The Two Sisters of Borneo (19 page)

The woman’s hair was a mass of grey curls framing a round, soft face. Her two hands held one of Ava’s, stroking the back of it. She smiled. “You are such a pretty girl.”

Ava was in a bed, the covers pulled up and one arm outside, in black silk. She sat up. She was wearing a black silk mandarin jacket, closed at the neck.

“I washed you myself,” the woman said. “The jacket and pants are my daughter’s. She’s almost exactly your size.”

“Thank you.”

“And I put ointment and a light bandage on the back of your knee.”

The room was big enough to hold a double bed, a dresser, and the chair that the old woman sat in. The door was no more than six feet from the foot of the bed. It was closed, but Ava could hear familiar voices on the other side.

“Are you Auntie Lin?”

“How did you know?”

“Wan said he was coming here.”

“Yes, I am Auntie Lin.”

“What time is it?”

“Eight.”

“In the morning?”

“Yes.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Four hours.”

The voices rose. Wan seemed panicked. Yu was telling him that things were going to work out, but his voice was full of worry.

“What are those men to you?” Ava asked, pointing at the door.

“Yu is my sister’s son. When she died, I looked after him until he found a job. It was for less than a year, but he never forgot and has looked after me ever since.”

“You know what he does, right?”

“We can’t always choose the paths our lives take.”

Ava started to climb from the bed, but the old woman blocked her path with her body.

“I want to talk to them,” Ava said.

“No, please don’t try. They asked me to make sure you stayed here until the other men came.”

“What other men?”

“The Shanghai men.”

“Men are coming from Shanghai?”

“No, the men are here already, in KK. Wan told them just about ten minutes ago where my house is. They should be here soon.”

Ava closed her eyes. She wanted to pray. She normally knelt when she prayed, but the old woman seemed determined to maintain her position, so she prayed sitting up in the bed. She prayed to Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, to thank him. She had prayed to him many times when she needed help. This time, at the warehouse, she hadn’t; she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps she had thought it was too much to ask of him. But he had been there for her anyway, unbidden.

When she was finished, she looked at the old woman. Her head was lowered as if she was trying to give Ava privacy.

“Auntie, how do you know about the Shanghai men?”

“I heard them talking.”

“When they did, did they mention the name Xu?”

She nodded.

“Is Xu here in KK?”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s in Shanghai,” she said, and paused.

“What else?”

“Wan is afraid of him.”

“How do you know that?”

“When Wan was talking to him, he was almost kowtowing.”

“What did you think when you heard him?”

“That he was a man who was very afraid, a man who isn’t ready to die.”

A cellphone rang in the other room. Ava shushed the old woman and listened. Yu said, “Yes,” three times and then, “You’re only a few minutes away. The house is painted white with a red door. There’s a black van parked outside.”

“Your friends are almost here,” Auntie Lin said.

“I don’t know who they are.”

The old woman looked at Ava. “Then who are you, for them to do this thing?”

“I think I’m a friend of a friend.”

Someone knocked at the bedroom door. “Yes?” Auntie Lin said.

“Auntie, wake the woman now. We need to have her with us,” Yu said.

“She’s awake already.”

“Bring her out.”

The old woman moved to one side, motioning for Ava to climb down from the bed. Ava’s left leg went first; her right followed, the knee stiff and aching. She winced.

“I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think the damage is long-lasting,” Auntie Lin said. “It’s a very bad bruise but I was able to move your leg around when I washed you and put on the ointment.”

Ava sat on the side of the bed, swinging the leg sideways and then back and forth. Gradually it began to loosen, the pain backing off or at least becoming bearable.

“Okay,” she said, sliding to the floor. “Let’s go see them.”

The bedroom door opened into what Ava assumed was the living room. A couch, an easy chair, a coffee table, a hutch filled with photos, a large-screen television, and eight men filled it to capacity.

“You okay?” Wan said.

“My leg is sore,” Ava replied.

“Sorry.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Xu’s men will be here in a minute. You’ll be going with them,” Wan said, and then paused. “I don’t want you to hold any grudges.”

“Are you crazy?”

“It was just a mistake on my part, a bad judgement based on bad information.”

“Just?”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re only sorry because of Xu.”

