'Friends of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra request the pleasure of Mr. & Mrs. P. O'Brien.' The invitation had arrived weeks earlier and reluctantly Peter had accepted.
Immediately after Christmas, they flew to Sydney and Jennifer went shopping for an evening gown by herself. She adamantly refused to tell Peter what she had purchased or to model it for him.
He tried to entice her to reveal her secret as he stood with her on the balcony with his hands slowly massaging her neck and shoulders, pleading that he really needed to know.
****** THAT FATEFUL SUNDAY NIGHT
Peter had at last mastered the art of dressing in his white tie and tails as he waited for Jennifer. He stared out over the Opera House sails, musing that in his whole life he had never before dressed himself in such formal wear. Even for the night he had danced with Jennifer on the stage at Die Fledermaus a tailor had dressed him, fussing over him making certain Peter was a walking advertisement for his business. Then a polite cough interrupted his thoughts.
"Well?"
As he spun to look, Peter's quick reaction was, "Wow! Turn around."
Jennifer could feel his eyes roaming over her as she turned and displayed her new gown. Peter's breathing became more and more ragged as she preened herself like some human female version of a peacock.
The subdued dark gold gown with its triangular handkerchief-shaped, plain bodice with absolutely no back hung from a diamond-studded dog collar to drape down the sides of her breasts clearly revealing she was wearing no bra. The skirt began low at her hips, flowing from a soft gathering of fabric to flare at her ankles, joining the bodice at the front and leaving her back bare of any straps.
Open- toed gold sandals with diamante straps and stiletto heels accentuated her dainty feet and her red painted toenails.
"I sure hope the Hollywood tape is strong enough to hold everything in place," Peter commented with frivolous amusement, "or should I follow you around all night with my hands holding everything in place. That would be my pleasure. Can I practise now?"
Jennifer responded with a giggle as she whirled about to make her way to the lift. She turned to speak to her husband and was surprised to notice that Peter was still standing there, staring at her.
He was having second thoughts of his wife flaunting her charms in public. "Jennifer, don't you consider you are showing too much flesh and the men might genuinely believe you are hunting or available?"
Obviously, he was worried and jealously wanted to protect his wife.
Jennifer walked to her husband and lifted his hands to her lips. She kissed each hand.
"Peter I'm yours and I was once called 'The Ice Maiden'. Well any man who tried anything funny would find this iceberg would sink his Titanic."
"I'm yours and yours alone and I'm dressed like this for you only."
Smiling she stood on her tiptoes to reach up and kiss his cheek. "Your worry makes me feel proud of you as my loving loyal mate. Come my love, enjoy tonight and don't be jealous, I'm yours forever."
The chauffeur-driven limousine halted at the entrance gate of the Hunter's Hill Mansion.
Two burly guards with six guard dogs investigated them and their invitation, carefully shining their torches over them.
Jennifer shivered.
The guards paused in their inspection of her and this inspection was much more intense than their inspection of Peter. They were stripping her naked under their gaze.
Clinging to Peter's hand, she wished she had been conservative in her dressing. However, it was far too late for second thoughts as they stepped into the mansion.
Peter held Jennifer close to him, fending off the lecherous looks of other men, but as the night of partying progressed, the wife of the host dragged him away.
Jennifer watched a tall, willowy, incredibly beautiful Asian take Peter's arm.
She had no time for her jealousy to build as a handsome young man - addressed by one of the guards as Pretty Boy - immediately handed her a glass of punch and demanded she dance with him.
Pretty Boy became her constant companion never leaving her side, dancing with her and keeping her glass well filled.
Many drinks later, Jennifer was no longer wondering where Peter had gone. She offered no resistance to this handsome man, Pretty Boy, as he led her to the quiet surrounds of the swimming pool where they continued dancing. Seeming to be blissfully unaware that he was pulling her obscenely close to his body, she just moved to the music.
Jennifer didn't object when he made her wrap her arms around his neck while his hands wandered across her bare back and dived below the waistband of her dress.
Unaware of Pretty Boy's interest in Jennifer, Peter followed the hostess into the far reaches of the mansion where he suddenly realized that not all was what it had seemed. He stared at the Thai woman and suddenly his mind slipped back to his lessons in the brothel at Bukit Mertajam and he knew.
