JC: William Redman Carter Part 2: Hermit Chapter 14 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006 “They weren’t arrested, they were in protective custody,” Lucy said. She had watched a security film of the entire thing and it was true that they had been caught in the middle of two opposing gangs. Odds were good that the fight between the two gangs would have amounted to little more than some pushing and shoving. Ling and Betsy had not shown the kind of restraint that the gang members would have brought to the confrontation. They had responded with the full intent of causing serious bodily injury. “Why were they placed in protective custody?” William asked wishing that he could see her face. “How can I put this? They were rather exuberant in their response to being in the middle of a fight. The police are concerned that the gangs will want revenge,” Lucy answered. “How exuberant?” William asked thinking that Lucy was acting too much like Betsy. “Let’s just say none of the gang members have left the hospital yet,” Lucy answered trying to avoid giving too many details. William rolled his eyes as he interpreted the answer. Betsy and Ling had destroyed the gang members without killing any of them. Odds were good that a few would never be able to walk again. He sighed and said, “Well, I’ve asked Claire to go there and bring all of you back here.” --- Ling and Betsy walked into the restaurant like queens. It was an ugly little place with old tables that rocked when things were put on one side or the other. The linoleum was worn and faded. The décor was cheap and tacky. The walls needed painting. Not a single word in English was visible in the entire place. It did not look like a place of business that would continue to be open for much longer, but it had a dedicated clientel. The two women were not intimidated by the number of men sitting around reading newspapers, playing cards, and eating. The fact that all activity came to a stop and everyone stared at them had no effect on them either. They treated it as if it was their due. Ling walked all of the way to the back of the room and stepped behind a small wall that kept the occupants from being visible from the door. She stopped in front of a man known as Papa Chung. The man looked at her with a cold hard expression that had brought nightmares to many others. Ling was not intimidated. Looking at the man with a smile that lowered the temperature of the room by ten degrees, she said, “Don’t bother trying to get even with me. Just treat this as a lesson learned and go on with your business.” “You’ve made a major mistake,” Papa Chung replied leaning back to signal his men. He couldn’t believe the nerve of the woman walking into his place like that. Ling reached down and picked up a tea pot from the table. Holding it up and out to her side, she said, “Kill the teapot.” Upon saying the words, three things happened nearly simultaneously. The first was the creation of large hole in the wall behind Ling. The second was the explosion of the teapot into a hundred pieces. The third was the appearance of a hole in the wall behind Chung and about three inches from his head. Ling was impressed that Chung’s reaction was little more than a narrowing of his eyes. Chung was impressed by the demonstration. Reaching down to pick up his tea cup and take a sip of his tea, he considered it with the cold calculating logic that had allowed him to gain his position as leader of the gang. Enough of the woman’s body was visible to the street for someone to know where she was. She was holding out three fingers of the hand that were visible to an observer on the street. He added up all of the clues. Ling had communicated to the shooter where the teapot was held. The shooter had taken the shot blind based only on that slight amount of communication. Setting down his teacup, he said, “Impressive, but you cheated. You have a very good shooter who was able to read your body position that well. You must trust him a lot to risk injury like that.” Ling raised an eyebrow and smiled at the man. There was something rather terrifying about the smile that she gave him. She answered, “I didn’t cheat. I was making a point. All it takes is one man talking to you and we’ll read his body position to know where you are.” Chung paled. He hadn’t thought it all of the way through like that. There were dangerous people who were merely dangerous and people who were deadly dangerous. You could emerge victorious fighting against people in the first category. When fighting people in the second category, you would have to be satisfied with mere survival. This woman had just proved that she in the second category. Considering what she had done to his men in the restaurant earlier, surrounding himself with people wouldn’t help much if he were to escalate this to the next level. Even if he won, he would lose. Nodding his head, he said, “I will treat this and the other matter as lessons learned.” “It is nice doing business with smart men,” Ling said. She turned and walked to where Betsy was waiting impatiently for her. Betsy was eating an egg roll that she had lifted from one of the men’s plates. Together the two women walked out of the restaurant. The women