Ramón said nothing.
"Do you know what the Japanese are doing?"
"Their permits did not reveal their intentions," Ramón replied. "One of our clerks at the license office thought that they were planning to build several houses of pleasure and bring all of the prostitutes in the city under two roofs. That would give them control of that business in the city."
"Our friend will not be pleased."
"No, Patrón. He will lose most of his income. The work he does for the city gives him little. Why were the Japanese talking to your daughter? They don't need to talk to prostitutes. They'll just take the ones they want."
"They have given her so much money," El Patrón observed. "Why? This doesn't make sense."
"Unless they're hiring her to run the business."
"She becomes the madam?" Even for Diego Diamante, the audacity of Kashmira becoming a madam at the age of 13 surprised him.
"Perhaps only for the house intended for the rich. She'll attract all of the city's rich and powerful men who will be happy to enjoy her services and thumb their noses at you. The Japanese and their lightsabres will protect her. Somebody else will run the house for the poor."
"We still have a chance."
"Patrón?"
"The Japanese aren't protecting her now. They aren't in the city. If we capture her, their business will never start."
"How will we find her? The guards have been searching everywhere."
"But now we know that she's hiding in one of the churches. We will enter all three of them and capture her."
"If we break into the churches, the people will be greatly offended, Patrón."
"But our friend will be greatly pleased. He will make up some story about us helping to save the churches from the Japanese. The people will thank us."
"Very risky, Patrón. We have the music table and her money. She has to come here to get them."
"She'll come with her Japanese protectors. We won't be able to capture her."
"Why did you bring the table here?"
"So that you can kill her from the shadows. Even lightsabres can't stop you from sniping her."
"The other families have been meeting about you, Patrón."
"That was to be expected. Offer 10,000 pesos to any guard who can capture Kashmira and bring her to me here by Tuesday night."
"And if nobody captures her?"
"Break the guards into three groups. At first light Wednesday morning, surround each of the churches, break in, and capture her. At that time in the morning we should be able to do that quietly. You know what to do after that."
"Manila, like her mother?"
"No, the Japanese could find her there. Take her to the jungle. Show her what happens to women who disobey me. When you are finished with her, tie her to a tree and let her experience her mother's life as it was at the end. As I did before, I'll watch her final hours."
# # # # # # # #
Wednesday morning, first light. Only a few people were on the street – maids walking to big hotels so that they could wait in their basements, for example. But many others in the city were stirring. Each church presented an initial obstacle to El Patrón's forces. Somebody had locked the front door of each church. Each group of guards brightened at that. It was probably Kashmira. They kicked each door in.
At that point, the plan fell apart. Somebody inside each church started to ring its big bell. Each squad assumed that it was Kashmira, so they rushed to the bell tower. Nobody was there. But they saw a rope attached to the bell and that rope was stretching to some unknown destination. If they followed the rope, they'd find Kashmira. But while they searched for Kashmira, her big bell continued to beat out a signal. When they finally found the end of the bell rope, they were outside the church, the bell was quiet, and Kashmira was nowhere in sight. Only a few guards noticed that three church bells were ringing simultaneously. Some wondered how Kashmira could have been in three places at the same time, but they didn't share their curiosity with Ramón.
In Maasin City, church bells were used to warn the citizens of danger. Each danger was announced with a different bell code. The bell code that the three unknown bell ringers were using this morning told the citizens to rush into the street for safety from an earthquake! They all obeyed. Throughout the city, citizens saw the door to a nearby church had been beaten down. They saw El Patrón's armed red-capped soldiers coming out of the church and into the streets. Ooopsey.
Early Thursday morning, citizens began to cluster outside El Patrón's mansion and stare at it. He retreated into the house and stationed all of his guards inside the gates. The crowd continued to grow throughout the morning.
# # # # # # # #
Thursday, noon.
"Alright, listen up everybody." Mac's voice was loud enough to break through the din of everybody talking at the same time in the cargo hold of the Wilizy/Europe. Mathias had brought the ship to the skies of Maasin City two days ago. The Wilizy had arrived in small groups Wednesday. The entire family was in the ship now except for Winnie and TG who were away on another operation and weren't able to participate.
