Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas)

by S. M. Stelmack

  He had this calm, fond smile, as if he knew something she didn’t. Something he claimed she did know. “No, I don’t know anything. All I know is that I can’t think about anything except that Kannon is in danger. I don’t have room for another thought.”

  Her phone binged. She snatched it up. Darae.

  Boat’s sinking. Tasanee’s taken. Hide.

  As the message exploded inside her, Gina realized she had loads more room.

  Kannon slid quietly over the penthouse balcony, drawing one of his silenced pistols as soon as his feet were planted. “Wait here,” he whispered to Delta. “We won’t be long.”

  Some killers relied on stealth and surprise to get the job done. Others on raw aggression and brutality. He liked to employ both.

  With Ryota as his shadow, he slunk to the French-style balcony doors and looked sideways into the room. Two bored-looking rakshasas were watching brutal porn on TV. He considered the door handle. Not having to shoot through glass was preferable, though not likely. Besides, he hadn’t custom-made his bullets for nothing.

  He stepped up to the glass and fired. He put a neat hole in the temple of one and dropped the other with a bullet in the left eye. Both dead in seconds, with Ryota and him inside and at the hallway moments later.

  The shattering glass had brought no one running, and Kannon now knew why. There was what sounded like another movie being watched, a violent one, from the shouting and screaming. Edging around the corner, he saw the light of a monitor coming from a room at the end of the hallway. He and Ryota strode down, and reaching the entrance, Kannon looked inside.

  There was Wakai, behind him his sister, both of them watching a streamed video shot with a lowlight camera. He raised his gun to exterminate Victoria, when he realized what they were looking at. The Pink Pussycat.

  The boat was badly shot up, smoke wafting across its body-strewn deck. The assault wasn’t over. The camera focused on Ek as he gripped one of the cabin doors with his good hand, ripping it right off its hinges to let one of his lackeys blast away at the interior with his submachine gun. Vincenzo’s cabin.

  Gina. Does she know? He switched to Ryota on the other side of the entrance. He hadn’t moved but his eyes blazed.

  Kannon stepped forward and delivered a sharp kick to the back of one of Victoria’s knees, lifting her off the floor with his arm around her thin neck even as Wakai turned, his look of satisfied pleasure dissolving into one of shock.

  His gun muzzle against Victoria’s temple, Kannon clipped out, “Call off the attack.”

  Wakai raised his hands. “I’ll give you whatever you want. Just don’t hurt her.”

  Kannon tightened his arm until Victoria wheezed. “Waste my time and both of you are taking the express route to the ground floor. Now, call them off.”

  Wakai shook his head. “I can’t. It’s over. We’re watching a recording they sent us.”

  Kannon’s finger tightened on the trigger.

  Wakai reached up. “For God’s sake, stop! I can give you your boss. I can spare the captives. Please, don’t hurt her. I’ll do anything you want, just swear to me you’ll spare her this time.”

  “Do you have any idea what this bitch has done?” Kannon growled. “Do you know what she is?”

  “Please, she’s sick,” Wakai begged. “She can’t help it. She’s never been able to help it. It’s my fault it came to this. If you have to kill someone, kill me. Please, Kannon, leave her alone.”

  This was the man who for the past two years had happily sent him on whatever mission was the flavor of his day, never mind the unnecessary danger he put Kannon and Ryota in. And now he wanted mercy? For his piece-of-shit sister? Kannon didn’t know what he felt more, revulsion or pity. “Get Ek on the line now.”

  “First swear you’ll let her go,” Wakai replied. “I know you’re a man of honor, Kannon. Promise me you’ll let her go tonight and I’ll make the call and see that Montri’s released.”

  Kannon didn’t have a choice. God knew what was happening on The Pink Pussycat at that very moment, and there was only one way to stop it. “Just this once, Wakai. Next time she and I cross paths she’s a dead woman. Now dial that bastard.”

  Keeping one hand raised, Wakai slowly extracted his smartphone. He punched in the number, put it on speakerphone, then held it up for Kannon.

  “Ek, this is Kannon,” he said as soon as the line was answered. “I’ve killed your men and I’ve got Victoria and Wakai hostage. Release my people or I’ll kill them.”