“I didn’t know you were connected to him.”

“So that’s why you felt free to kidnap me?”

“I told you, it was a mistake.”

She stared at the other men. Yu stood just behind his boss. Boom was leaning against a wall; Kang was next to him, trying to look invisible.

“Your man Kang, he molested me. Was that a mistake too?”

“We’ll look after him when this is over.”

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

“What did he do except look at your tits?”

“His filthy hands were all over me while he was masturbating.”

Wan looked at Kang. “We’ll take off his right hand.”

“That’s all?”

“What else do you want?”

Kang went pale. He whispered something to Boom.

“I’m going to think about that,” she said.

“Whatever else you want,” Wan said. “I don’t want you to hold any grudges.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Ava said.

Yu stepped alongside his boss. “I also want to apologize for any bad behaviour on the part of me or my other men.”

Ava searched the room. “Where is the man who took the pictures?”

“He was with Hwang. He’s dead,” Yu said.

“And Ma said that he didn’t approve and did what he could to stop him and Kang. If that isn’t the case —” Wan said.

“Who is Ma?”

Yu pointed to the man whom Ava had called Boom.

“No, he was okay,” she said. “I owe him my gratitude.”

Boom turned his eyes to her and lowered his head in thanks.

“Is there anything else that we can do —” Wan began, and then stopped when the door crashed open.

Sonny Kwok filled its frame. In three steps he was in front of her. She looked up at him and said, “I’m all right.”

Behind him, eight other men edged into the room. Sonny was dressed in his usual black suit, white shirt, and black tie. The others were in dress shirts and slacks. Several had shaved heads but none had a mohawk or an earring, and the only visible tattoos she could see were discreet.

“This is Suen,” Sonny said, pointing to a man who had to be six foot six. “The others are his crew. There’s another crew in the city, mopping up.” He stared at Wan and his men. “Which is Wan?”

“I am,” Wan said from the back of the room, where he was partially hidden by Yu.

Sonny moved so quickly that Yu was thrown against a wall as he was shoved aside. Wan retreated but Sonny caught him almost instantly, grabbed him by the throat, picked him up, and slammed him against a wall. He suspended him at eye level. “Ava, what do you want me to do with him?”

“Nothing right now. I need him,” she said.

He continued to hold Wan against the wall, his hand squeezing. Wan gagged, his feet flailing in mid-air.

“Sonny, let him go,” she said.

Yu took one step forward before coming to an abrupt halt as Suen laid an arm across his chest. “Don’t interfere,” Suen said.

Sonny stared hard at Ava, then nodded and threw Wan to the ground.

“Xu said that if we returned the woman unharmed, this would end,” Wan said through his gasps.

“Are you really okay?” Suen asked Ava.

“I’m fine.”

“Then I’m going outside to call the boss to tell him,” Suen said.

“What about our men here?” Yu said. “Are they free to go?”

“No one moves a muscle until I get back,” Suen said.

Ava looked at Sonny. His mouth was drawn tightly, his jaw muscles clenched. Ava knew the signs. He wanted to hurt someone and was just waiting for an excuse. “I don’t have a phone and we need to call Uncle to let him know that I’m safe,” she said to him.

His eyes swung towards her, and she saw his rage turn into the same pain and confusion that had been there the last time they had met.

“Is he okay?” she asked quickly.

He shook his head.

“What’s going on?” she said.

“He’s in Hong Kong.”

“So?”

“Going to Shanghai was too much for him. By the last day there I could tell he was worn out, weaker than I’ve ever seen him. Then, when he found about you, it was as if whatever was holding him together gave away.”

“But you got him back to Hong Kong.”

“Only because Xu arranged to fly him back by private jet, with a doctor and a nurse.”

Ava froze. “He needs to know that I’m okay.”

Sonny nodded. “We can phone the hospital.”

“Do it. Do it now.”

“Ava, he might not be able to take the call.”

She felt her stomach contract. “If they won’t let you talk to him, leave a message and tell them it’s urgent that they give it to him.”

“It would be better if you spoke to them.”

“Call.”

“Yeah,” Sonny said, reaching into his jacket pocket.

“And we need to get there as fast as we can.”

