moved her left foot back and swivelled out of the way, his fist gliding harmlessly past her chin. Before he could recoil, she drove the middle knuckle of her right hand into his ear. He screamed, staggered, and lurched sideways. Ava moved closer, the man’s nose her next target.
Then she hit the ground. Her legs had been swept from under her by a man wearing a white tracksuit and black boots. She looked up at his pale, fleshy face and manic eyes. He was aiming a kick at her head when she rolled away from him. Ava tried to leap to her feet, but the man caught her on the hip with his second kick, throwing her onto her other side. As she tried to move away, the man she had struck earlier jammed his boot into her ribs. She lifted her arm to protect her face, in the process exposing her ribs to another kick.
She was still struggling to get to her feet when she heard someone yell, “Cut that shit!”
She looked up at the two men standing over her. They were looking up at Gilbert Jackson, and another black man who was at least Jackson’s height and maybe fifty pounds heavier. They stood at the top of the stairs, their fists clenched at their sides. Ava’s two attackers ran to a car that was idling in the parking lot. She tried to get a read on the licence plate as they drove off, but it was just past dusk and she couldn’t make out the numbers.
“What the hell was that about?” Jackson asked when he reached her. “Are you okay? Can you move?”
Her ribs were aching, but Ava’s keenest pain was from humiliation. “I’ll live,” she said as she struggled to her feet.
“What did they want?” Jackson asked, his hand on her arm to steady her.
“I have no idea. They jumped me when I came down the stairs.”
“We need to call the police.”
“Forget it. It would just be a waste of time.”
“You can’t let them get away with this!”
“I don’t know who they are, and neither do you. What would we tell the police? That two guys with roid rage tried to rob or rape me? That description would fit a quarter of the men in Vegas… I’m fine.”
“We should get you to a hospital,” Jackson said, still holding her arm and looking down at her.
She winced. Her side was sore, but she knew there wasn’t much to be done for a bruised or broken rib except tape it. “No, I don’t need a hospital.”
“We’ll take you back to your hotel then. That’s the least we can do,” he said.
“No, that’s not necessary. I’d already called for a taxi,” she said. As if on cue, Au drove into the parking lot. “Look, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it, but I want to leave this thing alone. I’m leaving tomorrow anyway. I just want to put it behind me… But thank you,” she said, and squeezed Jackson’s arm.
Ava walked over to the cab. Au was standing beside it with a look of concern on his face. She knew what he was thinking. “Those two guys helped me,” she said. “I had a problem with two other men.”
Her hip hurt when she sat down. Despite what she had told Jackson, she contemplated going to a hospital or a walk-in clinic. Then she decided again that they wouldn’t do much more for her than she could do for herself. “Can you stop at a drugstore?” she asked.
Au drove a block south and then pulled into a strip mall. Ava bought two rolls of medical tape and extra- strength Tylenol. When they got back to Wynn’s, she asked Au to wait outside with the meter running and his phone turned on. “I may need you,” she said. He nodded.
Ava went directly to the poker room. There was no sign of Douglas. As she stood at the rail peering into the room, the host walked over to her. “David Douglas has left?” she asked.
“No more than five minutes ago. He left this note for you,” he said.
She read it as she walked to the elevator. I hope you enjoyed the visit from my friends. Those are two of the nicer ones. Stay away from me and you won’t have to worry about seeing them again.
She called Au from her room to tell him she’d be down soon. She was packed and checked out of Wynn’s in less than fifteen minutes.
“Where are we going? Airport?” Au asked as he threw her bags into the trunk.
“No, I’m staying. I just need to change hotels,” she said, easing gingerly into the back seat. “I need one that isn’t quite so mainstream.”
He peered at her in the rear-view mirror. “Miss, if you have a problem, I don’t mind helping. I have a house with a spare bedroom. And my wife won’t mind. It would give her a chance to speak Cantonese again.”
“That’s really kind, but it isn’t necessary. Can you suggest a hotel?”
“The Mandalay Bay is at the end of the Strip.”
“I don’t want to be on the Strip.”
“Near the Strip?”
“That would work.”
“There’s the Hooters Hotel across from the MGM, tucked in behind the Tropicana.”
“Take me there, please.”
By the time they were about two hundred metres from the hotel, Ava had booked a room for thirty-nine dollars a night under the name Jennie Kwong, one of her backups. She looked at the Hooters logo lit up in brilliant orange. The place advertised itself as Vegas’s discount hotel. That’s certainly truth in advertising, Ava thought as she got out of the cab.
Au got out and went to the trunk to take out her bags.
“I may need you in the morning. Could you keep it free for me?” she asked, slipping him a hundred-dollar bill.
He reached into his pocket for change. “No, that’s all for you,” she said.
“Okay. And thank you, Ms. Kwong… It is Ms. Kwong, right?”
“Call me Jennie,” Ava said. “And Au, if anyone asks where I am, you don’t know.”
(23)
She walked into the Hooters Hotel lobby and took in the plain tile floors, the dim overhead lighting, and the small sitting area facing a long wooden reception desk. A small, plump woman with a Spanish accent greeted her warmly.
Ava showed her Jennie Kwong’s credit card and driver’s licence and was given a room in the Oceanview Tower. “There’s no ocean, of course,” the woman told her, “but you do have a view of the pool.”
When Ava opened the door to her room, Wynn’s felt a world away. There was nothing sedate or neutral about Hooters. The bedspread was a print of giant green and orange palm leaves, and the lamps had matching tangerine shades. The furniture was woven rattan, and near the window was a small round table and two stools upholstered in orange vinyl fabric. Ava went to the window and pulled open the orange drapes. A sharp pain shot down her side. She stood looking out the window, waiting for the throbbing to subside. The MGM Grand dominated the view; she carefully closed the curtains to block out the green glare that emanated from the hotel and casino. Then she took two Tylenol, taped her ribs, and went down the hall to fill the ice bucket. When she got back to the room, she filled a towel with ice and lay on the bed, pressing it against her side.
David Douglas hadn’t reacted as well as she had hoped, but neither had his lack of cooperation really shocked her. She hadn’t expected the goons, though. They had been a bit of a surprise. That was no excuse for not handling them better, she told herself, but even if she had taken them out, she didn’t see how that would have helped her get closer to Douglas. So now what to do? Ava thought.
There were three obvious options, none of them particularly appealing. She could go to The River’s office and broach the subject with Ashton. But he would have to agree to see her, and she knew there wasn’t much chance of that, given how his partner had reacted. And given that there were office staff and other tenants, she’d have police or security all over her in no time if she tried to force her way in.
Ashton’s condo was the next choice, and if anything that was less appealing than the office. Not only were there twenty-four-hour guards, but it was also likely there was a security camera at the front entrance. That left Douglas’s home as her best bet — it was the most isolated of the three. She just had to find a way into the complex and then into the house.
It was time to make some phone calls.
“ Wei.”
