"I'm here to see to the release of my husband."
Chang looked up from his desk. He was very glad he did the petite blonde woman was very much worth looking at, a regular occidental pearl.
"Mrs. Hayes?"
The trim woman nodded "Release? Out of the question! He killed my best delivery man and gravely wounded his assistant, the second man's life hangs by a thread. The penalty for his sins must be death."
The woman's eyes grew large and pleading.
"But he is an American, not a heathen Chinaman! Does not England control this part of China? Doesn't the crown protect white folks?"
Chang's expression remained unruffled. If this was the woman's idea of a charm offensive...
"What did the American Embassy and the British Consulate tell you, Mrs. Hayes?"
"Those men were of no help whatsoever. They claimed, bizarrely, that they had no jurisdiction beyond the wall. That I would have to appeal to you directly."
"They spoke the truth, Madam. The Empire and I have an agreement. The entire Royal Armed Forces could never hope to pacify all of China. The Americans are even less inclined to attempt that task. As a result, the British, the Americans, the French, and all the rest have their own small spheres of influence and rely on strongmen such as me to maintain order for them in places where their forces fear to tread."
"But Benny is an American citizen!"
"Who committed his crimes and was captured within MY jurisdiction! Since his crime was committed here, he is bound by the laws here. Is not murder a serious offense in America?"
"Benny would NEVER kill another man, no matter the reason or temptation!"
"With all, due respect Madam, he was caught red-handed. His bloody hand and fingerprints were on the dead man's satchel!"
"That simply is not true!" replied the ivory-skinned woman.
"On THAT we disagree, Madam."
"But to kill a white man, like he was one of your rabble..."
"Mrs. Hayes!" Chang put in sharply. "Doesn't your Christian church and body of laws state that ALL lives are sacred?"
"Yes! Back in America and the civilized world."
"I can trace my ancestors back over two-thousand years, can you or any other "civilized" man say the same?"
"You MUST release my husband!" It was clear that she was bordering on hysteria.
"Mrs. Hayes, the fact that you had to come to this part of Shanghai on your own, without either a British or American representative to state your case aptly demonstrates how they feel about your husband's innocence. I have a free hand and my conscience is clear. GOOD DAY, MADAM!" Chang's focus returned to the paperwork on his desk.
"Wait," said Rebecca Hayes after a long angst-filled moment, "Can I at least see him? To speak to him. To get his side of this affair."
"Visitors must submit to a search, to ensure they are not hiding contraband or deadly substances like weapons or poisons."
The already pale woman blanched, her mind considering the full implications of the warlord's words.
"Fine!" she spat at last. "I MUST speak to Benny."
Chang made a motion to one of his guards. The man exited the room and returned almost immediately with two Chinese women in western dress. The women differed in age. One appeared to be just about Rebecca Hayes's age of twenty-two. The second was a bit taller and a bit stouter and resembled the younger one enough to possibly be her mother.
"Follow these women, Mrs. Hayes. You shall receive one hour with your husband and not a moment more." He turned over an hourglass upon his desk. Rebecca Hayes wiped her eyes and tried to get ahold of herself as she fell into step between the two Asian women.
As soon as the trio had exited the room, Chang strode a few paces along the wall of his office and opened a well-hidden door behind a fake bookshelf. It was the back of a two-way mirror and Mrs. Hayes, and Chang's women were just entering the search room.
"OK, Misses, take everything off and hand it to Mei," said the younger Chinese woman. "She will search your clothes and I, Sara, will search your person."
Rebecca Hayes bit her lower lip before her hands reached for the pins securing her feathered hat. The chapeau came loose and made its way to the reaching hands of Mei.
"Hurry, Misses, your time is short," offered Sara.
The flustered housewife picked up her pace, hastily unbuttoning her butternut dress top, separating the Bakelite buttons until they reached her navel. She tugged each sleeve out of the dress revealing her white cotton blouse beneath it.
