“How many players?”
“Five.”
Martin leaned over to Francis and whispered in his ear. The Chief nodded and turned to Ava. “How much money do you think was scammed?”
“Does that matter if your main priority is preserving the integrity of your system?”
“Don’t be a smartass.”
She smiled. “I do understand that there are degrees of damage,” she said. “In this case I think we’re talking about somewhere between sixty and eighty million dollars.”
Francis glared at Martin, who shook his head slowly from side to side.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Francis said. “Is that true?”
“It’s outlined here,” she said, tapping the documents.
“So Ashton was blowing smoke?”
“It would seem so, unless he really thinks that sixty million dollars is inconsequential.”
Francis closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He didn’t stir for a minute or more, his lips moving from time to time.
“Chief, as I said, we have no interest in going public with this,” Ava said finally. “I can also say that we have no doubts about your integrity, and I’m prepared to give the band complete indemnification from any fallout, legal or otherwise.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes.”
“In writing?”
“If you need it.”
“So I give you the names and you give me what? The reports, a commitment not to go public, and complete indemnification from any future legal action?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do with the names?”
“Go after them for the money.”
“How can you do that and keep us out of it? I mean, I don’t care how good your lawyers are — ”
“We don’t use lawyers,” she said. “We use more traditional, less expensive, and more time-sensitive methods.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Mainly me, but I have support if it’s required.”
“I’m not sure I believe what I’m hearing.”
Ava shrugged. “Let me tell you what the alternative is. The people in the Philippines are incredibly wealthy. They are also vindictive, particularly when members of their family are affected. And one has been — he’s already tried to commit suicide. So we’re talking personal here as well as money. If we can work out an arrangement, I guarantee you will never hear from them.”
“And if we don’t make an agreement?”
“They’ll get the lawyers involved. They’ll bring in public relations companies. They’ll cost you millions in expenses and they’ll drag your name through the mud. They’ll make sure that no one in Asia considers even a ten- dollar investment in the band. It will be your standard train wreck.”
“I wondered how long you were going to be sweet and reasonable.”
“I still am. I just don’t think it’s fair to lie to you, to leave you with the idea that there’s no cause and effect.”
Francis looked at Martin. “What do you think?”
“I think Ms. Lee has made us a sound business proposal,” Martin said.
“Five names?” Francis said.
“Yes.”
“Then we’ve heard the last of this?”
“You will never hear from us again.”
He tugged at his hair. “Give the names to Martin.”
She extracted a slip of paper from her notebook. “Chinaclipper, Brrrrr, Buckshot, Felix the Cat, and Kaybar. I need to know who these people are, and I want addresses, phone numbers, email addresses — everything you have on file for them.”
“I don’t want to go to my lawyer to draft anything,” Francis said. “He’s a stickler for the fine points of the law, and he might think we’re compromising ourselves by giving you those names.”
“I’ll send you an email with my commitment in it. Print it and I’ll sign it.”
“Assuming you actually have the authority to sign anything.”
“If you need to call Hong Kong, I’ll gladly provide you with a number.”
“No,” Francis said, writing down his email address and handing her the paper. “For some reason I trust you.”
Ava stood. “The trust is mutual,” she said. “Although I do need to ask that no one from the band contact anyone at The River. I think it’s best all around if they think this issue is behind them.”
“All right,” Francis said.
“You’ll have my email in half an hour,” she said.
“I’ll make a phone call. You’ll have the names by then as well,” Martin said.
Francis and Martin stood, and each in turn extended a hand. Harold was still slumped in the chair, holding his arm. Ava realized she might have jabbed him a little more forcefully than she intended.
“I have to say, I didn’t expect this to happen when you walked through the door,” Francis said.
“Sometimes meetings take on a life of their own,” Ava said, nodding at all three men.
(19)
Ava left the mezzanine, went to the concierge to retrieve her bags, and checked into a room. Her cellphone had been off during the meeting, and when she turned it on, her mother’s number was at the top of the missed calls list. The bamboo telegraph has been working overtime, Ava thought. Philip Chew’s attempted suicide would be the talk of countless mah-jong tables. She just hoped her mother didn’t think that they or Aunt Lily had pushed him over the edge.
When Ava got to her suite, she went to work on the memorandum of agreement for Francis. It took longer than she thought to get the wording right. She couldn’t help slipping in phrases that created loopholes; in the end she took them all out. There was no point in risking his alienation by trying to act the amateur lawyer.
When the email had been sent, she waited twenty minutes and then went downstairs to the mezzanine level. Martin stood outside the boardroom, talking on his mobile phone. She saw a copy of her email in his hand. This is good, he mouthed, and passed her the piece of paper.
She held it against the wall and signed it, then kept her distance until he had closed the phone. “Here,” she said, handing the paper to him.
He took the email from her and disappeared into the boardroom. He was back in less than five minutes. “These are the names you want, and here’s my card. The Chief asked that you call me if you need anything else. Or if you think there’s anything we need to be warned about.”
As she handed him her card, Ava noted that Martin’s family name was Littlefeather. “How old are you?” she asked.
“Twenty-eight.”
“So young.”
“We’re the first generation to benefit from the Chief’s work. He has faith in us.”
“I’m impressed.”
“But I can’t take Harold out and I can’t control the Chief the way you did,” he said.
“I’m older than you are.”
