drive back to the Phoenix.
“That’s the plan.”
“And you’re taking him with you?”
“I am.”
“Do you need any help when you’re there?”
“The Captain asked me already, and the answer is no.”
“Too bad. Not much travelling in my job.”
“Travelling is overrated. After a while the planes, hotels, and restaurants all become interchangeable.”
“This must have been different,” he said.
She smiled. “Different is a good way to describe it.”
Patrick’s phone rang. He looked at the incoming number. “It’s a call from the house,” he said.
“I hope nothing’s happened,” she said, slamming herself for having let the woman stay with Seto.
She could hear the cop’s voice but not what he was saying. Thoughts of disaster began to creep into her head.
“No, leave them alone. What’s done is done,” Patrick said finally, and ended the call.
“Is everything all right?” she asked.
“My guy heard noises from the bedroom, so he opened the door. The woman was giving Seto a blowjob. I guess the handcuffs were a turn-on.”
(30)
Ava finished the bottle of wine when she got back to her room. Then she waded into Tai-Pan, hoping the turgid writing would quickly put her to sleep. No such luck. She didn’t nod off until past 4 a.m., and she was awakened at seven thirty by the clatter of machinery outside. From her window she could see a crew of men fixing potholes in front of the hotel. If they want to take on the rest of Georgetown too, it could be a lifelong occupation, she thought.
Tom Benson was in the coffee shop, and this time she didn’t avoid him. An entire day stretched in front of her, and it was going to drag. She could use every diversion she could find.
“I’m leaving tonight,” she said as she sat down.
“Lucky you. Successful trip, was it?”
“So far.”
“I may be leaving soon myself. They told me yesterday that my parts may actually be in transit. Assuming the boat don’t sink and the silly buggers at Customs let them into the country, I may have my hands on them in about two weeks. Then it’s a matter of a week for installation, and presto, this fucking hellhole has seventy percent of the energy it needs instead of fifty.”
“Amazing.”
“Isn’t it, in this day and age.”
“Now if you could only do something about the water.”
“I know. Even after all this bloody time I still can’t get used to it.”
“The only place I can think of that is almost as bad is a town in the Philippines, on Negros Island. I was staying in a hotel where the water had so much sulphur that the entire place smelled perpetually like rotten eggs.”
“It wasn’t as dangerous as this place, was it?”
“They closed the front desk at ten o’clock at night and turned off most of the lights. They had a soft-drink dispenser in the lobby, and I remember going down one night to get a Coke and being confronted by a guy with a shotgun. His backup was another guy patrolling the entrance with an Uzi. They were the hotel’s security system. Now, remembering that this hotel was a dump, what does that tell you about how safe the town was?”
“Did you knock around any of the locals there?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“There’s a story all over the hotel about how you beat up two hoodlums who came at you. You’re quite the heroine. I’m kind of glad I didn’t come on too strong to you.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Safe journeys.”
“Same to you, Tom.”
“You’re one I’m going to remember. Can’t say that about many I didn’t shag.”
“I’ll remember you too.”
Ava sat by herself for the next half-hour reading the local newspapers. The East Indian politicians were calling the black politicians crooks and the blacks were calling the East Indians thieves. And somewhere, she thought, Captain Robbins is pulling everyone’s strings. There had been four muggings, seven break-and-enters, and two attempted homicides the night before. When she left, they could add one kidnapping to the crime statistics.
Jeff was in the lobby chatting up the front desk clerk when Ava left the coffee shop. She waved at him. “Going to be here for a while?” she asked.
“I have a pickup at noon.”
“I’ll catch up with you before you leave,” she said.
Ava changed into her running gear for one more jog along the seawall. That was something about Georgetown she might actually remember fondly. The air was heavy for sure, but it was clear, and the smell of sea salt was almost cleansing. There is something to be said, she thought, for a non-industrial society.
Her normal run was about five kilometres. She decided to go farther and bought some bottled water in the lobby to take with her.
The doorman nodded to her as she left. “I’ll put the word out that you’re going for a run — give the baddies a chance to get out of your way,” he said.
Ava ran sixteen kilometres, which turned her into a sweaty mess. The air conditioning in her room, for once, was on when she got back. So was the message light on her phone. She threw a towel around her neck and checked the calls. Uncle, Captain, and Marc Lafontaine: a trifecta.
The Captain was at his office and she was put directly through. The money’s arrived already, she thought. “The payment is in our account,” he confirmed. “I admire your efficiency. Patrick will come by the hotel at six. You’ll pick up your baggage on the way to Cheddi Jagan. I’ve scheduled your departure for eight. Good luck to you.”
“I’ll say hello to your brother,” she said, but the line was already dead.
It was late in Hong Kong. Uncle would have already had his massage and dinner and would be settling in to watch replays of the horse races from Happy Valley Racetrack. The phone rang four times and she was ready to give up when he answered with his familiar, comforting “ Wei.”
“It’s Ava. The money has reached them already, thank you. I leave tonight and I’ll be at the bank tomorrow morning.”
“I’m glad. Let’s end this project one way or another as soon as we can. My friend has called me twice tonight, but I’ve avoided his calls. Tommy Ordonez has called as well. I told him it will be a few days before we can do anything. It is easier when we are dealing with strangers.”
“You know Ordonez from before?” she asked.
He realized he had misspoken. “He is a friend of a good friend. They come from the same village. I met him in Jakarta at a conference about ten years ago. Nothing more than that.”
I bet, she thought. “I want to end it tomorrow,” she said.
“If you can’t, talk to me before getting into this any deeper.”
“Uncle, how much deeper can I get?”
“No more money.”
“I understand.”
“And don’t put yourself at risk.”
She could think of two or three replies, all of them disrespectful. “I won’t,” she said.
The shower wasn’t only brown, it was cold, and after waiting five minutes for it to warm up she gave up and