“We flew here from Shanghai on another private jet, a big one. Xu said we could use it to go to Hong Kong if things worked out here.”

“What about these other men?”

“They’ll drop us off and then go on to Shanghai.”

“I might want some of them to stay here for a few days. I don’t want to leave May Ling without support.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” he said, and then handed her his phone. “It’s ringing.”

Ava followed the prompts and reached patient information. She asked for Chow Tung.

“He’s in the palliative care unit in R Block. There’s no phone in his room,” the operator said.

“Can you connect me with the nursing station?”

“Just a moment.”

“Yes, I’m calling about Chow Tung,” she said when the connection was made. “Can you tell me how he is, please?”

“He’s resting.”

“No, I need to know how he is.”

“I’m sorry, Miss, but I’m not allowed to give out that kind of information over the phone. You need to speak to his doctor.”

“Doctor Parker?”

“Yes, that’s the one who’s listed.”

“Is he there?”

“No.”

“Do you have a phone number for him?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll get it myself.”

“Yes, you’ll have to do that.”

“One more thing, my name is Ava Lee and I’m his friend. He’s been worried about me. I’m coming to Hong Kong later today to see him. Do you think someone could tell him that, that I’m coming, and that I’m well? It’s important for him to know.”

“I will do the best I can.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not communicative at present.”

“What —”

“Miss, I can’t discuss his condition in any more detail. Please call Doctor Parker.”

She closed the phone. Sonny was staring at her. “Is it bad?” he asked.

“Yes, but I have to call Doctor Parker to find out how bad. Do you have his number?”

“No.”

“Call Hong Kong information and get it for me.”

“Okay.”

Ava turned to Wan. “Where are my phone and my shoes?”

“They should be at the restaurant.”

“Send one of your goons to get them.”

“They won’t get near the restaurant,” one of Suen’s men said.

“Why not?”

“We disposed of some of his men there. It was noisy, and messy. The cops are sure to have been called in. They’ll have the place secured by now.”

“Well, I need to get to my hotel and I need some shoes.”

“My daughter wears a size close to yours,” Auntie Lin said from the bedroom doorway. Ava wondered how long she had been standing there, what she had heard.

“Thanks,” she said.

“I have Parker’s number. I’m dialling it now,” Sonny said.

She looked at Wan. “I want you to call the brothers.”

He looked at Sonny and then finally turned to her with a mixture of confusion and fear crossing his face. “What brothers?”

“Tambi and Mamat, the brothers of Chi-Tze, one of the young women you arranged to have beaten up in the restaurant parking lot.”

“I didn’t arrange that,” he said quickly. “It was done through my man Hwang. I knew nothing about it until it was over.”

“I don’t care what you knew or didn’t know. Call the brothers.”

“But why?”

“They paid your man Hwang.”

He shook his head. “No, they didn’t.”

“Then who did?” Ava asked, searching his face for the lie.

“The woman.”

“What woman?” Ava asked.

“The sister. The one named Ah-Pei.”

The shock jolted Ava’s body, and she knew that her face had to be registering the same surprise. “How do you know it was her? I mean, how do you know for certain?”

“Hwang told me.”

“Hwang was killed, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, he’s dead, and probably so are the two men he sent to do the job,” Wan said.

“So how am I to believe what I’m being told?”

Wan shrugged. “I talked to her yesterday; I talked to her about you. I asked her what she wanted us to do with you.”

“And what did she say?”

“She wanted to know if we’d mentioned her name. When I said no, she said we could do whatever we wanted. You were no concern of hers.”

“Ava, excuse me,” Sonny said. “Parker’s phone is ringing.”

Ava took Sonny’s cell from him and turned her back on Wan. The phone rang four times and went to voicemail. “Shit,” she said, and left a message asking him to call her on Sonny’s phone. “We’ll be in Hong Kong later today. We’ll go directly to the hospital.”

Suen reappeared at the door. “The boss sends his regards.”

“I’m sorry, but you might have to phone him again. Sonny and I need to get to Hong Kong today, and I don’t want to leave my friend May Ling Wong alone here. Can you provide her with some men for a few days?” Ava said.

“Sure, and I don’t have to call Xu. How many do you want?”

“Four?”

“Not a problem.”

“Thanks.”

