The Disciple of Las Vegas (24 page)

Ava's cellphone rang at four thirty in the morning.

“I know it is probably too early to call,” Uncle said, “but I thought you would like to know that Felipe Arellano just left Ordonez's office.”

“His office?”

“Yes. After he spoke to you he called Arellano. According to Chang, he went ballistic over the phone. Chang is not sure how much of it was acting and how much was real. Whatever, it was effective. Arellano, along with his full team, went to Ordonez's office, and by the time Ordonez was finished with him, the President could hardly wait to contact London.”

“I thought he might be exaggerating about that relationship,” Ava said.

“Ordonez owns him.”

“So he said.”

“And what about Vice-Premier Tong?”

“That is a far more delicate arrangement. Even with all his money and investments, Ordonez is a minnow to Tong. Any help Ordonez wants from China will have to be carefully phrased and presented as a request for a favour. The good thing is that Tong loves his son more than anything, and he knows that his son's success is tied to Ordonez. So he will listen to what Ordonez has to say, and if he can do anything to help — without putting himself at risk — he will probably do it.”

“So they haven't spoken yet?”

“Yes, they have, but Chang was not there when they did, and he says Ordonez was not forthcoming with details.”

“Was he worried by that?”

“Not particularly.”

“So now we wait,” Ava said.

“Chang said that the British are to contact you directly if they need more information. He gave them your cell number, so keep it on.”

“I will.”

“Call me the moment you hear anything. I will keep my phone on as well,” Uncle said. “Ava, my instinct is that this thing will either move quickly or not at all. If you do not hear from anyone by mid- to late afternoon, you should start planning your trip home. We have exhausted our options. There is not much to be gained by spending time and money just spinning our wheels. We have the money you got from the men in Las Vegas. Everyone will have to be satisfied with that.”

“I agree.”

Ava tried to fall asleep again but her mind was racing. At five o'clock she heard a noise at the door and knew the newspapers had been delivered. She slid out of bed and dropped to her knees. For five minutes she prayed, asking St. Jude to look after her for one more day.

She got up and collected the
Times
and the
Wall Street Journal
at the door, made herself a Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, and pushed a chair towards the window. She opened the curtains and looked out onto High Street. The sidewalk and roads were wet, but the streetlights were now illuminating only a fine mist.

She read both papers from cover to cover, made herself two more coffees, and at six thirty turned on her computer. She returned to the web pages she'd been reading about Roger Simmons and watched the BBC interview one more time.
He's a man with ambition
, she thought. The more she listened to him, the more hypocritical he sounded.

Ava stretched her arms over her head, yawned, and then yelped as pain coursed through her ribcage. She was still dressed only in panties and a T-shirt, and her legs felt chilled. She stood up and looked outside. The sun had finally emerged, the sidewalk was dry, and Kensington Gardens was lit up so brightly it looked as if the leaves on the trees had been polished. Ava went to the bathroom, washed, brushed her teeth and hair, and put on her running gear. She debated about putting her mobile in her pocket but decided not to.

She left the hotel, crossed Kensington High Street, and entered Hyde Park at the Alexandra Gate. She ran north across the Serpentine Bridge and continued to North Carriage Drive, where she turned east. She thought about Roger Simmons as she ran. A good run usually cleared her head, but the pathways were busy and she couldn't get to full speed as she dodged in-line skaters and groups of walkers. Negative thoughts began to intrude. She became convinced that no one would call her, that Roger Simmons was going to get a free pass. In the light of day her late-night inspiration seemed more wishful thinking than cunning strategy. She sped along to Stanhope Palace Gate and then south through the heart of the park, to the pathway that ran along the south bank of the Serpentine. She ran as fast as she could, trying to burn off the negativity that gnawed at her.

She checked her cellphone as soon as she got back to the room. Nothing. She sat down at the computer and emailed her travel agent in Toronto, asking her to hold a seat on the day's last flight from Heathrow to Pearson.
I'll give it the entire day
, she thought as she headed for the bathroom and a shower.

Ava stripped and had just turned on the water when she thought she heard her phone ring. She considered running to the bedroom to answer it, but the sound died. Perhaps she had just imagined it.

When she came out of the bathroom, she put on a clean T-shirt and track pants and began thinking about where to have lunch. Moving towards the room phone to call the concierge, she noticed the message light blinking on her cellphone. A man named Anderson had left a number, asking her to call him back.

“Prime Minister's Office,” a receptionist answered.

Ava drew a deep breath.
God bless Tommy Ordonez
, she thought. “My name is Ava Lee. Someone named Anderson left me a message and asked me to call him back.”

“That would be Daniel Anderson. I'll put you through.” The line went silent for a few seconds.

“Ms. Lee, thank you for calling back.”

Ava heard paper rustling in the background. “Are you Daniel Anderson?”

“I am.”

“And am I on speaker phone?”

“Yes, you are.”

“And are there other people with you?”

