Silence of the Geisha Horror: Yukis Revenge (12 page)

“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 laugh, 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?”

A nod from Rachelle, Julia being too busy laughing at something Jean-Luc said and batting his shoulder.

“Alright. We just need a couple shots, but he’s gotta be into it. We want no plausible deniability that Buck pushed him into it and he was just enduring.”

Rachelle had finally made it back to her administrative room where she handled payments via the telephone. “You said his girlfriend was a theater major, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect. It’ll be nice and dramatic and relationship ruining.”

“That’s the goal. Now Julie, that means you gotta get Jean-Luc up and in the back in about ten minutes. We want to make Thomas look like he’s there along. Rachelle, just make sure there’s a spotlight bright enough to get a good picture on the mini-cam McAnany gave you.”

“Heard. I’m heading to the light booth now.”

Yuki fixed her gaze on Julie, who was now pulling at Jean-Luc’s tie.

“If she can’t get him out, we can still angle the shot so he’s not in it.”

“She’ll get him out. Trust her.”

Sure enough, Julie leaned back, throwing her red curls sultrily over her shoulder. But she leaned a little too far and toppled off Jean-Luc’s back and onto the floor. He immediately jumped up to help her to her feet, and as soon as she was steady, she pulled him into a salacious embrace. Less than a few seconds later, she was pulling him to one of the private rooms in the back,

Perfect.

Less than a minute later, there was an ostentatious gong, and the lights dimmed. Yuki checked to make sure Rachelle was in her spot, and sure enough, a nearly blinding spotlight landed on Thomas. He looked startled at first, and then uncomfortable as Rachelle belted praises on the VIP into the DJ mic, but quickly settled down when Sampala and Nefertiti appeared through a trick door on the dancing stage with a copious amount of effect fog.

The two women certainly knew their stuff. They writhed, and swung their hips perfectly in time with the music. Yuki knew the two of them ran an up-and coming dance studio and only worked nights to make ends meet while they built their student base, and she couldn’t be more grateful for their distraction.

And what a distraction they were. Rachelle must have told them all about how much their VIP needed to be spoiled, because they were on Thomas almost immediately.

“Time for the photoshoot.” Yuki smirked into her mic.

Rachelle nodded faintly before moving through the crowd. She played the essential Mother perfectly, checking that girls weren’t too drunk, greeting guests. It took her a solid two minutes to get into the perfect position to snap the incriminating evidence of Sampala pulling Thomas’ head into her pasty-covered breasts. Then another of Nefertiti dropping grapes from her headdress into his open mouth.

“Enjoy it while you can, Thomas.” Yuki hissed. “Alright, Rachelle, get out of there. Drop the pen camera in you handbag then go back on the floor like any other night. Julie, its looks like you’re up to bat now.”

“Can you pull up her security feed on the main screen?”

“Yeah, gimme a second. I haven’t been on a stake out in…well it’s been a long time.”

Yuki waited for the retired detective to do his thing, listening intently to the stream of flattery Julie was pouring to Jean-Luc.

Finally, McAnany was able to switch things over, and Yuki could see that Julie was giving Jean-Luc and intense shoulder massage. She had positioned both of them so they were facing towards the camera, and she had an impatient expression on her face.

“Sorry, had to make sure we sewed everything up neatly with the banker. You ready.”

A nod.

“Alright, start Mission There’s-No-Way-This-Will-Work.”

“Positivity is the path to success, young’un.” McAnany mused from behind her.

“I’ll be positive when these guys are rotting in jail. This is the most ridiculous part of the plan.”

“Trust me. It works every time.”

“If you say so…”

Julie shot then an aggravated look at the camera before reaching behind one of the cushions to bring out a tiny fake spider. She placed it just above one of the buttons on her blouse then screamed.

It was hard not to laugh as the scene unfolded. Jean-Luc jumped up and whirled around at the same time that Julie vaulted off where she was perched on the back of the couch. Yuki’s earpiece was overloading from all the screams, but she didn’t have to hear to get the comedy of the situation. Julie was jumping from foot to foot, pointing to the spider on her breast, and Jean-Luc swiped at it, trying to help the poor girl. She let him do that a few times before running out in terror, screaming about how she needed a shower. Once she was gone, Jean-Luc just stood there for a while, dumb-founded.

“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Yuki mused, going through the stills from the security cameras. Sure enough, it looked like the mousey little lackey had tried to hit Julie, and then chased her from the room. It was perfect.

“You guys know that if we do what we’re planning to do, the Black Unicorn is going to take a big hit.”

“Good.” Julie spat from where she was hiding in the bathroom. “Any host bar that won’t back up its employees is no place that should stay in business.”

“Same thought here.” Janelle added.

“Alright. Good. You’re both safe if you want to get out right now. We can even give you a lift home.”

“A free ride? Yeah, I’m in.”

“Look for the van.”

Yuki sat back, feeling in control and ready to start wreaking her revenge.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“I told you it would work.”

Yuki rolled her eyes but she couldn’t help her smile. “Yeah, yeah. Keep the celebration until after we ruin these guys.”

“Whatever you say, Captain.”

“That’s right.”

She climbed to the front and turned the car on, pulling around to pick up her co-conspirators. Yeah, part one was successful, but they had a long way to go.