Not everybody was in the hold of the ship. Melissa, five months pregnant, had volunteered to watch the children. She and most of the youngsters were in the games room. Liset and EmmaGee were in the hold with the adults. They'd be in the command center watching the sensors for any unexpected dangers. Melissa had turned the operation over to Mac who would serve as battle commander, as usual.
"I have some good news and some bad news," Mac began.
That brought complete silence to the hold.
"The good news: The crowd in front of El Patrón's home is big enough that word of Kashmira's actions will spread quickly through the city. If we wait much longer, too many people may be there. A big crowd might be brave enough to rush the guards before we arrive. We'll begin the operation as soon as I complete this briefing."
"Also on the good news front. The armour that you're wearing works. If by some chance one of the guards manages to get off a shot, the armour will protect you. But Hank and Yolanda will be hovering above the house and I doubt that any guard will get a gun into his hand without that hand being burned. Remember everybody. We are not here to harm the guards. They have been acting under orders. The young teenagers in particular had no choice in being conscripted into El Patrón's guards."
"Last piece of good new: The lightsabre weaponry works. Be careful with it. It is far more powerful than what we have in our sling weapon array. It can slice through almost anything."
"The bad news, Mac?" Jock MacLatchie had been wondering if William's inventions would be ready in time. Now he was going to find out.
"The armour that you are wearing is a prototype that William has rushed into production. They were intended for a different purpose and William warns you to expect glitches. Also, be aware that the rocket packs on your back will be difficult to control. If you find yourself losing your balance in the air, override your rocket flight with your sling power. The people on the ground will still believe that you are flying because of the rocket's flame. You'll have ample fuel, but do keep the rocket at low power so that you don't start cartwheeling through the sky."
"Next. For those of you who will be stationed on the roof, the weapon you will show to the citizens is non-functional. Simply point it at the guards. Hank and Yolanda will keep them under control."
"Last. The helmets that you'll be wearing are not typical motorcycle helmets. They are part of your armour, which means that the helmet can stop almost anything. Some of you reported that the visor had a tendency to mist up. To avoid that, do not breathe during the operation."
There was a stunned silence.
"I'm kidding," Mac said. "William fixed the misting. Be safe everybody. All personnel to battle stations. We leave in five minutes."
# # # # # # # #
The crowd in front of El Patrón's house saw the Japanese crime boss coming from a distance and naturally made room for the sed
an chair. This time it was fully draped with red and black fabric so that you couldn't see the Japanese lady inside. Everything else was the same as previous appearances. Four large men all dressed in black were carrying the chair. Another figure in white cleared the way with her walking stick. Not that she needed to clear the way. News of the lightsabres had spread quickly through the city the last time they had been used.
Granny barked a word and the sedan chair stopped. She was speaking in her aboriginal language, but for the sake of all the Wilizy, she was issuing mental messages. After another bark, William, Lucas, Theo and Wolf set the chair down perfectly. They formed a square around the chair, pulled out their lightsabres, and demonstrated their prowess with the weapon. At another bark, they turned outwards, lightsabres at the ready. Granny walked slowly towards the sedan chair, thumping her walking stick on the ground with each step. Each thump of the stick produced a long flame flashing into the sky.
Granny pulled aside the draperies to the sedan chair (they actually were house drapes) and bowed as Kashmira exited. She was wearing her most stunning skirt – a red and black number. The red blouse was a perfect match to the skirt.
Kashmira moved a short distance away from the sedan chair, raised both of her arms into the sky and spoke. "Citizens of Maasin City, do not be afraid. The people flying in the sky are my friends. They will not harm you provided that you stay well away from the house."
Naturally everybody's eyes looked skyward where they saw twelve figures with flames of some sort coming out of their backs. As they approached the ground, everybody saw that some fliers were dressed completely in black, and that included their helmet. Others were dressed completely in white, including their helmet. Had the audience been able to see the insides of the armour, they would have seen that the chest pieces of the white armour had been modified so as to be more comfortable for people with certain physical endowments.
