“I was already into martial arts and I was good, good enough that one of the teachers pulled me aside and asked if I had heard of bak mei. I hadn’t. He explained that it was a secret art — in the old days, a forbidden art — and that it was only taught one-on-one: father to son, teacher to student. He asked me if I wanted to learn. When I said I did, he sent me to see Grandmaster Tang. I haven’t stopped learning since.”
“Show me some moves.”
“It isn’t something to be demonstrated.”
“No juking and jiving?”
“Afraid not.”
Patrick, thinking Ava was joking, waited, expecting her to get up and move into a fighting position. When she didn’t, he said, “You aren’t any fun.”
“That’s true enough.”
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“I think I’d just like to go back to the hotel.”
“You aren’t any fun at all.”
“That’s still true.”
An hour later, Ava was in her rattan chair with the James Clavell on her lap. Time would not move fast enough. She read for two hours and then was so restless she couldn’t stay put anymore. She went down to the business centre, signed on, and then thought about Tommy Ordonez. It was one of her rules never to start thinking about the next case before the one she was working on was completed. She had done it twice and both times it had brought bad luck. She hesitated and then thought, What the hell. She was at least as curious as she was superstitious.
She googled Tommy Ordonez. He seemed to own half the Philippines. This job was enticing both in size and in terms of the participants. But why had Ordonez gone to Uncle? On any number of levels it didn’t make any sense. Ava wondered what kind of deal Uncle had cut with him, or rather them. The older she got, the more inflexible she found herself becoming. If their rate was thirty percent, what did it matter if they were collecting ten million or a hundred million? The client was out the larger amount, and if she was their last hope, thirty percent was nothing. She loved Uncle and had enormous respect for him, but there were times when he was too accommodating with people who were above him in the power scheme. At some point she would have to talk to him about that. Not now, though.
For maybe the tenth time since she had been given Seto’s account number at Barrett’s Bank, she logged onto the Barrett’s website. She hit the access your account button and punched in the S amp;A account number. The program asked for the password. As before, she didn’t even attempt to guess at one. She was leery of bank websites. They were sensitive in the extreme; if she entered the wrong password she was afraid it would trigger a reaction, and any reaction would not be to her benefit. She just wanted to confirm that the account was still active, and it was.
She figured the wire would be sent that evening and she would be able to get confirmation to the Captain the next morning. The money might even land in his account that day if she was lucky. If not, she would try to sweet- talk him into letting Patrick and her and whomever else they wanted to involve go after Seto tomorrow night.
Things had gone very well with this project. The money had been almost ridiculously easy to find, and Seto had become a sitting duck once she had located him. The only wrinkle had been the Captain and his crew. But if everything went according to plan, Tam would have most of his money back within twenty-four hours, and she would be on a plane back to Toronto the morning after.
(25)
The wire had been sent the night before, and Ava had printed two copies of the confirmation. She called the Captain’s office and was put directly through to Robbins.
“Ava, do you have some good news for me?”
“The wire went through last night. I have a copy of the confirmation. Can I bring it to you?”
“Is Patrick there?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been downstairs yet.”
“He should be there. Give it to him and ask him to bring it over to the office.”
“I can bring it there myself.”
“No, my dear, please just give it to Patrick.”
“The money might be deposited into the account today,” she said.
“That would be nice.”
“If it isn’t, I’m hoping you might take the copy of the confirmation at face value and let us deal with Seto tonight.”
“That’s possible,” he said. “I don’t like dragging things out unnecessarily. Let me see the wire and I’ll tell Patrick how we are to proceed.”
“Thank you.”
Patrick was in the lobby reading a newspaper. He smiled when he saw her and held the paper out for her to see. There was a picture of the man whose nose she had crushed. “He claims he was walking along the seawall when he was viciously attacked by a woman with a cricket bat. The paper is urging people to be cautious until the police find the suspect.”
“How stupid is that, to draw attention to himself that way?”
“He has a little life. For this morning at least he is in the spotlight. It happens all the time here. Something atrocious happens and instead of keeping quiet, the victims feel compelled to tell the world, or at least to tell Georgetown.”
“Here,” she said, handing him a hotel envelope. “Could you take this over to the Captain? He’s waiting for it.”
Ava was in the coffee shop working on her second cup of Starbucks instant, which the waitress had agreed to make, when Patrick returned. The office, she figured, had to be in the neighbourhood.
He sat down, a contented look on his face. “The Captain sends his regards. We have the go-ahead for tonight.”
She beamed. Good dim sum wasn’t much more than a day away.
“How about Seto’s friends? What have they been told?”
“The Captain has already had a chat with the one who counts. He’ll make another courtesy call today to let him know it’s going down tonight. The word will get out.”
“Not prematurely?”
“You don’t know the Captain,” said Patrick. “Things get done the way he wants, when he wants — always. You have his word, and I’m here as proof of that. No one is going to warn Seto. No one would dare. The wrath of Captain Robbins is a terrible thing to experience.”
“So how do we proceed?” she asked.
“My people are keeping an eye on Seto. The moment he leaves Malvern Gardens we’ll know.”
“If he doesn’t follow the usual routine?”
“We’ll work something out.”
His casual manner took her aback. She was accustomed to working alone, to sweating every detail, to being thorough to the point of obsessive. Now she had to work with a team over which she had no control, and she had to accept that her plan was subject to the whims of not just Seto.
Patrick sensed her discomfort. “Ava, this is Guyana. At the end of the day, one way or another, you’ll get Seto, because the Captain has said that’s what will happen. If it’s at Eckie’s, great. If it’s somewhere else, what does it matter?”
“What do you want me to do this afternoon?”
“Whatever you want. Go for a swim, go for a run, beat up some locals. I’ll pick you up here at six and we’ll go downtown, park near the restaurant, and wait for Seto.”
Ava decided to go for another run. When she got back to the hotel, she showered and then went downstairs.
