“I hadn’t counted on your being quite so efficient,” he said. “The plane is scheduled to be used by our minister of agriculture today for a quick trip to Port of Spain.”
“He can fly commercial. I can’t.”
“You know, I don’t have a reputation for being accommodating,” he said, “but for some reason I can’t seem to say no to you.”
Three hundred thousand dollars so far is a pretty good reason, she thought. “My people in Hong Kong appreciate your help. If you ever need their assistance, all you have to do is ask,” she said.
“I can’t think why I would ever need them,” he said.
“You never know.”
The line went quiet. In the background she heard the clink of ice hitting glass. He had been a bit friendlier than usual, jovial almost, and she figured it was the booze. “Captain, can I get out of here tonight?” she said.
“Why not?”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s talk in the morning, shall we? Call my office around ten and we’ll work out the details.”
She thought of Derek. “I would like to know the name of our contact in the British Virgin Islands, right now, if possible. My associate will be in transit by ten and we’ll be out of touch until I land. I don’t want to arrive at the airport and find myself alone with Seto.”
“There are two, actually. A chap called Morris Thomas will be at the airport. He is the senior Customs and Immigration officer. We will notify Morris of your schedule the moment it’s absolutely firm, and he will make himself available for you and your Mr. Liang. There shouldn’t be any difficulties, but if there are, phone Jack Robbins.”
She wrote down the number.
“And in case you’re wondering, Jack’s my younger brother. So you’re going to be in very good hands,” he said.
After hanging up, Ava sat quietly in Seto’s office staring at his screensaver: a photo of a busy seaport. Derek’s question about trusting these people resonated in her mind. The problem was that she was in too deep to extract herself without making things worse. There came a time in every case when she had to have faith in her own judgement. This was the time. It was all too easy to imagine everything that could go wrong — she simply wouldn’t let herself go there. Instead she said aloud, “The $300,000 is secure. The plane will be there. Seto and I will get to the British Virgin Islands. There will be no issues at the airport. Jeremy Bates will be cooperative. Andrew Tam will be a happy man.”
Then she called Derek and told him about Morris Thomas and Jack Robbins.
“See you tomorrow night,” he said brightly.
“Tomorrow,” she said.
(29)
“You pig, you fucking pig!”
Ava walked into the kitchen to find one of the Captain’s men throwing paper towels at Seto’s feet, where an impressive pool of urine had gathered.
“Couldn’t you just take him to the bathroom?” she said.
“He didn’t ask.”
Patrick wandered in from the den, wiping sleep from his eyes. “We can’t leave him like this. He’ll stink up the place.”
“I’ll get the woman,” Ava said. “Give me the keys for her handcuffs.”
When she entered the bedroom, Anna was asleep. There was dried blood on the side of her head from the blow Patrick had administered. Beneath it Ava could see the beginning of a hell of a bruise. She touched Anna’s arm, not wanting to alarm her. The woman woke with a start anyway, fear leaping into her eyes.
“Anna, I’m not going to hurt you. I need your help downstairs with Jackson. Just wait here a minute.”
Ava went into the bathroom and wet a facecloth. The woman was struggling to sit upright but was having some difficulty because of the tape that bound her legs together. Ava peeled it off Anna’s ankles and told her to turn around. “Now please, don’t do anything stupid,” she said as she unlocked the cuffs. She handed her the cloth. “Here, wash your face. There’s some dried blood on your right cheek and ear.”
Anna winced as she dabbed her face.
“Do you need to pee?” Ava asked.
“Badly.”
“Go and use the bathroom. Just leave the door open.”
Anna staggered slightly when she stood up. Ava could see that she was completely deflated and wasn’t going to cause trouble. “Wash your face a bit more as well, if you want,” she said to her.
It took about five minutes for Anna to sort herself out in the bathroom, and by then Ava had made a mental list of everything she wanted her to do. “Let’s go downstairs,” she said. “Your boyfriend peed himself. I want you to bring him up here and wash and change him. One of the boys downstairs can supervise.”
Patrick and the cops were sitting at the kitchen table with disgusted looks on their faces. “Take the tape off his ankles,” Ava told the woman. She could have taken the handcuffs off too, but she didn’t want to lessen his feeling of helplessness. She didn’t want him to think for even a second that there was any chance of a reprieve.
“Patrick, the woman is going to take him upstairs to wash and change. Go with them, will you?”
He looked as if he wanted to argue with her. She turned her back on him and spoke to Anna again. “Do you have a passport?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Upstairs in my dresser.”
“Where is Ng’s passport?”
“He keeps it in his room. I don’t know where.”
“Now listen to me. When you finish with your boyfriend, I want you to pack a small suitcase for him. His toilet kit, change of underwear, shirt, and whatever he sleeps in.”
“You don’t have to go into the bathroom,” she said to Patrick as they started up the stairs.
“Thank you, boss,” he said.
She found Anna’s passport in the top drawer of the dresser. It took her a bit longer to find Ng’s, which was hidden under his mattress. She tore all the pages from both of them, ripped them to shreds, and threw the scraps into a garbage can in Seto’s office. Those two wouldn’t be leaving Guyana for a while.
She checked her emails. Derek had sent his itinerary. She then signed on as Seto on the off chance that Bates had responded. Nothing. Seto did have about thirty unread emails. She saw the one she had sent from the Phoenix. There were also two from George Antonelli. She opened them; they contained details about a tilapia deal they had been offered.
Seto was standing in the middle of the bedroom. Patrick had removed one of the cuffs and Seto was holding his hands up so Anna could slip a clean shirt on him. He was incredibly skinny, bones protruding through skin. When he was dressed again, Patrick re-cuffed him.
“Do I have to tie you up again?” she asked Anna.
“No… please don’t.”
“We’ll leave him here with you. You can take the tape off his eyes when we’re gone. There will be someone outside the door and someone else downstairs, so don’t get creative. I don’t want to see you hurt anymore, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do to help him. Is that understood?”
“Yes.”
“They should be okay till morning,” she said to Patrick. “Can you drive me back to the hotel?”
While Patrick told his men what was going on, she gathered up her notebook and kitbag. A quick check showed that Seto’s passports, driver’s licence, and Hong Kong ID card were still in the bag.
“I assume from the conversation in the house that you’ll be leaving us tomorrow?” he said as they began the
