“Spare me your nonsense.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“You heard me.”
Ava looked at him. His face was turned away from her, his eyes fixed on the bar. “I thought we were going to talk about our mutual problem,” she said.
“I would prefer it if I talked and you listened,” he said.
His jaw was set firmly and his body was stiff. Ava knew he was struggling to contain himself. “That’s fine,” she said.
“Lily said you were clever, so I assume I won’t have to repeat any of this. In case there is any misunderstanding, Hawkins here will act as a witness.”
“A witness to what?”
“A witness to my outright refusal to allow you to blackmail my daughter, and to my promise that if you release so much as a single foot of those tapes you say you have, I will pursue you legally to the full extent of British law and beyond.”
Ava drew a deep breath and detected the smell of Scotch. “Mr. Simmons, I met with your daughter today to try to resolve a business dispute in an amicable way. A company, one that you have invested in, has orchestrated a large-scale theft. The two partners in that company have already admitted to culpability. All we want is the return of the money that was stolen. The offer we made to the partners, and to your daughter, is, we believe, fair in the extreme. Return the money and we will forego any civil or criminal legal remedies. We will make sure the entire affair is kept private. And The River can continue to operate.”
“I know nothing about any such problem, and I have barely any familiarity with the investment,” Simmons said.
“Sir, you can deny it all you want — ”
Simmons banged his fist on the table so hard that Ava’s glass jumped and she had to grab it to stop it from spilling. “Are you calling me a liar?” he demanded.
“Sir, people can hear you,” Hawkins said.
“Let them. I won’t sit and listen to this tripe.”
“Ms. Lee, the Minister is obviously upset,” Hawkins said, leaning towards her. “His daughter came to him earlier this evening and relayed the content of your meeting this afternoon. She was very emotional. She wondered if she should go to the police, but the Minister prevailed upon her to wait until he had had a chance to speak with you.”
“I don’t mean to be impolite, and I’m certainly not in the blackmail business,” Ava said to both of them, “but I don’t know how else to say that two partners in a business financed by the minister — directly or indirectly — and of which his daughter is a director and signing officer, stole more than sixty million dollars from my clients.”
“You need to prove that,” Simmons said.
“I have documentation. I gave it to your daughter. And in our earlier phone conversation you said you were aware of it.”
“Don’t tell me what I said or didn’t say.”
“Then let me be clear, for the record,” Ava said. “We have proof positive that Jeremy Ashton and David Douglas orchestrated a fraud that netted The River more than sixty million dollars. I met with your daughter to ask for the money back. Ashton and Douglas have already signed the transfer request; all I need is her signature. When she refused to give it to me, I explained that we would sue the company and its officers. I also told her that we would seek criminal charges against Ashton and Douglas.”
“According to my daughter you have allegations, not proof, and when she pointed that out to you, the blackmail attempt ensued,” Simmons said.
“I can give you whatever documentation you require,” Ava said.
“I can’t look at it, can I, Hawkins.”
“No, sir.”
They might be taping this conversation, Ava thought. It was all too careful, and Hawkins’s presence was too contrived. “So why are you here?” Ava asked.
“I told you at the outset. I want you to leave my daughter alone.”
“If we can’t settle this dispute, that’s impossible. We will sue the company and we will file criminal charges.”
“Sue away. I’ve been in business my entire life; I understand that process. It will take years to drag through the courts, assuming you can find a court to hear the case.”
“And your daughter’s fiance? You have no concerns about him, about how all this might affect her?”
“Jeremy Ashton is an ass. I never understood what my daughter saw in him. But I’m realistic. She isn’t any prize catch, and she did seem to love him, so I supported her choice until now. But that’s over — I want him out of her life. If he did wrong and you can put him in jail, as you told my daughter you would when you were attempting to intimidate her, then I say, ‘More power to you.’ You have my blessing, and she won’t interfere.”
Ava sipped her soda water. She knew where the conversation was headed but she had no idea how to stop it. “Would you care for a drink now?” she asked.
Simmons shook his head. Then he turned to Hawkins. “I’ve changed my mind. Get me a single malt, neat.”
“Yes, Minister.”
“And bring me another soda with lime,” Ava said.
Hawkins looked at Simmons. “What are you waiting for?” Simmons snapped.
When he was gone, Ava moved closer to Simmons and said quietly, “We won’t let go of this. We’ll do whatever we have to do. You have to understand that. You can pretend that you know nothing, but it doesn’t change a thing.”
“You fucking chink,” he murmured.
Ava froze. “Pardon?”
“You heard me. You and the other fucking chinks you work with can go to hell. You think you can come here and operate the way you do at home. I’ve done business with the Chinese; I know how it works. If it isn’t bribery, it’s extortion.”
“I’m Canadian, and my client is in the Philippines,” Ava said, struggling to maintain control.
“Makes no difference which flag you wave. You’re all Chinese at heart, aren’t you.”
“My client, the Ordonez Group, is based in Manila and is a respected multinational corporation.”
“You can say that with a straight face?”
“Yes.”
“What, with the same sincerity you show when you talk about lawsuits and criminal charges, when all the time you’re holding sex tapes over my daughter’s head?”
“Our claims are legitimate,” Ava said.
“Then take them to fucking court.”
“As you said, that takes time.”
“And you people never want to take the time, do you.”
Ava sipped the last of her soda water. She saw that Hawkins was still standing at the bar trying to get the bartender’s attention. “We will release the tapes, you know,” she said.
Simmons leaned back. “Go ahead,” he said.
“What?”
“You heard me. Go ahead.”
“Your daughter — ”
“It will be media fodder for a couple of days, maybe a week. Her mother will be embarrassed and her friends will probably find it amusing. It will pass.”
“She’ll be humiliated.”
He shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”
“How about your reputation?”
He gave her a half-smile. “I’ll put on a brave face and stand by my daughter. I have a reputation for being a hard-ass, you know. This could show my softer side, earn me some sympathy.”
