Derek’s moved out of your place and into mine for a while. God, girl, why did you keep him from me? He can’t stop playing with my tits, and I can’t stop playing with his cock. I thought you said Chinese guys had small dicks. Liar. Love, Mimi
Ava almost threw her computer against the wall. It took her five minutes to collect herself. I love them both, she thought. Maybe, just maybe, it will work. But why did Mimi have to share so freely about their sex life?
Dear Mimi, Ava wrote. I’m happy for you if it works out, but I’m nervous that it won’t. Either way, I don’t want to read or hear any more about your tits or his cock. Love, Ava.
She closed the computer and opened her Moleskine notebook. Across the top of a blank page she wrote Lily Simmons and started piecing together a strategy for dealing with her. All she had to do, she reminded herself, was get the woman to sign a single piece of paper. The fact that it was worth $65 million was only a detail.
(34)
Carlo and Andy were in the lobby when Ava came down with her bags at six thirty. Through the glass front door she saw Martin sitting outside in the Lincoln. “Let’s go,” she said to the boys. “I spoke with Uncle and he knows you’re heading back.”
They grinned, and she knew they’d had more than one beer in the hotel bar.
Martin opened the trunk of the car and helped Ava with her bags. “Thanks for doing this,” Ava said.
“No problem.”
The boys got into the back seat and Ava sat in the front beside Martin.
“I spoke to Chief Francis,” Martin said as they headed south on Tropicana. “He called to find out how things went. I gave him a general description.”
“Did you mention the gun, the shooting?”
“No, I thought it was best to leave that bit out.”
“I think that’s wise. There’s no sense in alarming him.”
“The fact that you have to go to London alarmed him enough.”
“Why?”
“I think he was hoping that Las Vegas would be the end of this affair. The longer it goes on, the more concerned he is that it will go public.”
“Douglas and Ashton won’t say anything.”
“He’s more worried about your side.”
“Martin, I gave him and you my word. I won’t go back on it.”
“How about the people you’re working for?”
“I speak for them,” she said, but his question touched a sore spot. Just how much control did she have over Tommy Ordonez? Only as much influence as Uncle and Chang can exert, she thought. The only way to make sure that never happened was to get the money — all of the money.
“That’s what I told him.”
“Thank you.”
“One more thing about this afternoon, Ava. The Chief wanted to know what made you so sure Douglas and Ashton wouldn’t go to the authorities and file some kind of complaint against you, against me.”
Ava thought about her last conversation with the gambler and his partner, and then she put it aside. “I told them I would have them killed. And they believed me.”
“The Chief thought it might be something like that.”
They turned south and the airport came immediately into view. Hooters couldn’t have been more than five minutes away. “I need you to do something for me before you leave tonight,” Ava said.
“What’s that?”
“You’re the last one out. Just before you board, use a pay phone and call the security office at The Oasis. Tell them there was a home invasion and they need to go to Douglas’s house.”
“Okay.”
Ava turned to Carlo and Andy. “Here you are, you two. I’ve written out your flight information for tonight and tomorrow, including confirmation numbers. I’ve also written down your hotel name, address, phone number, and reservation number, in Chinese and English.”
“Thanks,” Carlo said.
“But do me a favour — stay in your hotel tonight. Don’t go wandering. Not many people in Los Angeles speak Cantonese, and I don’t want to worry about the two of you getting lost. Uncle would never forgive me.”
“ Momentai,” Andy said.
They were flying out of Terminal One, Ava out of Terminal Two. The airport road took Martin past her terminal first. He pulled up at the curb and got out of the car.
“See you soon,” she said to the boys as she opened the door.
They each placed their right hand over their left fist, lowered their heads, and moved their hands up and down, the same sign of respect they had shown her when they landed.
Martin took Ava’s bags out of the trunk and brought them to her. “I was going to say this was fun, but it was too stressful to qualify as fun. Anyway, I’m glad I met you.”
She stepped forward and leaned towards him. He looked down shyly as she kissed him gently on both cheeks. “I’d like to keep in touch, maybe visit the Mohneida Nation one day. You’re only a few hours down the road from Toronto.”
“Anytime.”
“Tell the Chief I’ll call him when I’ve concluded my business in London — however it turns out.”
“Actually, Ava, he’d rather you call me. He says every time he talks to you, he ends up doing something he doesn’t want to.”
She smiled, then turned and walked into the airport. She was halfway through a glass of wine in the first- class lounge when her cellphone rang. She checked the screen, which simply read private number. “Ava Lee,” she said.
“You didn’t call me back.”
She looked at her phone. It was one thing not to answer; it was another to hang up. “I was busy,” she said.
She heard the now familiar wheeze as Ordonez drew in air. “I know. Uncle just called Chang with the news.”
“Yes.”
“It is a start.”
“Yes, it is.”
“But just a start. I want the rest of it back.”
“That’s something we all want to happen. Me, Uncle, Chang Wang, and, I’m sure — perhaps more than anyone — your brother.”
“My brother has nothing to do with this anymore. They didn’t steal from him; they stole from me. It was my money, the company’s money, not his money.”
A boarding announcement for another flight was being broadcast in the lounge. “They’re boarding my plane, Mr. Ordonez,” she lied. “I have to go.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t want to discuss that.”
He hesitated. “Get the money,” he said. “Get it all.”
(35)
The plane landed at Gatwick five minutes early. Ava cleared Immigration and Customs in less than twenty
