by Ian Hamilton
“Of course, but it only seemed to frustrate them more. Especially Ordonez. He is a man who does not think he should ever have to stand in a queue or have someone else’s interests take precedence over his.”
“Did he say that?”
“He didn’t need to. Ava, the last time I spoke to him he could barely contain himself. I could feel him eating his anger, and I know that if he had been talking to anyone but me he would have exploded.”
Ava finished her second coffee and, holding the phone to her ear, went to the counter and emptied another sachet into her cup. “What do we know about the job, Uncle?”
“Not that much. Just that it is a lot of money, and that one of Ordonez’s younger brothers is involved. They want to meet us face to face to provide the actual details.”
“Is it a firm contract?”
“If we want to accept it.”
“You haven’t committed?”
“I thought it would be best for us to hear the full story before signing on.”
“What I don’t understand, Uncle, is why, with all the resources and power they have, they need us in the first place.”
She had asked that question when the job offer was first made, and it had generated an awkward response from Uncle. Now he was just vague. “They will explain everything when we are in Manila.”
“So you want us to go?”
“I told Chang Wang that we would discuss it with them, and they are insisting on doing that in person . . . I’m told the sum of money involved is more than fifty million dollars. I think that is worth a trip to Manila, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course it is,” she said, and then realized that Uncle had twice referred to Ordonez’s right-hand man by both his family and given names. It was a form of respect he rarely used for clients, and she guessed there was some kind of bond between the two men. “This Chang, Uncle, do you know him well?”
“He is from Wuhan, like me, and over the years we have done each other many favours. I would still have ten men rotting in Filipino prisons if it wasn’t for him, and he would still be waiting for permits to build cigarette factories in Hubei province if it wasn’t for me.”
Ava was accustomed to Uncle’s Wuhan connections. He had been born and raised in a village on its outskirts, and he and the other men from there who had escaped the Communist regime had remained intensely loyal to each other. “And Chang hasn’t confided in you about the nature of Ordonez’s problem?”
“His first loyalty is to Ordonez, and we need to understand and respect that.”
“Earlier you mentioned that Ordonez restrained himself when he was talking to you. I didn’t think you knew him.”
“Chang introduced us once, years ago, when I was at the top of my heap and he was scaling his. It was a passing encounter that seems more important to him than it is to me. I did not even remember the meeting until he mentioned it.”
Ava was now standing by the kitchen window. The falling rain was beginning to freeze on it. She watched a car skid into the intersection below and slide into a SUV. She hated this kind of weather. At least Manila would be warm. “Can you buy us an extra day or two?” she asked.
Uncle hesitated. She knew he didn’t want to push her too hard. “I would like to get there as soon as possible. But if you need to spend more time in Toronto, then I will deal with Chang Wang and Ordonez as best as I can.”
“Would they walk away from the deal if we delay?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Well, I guess that’s something we shouldn’t risk,” Ava said.
“No, we should not. Their impatience could get the better of them.”
She did a quick calculation. “If I catch the Cathay Pacific flight late tonight, I can be in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow, early morning your time. That at least will give me all of today to get caught up here, and I’ll have a sixteen-hour flight I can sleep through.”
“Good. We can leave for Manila the morning you arrive. I will have those flights booked,” said Uncle. “I will let Chang Wang know right away that we are coming. Ordonez’s office is near the Ayala Centre in Makati City. The Peninsula Hotel is nearby. I will have them book us rooms.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when things are confirmed on this end.”
“Fine. And Ava, I think this is the right thing for us to do.”
She shrugged. “Ordonez is a big man and it’s a lot of money.”
“That does not mean we cannot still say no,” Uncle said. “We will go and talk to them, and then you and I can talk about what we want to do . . . I have to tell you, though, I have a feeling that it will be worth it in the end.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Now I have to call Chang,” he said.
As she hung up the phone, Ava tried to remember if she’d heard Uncle mention Chang’s name before, and came up blank. That wasn’t unusual. He had a network of friends and associates that spanned Asia, though his closest contacts were those who shared those long, deep Wuhan roots.
Is Ordonez from Wuhan as well? she wondered. She knew he was Chinese-born, but nothing more specific than that. She’d find out soon enough, but her interest was far more aroused by the kind of problem a man as rich and powerful as Tommy Ordonez couldn’t handle himself.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ava Lee and her story came to me unexpectedly. When it was finished, I had no idea whether Ava and her life would be of interest to anyone else. To find out, I imposed her upon my children and friends, all avid readers. Their input and encouragement were invaluable, and I need to thank them.
Ava then found her way to Westwood Creative Artists, where she found support from Bruce Westwood and Carolyn Forde. Their enthusiasm was instrumental in helping Ava find a home. I owe them both a great debt of gratitude.
Home for Ava is House of Anansi Press. I want to thank publisher Sarah MacLachlan and the rest of her team for believing in Ava and for deciding they wanted to introduce her to the world.
Finally I must thank Janie Yoon, Senior Editor at Anansi, for her contribution to the final product. Janie is smart, dedicated, talented, persistent, and polite, much like Ava herself.
There is one attribution I need to clarify. “People always do the right thing for the wrong reason” is referred to as one of Uncle’s credos. In reality, I heard these words spoken many years ago by Saul Alinsky, the great Chicago community organizer, and they have stayed with me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IAN HAMILTON has been a journalist, a senior executive with the federal government, a diplomat, and a businessman with international links. He has written for several magazines and newspapers in Canada and the U.S., including Maclean’s, Boston Magazine, Saturday Night, the Regina Leader-Post, the Calgary Albertan, and the Calgary Herald. His nonfiction book, The Children’s Crusade, was a Canadian Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi’s commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada’s pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, and 2010, Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”
Table of Contents
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Coming Soon: The Disciple of Las Vegas
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Publisher