  Ek’s voice came smooth and hard—and surprisingly calculating. “I already got who I came for. Montri’s kid is with me and we’re on our way back to shore. We’ve already had our fun with your friends. You can have what’s left of them.”

  This would break Gina. As it was, he could feel rage pulse from Ryota.

  “I want the girl back,” Kannon replied. “Now.”

  “No,” Ek contradicted. “You want your boss? Then get Wakai to tell you. You get me your boss and then we’ll talk”

  “No deal.”

  “Too bad, because it’s the only one you’re going to get. You kill Wakai and you’ll never find Montri. Kill Victoria and I’ll make sure Tasanee suffers. I won’t kill her, but she’ll wish I did.”

  The line disconnected.

  “Where’s Mr. Montri?” Kannon asked.

  The corner of Wakai’s mouth edged up a little. “I don’t know how you got in here, Kannon, but right now Ek’s calling more of his minions to come kill you. You know you can’t hurt us, so I suggest you leave before—”

  Kannon shoved Victoria away from him and nodded to Ryota. His junior aimed and shot the bitch in the foot.

  “Okay! Okay!” Wakai gasped as Victoria yowled with pain, blood splattering as she fell back into a chair. “I’ll make a call and have him released.”

  “Not good enough,” Kannon said. “You’re coming with me.” Holstering his weapon, he grabbed Wakai by the front of his shirt, hauling the man out of his wheelchair and over his shoulder. Leaving Victoria for Ryota to tie and gag, he headed for the balcony.

  “We’ve got company coming,” he said as he emerged into the cool night air. “We have to get out of here quick.”

  Delta’s dark silhouette materialized out of the shadows. “This your boss?”

  Kannon dropped Wakai on the balcony. “The next best thing.”

  He strode back through the apartment, and pressed the elevator button. The door opened onto the empty car, and he jammed a chair between the doors. That left Ek’s scum to climb the stairs.

  By the time he returned to the balcony, Wakai’s hands were bound with line, his mouth tied with a backpack strap. The whole operation was done in under five minutes.

  “I’ll go first with Wakai. Then, Ryota, you follow with Delta.”

  Kannon couldn’t remember a descent faster than this one. He didn’t have to worry about Wakai holding on. The bastard had him in a death grip. At the bottom he tugged on the line to give Ryota and Delta the go ahead and then he tossed Wakai over his shoulder and moved as fast as he could. Back to the van. Back to Gina. And somehow, back to The Pink Pussycat.

  THE PINK PUSSYCAT listed in the fuel-slicked water, its once sleek hull lacerated with scorch marks and bullet holes, shattered glass glittering under the pre-dawn light. Ryota pulled a motorboat up to the stairs, and he and Kannon went up first to inspect, leaving behind Gina and the hapless Wakai.

  She waited in the boat for the all clear, each second feeling like an hour. At last Kannon’s head appeared at the top of the stairs, his expression grim, and gave a nod. The moment she was on deck, she nearly crumpled at the sight before her.

  A few seagulls had landed to peck at the corpses that lay strewn around the deck. A dozen or so rakshasa bodies had been left where they fell, some dead from gunshot wounds, others with contorted faces, tongues lolling from choking to death on the poison gas.

  As far as the crew, only the captain was in sight. She sat motionless on the deck,
her crisp white uniform stained with crimson streaks, her wrists raw from where they’d been tied. Gina knelt beside her. “Captain?”

  The woman didn’t answer, her bloodshot eyes looking though Gina like she wasn’t even there.

  “She’s in shock,” said Kannon. “Your father’s up in the sky lounge.”

  Gina looked at him, eyes wide. “He’s alive?”

  Kannon’s jaw tightened, and again a brief nod.

  Gina ran as fast as she could to the upper deck, her heart pounding, eyes tearing. The lounge was a nightmarish parody of its usual luxurious order, and there she found her parents.

