by Ian Hamilton
She explained to Aries and Poirier the process she had decided to use, and they both agreed to it, but when the Indonesian saw the resulting numbers, he made her repeat the explanation. The numbers were not exact, Ava stressed, but they would be a good approximation. He then asked her to reweigh everything while he watched.
The results turned out to be identical. The plane had been carrying just over fifty-two million euros, one and a half million pounds, and six million U.S. dollars.
“That’s about seventy million U.S.,” Ava said. “Thirty for my client and forty for you guys to split however you decide.”
“Very nice evening’s work,” Aries said.
They drove her back to the barracks, where she showered and changed. Poirier stood by the open door while she was inside to prevent any soldiers from wandering in. She appreciated the gesture, and told him that on the drive to the airport.
“Consider it part of my diplomatic responsibility towards a Canadian citizen,” he said, and then paused. “You are Canadian, aren’t you? They told me you were, but the only ID I’ve seen is a Hong Kong passport.”
“It’s a bit late to ask.”
“Does that mean you aren’t going to answer?”
Ava smiled. “I was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Vancouver and Toronto. A Hong Kong passport is more convenient and raises fewer questions in this part of the world.”
“But you’re flying back to Hong Kong?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Ottawa wants to know where to reach you. I spoke to them a few hours ago. They’re keen to get their hands on the information you promised.”
“Once they have our thirty million dollars ready to transfer, then we’ll work out the details of the swap.”
“That could be as soon as tomorrow, from what I’ve been told. They know they’ll get the money from the Indonesians eventually, but they don’t want to wait. The money will be sent from Ottawa.”
“Tell them to call me any time they want. My client has opened an account with a Kowloon bank, so he has things organized at his end.”
“Okay, I’ll let them know.”
The Nissan pulled up at the departures area. Ava opened the door, climbed down onto the sidewalk with her bag in hand, and looked back at Poirier. She was about to say goodbye when the door slid shut. She was still standing there when the car drove off.
The terminal was quiet, at least in contrast with Hong Kong, and Ava checked in, cleared security, and found her way to the business-class lounge with an hour to spare. She had a quick coffee at the bar and then carried a second cup to a sofa.
She phoned Uncle. Lourdes answered.
“Where is he?”
“He just left. He’s gone to meet a friend. He said for you to call him on his mobile.”
He picked up on the second ring. “Ava, where are you?”
“I’m at the airport in Surabaya.”
“And?”
“There was about seventy million U.S. on the plane. The Canadians are ready to send us the thirty million as soon as tomorrow.”
“That is fantastic news. Good work, my girl.”
“I need the Kowloon banking information.”
“Do you remember Mr. Tang?”
“Is he the one who helped us with the phony wire transfers to the British Virgin Islands?”
“That is him. Call him when you get in. He will give you the details.”
“Don’t you have them?”
“Not with me.”
“Well, then, when we meet.”
“Ava, I will not be able to see you today. I have a friend arriving from Shanghai. He has a lunchtime meeting here in Hong Kong, and then I have promised to go to Guangzhou with him for a dinner. We will probably stay overnight.”
“Is Sonny taking you?”
“My friend has his own driver.”
“What did Sonny say about that?”
“Since when do I need to seek Sonny’s approval for anything?” he said softly.
“I meant no offence, Uncle. We just worry about you.”
“There is no reason for that either.”
“I understand.”
“Now I see my friend waiting for me. I am going to go and enjoy my day with an old comrade, and that is something I can now do with a clear head and peaceful heart, thanks to you. I told Sonny when I thought you would be arriving, but you should call him and confirm. I will see you tomorrow or the day after.”
She stared at her phone, not sure what she had just heard. She went back to the bar for a third coffee, debating whether she should call him back. But if she did, what would she say? Excuse me, Uncle, did you just tell me a lie?
Ava phoned Sonny and went directly to voicemail. She left her flight details and nothing else. She was about to open her notebook when she saw that an email had arrived with a familiar name attached. It has been three whole days. You should go to a lab today and submit your samples for STI testing. Give them my email address and ask them to forward the results to me. Hope you are well. You have been on my mind. Vivian Ho
Thank you. I will try to get it done today, Ava replied, and then thought how strange it was that she had been back in Surabaya and had not had the memory of Cameron revisit her.
She finally opened her notebook, turned to the page where she had totalled the Italians’ money, and began to calculate just how much she would be able to return to her real clients — the Vietnamese-Canadian ones. She had hardly given them a thought since she had arrived in Surabaya the first time, except when her mother had injected them into the conversation. Now she would be able to divide twenty-one million dollars U.S. among them, and with the exchange rate favouring the U.S. dollar, the total would be close to twenty-two million.
It was eight o’clock in the evening in Toronto. Her mother might not be playing mah-jong yet. She phoned her at home.
“Hello?”
“Mummy, it’s Ava.”
“Where are you? Is everything okay?”
