The Two Sisters of Borneo (20 page)

By Ava’s reckoning she had been absent from her world for about thirty-six hours. The last thing she had done before her second meeting with Wan at the restaurant was tell Jacob Smits to send the information he had to Jeremy Bates at Barrett’s Bank. That seemed a long time ago.

She had given Sonny back his phone; now she asked for it again. She called her own number and accessed her voice messages. Three from May, each increasingly panicked; one from Maria, wondering she hadn’t called; and one from Jeremy Bates saying he had received the information from Smits. He didn’t say what he thought of it or what he had done with it. It was far too early to call to find out.

Ava and Sonny were in the back seat of the car. Suen and one of his men sat in the front. Ava had spoken only Mandarin since arriving in Kota Kinabalu, but now she switched to Cantonese. “Sonny, who is Xu?”

“He runs Shanghai.”

“I assumed that, but how does Uncle know him? From the old days?”

“Xu’s father was from Wuhan. He and Uncle were close when they were young.”

“Ah.”

“Xu came to Hong Kong about a year ago. I don’t think Uncle had met him until then. He might have heard of him, but I don’t think he had met him.”

“What did Xu want?”

“I don’t know. They always meet privately.”

“Always?”

“After the first visit, Xu came to Hong Kong often. And twice — before you came back to look after him — Uncle went to Shanghai.”

“What kind of man is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sonny, you have eyes and ears.”

“I picked him up once at the airport in Hong Kong. I’ve seen him in Shanghai twice, and the only real time I’ve spent with him was when he and Uncle were discussing what to do about Wan.”

“Describe him as best as you can.”

Sonny looked doubtful and then said, “Well, he’s young — still in his thirties, I think. He’s quiet, respectful towards Uncle. He looks and behaves like a man who has an education.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“He’s very well-spoken. I’ve never heard him curse, and the only time I heard him raise his voice was when he saw how devastated Uncle was about your situation. He swore to Uncle that he’d get you back and that Wan would pay for his stupidity.”

“His men don’t look like typical triads.”

“That’s his doing. He likes them to look like regular citizens.”

“And him?”

“The same. He looks quite ordinary, like a businessman, a professional of some kind.”

“He can’t be that ordinary.”

“I mean the way he looks. He’s obviously some kind of operator. His men worship him.”

“Sonny, how many men died here today?”

“I’m not sure, maybe six or seven. I know Suen’s crew took out three. Xu said that if you were harmed, all of them had to go. He said if you were well, Wan could live. But even then, only if that was your choice.”

The Méridien appeared on their right and Wan’s car turned into the driveway. Suen looked back at them. “Do you want us to come into the hotel with you?” His face was impassive, but Ava saw a gleam in his eye that hinted he might have understood the conversation she had just had with Sonny.

“Please. You need to meet May Ling Wong,” she said. “And we should make sure that Wan continues to understand his position.”

They pulled in behind Wan, who stopped his car in front of the hotel and tossed the keys to the valet.

“Do the same,” Suen said to their driver.

Ava hadn’t taken more than ten halting steps into the lobby before she saw May Ling hurrying across the floor. They hugged, Ava’s head pressed against her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t make me cry,” Ava said.

“Why not? I am,” May said.

The men stood around them uncomfortably.

When the women finally separated, Ava said to Suen, “This is May Ling Wong.”

He bowed his head.

“May, Suen is going to leave some men here for as long as you need them.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Until things settle.”

“I guess there’s some sense in that,” May said, and then smiled at Sonny. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Yes. I only wish the circumstances were different.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll be glad to get her back on the plane to Hong Kong.”

Wan and Yu were off to one side, Suen’s man standing next to them. “You wait here until Ah-Pei arrives,” Ava said to Wan. “When she does, have Sonny call my room, and you sit with her until we’re ready to talk to her.”

“What should I say?”

“Whatever you want that doesn’t include my name.”

He nodded, without much conviction or enthusiasm.

“Now I’m going to go to my room to shower and change.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” May asked.