walked down the street and got into a van. A few minutes later, Claire got into the van and said, “We can go now.” “I’m glad you decided to use the fifty caliber rifle. There was a metal plate in the wall. Anything smaller and I doubt it would have made it through to hit the teapot,” Ling said while the driver pulled away from the curb. “I thought there would be,” Claire answered with a grin, pleased to know that she had hit the target. That had been a once in a lifetime shot that would have made William Tell proud. She had made two of them that day. Bouncing in her seat, Betsy said, “That was fun. Can we do that again some time?” “No,” Ling said shaking her head. She was so tense that she thought that she would break if she had to move too quickly. Two such visits in one day were too much. Looking at Betsy, she said, “Remember. Don’t say a word about this to Lucy or her bodyguards.” Betsy pulled out a pistol and an ammo clip from her purse. Holding them up, she asked, “What do you want me to do with this?” “Where did you get that?” Ling asked looking at the little nine millimeter pistol that was favored by so many street gangs. “One of the men pulled it out right after Claire shot the teapot. I took it away from him,” Betsy answered while brushing a hand through her hair. “Give it to me. I’ll get rid of it,” Claire said holding out a hand for the gun. She had been so focused on Ling that she hadn’t seen Betsy take the gun. She didn’t like working without a spotter. “Do you want to go shopping?” Betsy asked after handing over the gun. Claire checked the gun to make sure that it was unloaded. She looked at the pistol for a second and then disassembled it with quick deft movements. Looking up at Betsy, she answered, “No.” “No. I’m going back to the hotel and soak in the hot tub,” Ling answered amazed that Betsy wanted to go shopping. This whole thing had started when they decided to take a quick break from shopping to have a little lunch. She sighed and said, “I’m getting too old for this.” --- William and Barbara were in Barbara’s office waiting for Vera to arrive. William was dreading this meeting and hoped that all went as planned. He kept fidgeting and wished the woman would arrive. He had spent a lot of time trying to arrange a proper situation in which to place Vera. Watching William fidget, Barbara felt bad about the entire situation. This was the second failed attempt to get a research assistant for William. She had called her mother and found out a few details about Vera’s background. In hindsight, she should have researched Vera’s background a lot more, but even that wouldn’t have identified the problem. In order to fill in the silence, Barbara said, “Sandra and Juanita seem to be very happy.” “I’m glad,” William said. He had enjoyed his nights with the two women. While Sandra had started the evening tense and unsure, Juanita had acted like such a visit was a normal everyday activity. “When is it my turn?” Barbara asked. There was a trace of nervousness in her voice when she spoke. Sandra and Juanita had both told her that she had to be exceptionally explicit in telling William what she wanted. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” William said believing that she was only doing it to fit in with the rest of the women. “I want it. I want it so bad that I can’t sleep at night,” Barbara said. She had talked for a long time with Sandra. Much to her horror, she discovered that William really didn’t believe that they wanted to sleep with him. It boggled her mind. Every other man she had ever known had wanted her regardless of her desires in the matter. It was strange to be on the opposite side of the fence for a change. “I’ll arrange for a nice dinner tonight in my quarters and we can talk about it then,” William said wishing that Lucy was at home. Unfortunately, Lucy wouldn’t be returning until the next afternoon. Before Barbara had a chance to respond, there was a knock on the door. She called out, “Come in.” Vera entered the room and looked at William with obvious distrust. She moved the other chair in the room so that she was seated as far from him as possible. Looking over at Barbara, she said, “You requested that I come here.” Clearing his throat, William said, “I was talking to the president of the Organization of Women Engineers last night. She said that they were having a problem trying to get young women interested in engineering as a profession. After a bit of discussion, she wanted to know if I could help her with the problem.” “What has that got to do with me?” Vera asked. “I suggested that she get a top-notch research assistant to collect all of the sociological reasons that prevent women in this country from pursuing engineering careers. I said that she needed to investigate what is different in countries where there are large numbers of female engineers. She agreed that it was a good suggestion, but that there was one major problem. Since it is a non- profit organization, they don’t have the money to pay someone,” William said. It had been a lot of hard work maneuvering her into that conversation. Irritated at the fact that he hadn’t answered her question, Vera repeated it, “What has that got to do with me?” “I have agreed