“No, I was sorting through some papers, but I'm done now. Just a second,” he said. Ava heard him pick up the receiver. “So, thank you for calling back.”

“You're welcome, although I'm not sure why you phoned me in the first place.”

“We understand you're here in the U.K. on business.”

“Yes.”

“Has it been going well?”

“No, it hasn't.”

“Ah. We were told the same thing — that there were some issues.”

“Mr. Anderson, who is
we
?”

“Ms. Lee, I think you should expect a phone call from Roger Simmons at some point during the day,” Anderson said, sliding around her question.

“I wish I shared your confidence.”

He hesitated. “Look, I don't want to go into this any further than I already have. What I would like to do, sometime later today, is give you a bell to see how your day has progressed. Would you be amenable to that?”

“I don't see why not.”

“Excellent. Well, good luck to you then,” Anderson said and hung up.

It was close to midnight in Hong Kong. Ava phoned Uncle.

“I've just received a call from the British prime minister's office and was told to expect Roger Simmons to contact me,” she blurted.

“We were told something like that might happen,” he said over the noise of dishes clattering in the background.

“By whom?”

“Arellano, and then by Tong as well. They both told Ordonez they had spoken to the Prime Minister, or at least someone senior in his office — you can never be sure with these people. In any event, the message got delivered.”

“And it seems that the Prime Minister, or someone in his office, has spoken to Simmons.”

“It seems that way.”

“That still doesn't mean he's going to give us what we want,” Ava said.

“No, but at least the door is open again. And we will find out what matters most to Simmons — his reputation and position as a minister of the Crown, or fighting lawsuits and negative publicity as a private citizen trying to hang on to stolen money.”

“Would they have made the choice that clear-cut?”

“Let's hope it is in his mind, although I am sure that Arellano and Tong did not make it that blatant, and I am sure the Prime Minister did not make any promises. But they know each other and understand each other's needs. Some things do not have to be said between men in high positions.”

“I was planning to fly to Toronto late tonight. I'm going to cancel.”

“Yes, you need to wait.”

Ava went over to the window. The sky was cloud-free, the sun shining brightly. As she looked down at the street she spotted the two men from the day before. They were standing on the sidewalk in front of Kensington Gardens, directly across the street from the hotel. Even from that distance she could make out the one with the mohawk.

“Uncle, I think Jackie Leung's men are here,” she said quietly.

“What?”

“I saw two men last night, and now they're back. They're outside my hotel, facing the entrance.”

“The contract has been cancelled,” Uncle said.

It was Ava's turn to be surprised. “What?”

“Jackie Leung is dead.”

“When?”

“Sonny caught up with him tonight. Leung fell into Victoria Harbour. It turns out he could not swim.”

“And the contract?”

“Cancelled as of fifteen minutes ago. I had just finished talking to Guangzhou when you called.”

“No one seems to have told the two guys outside my hotel.”

“There has not been much time.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Uncle paused. “Describe the men to me.”

She did, emphasizing the mohawk and the earrings.

“It sounds like it could be them. I will call Guangzhou on my other phone to confirm.”

She tried to listen but his conversation was muffled. When he came back on the phone, the first thing Ava heard was a heavy sigh. “It is definitely them. The one with the earrings is the leader; his name is Ko. Guangzhou has been trying to contact them. They tell me their mobile phones are off.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Write down this phone number,” he said. “It is the number of the boss in Guangzhou. His name is Li. He is waiting by his phone now and will not leave until he hears from them. He suggests that you go outside and talk to them. Tell them the contract is cancelled and they need to talk to Li.”

She was still standing by the window looking down at them. Their raincoats were buttoned, and she knew that beneath the folds, probably tucked into their belts, they were carrying weapons. She could only hope they were knives or machetes and not guns.

“Okay, I guess I can't stay in my room all day waiting for them to turn on their phones,” she said. “I'll go downstairs and talk to them.”

“Call me back as soon as you are finished,” he said.

Ava stood by the window, staring down at the two Chinese men. They were smoking, their backs pressed against the wrought-iron fence that fronted the Gardens. The one called Ko was talking to his partner, a small smile on his face. They looked relaxed and comfortable, but Ava noticed that their eyes never wandered from the hotel entrance.

She grabbed her phone and put the piece of paper with Li's number on it into her pocket. She debated putting her jacket on and decided it was warm enough for just her tee.
Besides, I shouldn't be outside that long
, she thought. She took the elevator to the lobby and walked out the front door, stopping when she got to the entrance so that she was framed by it and clearly visible.

Ko was talking to his partner, but he glanced across the street and saw her. His eyes locked on to Ava and, without turning, he elbowed his partner. Ava raised a hand to acknowledge them, just as the sightline between the hotel and the opposite sidewalk was blocked by several large trucks waiting for the light to change.

Ava waited for the traffic to shift, reluctant to get closer until she could see them again. It was a long light, and it seemed like several minutes before the trucks moved on and her sightline was clear. When she looked across the street, Ko and his partner were gone.