“I’m nowhere very interesting, getting ready to go back to Hong Kong.”
“And you are okay? I’ve been having these strange dreams.”
“I’m fine . . . What kind of dreams?”
“I don’t want to talk about them. I find them too upsetting.”
“Well, you won’t find this upsetting: I’ve recovered the money that Theresa and the others lost. We’ll start doing wire transfers into their bank accounts in a week or so. After Uncle and I take our commission, they will get about twenty-two million.”
“I knew you would do it. When will you tell her?”
“I don’t want to tell her anything. You call her.”
“I . . . would like that,” Jennie said slowly.
“Rub it in.”
“I’ll do more than that.”
“You handle it any way you want; you can say whatever you want.”
“The ungrateful bitch had the nerve to say she didn’t think you were taking it seriously, that you were never really working on their behalf.”
Ava sighed. “That sort of thing happens more often than you would believe. And then when Uncle and I come through for our clients, they pretend they never doubted us and overcompensate on the thank-you side. By then it’s too late, though. There aren’t many clients we’d accept a dinner invitation from.”
“Come home, Ava,” Jennie blurted.
“I can’t. Not right away.”
“I am worried for you. These dreams are bothering me. Maybe they’re affecting me because I don’t dream very often, but I want you nearby.”
“I’ll come home when I can.”
“The job is done.”
“I think Uncle may be ill,” Ava said slowly.
Her mother gasped, and then Ava heard her struggle to find her breath.
“Don’t panic. I don’t know for sure, but I need to stay here until his doctor comes back next week, so I can find out exactly what the situation is.”
“And if it is bad?”<
br />
“I may stay longer.”
“Why do —”
“I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s all speculation coming from Lourdes and Sonny. I need to find out for myself.”
“But you suspect something?”
“Yes, I do. But he is an old man, and it would be unusual if he didn’t become ill sooner or later.”
“Ava, in my dream I saw you . . . I saw you lying in a hospital bed.”
“Mummy, please.”
“Uncle was there as well. He was by your side, lying next to you, holding your hand. I was sitting in a chair in the room and trying to speak to you. But you couldn’t hear me, or you couldn’t answer. When I spoke louder, Uncle lifted his head and asked me to be quiet.”
“Mummy, they’re going to board my plane in a moment.”
“You have to call me from Hong Kong.”
“I will, I promise.”
“I am going to pray for him.”
“Yes, Mummy, say a prayer for all of us.”
( 51 )
It was noon when the plane began its descent over the South China Sea to Chek Lap Kok. The sun was high in the sky and the sea glimmered in shades of gold and green. It was a beautiful day, and down below most people were basking in it.
She sped through Customs and Immigration and turned on her phone as she exited Baggage Claim and walked into the cavernous arrivals hall. She saw Sonny standing under the Meeting Place sign, dressed in his usual black suit, white shirt, and black tie, his face grim. He started to walk towards Ava as soon as he saw her. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for coming,” she said.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, reaching for her bag. “Did you talk to Uncle this morning?”
“Yes, I did. Why?” Ava said, surprised by his question.
“What did he tell you?”
“About what?”
“Why he couldn’t come to the airport this morning.”
“He doesn’t always meet me, Sonny.”
“He does if he is able to.”
Ava heard the strain in the big man’s voice. “He told me he couldn’t come because he was meeting a friend from Shanghai today.”
“He told me the same story,” Sonny said.
“Story?”
“It’s a lie. He went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There is no friend from Shanghai.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I followed him this morning.”
“Without him seeing you?”
“I borrowed a car.”
“He also told me he was going to Guangzhou and that he would probably stay overnight,” Ava said.
“He will be staying overnight, but at Queen Elizabeth. He’s getting radiation therapy, and they’ll keep him for at least another day.”
“And how do you know that?”
“My friend, the woman, was with me. When he got out of the taxi, she tailed him inside. He registered at the front desk. When he left, she waited for a few minutes and then went to the desk. She said she was with her uncle, Mr. Chow, and that he had obviously signed in and gone on ahead. She asked where she could find him.”
“And they actually said ‘radiation therapy’?”
“They did.”
“Let’s head there now,” Ava said.
Sonny turned and walked towards the exit without saying a word. The Mercedes was parked at the curb. He opened the back door for her, putting her bag on the front seat.
Traffic was light, and they sped across the Tsing Ma Bridge. “Where exactly is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital?” Ava asked from the back seat.
“King’s Park, in the southern part of Kowloon.”
“I need to change before going to the hospital, so we’ll go to the Mandarin first. My other clothes are still there. I didn’t check out when I left yesterday.”
He looked at her in the rear-view mirror, his eyes questioning. “Are you really going to the Queen Elizabeth?”
“I am.”
“He’ll be angry.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, he loves you enough that he’ll probably forgive you.”
“How about you? Do you want to come in with me?”
“Me? No, me he would never forgive.”