Chang watched with keen interest. It was not often that he got to spy on foreign women while they were being searched. Those he did get to spy were usually slatternly streetwalkers and the like who had worn out their welcomes in the more sedate neighborhoods of Shanghai. Rebecca Hayes stepped out of the rest of her almost floor-length dress. With scarcely a pause, she unbuttoned the long cotton blouse that fell to the top of her thighs.
As far a Chang was concerned this is where things really got interesting. The buttons parted, revealing a lacy bandeau concealing a moderate bust and a trim toned figure. Mrs. Hayes had a delightful navel. The dress was off, leaving the young wife in just her bloomers, bandeau, stockings, and shoes. She bent and unbuttoned her shoes before stepping out of them. The hose came off next revealing lovely dainty feet with delicate high arches. Chang had to adjust his trousers.
Rebecca Hayes removed her bandeau, flushing with embarrassment as she did so. Behind the glass, Chang had trouble remembering when he had seen a finer pair of breasts. They were firm half-melons with light brown areolas and chance pink nipples. Lastly, she slid out of her silken bloomers, revealing to the world that she came by her golden locks naturally. Chang was dazzled. Mrs. Hayes's legs were well-turned and her figure hourglass. Stripped down like this, she resembled nothing so much as a captive wood nymph.
Why would a man run the risk of committing a crime when he had such a creature for his very own? Chang asked himself. The Chinese crime lord knew that if Rebecca Hayes was HIS wife, he'd get nothing done ever because he would never allow her out of bed except to eat and relieve herself!
Sara made the prisoner's wife endure the final humiliating steps. The young Chinese woman ran her fingers through the westerner's hair, had her open her mouth and raise her tongue and turn slowly with her arms extended, before donning surgeon gloves and probing her vagina and anus.
"You are clean, Misses," announced Sara.
Rebecca just harrumphed in response. Mei had finished with her clothes. Knowing that time was of the essence, Rebecca threw on her butternut dress, not bothering to put anything on under it, and said, "Now, take me to my husband!"
The concrete floor felt like ice beneath her bare feet. The Chinese women turned her over to a male guard who escorted her to a row of cells, where her husband, Benny sat forlornly in the middle one. His eyes grew large when he saw who was approaching.
"Honey! What are you doing here?"
Rebecca broke away from the guard and rushed up to Benny's cell. Her arms and hands embraced him through the bars. They exchanged a passionate kiss.
"I had to come, darling," replied Rebecca. "I had to hear what happened from your own lips. That foul man, Chang, and others have said that you killed a man. Surely there is some mistake?"
Benny had considerable trouble meeting his wife's inquiring look.
"My God! Then it is true?" she sputtered.
Benny turned red with shame and replied. "I didn't want to tell you. The business dad left me is failing. I don't need all that much to get out of debt. Only a few thousand to buy off my biggest creditors. I didn't tell you before we left on vacation because I didn't want you to worry. I wanted to protect you. On the ship over, I heard from some of the crew about Chang and his illicit currency exchange. I figured if I could just divert one package from one courier, I'd have enough money when we got back home to erase all my problems and give us both a fresh start. I never intended for things to get violent."
For a long moment, all Rebecca could do was stare. It was as if some magician had waved his wand and replaced her familiar, loving husband with an identical, perverse stranger!
"That explains why you were acting so strangely our entire time here. Darling, you killed a man! I don't know how to react, and that vile Chang intends to kill you!"
"Yes, I know. The embassy sent a lawyer. He gave me an encyclopedic history of western occupation in China and why all the western governments leave men like Chang alone. They keep the lid on this powder keg of a country. The fact that I'm guilty means there is nothing they can do for me. I've been written off by my own people to be left to the hands of the stinking Chinese horde!"
"Darling, it can't end like this! I'll talk to Chang, bargain with him. I refuse to believe that our marriage ends this way. You have made a mistake, a grisly one admittedly, but you were not right in the head. Money troubles fogged your thinking. Once you are out of here, we can work on this situation together. Even if you lose the business. Bankruptcy isn't the end of the world."
Benny sighed heavily, "Honey, it is hopeless. My insurance will probably payout. Look up my friend Todd Frederick from college. Remember him? I'm sure he fancies you. He's not much to look at but he's loaded."