  Vincenzo lay in his chair, his pale face in sharp contrast to the blood on his torso. A mass of bandages had been pressed to his belly in a desperate effort to staunch his bleeding. Beside him, unconscious and cradled in Ryota’s arms, was Darae. Dried blood coated her inner thighs, yet a medical kit lay open beside her, and her arms were stained up to the elbows from her efforts to save her husband.

  Hands shaking, Gina gently peeled back her father’s bandages, only to let out a sob of horror. A clean swipe of a blade had all but disemboweled him. Despite how close he was to death, Vincenzo’s eyes were still open. Still bright.

  “I was hoping you’d make it.” His voice was barely a whisper.

  Gina dropped to her knees. “Daddy...don’t talk...we’ll get you to hospital....”

  Weakly he raised a skeletal finger to her lips. “It’s too late. And I was nearly done, anyway. But I need you to listen now. Okay?”

  Trembling, face wet, she managed a nod.

  “You’re my heir, Gina. The last of the Zaffini bloodline. You’re all that’s left of our family now. As long as your heart is beating we’ll still be with you. If you listen to it, you’ll always remember who you are. You’ll always know what it is you have to do.”

  She caressed his forehead. “I will, Daddy.”

  “Then, you’ve made me very proud. Say goodbye to Darae for me. Tell her I love her. That I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her at the end.”

  “I will, Daddy,” Gina choked. “I’ll look after everything.”

  “That’s my bambina,” he said. “That’s my girl....”

  Gina leaned her forehead to her father’s, and a moment later, felt his last weak breath upon her face. “Goodbye, Daddy.”

  She remained there as Ryota wrapped Darae in a blanket and carried her gently out of the lounge. She spread another over her father, aware of Kannon standing at her side. When she was done, she asked, “What happened to the rest?”

  “Dead,” he replied, his voice flat. “Raped. Bound. Thrown into the sea to drown. That’s what I got from the captain. They only spared her so that she could watch it happen. Only spared Darae so that she could watch your father die.”

  Gina wrapped her arms about herself and hunched over. She sat on a lounge chair and stared at the shrouded figure that was once a strong, vital man. Kannon sat close beside her. His arm came around and pulled her close. For a moment she let his warmth comfort her. And then she removed his arm.

  “I know you mean well, Kannon. Only it’s not what I need from you.”

  He stiffened. His hand, the one that had just cupped her shoulder, flexed, then retracted into a loose fist. A few beats later, he rose and stood. Silence stretched between them.

  “Something happened to me, Kannon. Years ago. Happened right where you’re standing now.”

  Still in his black outfit, he regarded her and in those dark eyes that had melted her with their heat, she now forced herself to stay solid. She owed him that much. “When I was fifteen, I loved this boy. Pricha. He worked for my father. At one of our top-end brothels, he shone the shoes of customers while they were busy with the women. He didn’t have any family, so that was how he made his living.

  “We all loved him. He was funny and kind, and he had this way of charming the socks off everyone he met. And he was really determined and hardworking. Intelligent and ambitious. And I had this huge crush on him.

  “We were never officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Class differences and all. But we came up with lots of excuses to be together. He was the first boy I kissed. The first person who wasn’t family that I would’ve done anything for.”

  “He was murdered.” Gina lost her breath. For a full decade, she’d never spoken of this to anyone. And now in saying those three words, she realized time had healed nothing. Kannon started toward her, then stopped. He averted his eyes, looked out to the horizon where dawn was breaking. Well, wasn’t she getting exactly what she’d asked for? She forced herself to breathe and then, to continue. “Wrong place, wrong time, as they say. When Dad told me he was dead, it was more than terrible. By that age I’d already lost my mom. Somehow losing Pricha was even worse. I must have cried for days. Then, Darae tracked down his killers.

  “Three of them. They were dragged before me. Made to kneel on the deck where you are now. Three brothers, crying, none of them any older than Pricha had been. They told me how they hadn’t meant to kill him. How they’d been hungry and needed money. How they’d only meant to scare him with the knife.

  “Pricha had refused to give them anything, but they had seen by the way he was clutching his pocket that he was holding something of value. They tried to take it off of him and that’s what led to the fight. To the murder. All over a hundred baht and—” Once again she had to fight to breathe. She fixed her gaze to the spot where Kannon stood. His shoes weren’t black and shiny and polished as usual. Instead he wore boots, bloodstained and on one was a green leaf, probably from crossing the grounds at Maharaja Xecutive.

