Book Excerpt: THE PARIS VENDETTA by Victor Swatsek
Vendetta: A private feud in which the members of the family of a harmed or murdered person seek to avenge the incident by killing the slayer or one of the slayer's relatives, especially such vengeance as once practiced in Europe for many years.
“Let me tell you a little story,” Ernie said, looking around. “Just before the Chinese Civil War broke out, Victor Chen’s family had to leave their home in Nanchang, China. The surviving members of his family had been smuggling gold bars and jewels out of China and into Sapporo, Japan, for some time. When it was time to leave, the grandparents didn’t want to go with them, because they were too old and frail to make the journey.
Several days later, a missionary couple arrived to try to help the local villagers. They saw Victor’s place, liked it a lot, and wanted it for themselves. They literally threw his grandparents out of their own house. Naturally, the grandparents died shortly thereafter. It was over a year later that Victor heard from friends about what the missionaries had done.”
“Wow!” James said, shocked.
“Years later, Victor was finally able to come back to his home where they had all grown up,” Ernie continued. “However, there was a Chinese general left over from the war who claimed it was his property as spoils of war. Victor showed him papers that it was his family’s home and was willing to buy it back. Seeing the general wasn’t going to budge, Victor then made an offer he couldn’t refuse. The general disappeared soon after he signed the document and was never heard of again.”
“No kidding!” James said, eyes getting wider.
“It gets better,” Ernie said. “As it turns out, the missionary couple died of some disease like typhoid fever or malaria before this general took it over. Since the missionary couple died, Victor couldn’t get any satisfaction. He always remembered his grandparents and had a small shrine made up in the backyard for them. At the same time, Victor created the Li Chan Group, an organization created to help other families who suffered from the war. It prospered and grew in members.
“Now, fast forward to 1983. Walter and Victor purchased a broken-down casino and hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, Arnold Rauchmann missed out buying the place and was angry. He immediately started pestering Walter that he should have been the person to purchase this casino and hotel from the family. The former owners didn’t like him. That was one of the reasons why they sold it to Walter. The other reason was that Walter paid in cash.
Walter and Victor planned to remodel the place. But, Rauchmann wouldn’t give up pestering them about buying this hotel. He kept bugging Walter and then Victor to sell the place. Walter ultimately sold his interests in the hotel and casino to Victor and made a nice profit. Victor also had a lot more experience in the casino business. That made Rauchmann even angrier.”
“That must have set this guy off like wildfire,” James said.
“It did, but you have no idea how much it upset this guy,” replied Ernie.
Ernie continued. “A month later, Victor decided to sell to Rauchmann.”
“He sold the place?” James said, sitting on the edge of his seat.
“Yes, but he had one condition. Let me finish the story,” Ernie said, now smiling. “Rauchmann had to fly to Macau on the pretext that he had to sign all the papers there because the Li Chan Group wanted to meet him personally. He was picked up at the airport in a white limousine. They drove him directly to Victor’s house. Rauchmann came into the house and politely bowed to Victor and the other member of the Li Chan Group. They all sat down at a large table, smiling, but did not say anything. Victor served him tea laced with a powerful drug. At that point, the other members of the group unceremoniously stood up and left.
“Soon Rauchmann started feeling woozy and then couldn’t move his hands or arms. He started to panic,” Ernie said.
“‘What’s happening to me?’” he said, shocked.
“While this was all going on, Victor told him the story about Reichmann’s parents, Manfred and Heidimarie Rauchmann, how they took his house and threw Victor’s grandparents out on the street, where they died. Of course, he denied knowing anything about what his parents did. That may or may not have been true. He was now paralyzed from the neck down, but he could still hear and talk a little.”
Ernie continued, “Victor’s friends picked him up in that frozen state, put him into a large wicker basket, and put a lock on it. Now Reichmann’s starting to panic and scream, but his voice was muffled. Then, Victor had two of his friends load the basket onto a truck, and drive it out of town. An hour later, they stopped at an open field, took him off the truck, and carried him over to a pre-dug hole. He was still screaming as they covered him up and buried him alive. Remember he was the son of the two missionaries who threw Victor’s grandparents out on the street and he carried that grudge for over sixty years.”
“I never want to get on his bad side,” James remarked.
“Victor is really a great guy when you get to know him,” Ernie said. “As long as you treat him, his family, and friends with respect, you’ll be fine. I go over to the Red Dragon Casino and Hotel anytime I want to. He always has my two girlfriends available to me when I come over. I tip the girls big, I pay for all my gambling, and I have a great time.”
