by Bella Lamour
His back straightened but Yuki could not be more of a mess. Big, salty tears were streaming down her cheeks, and little hiccups of pain fought their way out of her throat. Gwen had known exactly what she felt. Gwen had fought the same fight that Yuki was struggling with now.
But when she lost, she didn't just let her rapist win. She destroyed the man who had been routing for her all along. She never got to see the grumpy, but still altruistic old geezer he would become. She stole years of happiness from herself, and him.
“I'll never forget shutting off the life support for my little baby, and holding her hand as she slipped away. She was finally at peace, but I knew I would never had that again. I went over and over in my head all the things I could have done to save her. I should have forced her to get up, to move, to fight for the person she once was.
“So, Miss Kobayashi, you can see that I'm not going to make that mistake again. I switched over to the Sex Crimes unit and studied all I could. I went to therapy. I went to support groups. I got smarter. Not for her, for Gwen it was too late. But I was never going to let another girl walk down the road my baby did. So you are going to get up and get your ass downstairs to eat if I have to pick you up and carry you there myself, goddammit.”
It took her a couple of moments to compose herself enough to answer. “Okay. I'll get dressed.”
“Good...good.” Slowly he stood, nodded at the wall, and headed back out -closing the door behind him.
Yuki wiped her face with the comfortable, feeling new resolve flow through her. She was not the first woman to be tortured and made a plaything for the rich. She would not be the last. But she was beginning to form an idea.
She managed to get a pair of pajama pants on and a sweater, then headed down the stairs. Her injuries were almost completely healed, but the emotional wounds obviously had a long way to go.
The smell of delicious grilled meat filled her nostrils as soon as she was on the ground floor, and she made her way to the kitchen and sat herself down. As per usual, McAnany sat across from her, passing her a full plate.
Her thoughts were beginning to whirl in a demanding crescendo as she chewed the meal. She lasted as long as she could, before broaching the topic with the equally silent retired Detective.
“Do you even think Buck will just get tired of tormenting me and just leave me alone?”
“Honestly? Probably not. For all we know this is some big game to him and you're giving him the time of his life. He's probably never been challenged like this before.”
“So you think someone will have to stop him or it will never end?”
“Pretty much.”
“And you think the police will stop him?”
“Unless Xavier does some fancy footwork and sniffs out some rats, probably not.”
She dropped the conversation, and just stared at the man, trying to put her thoughts into order. He eventually noticed her gaze.
“What?”
“What would you do if you found that boy that hurt you daughter?”
“He's probably off in some Swiss alp that I'll never get to. No point in thinking about that. I spent years torturing myself with the thought that he got off while my daughter paid the ultimate price.”
“But if you did somehow run into him, what would you do?”
All compassion drained from his face as he gave her a very matter of fact look. “Easy. I'd castrate him. And then I'd let him rot in jail for the rest of his life.”
His answer clicked with something inside of her, and her expression mirrored his own. “I think that's exactly what I'm going to do.”
“What?”
“You said it yourself. He's not going to stop. The only way to ever have peace is to make him stop. And get my revenge.”
Part Three
The United States is ranked third in rape related crimes of all countries.
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Probably. But you got a better idea for bringing these bastards to justice?”
He stared at her, incredulous, but she could see a slight bit of agreement in his hardened eyes. He knew she was right from experience.
“No.” He admitted finally.
“Exactly. They're going to continue to abuse the law because no one has ever put them in their place.”
“And you're going to, a five foot nothing Asian woman with PTSD?”
“Who else?”
He shook his head and leaned back in the chair. “You know what, maybe I'm crazy myself. Let's get these sons-a-bitches.”
Yuki couldn't hold off her wicked grin. “Perfect. First, we gotta take out their supports. All those things that leave them feeling nice and secure. Any of them have a girlfriend? We break them up. A best friend? We ruin that too. Business connections? We expose them if they're corrupt.”
“And just how are we supposed to do that.”
She sat up in her seat and donned her most coquettish look she could. “You just so happen to be addressing the number one hostess, the mystic bloom of the orient. No man can resist my wiles.”
“That was almost terrifying.”
She laughed, and dropped the act. “You haven't seen anything yet.” She got up and rushed out.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“To grab my laptop. I think I just found my new hobby, and we have a lot of research to do.”
“You're something else, you know that?”
“Of course.” She paused to look back at him. “Detective White can't know about this.”
He nodded in agreement. “If we're going outside the law, we can't compromise his integrity. This just be me an you, the geezer and the baby.”
“Sounds like the next greatest super hero team.”
“Just grab your fancy computer and bring it down to the study. I'll boot up the desktop. Four hands are better than two for scrolling the web.”
“Thank you.”
“You got it.”
She rushed to upstairs and grabbed her computer, then practically flew back down. For the first time since that awful, devastating night, she had a purpose.
Buck, Jean-Luc and Thomas were going to rue the day that they had ever tangled with Yuki Kobayashi.
She promised them that much.