“Now what about this bunch?”

“I need Wan and Yu.”

“We made a deal with Xu,” Wan said.

“Relax. All I want you to do is make a phone call and set up a meeting,” Ava said.

“The woman?”

“Yes, the woman. Tell her to meet you in the lobby of the Méridien Hotel in an hour — no excuses for not being there. If she doesn’t want to come, tell her you’ll go to her office or her house. I want you to greet her when she arrives at the hotel, and then you can leave and get on with the rest of your life.”

“Okay.”

“Do it now,” Ava said, and then turned back to Sonny. “Have you spoken to May Ling?”

“Not since we landed. She knows we’re here, that’s all.”

“I’ll call her from the bedroom.”

As Ava turned to go, the pain in her knee flared and she stumbled. She pressed a hand against the wall and steadied herself. Common sense told her to see a doctor, but that would have to wait until she was in Hong Kong. She limped into the bedroom.

May’s cell hadn’t completed one ring before Ava heard her voice. “Sonny, is she all right?”

“May, it’s me and I’m fine.”

“Thank God, thank God, thank God. I’ve been so crazy with worry.”

“When I got past twenty-four hours with those creeps, I thought I might be seeing Sonny, but I didn’t expect him to arrive with an army.”

“All I knew was that he’s here — he called me when he arrived. I have no idea who’s with him or what’s been going on, though the hotel lobby was all abuzz this morning about gunfire in town. They made it sound like war had broken out.”

“Close enough.”

“I waited up for you the other night, as I said I would. By midnight I was starting to get concerned and I thought maybe you had forgotten to call me. I went to your room and then down to the lobby to ask if they had seen you come back. When they said no, I parked myself there to wait. By two I was seriously paranoid, so I called Uncle in Shanghai and told him what was going on. He tried to call the contact he’d given you here but couldn’t get through. We kept in touch for the rest of the night. By seven he said he’d decided to send Sonny and was making arrangements. Then I got a call from the furniture factory saying that a guy had phoned looking for me. He said it had something to do with Ava Lee. He wouldn’t leave a number, just said he’d call back in fifteen minutes. I told them to give him my cell number when he did. They did, and he called me.”

“How did he know who you are? How did he know to ask specifically for you? I never gave them your name.”

“I just assumed you had.”

“No matter. What kind of deal did he try to cut?” Ava asked.

“He wanted a ransom. I told him that I thought we’d pay but I had to consult with my other partners. He gave me an hour to make a decision.”

“How much did he ask for?”

“A million U.S. dollars.”

“Which partners did you talk to?”

“Just Uncle.”

“You didn’t mention anything to Ah-Pei?”

May Ling paused, and Ava knew she had been caught off-guard. “No. Uncle was the only one I considered talking to.”

“Of course.”

“I have never heard him so upset. He could barely speak at first. He said the man he was meeting with — someone called Xu — had offered a plane to bring Sonny to KK and was organizing a squad of men to send with him. He told me to stall for as long as I could. He told me to ask for pictures, and when I got those, and if they were okay, to tell them it would take us some time to pull together that amount of cash.”

“When did the men leave Shanghai?”

“After I got the pictures confirming that they had you and that you were still alive.”

“How many pictures?”

“Two.”

“Who saw them?”

“I had arranged to have them emailed directly to me. I sent only one to Shanghai.”

“Thank you.”

“Uncle seemed distraught enough already.”

“He’s in Hong Kong now. He’s taken a bad turn.”

“Ava, I’m so sorry.”

“I want to get there today, but first we need to wrap up our business here.”

“Don’t think about business.”

“No, we need to finish this thing in KK and with those thieves in Holland. I’m at a house somewhere in the city. I’m going to head to the Méridien in a few minutes. Can you meet me there?”

“I’m there already.”

“May, did you get a chance to speak to the lawyer about the money that was sent from Aruba to Malaysia?”

“Yes, and his contacts have been able to track it. It was a very clear trail that led to a numbered account.”

“Is there a name attached to the account?”

“Yes — Song, the brothers’ family name.”

“Was there a first name?”

“No, just the initials C.C. That surprised me a bit because the brothers’ names are Mamat and Tambi, but when I asked the lawyer, he said the account had been in place for more than twenty years and until the past month had been dormant for about three years. I assume it was the parents who set it up.”