Twelve flying figures landed simultaneously on the road in front of El Patrón's home. The flame on their back went out. The figures turned to face El Patrón's guards who were stationed behind the defensive wall. The giant with the flaming walking stick grunted again. Four figures flew into the sky, flames again coming from their back. Wizard, Jock, Stu, and Momaka landed softly on the roof of El Patrón's home and took up firing positions. It was difficult to see what they were holding. A stick of some kind. Perhaps a rifle.
That left Jock, Mathias, Reese, Mac, Yollie, Wanda, Dreamer, and Nary facing the guards. The sedan chair carriers joined them. The women were in white, as you would have already determined. The men were in black. They spread out.
"Guards, you will not be harmed provided that you keep your hands away from your weapons. This is between my father and me. Stay out of this fight and you will live."
Granny made some grunting noises again.
All twelve figures in front of the guards activated their lightsabres.
Kashmira continued to address the men and boys behind the mansion's front wall. "Guards, you are not in danger provided that you stand still."
Granny gave another order. The twelve figures stepped forward so that they were in front of the iron bars of the wall and the thick heavy wooden gate that gave entrance to the front of the house. At Granny's next order, all twelve inserted their weapon through the iron bars and ripped left and right. The wall disintegrated. The twelve figures destroyed anything of that wall that was still standing, turned off their lightsabres and stepped back to the middle of the road.
"Guards," Kashmira's voice rang out in the sudden silence. "You are invited to leave El Patrón's employment. He will not be needing you any longer."
One minute later, the yard was littered with red caps and Lucas had obliterated the mansion's front door with his lightsabre. Kashmira stepped up to the porch and spoke loudly again. "Father, your guards have deserted you. You cannot escape. I invite you to surrender."
There was no response.
# # # # # # # #
Mac waited a couple of minutes for El Patrón to emerge. When he did not, she sent Jock, Lucas, and Wolf inside to ensure that he was in the vault and not hiding in ambush somewhere. The four figures that had been on the roof returned to street level and faced the crowd. Hank and Yolanda remained on the roof and focused their attention on the crowd too in case some of El Patrón's men had not been in uniform.
Jock, Lucas, and Wolf emerged from the mansion. We didn't pick up any heat signatures in any of the rooms. The vault's walls are too thick for the sensors.
Liset? EmmaGee? Do you see any heat signatures inside the house?
No, EmmaGee replied. [Narrator: It was EmmaGee's turn to be in charge of the sensor. We had agreed to switch every 15 minutes. Doc was sailing the ship.]
Kashmira, you can go inside now.
Are you sure you don't want me to come with you, Kashmira?
No, Mathias. I know where everything will be hidden.
# # # # # # # #
Once inside, Kashmira's first action was to collect all of the drones that had been inserted into the house months earlier. Winnie and Mathias had already told her where she'd find them, and Winnie had apologized ahead of time for putting one in her bedroom. It didn't take Kashmira long. She put them in a small paper bag and put that bag on the floor of the living room.
Next, Kashmira started to search for the music table. They knew from the paterfamilias that he had brought the music table and all of her money to the garage. The drones had shown her father taking it from the garage to his study. Kashmira ran into the study. She saw the end of the table sticking out of a large sack. She pulled the table out, put it on the floor, turned it over, and opened the compartment that was used for storing bots in case the singer wanted to record a song and transport it. The compartment was empty. She flipped the lid to the compartment back and forth a few times and frowned when she saw how easily it flipped open almost on its own.
Back to the sack that had contained the table. Kashmira lifted out the 200 pages of documentation and shook that binder upside down. She placed the binder on the floor next to the table. The sack also contained all of her money that she had supposedly earned as well as the jewelry box a rich man had supposedly given her. All of this was lying loose inside the sack. She slowly lifted out all of money and rifled through it. Then she lifted the jewelry box out of the sack and looked inside. Finally, she turned the sack upside down and shook it. Nothing fell out. That prompted a hands and knees search across the floor of the study. When that was apparently unsuccessful, she looked at the sack. A food sack. Rice. El Pervertido would not have brought the music table to the garage in a rice sack because the church wouldn't have had one.