  “The stupid boy had gone and spent all his money on a love charm. That’s what the fight was over. He’d had it clutched in his hand when he died.

  “I remember how my blood was boiling. How I’d been ready to slaughter the three of them. I was so filled with hate. Then the eldest boy, he fell at my feet. Confessed that he’d killed Pricha. Offered up his life but begged—begged that I spare his brothers.

  “And then I saw how thin the three of them were. How ragged their clothing was. How dirty their faces. The youngest had wet his pants.”

  Gina let the memory replay in her mind. “Darae took me by the hand. Put a gun in it. She knew how much I loved Pricha, and she gave me the opportunity to avenge him. But it was more than that, Kannon. It was like a test. To see what I would do. If I was really tough enough to be my father’s daughter. If I had what it took to be the heir to everything he’d built.”

  In Kannon’s dark eyes flickered understanding. Yes, of course. “I guess it was like how your father was about your bullies,” she acknowledged. “She didn’t do it to be cruel. Even before my father married her, she always treated me like her own flesh-and-blood. It was more like a rite of passage. Time to grow up.”

  “I put the gun to that boy’s head. The one that had killed Pricha. And…I pulled the trigger. And just like that, he was gone.”

  She shut her eyes, bowed her head. “Only then did I realize that I’d made a horrible, horrible mistake. It didn’t make me feel better. It made things a thousand times worse. The boys holding their brother’s body, sobbing. The blood. The burning smell of the gunpowder. Darae having to pry the gun out of my hand. I’d have given my life to take back what I’d done, and I swore right then that I’d never be put in that position again. That I—”

  She couldn’t go on. She was too weak, too tired. Too far gone.

  Kannon finished it for her. “That you’d never care about anyone that much again you’d kill for them, give your life for them.”

  She raised her eyes to his. “But it didn’t even take that. Tasanee shows up with a couple of gunmen and I shoot like I’ve been doing it all my life. What does that say about me?”

  “Not to mention the company you keep.” His voice held a jagged lilt of irony.

  “I’ve never thought of you that way. At least, not entirely.”

  He faced her square on. “I’m the part of
you that you hate, Gina. The killer. The person who doesn’t care that he hurts others so long as the ones he loves are safe. I’m also the part you can’t live without because without people like me it would all go to hell.”

  Even as he said those words, even as she saw the truth in them, she also saw another one. “That’s not why I pulled away from you, Kannon. You’re my Pricha again.”

  He strode over to her. “You telling me you love me?” His voice, always low and rumbly, was sharp now. “You’re telling me you would avenge my death?”

  “No, I—”

  “Then I’m not Pricha. I’m Kannon. I’m the man who shuts the bullies up.”

  “No. You’re baku.”

  He sucked in his breath. “Not that. Not anymore.”

  She was about to contradict that when he sighed impatiently. “You told me your story for a reason? You want me to do what you don’t have the guts for? Who do you want me to kill? Rakshasas? Wakai? Who?” Anger and frustration hammered through each question. He wiped his hand down his face, and his voice switched to tired and low. “Tell me what you want, Gina, and I’ll do it.”

  She wanted everything back the way it was. Only that wasn’t going to happen. So, there was only going forward. One step at a time. “I need my father put in a boat.”

  He moved to make it happen.

  “Are you sure there are no survivors?” Gina asked, hoping. “In the water or hiding in the closets?”

  “We double-checked. You want us to check again?”

  “Yes. Is—is Darae going to make it?”

  “She should. She’s torn up pretty bad but nothing she’ll die from. She’s on the powerboat. We should get out of here before the coast guard finds this.”

  That’s when Gina became clear about one more thing she wanted. “We’ll burn this ship. Send it to the bottom. I don’t want them able to use this to terrorize the other gangs.”

  Kannon nodded as if it was the most natural of requests. “I’ll see to it all.”

  Gina stood. Next step. “Meanwhile, I’ll check to see how Ryota is doing with the captain.”