The Frenchman's Revenge Read Free Page A

. Clutching his throat , he fell to the floor , h is gun clatter ed uselessly beside him , a butterfly knife buried in his neck .
    “J esus fuckin ’ Christ, did you see that? Goddamn , I didn’t even see it leave his hand ,” Victor gasped , staring at t he Frenchman in astonishment .
    The men at the table turned to the Frenchman in shock . To a man they were visibly shaking.
    “ Mother of God , he’s still got the goddamn cigarette in his mouth. I tell you, h e was smokin ’ the g oddamn cigarette when he threw the fuckin ’ knife !” Mannie yelped , rubbing his eyes , as if not believing what he had seen .
    The Frenchman nodded to the man he called Nianzu.
    Nianzu said, “ In case you didn’t hear , t he Frenchman said , “All of your weapons ’ . ”
    Within minutes , the mobsters were herded across the room, their hands tied behind their backs, their faces smashed against the wall , e xcept for Freddie , lying dead on the floor . A nd Tony .
    The Frenchman studied Tony . He sunk in his chair , clutching the edge of the tabl e . His face was pale . B right red spots mark ed the p ocked skin o n his face and neck. Sweat ran down his fat cheeks . W et splotches stained the underarms of his already filthy shirt. He smelled like what he was, a cornered animal.
    Clearly making an effort to pull himself together , he assumed a hearty bravado . “ Okay , Mr. Frenchman , you got the upper hand now . You may be crazy , but you ain’t stupid . Y ou know the organization behind me . What do you want?”
    T he Frenchman continued to look at him with a slight smile , amused .
    Tony blu stered on . “Christ, tell you what, we’ll cut you in . M ight even make you a partner here in C alifornia. Hell , I’ll give you every Chink prostitute we got. They are selling like crazy !”
    Seeing the look in t he Frenchman’s eyes, Tony paled more, took a breath , then stuttered, “Look, they ’re our best sellers. I’ll …I’ll give them to you--they’re y ours -- all yours ….”
    Tony’s voice trailed off when t he Frenchman’s smile died and he turned away , his face tight with distain.
    Ignoring the bl a bbering man at the table, t he Frenchman focused on the Chinese girls who were plastered against the far wall, clinging to each other for support . Some of them were crying , most of them stood wide-eyed, dumb with fear.
    The Frenchman spoke to them in Chinese and told them to leave the room — t o go outside with his men . When they drew back afraid , t he Frenchman singled out the older girl who was looking at him angrily , but without fear.
    He said in Chinese , “ L ook at me. ”
    He paused , holding her gaze. “ L isten to me. We are here to help you. We will not hurt you. Please go with my men and take these girls outside where they will be safe.”
    She continued to stare at him without moving . T he Frenchman nodded to Nianzu. Nianzu stepped up to the girl and took hold of her arm. He spoke in Chinese.
    “You heard what t he Frenchman said. We need your help. Tell these children we won’t hurt them . T hey are safe. All of you--go with our men. N ow !”
    The girl threw him a furious look , then jerked her head at the young girls behind her , murmuring to them to follow her. Quitin and several other men came up beside the girls and began to shepherd them out. One little girl fell to the floor sobbing , begging them not to hurt her . Wattu, one of the largest of the Chinese men , his face stricken with a mix of anger and pity , bent down and picked her up in his arms . M urmuring soft comforting words in Chinese , he carried her out of the room.
    Within minutes , all of the girls were gone and t he Frenchman turned back to Tony.
    For the moment, Tony’s outrage overcame his fear.
    “ Now, w ait just a goddamn minute here . What the hell ’s going on? Look here, Frenchie . T hose sluts belong to us. I already told you we’d cut you in , but we gotta come to an agreement first . Y ou hear me?”
    The