The King of Shanghai

by Ian Hamilton

  “Wonderful,” Ava said.

  “And the offer letter is done for the Pos. I think it expresses exactly what you want,” Amanda said.

  “I’ll read it later. Right now, I’m famished.”

  “Champagne okay for you?” May asked, pointing the bottle towards Ava’s empty glass.

  “Please.”

  “Here’s the menu,” Amanda said, passing Ava a thick red leather tome. “The chef is quite famous. His name is David Chauveau. He’s French, of course.”

  “You’ve all decided?” Ava asked, scanning the menu. “Let’s order.”

  Ava was awed by the quality of the food. They had all ordered kumamoto oysters, which were served in shot glasses with arugula gelée, fennel, lemongrass, and pickled Granny Smith apples. For her main course May had chosen pork belly coated in masala spices and mango chutney. Both Amanda and Chi-Tze opted for wagyu beef tenderloin. Ava had grilled octopus and crispy pig ear. The pig ear was particularly spectacular, its light, crunchy exterior giving way to a luscious fatty interior.

  They chatted as they ate, May entertaining them with stories about Suki’s negotiating style, which was highly emotional — and obviously effective. “And that damn woman,” May said. “We had no sooner reached the agreement with Beijing than she started to talk about a company in Guangzhou!”

  When the table had been cleared, Amanda reached down into her briefcase and pulled out four sets of paper, three pages each, neatly stapled. “Shall we go over this now?” she asked.

  “I think my head is clear enough,” May said.

  They read silently. Ava noticed Chi-Tze and Amanda exchanging glances as they tried to gauge the other women’s reactions. Keeping her face expressionless, she said to May, “Well, what do you think?”

  “Although it says that Three Sisters will play an active role in the business, it doesn’t mention that Chi-Tze will have a permanent senior position.”

  “Why doesn’t it?” Ava asked the two younger women.

  “I thought it was a bit presumptuous,” Chi-Tze said.

  “Don’t you feel up to the job?” May asked.

  “It’s what I’m trained to do.”

  “You’re not answering the question,” Ava said. “We know you have the education. The point is, do you feel strong enough to take this on? I’ve obviously made the assumption that you are, but if you feel otherwise, now is the time to say. We don’t want to throw you into a situation that you can’t handle.”

  “I can do this.”

  “Are you sure?” May asked.

  “Yes. I know I will have to manage Clark as well as the nuts and bolts of assembling a business, and I know that Gillian will be watching me like a hawk, but I’m up for it. I’m up for all of it and I won’t let you down.”

  “Then rewrite the letter to reflect the fact that you will be working there full-time and making decisions for us in relation to the PÖ company,” Ava said.

  “We will,” Amanda said. “Do you have a particular title you want us to use?”

  “Senior vice-president of marketing and branding,” Ava said. “That’s the only change I can see that we need. So when that’s done, send it to Gillian.”

  “And if they accept our terms?”

  “Then Chi-Tze had better start looking for a place to live in Shanghai. And she should talk to Clark about what kind of space he’ll need to operate in.”

  “What about papering it?”

  “We’ll use our Hong Kong lawyers,” May said.

  Ava’s phone rang, catching her by surprise; she thought she had turned it off. She looked at the incoming number. It was the same as before, but this time it dawned on her who was calling.

  “Sonny?” she said.

  “Hi, Ava. Are you still in Shanghai?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am,” she said, standing and moving away from the table.

  “Are you somewhere you can talk?”

  “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “Carlo called me earlier tonight.”

  “Carlo?” Ava repeated.

  “He sounded nervous.”

  Ava knew Carlo very well. He had worked for Uncle for years, usually in tandem with a partner, Andy. The two men had done jobs with Ava and had always been efficient and loyal. Without their help the year before, she doubted she would have been able to extract her brother’s business partner from Macau. “Did he want anything in particular?”

  “He wanted to know where you are.”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “No. Then he asked me to ask you to call him.”

  “Why would I call Carlo?”

  “I have no idea, but he was insistent.”

  “What’s he doing these days, anyway?” Ava asked.

  “He’s gone to work for Sammy Wing in Wanchai. Do you remember Sammy?”

  “Yes, he helped us track down Jackie Leung when that creep contracted to have me killed.”

  “That’s him. He and Uncle became close after that, and when Uncle died, Wing offered jobs to Carlo, Andy, and me. Carlo was the only one who took him up on it.”

  “What does Carlo do for him?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t ask.”

  “Yes, it’s better that way,” Ava said. Uncle had wanted Sonny to stay as far away from his old Triad roots as possible.

  “Anyway, now I’ve passed on his message like I said I would.”

  “Do you have a number for him?”

  “Yes, but Ava, don’t feel that you have to call him. You don’t owe him anything. He was paid well enough for what he did over the years.”

  “Actually, Sonny, I owe him quite a bit.”

  “You sure?”

  “Give me the number.”