She scanned the length of the sidewalk in front of the Gardens and saw no one she recognized. There was nothing to her left but the intersection and traffic moving along High Street. She looked to her right. The sidewalk ran for about fifty metres to the next light, and standing alone beside it was Ko. There was no other person between him and her.

Ava started to walk towards him, the phone in her hand hanging loosely by her side. She kept her eyes fixed on him. Ko was as focused on her, his expression, even from a distance, intense and determined.

Halfway towards him, she passed a narrow alley on her right. A sign screwed into the wall read
delivery entrance
. She was almost beyond the alley when she sensed movement.

She instinctively pulled back to her left and caught the glimmer of steel. The man with the mohawk had removed his coat and wrapped it around his wrist, covering everything but the knife blade. He lunged, aiming at her side. Her backwards motion had shifted her body out of its path; the blade swept past, catching the underside of her left arm. Her cellphone fell to the ground. Ava's right hand shot down to grab his arm at the wrist, immobilizing it.

He stepped back into the alley, trying to wrest his arm free, pulling her in with him. “You have to call Li!” she yelled, still hanging on.

Ko appeared at the alley entrance, only four or five paces away. He reached into his raincoat pocket and pulled out a knife handle, pressed it, and a nine-inch stiletto blade hissed into view.

Ava was trying to keep an eye on Ko while still holding on to his partner's wrist. The man was lashing out at her with his free hand, so she twisted the wrist with as much force as she could. The snap was audible. He screeched, dropping the blade, and she felt the fight go out of him. She shoved him at Ko, who was now only three paces away. She kneeled to pick up the stiletto he had dropped, her eyes never leaving them.

The two men exchanged some words. Then Ko reached under his raincoat, took out another knife, and gave it to his partner. She watched in disbelief as the man with the mohawk clutched it in his good hand. The men separated and moved to either side of her, still keeping some distance. Ava moved backwards towards a wall so she could keep both of them in front of her.

“The contract is cancelled! You have to call Li!” she yelled again.

The man with the mohawk took up a position on her left. She could see the pain on his face, the arm she had broken dangling uselessly at his side. Ko was taking small steps to the right and then the left, inching forward all the time. The knife hung loosely by his side. She could feel him measuring the distance between them. She was doing the same, while keeping an eye on his partner.

Ko crept closer, his eyes fixed on Ava, the knife now poised to strike. She focused on his feet, knowing they would tell her where to move when he began his attack.

“Talk to me, Ko,” she said.

He stopped, a glint of recognition in his eyes.
He doesn't understand
, she thought — she'd been speaking Cantonese. “Ko, you need to phone Li,” she said in Mandarin. “The contract has been cancelled. Li is waiting for your call.”

Ko held his ground, the knife pressed against his thigh, but she could see the first sign of understanding in his eyes. “There's no need to do this now,” she said. “And if you take one more step in my direction I'm going to defend myself.” She raised the knife she held. “I know how to use this. I'll cut your heart out if I have to.”

“The contract is cancelled?” he said.

“Yes. Li has been trying to reach you.”

“Our phones don't work here,” he said

“Li said they were off.” Ava gestured towards the alley entrance. “Call him on mine. It's on the sidewalk back there.”

He hesitated.

“Call him,” Ava said. She took the piece of paper from her pocket. “I have his number. Do you need it?”

“No.”

“Then do it,” she said.

Ko backed up carefully to the alley entrance, found the phone, and slid it across the pavement with his foot. He bent over to pick it up, his eyes still on Ava. “Come here,” he said to his partner.

The man with the mohawk sidled back to Ko, who guided him to a place against the wall about six metres from Ava. The two men spoke briefly, then Ko opened Ava's phone and punched in the numbers.

Ava noticed a middle-aged couple standing at the entrance to the alley, looks of shock and fear on their faces. “This was a family squabble,” Ava said. “It's over now. There's no need to be concerned. There's no need to involve yourselves or anyone else in this. It's over.”

“But you're bleeding,” the woman said.

Ava looked down at the gash on her arm. It was about ten centimetres long but not very deep. Still, blood was running down her arm and hand, and a few drops had trickled onto the pavement. “It looks worse than it is,” she said, wiping at the wound with the bottom of her T-shirt.

“We should call someone,” the woman said.

“No, please. I'm okay.”

They hesitated, then the man took the woman by the arm. “You people shouldn't bring your ways to this country,” he said as they turned to walk away.

Ava shook her head and looked back at Ko and his partner. Ko was talking on the phone, nodding his head. He listened for another minute before closing the phone, and then he whispered in his partner's ear.

“Li says I'm to tell you it was just business,” Ko said.

“I understand.”

“It was just business.”

“I know — just business.”

Ko held out Ava's phone. “Here.”

“No, slide it to me,” she said.

He shrugged, then tossed it at her feet.

Ko's partner, leaning against the wall, groaned.

“You'd better look after him,” she said.

Ko spat on the ground and reached for his partner's good arm. “I would have taken you,” he said. “Next time.”