*
The National Women's Study found that victims of rape and sexual assault have been found to be three times more likely to suffer from a major depressive disorder.
The three men had been nightmares for so long, it was weird to suddenly have such detailed bios on each of them. But after two solid weeks of research, a little creative dancing around the law by McAnany, and some rudimentary hacking, Yuki knew everything there was to know about the unholy trio.
Thomas Reginald was a banker and part of the much applauded London elite. He had been friends with Buck for years. All over there were pictures of the two on the golf course, or attending charity events together. The judge always had a different woman on his arm, but at every event for the past three years, Thomas had the same girl. Either he had a favorite escort, or he had a main squeeze.
A squeeze that turned out to be a rather popular theater actress in jolly ol' London. Her star was rapidly rising, and surely her agents would want to make sure her mounting fame wasn't tied to something as nasty as the rape of an American orphan.
And little ol' Jean-Luc was originally from beautiful France. That enough was enough to get McAnany steaming -no doubt reminding him of the boy that escaped his grasp oh so long ago.
It turned out the weaselly little videographer had immigrated to England after graduating university. According to the web, that's where he became the personal assistant to one Julian Warbucks. Most of the candid online reviews of him described him as creepy, or awkward. He also always had a date for all the events Yuki could find pictures of, but she could tell by the women's postures that they were professionals.
It had taken quite a bit of maneuvering, but Yuki managed to get a hold of his parent's address. Certainly his sweet
little mother, Mathilde, would want to know about her darling baby's exploits.
And finally there was the head honcho himself, Mr. Julian Warbucks. He had no family to speak of, and no significant other. He had never been married, and as far as she could find, he was the pinnacle of society in every online article. In fact, he was chosen to host many charity balls and events in the UK. These events kept him relevant and somehow wealthy. The correlation there escaped Yuki.
But what she did know is she had a plan. Take out the girlfriend. Take out the family support. Take out the public approval, and then take away their power. But if she was going to put this plan into action, she was going to need to call in a lot of favors.
She and McAnany both were.
That's how Yuki ended up at the back door of the Black Unicorn on a Monday night.
She stared up at the plain employee entrance. McAnany had been against this, but she knew it needed to be done. Besides, she hoped to go back to work eventually. Being a helpless victim didn't have much of an income.
Finally, she took a deep breath and went inside. Monday was one of the worst shifts, with only three to four girls on the floor at max, and two on call. But Rowena was one of those girls and perhaps Yuki's only hope.
“Sakura, Sakura is that ye? Oh mi god, I 'eard what happened. Are ye okay?”
Yuki couldn't help her surprised looked as the red head bounded up to her from one of the break couches. “You heard?”
She nodded. “Managements been super dodgy about the whole thing, but I did a little diggin'. Mother's right furious.”
“She is?”
“Is she here?”
“Ye. She got in such a row with the owner that they weren't comin' forward with evidence that they demoted her to weeknight shifts.”
Yuki decided it was now or never. “And do you think that's right?”
“No, lass! Not at all! Pigs like that should be strung up by their own arse!”
“Are you free for a moment?”
“Oh sweet one, it's a Monday. If I had anything to do, do ye think I would be hanging out in the employee area?”
“Good point. Can you grab mother and bring her outside. I need to talk to the two of you.”
“Of course lass. What about?”
“Outside.” She reiterated. “Not here.”
“Aye, gotcha lass. Gimme a fiver.”
Yuki nodded and turned on her heel before management could find her and escort her out. She couldn't believe they knew and were withholding evidence from law enforcement. That almost always guaranteed further investigation, which was bad for business. Julian must have been shielding them. Well, that shield was going to prove to be his own downfall.
She waited on the street, tucked behind the stairwell in case anyone was watching. Not too much later, Rowena and Mother came tromping out.
“Sakura, you're okay?” Mother breathed, rushing forward in a hug. Startled, Yuki let her. She had never known the business woman to be the emotional type. Where did this come from? “I'm so sorry, baby. I should have known. I should have sensed something was off about him.”
“You couldn't have known.” She extricated herself from the older woman's grip. “So I hear the owner and the like are trying to sweep this all under the rug?”
“Bloody assholes have been paid off by that sadistic bastard.” They both glanced to Rowena, surprised to hear her without her face accent. “What? When I'm not in that hell hole, I'm Julie. I don't like my worlds to cross.”
“Yuki,” She supplied, feeling more and more confident about her idea.
“And Rachelle,” Mother supplied. “So what brings you here and asking around for covert meetings? You're not a girl without a purpose, Saku-Yuki. You never were.”
She smiled at that. “You're right. I have a purpose. As I'm sure you can guess, these bastards are dancing around the law like they're Gene Kelley, and buying off anyone who might be able to turn the tides against them.”
“Rich people.” Julie scoffed. “I hate the entitled bastards. What are you planning? You've got that look in your eye.”
“That look?”
“Yeah. The look of someone who's got nothing to lose and a whole lot of anger to get rid of.”
