An unpublished novel by Patrice Montagu-Williams
Reminder of the previous episode: A network of laboratories has been dismantled by the Burmese army. Drug production is disrupted. The market is changing. He is moving towards the massive manufacture of methylfentanyl, the “yaba”, the drug that drives people crazy. A new strategy must be put in place.
Episode 12: The Blood Thief
When Comrade Liang, from Guoanbu, had entrusted her with this mission, from which the Party expected much, he asked her what means she wished to have.
– I only need a solid blanket on the spot, Comrade. The rest, I’ll take care of it.
The Empire of Temptations
Two weeks later, she had been summoned:
– We found what you need, said Liang to him: officially, you will run a “go-go bar”. It’s called “The Empire of Temptations”. It is located in the middle of Nana Plaza, the “red light district” of Bangkok. Anonymity guaranteed. We have made sure that the cops at the “Narcotics Suppression Bureau” leave you alone: you just have to give them, each month, what is agreed and they will come and claim you. On the other hand, you must absolutely avoid any contact with the Chinese Embassy, even if the operation goes wrong. You are alone, Comrade Wu, and no one will come to your aid if you fail, you know that. Besides, it’s simple, officially, you don’t exist. Even for us. If you get caught, we’ll say we don’t know you. We do not want any problems with the Thai authorities who, until now, have remained benevolent towards us. We already have enough enemies in the area! We also figured you would need a right arm you can count on.
– Thank you, Comrade: after all, I’m a weak woman, she replied, smiling.
The other almost burst out laughing. He remembered a report from the Kunming police which had been transmitted to him after the attack committed in the station of this city of Yunnan by Uyghur terrorists who had killed, with a knife, twenty-nine Chinese. The officer in charge of the case pointed out the extreme cruelty displayed by Agent Wu, whom the Guoanbu had dispatched to the scene. Purely gratuitous cruelty: the culprits having already provided all the desired information, why pour acid in the eyes of two of them and cut the fingers with secateurs to a third? No sanction had, however, been imposed on his
Regard: Agents who hate the human race are often the best, even if they sometimes have a hard time controlling themselves!
– You will have by your side a Mongol, a guy that we went to flush out in a tribe of warriors: the Djalayirs. His name is Muqali. It is a rock. He’s already there. The Party has decided to trust you, Comrade, despite your illness. I would like you to know that this Mongol is not there to watch you, but to support you!
Thirst for blood
She claims that, for her safety, she must remain hidden and that she cannot go to the hospital every month for her blood transfusion: if she wants to continue living, the Guoanbu doctor, in Beijing, told her that it is imperative that her hemoglobin level be maintained between twelve and sixteen grams per deciliter.
So, Le Mongol took the big steps. Regarding the material, as he says, he did business with a gang in Samphanthawong, Bangkok’s Chinatown, specializing in human trafficking, who found him, for a hundred American dollars each, poor girls, Burmese the more often, in an illegal situation, picked up in the street, and brutalized beforehand by strong doses of Stillnox, a sleeping pill containing zolpidem, a very powerful hypnotic. As soon as he is notified, he goes to fetch the goods for them in a clothing workshop behind Yaowarat Road. Gersendji, a nurse at Bumrungrad Hospital, a Mongol from the Djalayir clan, like him, a faithful whom he pays dearly and of whom he is sure he will not speak, is warned and finds him directly on the spot. Once the girl’s blood type has been verified as prescribed and that there is no trace of HIV in her blood, the fitting is carried out.
The transfusion operation lasts between two and four hours. The Mongolian and the nurse remain with the patient to avoid any risk of a non-infectious transfusion incident, which is called TRALI, the post-transfusion acute respiratory syndrome. The girl loses consciousness quite quickly and doesn’t notice a thing.
The Bloody Countess
She believes that young and fresh blood will allow her not only not to die, but also not to age and to retain her beauty.
“You will always be beautiful,” Le Mongol told her, to reassure her, the day she spoke to him about this Hungarian countess who, in the sixteenth century, bathed in the blood of her victims to keep her youth. He thinks that she is gradually losing touch with reality. Once, she had even asked him, half-jokingly, to call her Her Majesty. He hadn’t said anything and decided not to inform Comrade Liang about it for now.
At the end of each transfusion, he just removes the donor’s body with the help of Gersendji.
“What are you going to do with it,” Comrade Wu had asked her the first time?
– Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it, he replied. There will be no trace.
So she had fallen asleep again, exhausted and had never asked the question since.
To be continued…
Find here all the episodes of “The Red Empress”:
Find here episode 1
Find here episode 2
Find here episode 3
Find here episode 4
Find here episode 5
Find here episode 6
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Find here episode 8
Find here episode 9
Find here episode 10
Find here episode 11
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