hall in a girl’s school, but the lack of laughter and absence of girlish chatter was unsettling. What was more unsettling was knowing that less than twenty four hours earlier, all of these girls had been prostitutes; their small bodies for sale to grown men twice their size and many times their ages. Even the Chinese servants waiting on the girls were silent, as if words weren’t enough.

  Alex leaned against the wall, trying to absorb the meaning of what he saw. He had heard Bai castigate the dignitaries for allowing child prostitution in their city and refused to turn the girls over to the sheriff and his fifteen deputies. But until he saw the girls lying in the infirmary beds or sitting quietly at the dining tables, he had not understood the magnitude of last night’s events. Fifty young girls being used as prostitutes were an abstraction, but the girls in front of him were real. If Alex felt horror before knowing what Bai had done, he couldn’t begin to explain the feelings roiling over him now.

  To make matters worse, he saw the girls at the tables physically cower and pale when he walked in and realized with a start that they were afraid of him. He was a man, and a white man at that. The nausea he had felt earlier threatened again and he choked down the rising bile that bubbled in his throat.

  Alex stood in the doorway between the two rooms and watched Elena walk through the infirmary kissing each of the girls who lay in the beds. She whispered softly as she tucked their blankets tightly around them. After she spoke to each one, she joined Lei in the dining room and moved from table to table, talking to the girls in a soft pleasant voice. Most of them continued to look down at their hands, but several who at first hesitated began answering her. She had a note pad and a pen and as each girl said her name, Elena wrote it on the paper and pinned it to the front of the girl’s ragged dress. Alex saw that Elena and Lei had written their names on papers and pinned them on their blouses. Alex doubted that any of the girls spoke English and knew that Elena spoke only a little Chinese, but her gracious smile and soft voice seemed to cross the linguistic divide.

  After an hour of standing back watching his sister and stepmother, but not moving away from the safety of the wall, Alex saw Lei in the corner talking to a young woman he first thought was a Chinese servant, but then realized from her tattered clothes that she was one of the prostitutes. In addition to looking older, she was stunningly beautiful and Alex was thunderstruck. She was small, slender, perfectly proportioned. Thick black hair fell in shining waves around her shoulders and every feature on her lovely face had been crafted with a delicate touch. Only the hard lines around her eyes and lips and her tight unsmiling mouth spoke to the pain and injury she had suffered. But to Alex, taking in her wide almond shaped eyes fanned by thick black lashes, high cheekbones and dainty chin, she was ethereally beautiful.

  Lei motioned to Elena to join her and the young woman and the three of them walked over to where Alex was standing.

  “Jeng Ming, this is Elena, my stepdaughter, and this is Alex, my stepson. Elena is in charge of the infirmary and will marry Bai the day after tomorrow. ”

  Jeng Ming bowed low to Elena and looked dismissively at Alex, then turned back to Lei.

  Lei said to Alex and Elena, “Jeng Ming speaks several languages including English, and has been helping the healers with the girls. Many of them are so frightened they won’t talk to anyone except Jeng Ming. She has agreed to help us reach the girls and also to give us a list of the persona
l things they will need.”

  Lei turned back to Jeng Ming and said, “I am glad that you just arrived at Madam Torrento’s and hadn’t yet been put to work, but your story of how you came here is horrific. If you are willing, I would like you to meet with Bai in the morning. You have information he needs and he will be grateful for your help.”

  Jeng Ming nodded and asked, “Will you and Elena be there?”

  “Of course, we will, if you want us to be,” Lei said and Elena agreed.

  Alex was so taken with her beauty that he couldn’t stop staring at Jeng Ming. He jumped in eagerly and said, “I just got back from China and speak Chinese fluently. If I can help you in any way, I will be honored.”

  In a haughty voice tight with distain, Jeng Ming said in perfect English, “I can’t imagine that would be necessary.”

  She bowed low to Elena and Lei, then turned to go back to the infirmary. Alex tried to convince himself the dismissive look she gave him was due to shyness, but her sharp retort removed any doubt. As compared to the way he was reacting to her, Jeng Ming was decidedly unimpressed with him.

  Two days that Alex thought could not get any worse had just proven him wrong. Dismissed out of hand by the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he watched Elena and Lei walk back to the hacienda together, leaving him standing alone – very much alone.

  ~~

  Chapter 11

  Manchu and his coterie of Sing Leon guards formed a tight phalanx guarding the entrance to Bai’s complex. The sheriff’s deputies clustered in a group fifty feet away, waiting for the sheriff and the others to join them for the return trip to San Francisco. Even though the number of guards to deputies was equal, there was no question who was in control. Compared to the fierce Kung fu warriors with their hard bodies and equally hard eyes sitting astride incomparable horses, the deputies were a ragtag bunch. In truth, except for the three men who worked with the sheriff as genuine deputies, the other men were strays, pickups looking for a fast dollar and the excitement of recapturing the stolen prostitutes and winning one over the Frenchman. It wasn’t the triumphant adventure they had expected. The farthest they got to glory was tea and scones in the servants’ dining room before being escorted to the road by warriors they would be loath to confront. This was not the tale they had intended to regale their drinking buddies with at the saloon tonight.