“No, thanks. I think I could use fifteen minutes by myself. Why don’t you wait in your room? I’ll call you the moment she arrives,” Ava said, and then remembered she didn’t have her room key.

She was walking to the front desk when a sense of déjà vu enveloped her. She tried to place its source. And then the dream she’d had after they chloroformed her — the dream about her father — came rushing into her head. She reached the desk and smiled at the clerk. “Excuse me, my name is Ava Lee. I have a room here but no room key, and the bag containing my ID is upstairs,” she said, just as she had in the dream.

“You’re Ms. Lee?”

“I am.”

“Do you want one key or two?” the desk clerk said.

I guess this isn’t a dream
, Ava thought. “One will be sufficient,” she said.

The room was as she had left it, although it looked as if the orchid on her pillow had been replaced by a fresh one. She was completely naked under the black silk jacket and pants. As grateful as she was that Auntie Lin had cleaned her up, she felt almost nauseated at the idea of someone — anyone — washing her body while she was unconscious. Then there was Kang and his greasy hands. She shivered.
This isn’t the time to think about what has been and what might have been
, she told herself.

She undressed and then removed the bandage around her knee. There was slight swelling on both sides. She pressed the kneecap and felt nothing. The back was a mess: a rainbow of black, blue, and yellow interspersed with broken blood vessels.

She climbed into the shower, turned the water pressure as high as it would go, and set the temperature close to scalding. As the water battered her, she imagined it removing every trace of Auntie Lin and Kang. She turned her body away from the water, letting it pour over the back of her knee.

She towelled herself off and then put on some ointment she had in her own case and wrapped the knee with a fresh bandage. Auntie Lin was probably right about the extent of the damage, but that didn’t stop it from hurting like hell.

She dried her hair, pulled it back, and fixed it with the ivory chignon pin. She had worn the pin to the meeting with Wan, and somehow it had survived. She had left her other jewellery in the room, and now she put it on, finding security in its familiarity. The Cartier watch. Her crucifix. She put on a white Brooks Brothers shirt and secured the cuffs with her green jade links, and then she slid on a pair of black linen slacks and her black Cole Haan pumps. She was applying some mascara when her room phone rang.

“Ava, the woman is here. Wan is talking to her,” Suen said.

“I’ll be right down,” she said. She phoned May’s room. “She’s here. I’ll meet you downstairs at the elevators.”

She started towards the door and then noticed her computer was on. She went to it, accessed her inbox, and found a long list of messages. One caught her eye: it was from Jeremy Bates. She opened it.

Ava, I received the information from your man Smits. It is all very compelling. I spoke to my colleague in Aruba, and though it does cause him concern, he isn’t sure it gives him sufficient legal reason to deny a withdrawal request from the parties who control the account. He’s asked us — you, actually — to provide him with something that has some binding legal teeth. In the meantime, he’s promised that he’ll inform me if any withdrawal requests are made. Sorry, that’s the best I can do.

Ava replied,
Thanks for the try. You should have what you need in the next few days.
Tell your man it would be wise for him to stall if the account holders try to move a lot of money.
She paused, reread her last sentence, and then deleted it. It sounded too much as if she was threatening the bank. Besides, she would have Ah-Pei under control soon enough, and the Dutch were probably happy enough to leave their money in what they thought was a secure location.

May was standing where the hotel lobby connected with the banks of elevators. The two women walked into the lobby side by side. It was more active than when they’d left. A line of people was now waiting to check out, and a knot of people at the door surrounded by luggage looked as if they were ready to check in.

Ava could see Sonny and Suen sitting together on a couch, staring off into the distance. She followed the direction of their eyes. In the farthest corner, in an alcove, Wan sat in a chair, his face visible. Across from him she saw the back of Ah-Pei’s head, her straight black hair just reaching the nape of her neck.

“There they are,” Ava said to May, pointing to the alcove. “Let’s visit.”

“I’m nervous,” May said. “I don’t know why, I just am.”

“It will pass,” Ava said.