  “After you talk to him, let me know if there’s anything strange going on,” Sonny said. Ava heard the menace in his voice and couldn’t help but smile. At well over six feet and more than 250 pounds, Sonny was the fastest, most vicious man she had ever encountered, one of the few men she doubted she could best physically. Not that she’d ever had to worry about that — he was completely loyal; she knew there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her.

  “I’m quite sure it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” she said.

  “Still . . . ”

  “I know, Sonny. Thanks for the concern.”

  “Is there any chance you’ll be coming to Hong Kong this trip?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You would let me know?”

  “Sonny, if I do go to Hong Kong, you’ll be the first person I call.”

  “I thought so, but I just like to hear it. I’ve missed you.”

  “Me too.”

  ( 16 )

  She forced herself to sleep with the help of a cognac and two melatonin tablets. After she had woken at two, three, and then five thirty, she knew afternoon naps would have to be banished if she was ever going to overcome the jet lag. It was just past seven when she finally gave up and crawled out of bed. She made a coffee and settled at her computer to read emails.

  Amanda had sent their offer to the Pos the night before, copying her and May. Ava read it over and was pleased by how precise it was. There shouldn’t be any confusion about their intentions.

  There were also several messages between May and Suki Chan confirming flight and meeting details for Beijing. May’s flight was at nine, and Ava was certain she was on her way to the airport now. She thought about calling her and then wondered what she could say other than “Good luck.” In any event, if things went according to Suki’s plan, Three Sisters was about to more than double the size of its logistics business.

  Ava scanned the rest of her mail, reading the short, newsy notes from her mother and her sister and a longer one from Maria that was filled with yearning. She fired off answers to Jennie and Marian an
d then sat back and thought about her girlfriend. They’d been together for more than a year, and with the exception of a one-night stand in the Faeroe Islands, Ava had been completely faithful. It was the longest relationship she’d ever been in. The question wasn’t whether she wanted to maintain it, but could she live with someone — with anyone — on a full-time basis? She had been living alone for more than fifteen years without feeling lonely. Maybe it was her personality, maybe it was a result of her previous career, but she was comfortable with her own company. She didn’t need people around her to make her feel complete. In fact, spending a prolonged period of time with anyone — her mother, her sister, her best friend, Mimi — left her feeling suffocated. It was as if they were sucking the air out from around her.

  Maria didn’t generate quite the same reaction, but after a weekend together Ava was happy to see her leave for work. She was, she thought, ready to commit to Maria, but she knew, deep down, that she wasn’t prepared to live with her. She read the message again and then wrote: I miss you too.

  She pushed the chair back from the desk and went to the bathroom. Half an hour later she emerged shiny clean and refreshed. She looked at her cellphone. There hadn’t been any calls, and in Ava’s world that was usually a good thing. She checked past calls, saw Sonny’s number, and then remembered she had promised to phone Carlo.

  His phone rang four times before she heard a croaky “Wei.”

  “Carlo, it’s Ava.”

  “Ava?”

  “Sonny said you wanted to talk to me.”

  “Are you still in Shanghai?”

  The question caught Ava off guard. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because if you are it will be easy enough for you to come to Hong Kong.”

  “And why would I come to Hong Kong?”

  “You know Sammy Wing, right?”

  “I know of Sammy Wing.”

  “I’m working for him.”

  “I heard.”

  “He co-operated with Sonny as a favour to Uncle when Jackie Leung was gunning for you.”

  “I know.”

  “He wasn’t the one who actually threw Leung into Victoria Harbour, but he helped finger him.”

  “Carlo, where is this leading?” Ava asked.

  She heard him draw a deep breath. “Sammy wants you to come to Hong Kong to meet with him.”

  “For what reason?”

  “He didn’t tell me.”

  “And you didn’t ask?”

  “Ava, you know me. I’m small-time. I’m running a bookmaking operation for him. I’m not part of the inner circle.”

  “So why are you the one who’s calling me?”

  “I guess he thought you would take my call.”

  “That was a reasonable assumption.”

  “So will you?”

  “Go to Hong Kong to meet with Sammy Wing?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Carlo, I don’t know why I should.”

  “You do owe him a bit of a favour.”

  “I don’t know him, I’ve never met him, and I don’t feel any obligation, despite Jackie Leung. As I remember, that was nearly all Uncle’s doing.”

  Carlo became quiet. Ava could imagine his tightly compressed eyes and lips — classic Carlo in thinking mode. “Then would you do it for me?” he said, his voice cracking slightly.

  Ava hesitated. There wasn’t any doubt that she owed Carlo. “You must have some idea of what he wants.”

  “Ava, I told you, I don’t have a clue.”

  “Earlier, you asked me if I’m still in Shanghai. What made you think that?”

  “That’s what Sammy told me.”

  “How did he know?”

  “Again, I don’t have a clue.”

  “Carlo, I don’t know what to say. Part of me knows I owe you, but another says that Sammy Wing’s request is very strange and not such a good idea.”