A frantic race to the garage later, her skirt and blouse were hanging on the door leading into the garage and Kashmira was on her hands and knees searching the dirty, greasy floor. When she found what she had been looking for, she looked at it closely, pulled the waistband of her underwear away from her body, and dropped it inside. That act was followed by another frantic run but this time it was to the bathroom in her former bedroom to wash her hands and knees.
# # # # # # # #
How's it going, Kashmira?
Fine, Mac. I've searched the top two floors but found nothing of any use to us. I looked through my bedroom, but I have everything I want in the ship. I'm in my father's study now. A couple of filing cabinets may have useful documents when you take him to court. I've marked them.
Good. We had been hoping you'd find some evidence. Stu wants to know if you found the marriage certificate for your mom. Also your birth certificate.
Yes, on the marriage certificate. No, on the birth certificate.
We'll have to get that from the paterfamilias. Did you find your music table and the money you had earned?
Yes. I've put everything on the floor in the living room along with the drones. The only other things to take out of the house are the two filing cabinets in my father's study.
I'll send William a
nd Wolf in now to put all that stuff into invisible pallets.
Can you wait a bit? I'm in my underwear. I didn't want to ruin my skirt and blouse doing all the searching.
That's why you didn't want Mathias with you?
Yes. That was exactly the reason.
...
Kashmira waited for William and Wolf to be clear of the house before coming out herself. She walked to the road where her sedan chair was waiting, turned to the crowd, and announced. "You can go in the house if you want. Take whatever you want away with you. My father is hiding in fear in the basement. He won't stop you; nor will I."
# # # # # # # #
By that evening, the crowd had removed everything from of the house that hadn't been bolted to a wall or a floor. Hank, Lucas, Wolf, and Theo visited the basement cavity of the house and did some moonlight construction. They first built a wooden frame on the ground in front of the door to the vault. Then they brought in an invisible pallet containing a portable cement mixer containing.... you guessed it, cement. They poured that cement into the frame. By dawn, it had set.
El Patrón now had a low cement porch in front of the vault's door. It wasn't much of a porch. Only half a step high. If the vault's door were open, you could walk right into the vault without tripping on the lip of the vault's entryway. If the vault's door were closed and you were inside, well..., that was another matter. The cement porch was high enough to prevent the door from opening even a centimeter. That might be a matter of concern for anybody who might be hiding inside the vault.
Within two days, whatever remained of the house had disappeared – flooring, walls, roof tiles, plumbing... everything was gone. A roughly constructed ramp of trodden dirt down one side of the basement hole showed how the neighbours had carried out absolutely everything they could take. Except for the vault. That remained inside the big empty hole that had once been a basement of a big mansion.
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Chapter 43
El Patrón had imprisoned himself in his vault on Thursday, October 17. The last remnants of the house had disappeared on Saturday, Oct 19. So had most of the Wilizy. This full-scale operation had always been seen as a short one.
Melissa's plan called on them to let El Patrón stew inside his vault for a couple of weeks at least. In the meantime, they'd go through his documents, determine those that would be most convincing, find an honest prosecutor somewhere, and then start discussions with that prosecutor about bringing Diego Diamante to justice. Still on the legal front, Stu would ensure that Kashmira was recognized as his legitimate daughter from his legitimate wife. The Wilizy weren't particularly interested in the contents of his vault, but Kashmira had expressed an interest in using some of El Patrón's money to help Constanza and Mariangela who had lost their jobs and their families needed the money. Stu said that he didn't expect a problem with Kashmira inheriting her father's wealth since the Philippines had no laws against inheriting wealth from criminal activities. But unless El Patrón released all of his wealth to her voluntarily, she'd have to wait for him to die before she inherited it.