The King of Shanghai (22 page)

( 31 )

She carried her bags downstairs and stood inside the door, waiting for Sonny. When this was over, she would go back to the Mandarin. Tomorrow she would see Bowlby and then get ready to leave Hong Kong.

Sonny arrived right on time, double-parking in front of the building. When he saw Ava’s bags, he popped the trunk and ran to get them.

“How is traffic?” she asked as she slid into the back seat.

“Okay. We should be there in fifteen to twenty minutes,” he said as he got behind the wheel.

He looked at Ava in the rear-view mirror. She saw that his eyes were lined and his mouth was sagging. Even Sonny was finding it harder to handle all-nighters.

Ava waited until they had cleared the street and were headed towards the Kowloon MTR before she asked, “Tell me about this Lop character.”

“I’ve only met him twice, once in Shanghai and then in Borneo.”

“What was he like?”

“I didn’t speak to him, just saw him in action. Like I said to you earlier, he’s a bit crazy.”

“Did you ask Suen about him?”

“Yeah, but not until last night. And I had to ask more than once before I could get anything out of him.”

“What did he have to say?”

“Lop has been with them for less than two years. He was an officer in the Chinese army, the head of some kind of elite squad. Suen wasn’t specific but he hinted that the squad was special operations. And that kind of figures, because he’s in charge of Xu’s guys on the ground and he’s trained them to operate like a well-oiled army unit.”

“So how did he find his way from there to Xu?”

“I have no idea, but however it happened, Xu evidently holds him in very high regard.”

“Is Suen jealous?”

“A bit, I think.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not that I can see. Suen says Lop worships Xu, is completely loyal, and will follow orders to the letter.”

“Until the day he doesn’t.”

Sonny looked back at Ava, his eyes hooded. “Is that a prediction?”

“I don’t know the man well enough.”

“I think you’re just being cynical, and after all the crap you’ve had to put up with over the past few days, I don’t blame you. The truth is that Xu has a way of inspiring loyalty in his people. It reminds me in many ways of —”

“Don’t compare him to Uncle again,” Ava snapped.

Sonny half-turned, his face serious. “I was going to say you.”

Ava blinked. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “All I want is to get this mess behind me so I can go back to what I should be doing.”

Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been the day before in Mong Kok, and Sonny quickly found his way to the Kowloon MTR. “We’re early,” he said.

“So are they,” Ava said, motioning at Suen and four other men standing in front of the station.

“I’ll drop you off and then go park,” Sonny said as he pulled up at the curb.

Suen saw them and walked immediately to the car. Ava opened her door before he got there. He stood to one side as she climbed out. “I brought six men,” he said. “I thought I’d leave two out here, two inside by the restaurant’s front door, and two around the back.”

“That sounds fine,” Ava said, wondering if he really wanted her approval. “Where’s Lop?”

“He’s on his way with a few more men.”

“And Jimmy Tan?”

“Yes, Tan is with them.”

“Was he badly beaten?”

“No.”

“I wish he hadn’t been harmed at all, but I guess I should be congratulating you and Lop for a job well done.”

“It was hardly a fair fight. They weren’t much tougher than Wan’s men in Borneo. We expected more resistance, but these guys have been getting by here for years without any real opposition. They’ve gone soft.”

“Evidently,” Ava said.

As they entered the station, Ava saw Andy and Winnie standing at the front door of their restaurant. They both bowed. “The table is set for you, Ava,” Andy said.

“Thank you, Andy. Let me introduce you to Suen, one of our Shanghai visitors. He’s going to leave some men out here as a precaution.”

“It’s an honour to meet you,” Andy said.

“Not everyone in Hong Kong thinks that,” Suen replied.

“I guess they’ll learn,” said Andy.

“Sammy Wing should be here shortly,” Ava said. “He’s supposed to come alone.”

“You told me that earlier. I’ll keep my eyes open for anyone who looks suspicious.”

“Thanks.”

“Sonny is right behind us and Xu’s man Lop is coming a bit later. You’ll recognize him because he’ll have Jimmy Tan with him. You can show them to the kitchen,” Ava said.

“Will anyone want to eat?” Andy asked.

“No,” Ava said.

“But this is for the inconvenience we’re causing you,” Suen said, handing him a roll of Hong Kong dollars.

Andy hesitated for a second, then took it. “I’ll have tea and water brought to your table. Would you like anything else to drink?”

“That’s all that I need,” Ava said. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I don’t want to be hanging around when Wing gets here.”

When they walked into the kitchen, she looked automatically at the spot where the table had been set for her and Uncle, and then for her and Carlo. The area was empty.

“I moved our vegetable crates to another area and set you up in the back,” Andy said.

They trailed him to a spot near the back door, where a table for six was tucked into a corner. Ava sat with her back to the wall. Suen went to the door and checked to see if it was locked. When he returned, he sat next to her.

The kitchen door swung open and Sonny walked in. Behind him was Sammy Wing. From the door the table was difficult to spot, and Ava saw Sonny straining to find them.

“Suen, go and get them, please,” Ava said. She took several deep breaths and tried to compose herself. It was, she told herself, just another negotiation.

She watched as Suen ran his hands over Wing’s body, searching for a weapon. Suen then stood back and the three large men walked through the kitchen towards them. The chefs kept working, seemingly oblivious of everything but their woks.