Yuki nodded. “You're right. I don't have anything to lose. They took away everything. They even killed my cat.”
Rachelle gasped and Julie went bone white. “Your cat?”
“They broke into my place and strung him up as a message. I'm in hiding now.”
“Oh my poor child, I...I don't know what to say. There's nothing I can say.”
“But there is something you can do. And the fact that management has Buck's back is actually going to prove to our advantage.”
“It is?”
“Absolutely. I need you to go to the owner and apologize. Say you were wrong. Do whatever it takes to get back into his good graces. Get on the weekend shift.”
“What, why?”
“So you can extend a custom invitation to a party held in their honor. Convince the owner that it might interest Julian in being an investor.”
“Why? Why pretend we're on these awful monster's side.”
“Well, you see, that's exactly where the fun part starts.”
*
There are six stages to the healing process of rape, according to A.R.D.V.A.R.C.
“Testing, testing. Can you hear me?”
“I hear you Julie. Rachelle?”
“Loud and clear.”
Yuki nodded from where she was seated in McAnany's van. It had taken several days of very stealthy instillation, but she and the retired detective were spliced into The Black Unicorn's security cameras.
She almost felt like some sort of high tech spy, although they were using technology that was about fifteen years old. The novelty of all the subterfuge was almost enough to make her forget for a few minutes why she needed it in the first place.
Almost.
“How exactly did you manage to do all this and get us state of the art ear pieces?” It was true, you could hardly see the flesh colored little lumps that went deep into the ear. Compared to all the rest of the outdated tech, the flashy hearing tools stood out.
“I told ya. I saved his son when he fell under the ice of the pond at the park.”
“You saved the son of a spy?”
“Retired CIA agent. He just happened to have some good connections.”
“You're a bit scary, you know that?”
“Good. Let's put the fear in these hell spawn.”
“They just pulled up, I heard the desk call the VIP valet.”
“Alright, are you both in position?”
“Aye. Don't know how much I can talk from here forward tho'.”
If she was using her accent, which meant that she was entering where someone could overhear. “Understood. Hopefully you won't need to. Just listen. Remember, the targets are Thomas Reginald, and Jean-Luc. We need something scandalous for the banker's beau and something violent for dear old mama.”
“Understood.” That was Rachelle. “I'll wait for my cue. You just direct us as best you can. We can't let them hurt anyone else.”
Yuki nodded before remembering that they couldn't see her. She could only see them through the multiple screens along the wall of the van. “Right. That's the plan.”
Although she sounded calm on the outside, secretly her heart was racing. McAnany seemed to sense her quiet panic, and patted her shoulder. “We got this.”
“Of course.”
But then the banter was done and the devil's trio walked into the club.
“Alright, don't approach them yet. Let them get in, let them get drinks, let them get comfortable. These are smart men. If they sense something is up, this is all for nothing.”
Neither answered me, but Julie opened and closed her hand twice behind her back that was facing the camera. That meant yes.
The minutes ticked by as they bided their time. It was infuriating watching the men la
ugh, smile and schmooze like they hadn’t crawled from the depths of hell itself, but Yuki forced herself to maintain her calm. This time they were in her trap.
“Alright, Jean-Luc’s drink is almost gone. Julie, I want you to make him a drink behind the counter. A strong drink.”
She nodded and started moving.
“Mother-Sorry, Rachelle, I need you to send the twins to take Julian to the back for a dance. Make sure it’s them. I don’t want anyone alone with him.”
“Understood.”
It also helped that the set of dark haired women were also black belts in kempojitsu who occasionally pitched in when security couldn’t get to a situation quickly enough. If anyone would be safe, it would be them.
“Alright, now Julie, I want you to hand him the drink, flirt, then sit in his lap and make sure he gets the whole thing down in the next hour. We want him drunk, but not unconscious.”
Her empty hand opened and closed twice. Yes.
Yuki watched as the redhead swung her hips and pleated plaid skirt, before presenting the weasel-like man with his drink. The awkward creep looked surprised in the grainy green-light of the security feed.
“Oy, I know the brits and my people don’t always get along, but ye don’t have to look at me like I’m the loch ness monster. I’m jest a lass who’s always wanted ta see Paris.”
He laughed, letting his head fall back, and she took the opportunity to slip into his lap. Jean-Luc looked like he was about to set the drink down to free up his hands for the curvy woman now perched on him, but Julie grabbed it, took a drink, then pressed it to his lips once more. She was fantastic.
And then Rachelle was presenting the twins to Julian, whose smile grew like a shark smelling blood in the water. For a brief moment Yuki felt guilty, but she mollified herself by remembering that even insane Julien wouldn’t try something in the club, and there was no way he was getting the two martial arts experts outside on his own. It was actually kinda nice imagining the two blond amazons taking him down with vicious kicks and a choke hold or two.
So that just left Thomas.
“It’s almost eleven thirty. Sampala and Nefertiti still do their belly dancing in fifteen, right?”