  “I’m trying to make my way in this organization. So far it hasn’t been bad, but the jobs I get are all chicken-shit stuff. This is the first real chance I’ve had to make any kind of a mark . . . Ava, I think this is kind of important to Sammy or he would never have asked me to reach out to you. That’s all I know.”

  She sighed. “Okay, Carlo, I’ll come to Hong Kong. But when I meet with Wing, I’m going to tell him that the only reason I’m there is because of you.”

  “That’s fine. In fact, that’s more than fine.”

  “When does he want me to come?”

  “As soon as you can. How’s today?”

  “Good god.”

  “I’m just saying.”

  Ava thought about her day. May was en route to Beijing. The girls would be waiting for the Pos’ response. “Where does he want to meet?”

  “Your choice.”

  “How many people?”

  “It sounded like just you and him.”

  “Call him and make sure of that, will you? In the meantime, I’ll talk to my partners and make sure I can get away from here today. I’ll phone you back in half an hour or so.”

  “Ava, thank you.”

  “I haven’t said yes yet.”

  “I know, but you will. One of the things Andy and I always admired about you was your loyalty to your friends. And even though we worked for you, we still felt like friends.”

  “Just call Sammy Wing,” she said.

  “Yes, boss.”

  Ava got up from the desk and walked to the window. The sun was high in the sky and the early morning dew had already evaporated from the lawn below. The garden was a jewel and, like the French Concession, a reminder of foreign occupation. Both were such unique creations that even the Maoists couldn’t bring themselves to rip them down, nor the next wave of Communist developers. Why would Sammy Wing want to meet with me? she thought. How did he know I was in Shanghai? She reached for her phone and called May.

  “I’m at the airport,” May said.

  “I know. I saw from your emails last night,” Ava said. “May, I’ve just talked to Carlo in Hong Kong. Do you remember Carlo?”

  “Funny little guy who thinks he’s every woman’s fantasy?”

  “Yes, that Carlo. He called for Sammy Wing. You wouldn’t know Sammy, but he’s Triad and runs Wanchai. Carlo is working for him now. Sammy wants me to go to Hong Kong to meet with him.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “I thought so too, but the thing is, I owe Carlo quite a few favours. I think it will help his status with Sammy if I go.”

  “What does Sammy Wing want?”

  “I don’t know, and Carlo doesn’t either. Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be something that I can’t handle.”

  “So you’re thinking of going?”

  “Yes, but not if it interferes with anything we have going on.”

  “Truthfully, it might be beneficial to have you in Hong Kong. If things go as planned in Beijing, we should be able to fire off instructions to our lawyers there tonight. And — who knows? — Amanda and Chi-Tze might hear from the Pos. It would be almost ideal if you were there to work with them to get both deals papered as fast as possible.”

  “Well, I guess that settles it. I’ll let Amanda and Chi-Tze know what the schedule is and then I’ll book a flight.”

  “I love it when plans come together the way they should,” May said.

  “Yes, me too,” Ava said. But how and why did Sammy Wing become part of this plan? she thought.

  ( 17 )

  Ava caught the noon Cathay Pacific flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Two and half hours later the plane began its descent over the South China Sea into Chep Lap Kok airport. An armada of freighters, container ships, and tankers was waiting for its chance to enter the port and unload. Moving past them, another armada, fully loaded, was making its way to the four corners of the world. Darting among the ship
s were fishing boats and junks with more local but just as pressing business. She had made this particular flight many times, and the sea was always as busy as a highway at rush hour. If Suki Chan had her way and things went well in Beijing, their own containers would soon be on those ships.

  It was close to three o’clock by the time she had cleared Customs, collected her bag, and walked into the cavernous arrivals hall. Sonny was standing, as he always did, under an arrivals sign. She had called him the moment after she booked her flight. Ava figured he must have come directly to the airport after their call ended. In the past he had waited six, eight, ten hours, or however long he was needed, for Uncle. It was one of the few areas in his life where he exhibited patience.

  He took a step forward when he saw her and then stopped. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. The suit was unbuttoned, and Ava saw that his stomach was stretching the shirt and the jacket seemed tight around the shoulders. Months of doing nothing but driving Michael had taken their toll. His brow was furrowed and his manner seemed grim, but then he gave a little smile, placed his hands together and raised them to his chest, lowered his head, and slowly moved his hands up and down in a sign of respect.

  She hadn’t seen him since shortly after Uncle’s funeral, when she told him she was returning to Toronto for a while. She had asked him to drive for her brother and Amanda during her absence and to protect them both. “But you’re still the boss?” he had said then.

  “Yes, of course. But when I’m not in Hong Kong, I need you to do these things for me.”

  “I will. But you’ll be coming back?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know when or how often, or for how long.”

  How long, Ava thought as she reached Sonny, had turned out to be the most time in ten years she had spent away from Hong Kong. “So good to see you,” she said.

  He smiled awkwardly. She put down her bag and, holding onto one of his arms, got on the tips of her toes to kiss him gently on the cheek.