to provide a research assistant to the organization. Are you interested in the position?” William asked. “You don’t want me working for you because I won’t research that disgusting sex industry,” Vera said crossing her arms and glaring at him. She had expected something like this, first he harassed her about researching the sex industry and now he was firing her because she wouldn’t demean herself. “Quite the contrary,” William replied. His reason for sending her away was that she needed some help and that help wasn’t available where he lived. Looking at her, he said, “I find that you are extremely competent at what you do. I would love to keep you here and working on my project. Everything you have delivered to me is of very high quality. To be quite honest, I do not want you to leave.” “So why are you trying to get rid of me?” “I’m not. I’m asking if you’d like to serve as the research assistant for the Organization of Women Engineers. I would never send someone who I thought was less than stellar. It is my reputation at stake. This is a wonderful opportunity to improve society and I felt that I would be remiss if I didn’t offer it to you before looking elsewhere. “This is a temporary assignment that will last anywhere from two to five years. When it is done, you would return here to work for me,” William answered. Mentally, he added that she would return if she wanted to work for him. He doubted that she would want to return. Vera stared at William trying to decide if he was being honest with her. She was tempted by the offer, but the suspicion that he might be doing this to get her out of the way bothered her. Unwilling to commit, she said, “I’ll think about it.” “Excellent,” William said surprised that she hadn’t accepted the offer immediately. “Give me a day or two to think about it,” she said. “Take as much time as you need,” William said. Vera stood to leave. Before she reached the door, William said, “Let me ask you one question before you go. There’s no need to answer me now, but I want you to think about it while you are considering taking the position.” “What?” Vera asked wondering what he wanted from her. “How would you have reacted if you had learned about the position being available and I hadn’t offered it to you?” William asked. He turned away from her and faced Barbara. Vera stared at the back of his head for a moment and then slipped out of the office. --- It was highly unlikely that anyone on Earth would find Barbara to be anything other than a stunningly beautiful woman. This wasn’t just a personal opinion of a handful of people, but was backed by science. Scientists had discovered that people who had more symmetric features were seen as being more beautiful. When Barbara had been in college, she had allowed the symmetry of her face to be measured in a psychology experiment. She had a level of symmetry that was better than most supermodels. Not only were her features perfectly symmetrical, they were also perfectly placed. Less commonly discussed in the public literature was the attractiveness of the symmetry of the rest of the body. Barbara was blessed in that area as well. Almost all women have asymmetric breasts. The differences are usually so minimal that they aren’t noticed. Despite the fascination that most men have with breasts they have to differ significantly in order to be noticeable. Barbara didn’t have that problem with her body; it was nearly perfectly symmetrical. There was nothing wrong with Barbara’s body. In fact, there weren’t even any moles or birthmarks to spoil her skin. Unlike a lot of women, Barbara didn’t feel it that there was some feature that spoiled her appearance. She felt that it was the lack of a feature that spoiled her appearance. Instead of looking like a sexy woman, she felt that she looked like a manikin. William looked across the room at Barbara while she posed for him. His eyes roamed over her body. Personally, he agreed with her - her body was too perfect and it gave her an almost surreal appearance. That didn’t seem to bother his erection. He said, “You’re very beautiful.” Looking down at his erection, Barbara knew that he was interested. She approached him slowly and watched as his erection throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Other men had come just from watching her approach like that. She asked, “Do you like what you see?” “You know I do,” William answered. He wished that Lucy was home and standing in Barbara’s place. He missed her even though she had only been gone for four days. A slight jiggle of Barbara’s breasts derailed his thoughts. Shaking his head, he said, “You are so sexy.” Smiling, Barbara climbed onto the bed and crawled over to him. Experience had taught her that she should get the man off as quickly as possible so that he would pay attention to her body. Men often had problems with premature ejaculation. She reached down and fondled his erection. William had other ideas though. Tracing a finger along her jaw line, he said, “Intelligent and sexy. What a devastating combination.” Before she realized what was happening, William had turned the tables on her. She was soon in the throes of the most amazing orgasm of her life. It was only the first of many she