“That’s not true.”
Sonny shrugged his massive shoulders. “Maybe it isn’t, but I still can’t do it.”
“Which part of the hospital is he in?” Ava asked.
“R Block — that’s where I think all the cancer patients go. It’s fifteen storeys high. Hard to imagine how many sick people there are that they need a building that size.”
“And you said he was getting radiation therapy?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll find him.”
“Ava, I called the hospital this morning to ask about visiting hours. They’re only from five thirty to seven thirty.”
“I’m not waiting until five thirty. I’m going there after I change.”
He looked at her in the mirror again and then fixed his gaze on the road.
( 52 )
She met Sonny in the hotel lobby at one thirty. She wore a plain white shirt, black slacks, low-heeled pumps, and no makeup. The simple clothing fitted her mood. She still wore her Cartier watch and jade cufflinks, however, and her hair was fastened with the ivory chignon pin. This was Hong Kong, after all. She knew the jewellery signified money, and money meant influence. If the hospital staff knew she had guanxi, then they might not be so reluctant to waive visiting-hour rules.
Sonny dropped her off at the main entrance to R Block, on Gascoigne Road. She stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes, looking up at it and gathering herself. Queen Elizabeth was the most massive hospital Ava had ever seen. The main building was thirteen storeys high, and it was surrounded by others even higher, including R Block. Now that she was actually there, some of the bravado that had fuelled her since meeting Sonny at the airport began to ebb. What’s the worst thing that could happen? she thought. They won’t let me see him until five thirty?
Ava walked through the front doors into an immense lobby that was almost as busy as an MTR station. There was an information desk directly ahead, with a line of about ten people waiting for help. She saw a hospital directory off to the left and went to it. She had no idea exactly what she was looking for, but when saw “Cancer Patient Resource Centre” on the sixth floor, she figured it was as good a place to start as anywhere.
She rode the elevator with two people in wheelchairs who were surrounded by what looked like anxious family members. Ava hated hospitals — not for what they did, but simply for the pain and suffering they represented. She had never had a prolonged stay in one herself. Even the bullet in her thigh hadn’t kept her in the private hospital in Macau for more than a day. Marian had been less lucky. She had had her tonsils removed and then her appendix, and Jennie had insisted on dragging Ava along to visit her sister. It had been more than awkward, with Ava hopping up and down on one leg, hardly able to look at the patient.
The patient resource centre was as crowded as the lobby had been. Ava went to the reception desk and got in line. When she finally reached the desk, she found herself looking down at a small, chubby woman with dark skin and white teeth. “How can I help you today?” she asked in a Filipino accent.
“My name is Ava Lee. I’m here to see my grandfather, Chow Tung. I’ve just flown in from Canada and came directly to the hospital. I don’t know what room he’s in.”
The woman typed the name into her computer. “Yes, Mr. Chow is here, but visiting hours aren’t until five thirty.”
“I’m a family member.”
“There are no family members listed in his profile,” the woman said as she checked her screen.
“Probably because he wasn’t expecting me to fly here so soon.”
“There are no members listed.”
“Please . . . Margarita,” Ava said, reading the woman’s nametag. “I’m all the fa
mily he has left in this world and I’ve flown all the way from Canada to see him. Please don’t make me go back to my hotel. Please don’t make me wait.”
She returned to her computer. “He was scheduled to have brachytherapy this morning at nine. He could still be feeling the side effects.”
“I thought he was getting radiation therapy,” Ava said.
“Don’t be alarmed. Brachytherapy is just a specialized form of radiation therapy.”
“Just?”
The woman looked up at Ava. “I’m not trying to scare you.”
“I don’t know enough about this kind of thing.”
“No one really does until it’s necessary.”
Ava looked around the resource centre and said, “I feel so bad for all these people.”
The woman nodded. “Your grandfather may not be completely alert.”
“I need to see him. Even that would be enough.”
She looked back at her screen. “He’s in the patient ward on the seventh floor.”
“Can I go there?”
“I’ll have to clear it with the nursing station first.”
“Please.”
The woman pointed to a vacant chair by the wall. “You wait over there.”
Ava sat, her eyes fixed on the woman, who made one phone call, then quickly hung up and began to speak with the person who’d been in line behind Ava. She waited, trying not to stare at the other people in the resource centre, trying not to imagine why they were there.
After five minutes she began to steel herself to the idea of just leaving the area and taking the elevator to the seventh floor. Then the woman picked up the phone again, spoke rapidly to someone, and motioned to her. Ava walked back to the desk.
“Okay, you can go upstairs, but you need to check in with the nursing station.”
Ava exited the elevator on the seventh floor. An arrow on the wall directed her to the station. She walked down the hallway past open room doors, the only person not in some kind of uniform, feeling like a trespasser. The nursing station was bursting with activity; it took Ava a few minutes to get someone’s attention. When she did, the nurse said, “Why are you here?”
