“He was simply doing what he was told.”
The Captain drew a deeper breath. “You shouldn’t have lied to me.”
There goes any concern for his brother, Ava thought. “I accept that as a fair criticism, and I apologize for it. I also, if you remember, offered to fix the problem,” she said, offering her first peace token.
“It was perhaps silly of me not to accept, but I do have my pride and you did breach my trust.”
“And it was silly of me to have done that.”
“Is this the start of renewed negotiations?” he asked carefully.
“That’s up to you.”
“Well, I think it could be. Forgive and forget, Ms. Lee. Let’s both of us forgive and forget.”
“I think that’s best.”
He paused and then said slowly, “Excellent. Now, of course, I still want my money.”
“That’s a given, and I’m prepared to make that happen. I just need time to get hold of my people in Hong Kong and set things in motion… in proper motion.”
“The full amount we agreed?”
“Of course.”
“Plus I’m going to have to look after my brother — ”
“Nothing extra,” she said curtly, knowing she had to maintain some pretence of control on her end.
He didn’t argue, but Ava knew she might not have heard the last about that. “By my reckoning, it is sometime in the evening in Hong Kong. When exactly do you think you can execute the transfer?”
“You aren’t the only one with a bank that provides out-of-hours service. The straight answer to your question is that I don’t know until I talk to my people there. I have to reach them and they have to get to the bank.”
“Give me some rough idea of a time frame.”
“It may be a couple of hours before I know.”
“I’ll give you an hour to reach them and get back to me with a schedule. When we have that, then we reassess our position.”
“I’m not sure what I can accomplish in an hour, but I’ll go along with you as long as the door doesn’t slam shut when the time is up.”
“I said we could reassess.”
Ava knew she wasn’t going to do any better. “That will do, thank you.”
“It’s a good start anyway. Puts us back on the rails, so to speak,” Robbins said. “But now, Ms. Lee, I do have to say that we can’t have a repeat of last night’s document farce.”
“I understand that only too well.”
“I also don’t mean to be overbearing or repetitive or unnecessarily threatening, but you have no passport and you aren’t leaving the BVI without one. In fact, you aren’t leaving until Morris Thomas says you can leave, and you can be certain that direction will come from me. You also have two men in your apartment, one who has been kidnapped and the other one — a local policeman at that — in what I presume is a deprived physical condition brought on by you. On top of those abuses, you have engaged in a fraudulent scheme with one of the leading banks on the island. Road Town is a small place. One phone call and you’re minutes away from quite a pile of unpleasantness.”
“I do understand my situation,” Ava said.
“Still, there’s no harm in my making it clear. I trust there’s no offence taken on your part?”
“None.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“With me calling Hong Kong to urge them to get that wire out to you as fast as they can.”
“Exactly. And of course you’ll call me the moment you have the details, and by the end of an hour even if you don’t.”
“You’ll hear from me either way.”
“Ms. Lee, I await your call.”
Not a word of concern about his brother after the topic changed to money, Ava thought as she hung up. Blood ties must run pretty thin in Barbados.
She sat quietly for a minute. It had gone about as well as could be expected. He still had dollar signs dancing in his eyes, and he wasn’t going to ease up on her until he had his money. He thought he had serious leverage, and in some respects he did, but only if she let time work for him. And when he got the money, was he capable of reneging on her? She had no doubt that it was, at the minimum, in the back of his mind. The thing was, she had no intention of hanging around to find out if she was right or not.
She went into her bedroom to fetch her toilet kit. She needed to get clean, take a quick shower, brush her teeth and hair. Dealing with the Robbins brothers made her feel dirty.
When she stripped, she saw that the red welt on her shoulder and neck was longer and wider than she’d thought. It would turn black and blue eventually. The side of her lower leg was throbbing and already dis-coloured. Thank God, she thought, he didn’t catch bone, or she would be trying to deal with a break. She stepped into the shower, turned her face into the stream of water, and tried to think more pleasant thoughts.
Ten minutes later she was in the bedroom. She put her toilet kit into her bag, checked her cash stash, grabbed two more sachets of VIA, and headed for the kitchen. She made a coffee and then sat at the computer and began to search the British Virgin Islands and its Caribbean neighbours. She didn’t have to look far.
It wasn’t quite seven thirty when she sat on the balcony to call Derek, her notebook open to a clean page.
“Hi, Ava,” he said, his voice sleepy.
“I got your voicemail, thanks.”
“You’re using your own phone again. Everything okay?”
“Looking up, anyway.”
“I was worried. Uncle too. He called to find out what happened to me. He said he had some guys in New York on standby but was waiting to hear from you before doing anything.”
“I’ll call him after we’re finished.”
“I located the girls.”
“I figured as much. Tell me what you found out.”
Derek had been thorough. As Ava reviewed her notes after they were finished, she began to feel that an element of control was finally back in her hands.
The cay below her window was beginning to come to life. Small offices were strung around the piers, most of them advertising charters and cruises. They were just starting to open up. Hong Kong first, Ava thought.
“ Wei, Ava,” Uncle said breathlessly. “Where are you?”
“Still in the BVI.”
“You are using your own phone.”
“Our situation has improved.”
“I was worried,” he sighed.
“I know you were. Sorry for that, Uncle. Now, did you get the two million I sent?”
“Yes, it came in yesterday morning, and Tam got his money too. My friend is grateful, although not as grateful as Tam… But what about you? Did the phony wire work?”
“No.”
“Ava, I told you it was risky… So now what, your Plan B?
“There’s a Plan C now.”
“Do we still send money to the Caymans?”
“No. Money isn’t going anywhere.”
“Do you need my help in any other way?”
“No, I think I can manage.”
“Be careful.”
“As always.”
“I have men in New York, no more than eight hours away.”
She could imagine them. Two or three small Chinese men, tattoos peeking out from under their shirt collars, broken English, and U.S. passports that might or might not pass rigorous examination. “I don’t need them, but