was to experience that night. In the morning, she could not recall the transition from making love to sleeping. --- William stood outside the private terminal at the airport waiting for Lucy to arrive. The weather was cold. His light jacket was just a little too thin to keep him warm. He jammed his hands into his pockets and started pacing in an attempt to get a little warmer. It wasn’t enough. He was about to go inside and wait at the door when the jet arrived. Smiling, he walked out to greet her. Lucy climbed out of the jet and ran to William. All thoughts of being cold fled William when he felt her arms around him. He kissed her and then said, “I missed you so much.” “I missed you too,” Lucy replied happy that he had come to meet her at the airport. He kissed her passionately and only broke when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned his head to find Betsy bouncing around. She said, “Hello, William. Are you done kissing her, yet?” Chuckling, William answered, “No.” Lucy pushed him over to Betsy and said, “Say hello to your sister. She’s been talking about seeing you the whole flight.” “Hello, Betsy,” William said. He hugged her for the full five seconds that she could keep from moving. He looked over at the plane in time to see Ling guiding the two bodyguards out using arm holds that appeared to be painfully applied. Curious, he asked, “What’s going on with Ling?” “She’s becoming a marriage counselor,” Betsy answered. She raced off to watch the men unload the luggage from the jet before William had a chance to ask another question. He didn’t connect being a marriage counselor with putting arm locks on people. Turning to Lucy, William asked, “Can you explain what she said?” Grinning at his obvious confusion, Lucy patted him on the cheek and said, “There are only two things you need to understand.” “What?” “Listen to me and listen to your mothers,” Lucy answered. She had reports of William’s evenings with the staff and was pleased that they had been satisfied. The idea that William was surrounded by beautiful women who would protect him from predatory gold diggers was becoming a reality. “I did,” William said. “I know you did. You made four women very happy,” Lucy said. It was a great relief to her that the tension that had been slowly building had finally been relieved. “Four?” William asked. He had only slept with three of them. Confused, he thought about it for a second and then said, “Oh, you’re including Vera.” Raising an eyebrow, Lucy wondered if he had slept with Vera too. That would be a disaster and was exactly what she didn’t want to have happen. She asked, “What about Vera?” “She’s moved to Detroit to take a research assistant position with the Organization of Women Engineers. It is a long story, but she wasn’t too happy working with me. She’ll be a lot happier now,” William answered. “I guess that makes five women you’ve made happy,” Lucy said. She wondered if it was really a good idea to leave him alone for so long when he didn’t have his gift. “Who is the fifth?” “Think about it,” Lucy answered. She glanced over at the bodyguards and flinched when Ling kicked Colt in the calf. She said, “That has to hurt.” “What is she doing?” William asked watching the two bodyguards beg Ling to leave them alone. “I have no idea, but she’s definitely doing it with energy,” Lucy said. When she had stepped out of the jet, Ling had been talking to them about multiple partner marriages. She could only assume that the two body guards had made some comment that Ling had found insulting. Claire climbed out of the jet and approached William and Lucy. She was smiling at the couple. When she reached them, she turned and watched Ling. With a grin, she said, “I don’t think they will call a woman property ever again.” “Oh, that was stupid,” William said grimacing. “Yes. They both agreed that two men couldn’t really share a woman because it would always be a problem deciding which one owned her,” Claire said. She laughed and said, “They’re lucky Ling is doing the necessary attitude adjustment. I’d have just shot them in the knees.” Running her hand down William’s braid, Lucy said, “I’m lucky that William doesn’t think that way.” Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “I know the truth. I belong to you.” “You’re so sweet,” Lucy said knowing that most women would have replied by telling him that he was well trained. She knew that it wasn’t a matter of training. Claire laughed and said, “William is a Carter. He knows that you can not take another person’s love for granted. He knows that love is a gift that is given every day.” “It is a two way street,” Lucy said. Claire hugged Lucy and said, “You’re a Carter, too. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.” Ling had the two bodyguards on their knees repeating what was to be their mantra for the rest of their lives. Together, the two men were saying, “A wife is not property.” Watching the scene, William said, “She’s going to have to do the same thing for Nicole and Natalie.” “She knows that. When she’s done, then it is Kelly’s turn to educate all four of them. If they think they are in pain now, they don’t have a clue what is coming their way,” Claire said with an evil little smile.