Her eyes confirmed his suspicion. This was no true woman but a Thai katoey, a ladyboy.
The Asian woman tried leading him into a bedroom.
Screaming, "No!" in perfect Thai, Peter threw her to the floor. He was not interested and the Thai katoey looked strangely apprehensive as she struggled to rise.
Suddenly fearful that he had left Jennifer alone, Peter turned away. He became more and more perturbed as he thoroughly searched room after room to no avail. Distraught, his heart pounding, he feared what had happened when he left Jennifer alone.
Finally, he stepped outside into the pool area in his frenzied hunt.
Incredulous, he watched two figures dancing, his wife wrapped around Pretty Boy as if he were her beloved and Pretty Boy's hands sliding down inside her dress to cup her bare buttocks.
Peter, catlike, stalked his prey certain that his approach was silent, and Pretty Boy remained unaware of his presence.
His hands flashed before Pretty Boy's eyes to clutch him by the throat.
Gasping for air, Pretty Boy found himself flying high through the air to splash fully clothed into the deepest section of the pool. When he struggled back to the side Peter's hand reached out to yank at his hair. No matter how hard he struggled, down he went until he believed that he was about to drown. Three times, he went down before Peter allowed him to breathe.
Staring into the hate-filled eyes of Peter, he heard the warning, "Touch my wife again and you're a dead man. Anyone who touches Jennifer is a dead man walking."
Peter gave a demonical laugh striking a chord of fear in Pretty Boy as he added viciously, "He won't be walking long."
Only then, did Peter rise from his knees and turn to Jennifer who was just swaying to the music, staring into space, blissfully unaware of the commotion around her.
Laughing, Peter folded himself into her arms. "Sweetheart, you've had too much to drink." Looking into her eyes, he recognized that drugs not alcohol affected her. He led her away, knowing it was useless to explain anything to her while she was in this state
"Now it's my turn to look after the drunk in the family," he said, with a touch of wry amusement in his voice.
As they walked to their waiting limousine, Peter could feel tension, hatred and lust enveloping them within a thick wall of emotion. He had interrupted something evil and he didn't know what it was.
Mysteriously, guards and their dogs appeared to escort them, but the fierce glare in his eyes and his military stature made them fall back. They sensed he wasn't the least intimidated by their attitude and presence, even though they were heavily armed.
In the car, Peter shuddered. A clear image of the old man of the jungle seemed to materialise in his mind, repeating, "The gods demand a payment and a harsh reckoning it will be!"
Shaking his head to clear his mind and yet feeling perturbed and apprehensive, he held Jennifer in the tight protection of his arms with his face in her hair.
Silently he prayed that their god would give them the emotional resolution necessary for the payment that he sensed was about to be demanded.
Safely back home, he remembered his drunken binge before they had married. Carefully, Peter undressed Jennifer and put her to bed, disregarding his body's needs to love her. Instead, he cuddled her and realized that she was asleep long before her head hit the pillow.
He wasn't prepared to tell her that 'Pretty Boy' had drugged her.
****** THAT FATEFUL MONDAY
Work called and Jennifer watched Peter rise.
"My head is splitting!" she exclaimed. "Sweetheart, I believe I made a complete ass of myself, as I can't remember anything about last night.
"Yet I'm positive I had only one fruit punch. Everything's a complete blank after that first drink. That handsome young man demanded that I dance with him after you had gone off with that beautiful woman."
"That was no woman. That was a Thai ladyboy." Peter's lips curled in extreme distaste.
"But at least we're both safe. Now you'd better get to work, as you're due in court at 11am. Are you okay, because I really have to rush?"
When Peter arrived ready to open the workshop, he considered it strange that one of the security guards was standing at the shutters, but perhaps he was suspicious after the happenings of the previous night. He was even more mistrustful when he saw a black Mercedes parked up the road.
"Open." Peter sounded happy. The guard seemed to hesitate until Peter added, "I've left my keys behind." He backed his car away from the driveway.
What happened next was unbelievable.
A sudden blast reverberated in Peter's ears as a fireball belched from the workshop through the half-opened shutters. A scream echoed from the throat of the guard. The crash of his body through the shop front across the road cut short his shriek.