“That seems logical. And as for the recent activity, I don’t think it had anything to do with the brothers.”

“What?”

“As hard as this may be to believe, I think Ah-Pei was responsible for the attack on the girls. And I think it’s Ah-Pei who cut the deal with the Dutch.”

May Ling gasped and then went silent.

“I know it sounds absurd,” Ava said, “but the guy who told me has no reason to lie. In fact, he has every reason to tell me the truth.”

“Why?” May said. “Why would she do something like that?
How
could she do something like that? It’s . . . unthinkable.”

“Those are questions we can ask her ourselves. I’ve arranged for her to be at the Méridien in about an hour.”

“To meet with us?”

“No, she thinks she’ll be meeting with the people she hired to act for her.”

“Oh my God.”

“May, I want to find out the truth and then I want our money back. That’s where our day with her will start and end.”

“If she doesn’t co-operate?”

“She will,” Ava said. “One more thing — call the lawyer again; he should be on standby for us. Once she comes clean, we’ll want it in writing and videotaped. I want something we can use against the Dutch. I also don’t want to give her any chance to change her story later when she has to face her sister.”

“The police?”

“There’s no need for them, except as a threat. Her life is going to be ruined — that’s punishment enough.”

“And the business? What do we do about that? We can’t let her stay involved.”

“That’s a subject for another day. Can your Chiks hold the fort until we make a decision?”

“Of course they can.”

“Good. Then let’s leave it at that and take some time to consider our options. Now let me get myself sorted out here.”

“I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

“Just be discreet. I don’t want Ah-Pei to see us until we’re ready for her.”

“I understand.”

Ava came back into the living room. Wan and Yu were sitting on the couch and Sonny was leaning against the wall next to them.

“Did you talk to her?” asked Ava.

Wan nodded. “She’ll be at the hotel.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I told her there were big problems and that we had to meet.”

“Did she have any questions? Did she ask about me? Did she ask if I had been ransomed, or shot?”

“No questions.”

“So she readily agreed to meet with you.”

“There was some resistance, until I stopped asking nicely. I scared her.”

Ava turned to Suen. “How many cars do we have?”

“Two.”

“Can I catch a ride to the Méridien Hotel with Sonny?”

“Sure, if someone tells me where it is and how to get there.”

“Do you have a car outside?” she said to Wan.

“Yeah.”

“Drive it to the Méridien. We’ll follow.”

“I’ll send a couple of men with them, for company,” Suen said.

“Thank you. Now there’s one more thing I have to do before we leave,” she said to Sonny. “See that scum over there with the mohawk? Put him against the wall.”

Kang managed to take a step towards the door before Sonny reached him, picked him up, and slammed him against the wall where he had held Wan, his right hand gripping him by the throat.

“Lower him so his feet almost touch the ground, and then move to one side,” Ava said.

Sonny let his hand slide down slowly.

Ava limped towards them. She put her right hand against Sonny’s shoulder for balance and then drove her good left knee into Kang’s groin. The groan turned into a gargle as Sonny squeezed his throat. Ava kneed him again.

She looked into his face. His eyes were half-open, and Ava thought she saw a hint of mockery in them. She stepped back, the memory of his hands on her breasts becoming more vivid. “Fuck you,” she said, her right hand forming a phoenix-eye fist. “Now you can look exactly like your brother.”

Sonny didn’t let go of him even as blood from Kang’s shattered nose spurted over the sleeve of his suit.

“We can leave now,” said Ava.

Sonny loosened his grip and Kang fell to the floor, groaning and curling into a fetal position.

“You don’t have any shoes,” Sonny said.

Auntie Lin appeared at the kitchen doorway. She held a pair of pink flip-flops in one hand, a plastic shopping bag in the other. Ava walked over to her. “Your clothes are in the bag,” the old woman said.

“Thanks for these, and for your kindness,” she said. “I’ll return the shoes and the clothes you loaned me.”

“There’s no need. And besides, I want to ask for a favour.”

“What?”

“My nephew, he isn’t that bad a man.”

“Then he should take on a different line of work. Nice guys aren’t that good at it.”