Wan started to stand up as soon as he saw May and Ava crossing the lobby floor. Ah-Pei turned. When she saw her partners, her mouth gaped and then her hand flew over it.

“I meant to ask you, did you reach the lawyer?” Ava asked.

“He’s on standby.”

“Great.”

As the women neared, Wan moved to one side as if he was getting ready to leave. “Wait a minute. You need to tell Ah-Pei what you told me,” Ava said.

He shrugged and stared at Ah-Pei. “I told them that you hired our men to beat up those women,” he said.

“Thank you. And now you can go.”

Ava looked down at Ah-Pei. Her hands were trembling, her head was lowered, and there were tears streaming down her cheeks.

Wan left quickly, not looking back. He was halfway across the lobby when Suen stepped in front of him. He took Wan by the elbow and guided him towards the couch where he and Sonny were sitting. Ava knew they wouldn’t let him leave until her business was done.

“I’m Ava Lee, and this is my partner May Ling Wong,” she said. “We just wanted to introduce ourselves again.”

Ah-Pei pressed her arms together, burrowed her chin into the top of her blouse, and sank deeply into the chair.

“Look at me,” Ava said.

Ah-Pei shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered.

Ava stood over her, reached down, and took hold of her chin with both hands. “You can’t avoid this,” she said, forcing the woman’s head up.

Ah-Pei’s eyes finally met Ava’s. They were red, and the skin around them was puffy and etched with small lines.

Ava took the chair that Wan had vacated and May took the one next to it. Ava pulled hers closer to Ah-Pei until their knees almost touched.

“You were expecting something like this when Wan called?” Ava said.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew it wasn’t going to be good,” she said, lowering her eyes again.

“Look at me,” Ava said.

“I didn’t mean —” she began, and then the words were overtaken by deep, wrenching sobs.

Ava thought she had seen every response of thieves and thugs to getting caught. Most of them — nearly all of them — started with denial, and then when the facts became clear, they would veer off into various combinations of bluster, threats, and elaborate justification. When those didn’t work, the next stage was attempts at silence, which Ava always had ways of breaking, or violence, which she could manage as well. But as she looked at the woman across from her, she knew that none of those things was going to happen. Ah-Pei had already capitulated, collapsed, and the challenge would be how to calm her enough to tease the story from her. Talking about her sister was not the way to begin.

“We know about the money,” Ava said softly. “We know about the bank account in Aruba, and we know about your bank account in Kuala Lumpur. What we don’t know is whether your brothers were involved in this scheme. Were they?”

“No.”

“We had assumed they were. It made sense that it would be them, grabbing a bit more money on their way out the door.”

“They were happy with what they got. Why wouldn’t they be?” Ah-Pei said, her voice wavering but clear.

“You mean they got all that money that they’d never really earned?”

“Yes.”

“So they had no involvement at all, not even in putting together the sales contract?”

“Jan told them what he wanted. They were too obsessed with getting their buy-out money to care what it meant for the business.”

“Jan de Groot?”

“Yes.”

“You and he were . . . familiar?”

Ah-Pei lifted a finger to her mouth and chewed at the cuticle. Her eyes wandered. She seemed distracted, as if she was struggling to dig up a complicated memory. Then she shivered. “We had sex.”

“You were lovers?”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“Then what would you call it?”

“We had sex. Whenever he was here, and the few times I went to the Netherlands. The rest of the time there was nothing going on between us.”

“You weren’t friends?”

“Maybe. I don’t really know and I didn’t really care. I had my needs. He was willing and able enough.”

“I see.”

“I’m thirty-four.” Ah-Pei’s voice was stronger now. “From the time I was seventeen I worked full-time in the business, six or seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day. I don’t remember having a holiday that was more than a long weekend. My sell-by date for finding a man here went past without me noticing,” she said, and then passed her hand across her chest. “The first time, I forced myself on him.”

“But he came back for more.”

“He said he liked my enthusiasm.”

“That’s a strange word.”

“It’s the word he used. I didn’t mind.”

“Was it de Groot who suggested that you help him cheat your own company?” Ava asked.