Sammy was between Suen and Sonny, dwarfed in height but not in girth. He looked calmer than he had sounded on the phone, a man resigned to his fate. When they neared the table, Ava stood and extended her hand.

“Sammy, it’s good to see you,” she said.

“Is that a joke?” the fat man said.

“No. We’re past jokes.”

Wing slid his hand over Ava’s, not gripping it.

“Sit, please,” she said.

Wing sat down directly across from her and then turned to see if anyone was behind him. He started to speak, but Ava cut him off.

“Sammy, I’m sorry things have come to this,” she said. “None of this had to happen — it was all completely unnecessary. You and Xu should have been able to resolve your differences in a more amicable way. You should have gone to Shenzhen yesterday instead of sending your men.”

“It was stupid of me,” Wing said.

“I also have to tell you that I resent the fact that you used me as bait.”

“The men were instructed not to harm you.”

“So they said, but that didn’t stop them ultimately from trying to.”

“What can I say? I misjudged the situation.”

“You will understand if I regard that as an understatement.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Look, I took a chance because I thought I had to, and I lost. So here we are.”

“Tell me, Sammy, what the hell was running through your head? What logic led you to try to kill us?”

“I told you when I met with you before,” he said.

“I know what you said, but I still don’t understand. What real threat is Xu to you?”

“I don’t want to go over that shit again. Whatever reasons I had don’t matter anymore, do they.”

“No, they don’t, and now we find ourselves in this uncomfortable situation. Sammy, what would you do if you were in Xu’s place?”

Wing shook his head and then looked at Suen and Sonny in turn, as if they had influence. “I’m not playing that game,” he said. “You’re calling the shots. Whatever I have to say doesn’t mean a damn.”

Ava nodded and leaned back in her chair. “Did you talk to Li last night?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I didn’t talk to him.”

“Not even when your men were first attacked and you knew it was going badly?”

“What does it matter if I did or didn’t? He isn’t here and he isn’t coming.”

“Did you reach out to anyone else for help?”

“There was no point.”

“How many of those men who attacked us yesterday were Li’s?”

Wing shook his head so vigorously that his jowls flapped. “They were all my men. I paid Ko separately.”

Ava’s right arm flew through the air, her open palm crashing onto the table with such force that it shook. Wing flinched, and Ava saw the first real sign of fear cross his face. “Don’t tell me that,” she said. “You can offer up any kind of bullshit justification for what happened, but don’t lie to me about Li. I know he sent Ko. Now, how many others?”

Wing looked at Ava and then shrugged. “One more.”

“So it was a partnership between you and Li.”

“Call it what you want.”

“And now your partner won’t come to your aid. You need to be smarter when it comes to choosing sides.”

“I’m at least thirty years older than you, twenty years older than Xu, and I’ve been in this business my whole life. One of the first things I learned — and never doubted — is that the only side you can count on is your own. Li knows that too. That’s why his men didn’t leave Guangzhou last night.”

“Ko and the other one shouldn’t have left the day before.”

“That’s for you and him to sort out. “

“Yes, I guess it will eventually come down to that. In the meantime, what is to be done with you?”

Wing’s chins dropped. There were beads of sweat on his forehead and upper lip, and Ava noticed that his polo shirt was getting wet across the chest and at the armpits. It could have been the heat in the kitchen that was causing it, but she could see the tension in his face and in his wandering eyes.

Suen leaned over to her. “Lop is here,” he said.

Ava looked towards the door and saw Andy, Jimmy Tan, and a man dressed in khaki pants and a pale blue golf shirt. The man she assumed was Lop wasn’t much taller or more muscular than Andy, who pointed them towards the table. As Lop came closer, she could see that he was clean-shaven and his hair was parted on the right. He had no scars, no tattoos, no memorable facial features. It wasn’t until he was almost at the table that his eyes caught her attention. He was blinking rapidly, like a man caught suddenly in a blinding light.

Lop held Tan by the elbow, and from the pained look on Tan’s face, the grip was strong. Tan’s hair was dishevelled and his shirt hung over his pants, but it was the dark bruising around his eyes and the traces of blood under his nose and around his mouth that held Ava’s attention.

“Do you want him to sit?” Lop asked.

“No. He won’t be here that long,” Ava said.

Tan trembled. Ava could only imagine the outcomes running through his head.

“Jimmy, do you have any family living outside Hong Kong?” she asked.

Tan nodded.

“Don’t make me guess.”

“I have a daughter living in Guangzhou and another one in Vancouver.”

“Good. Vancouver sounds perfect. Now, how long will it take you to brief Lop on the part of the business you run and get him up to speed on your men?”

“Why?”

Ava raised her right hand. “No questions. Just answers.”

“A day or two,” Tan stammered.

“Two days, then. I’ll give you two days. On the third day I want your ass on a plane to Vancouver. When you get there, stay there. You aren’t to come back here for any reason.”

“I have property, investments, businesses here. How —”

“Get rid of them, keep them, run them from Vancouver — I don’t care. Just don’t come back. If you do, Lop will bury you here.”

Tan glanced at Sammy Wing. Wing was staring at the wall. It was as if Tan didn’t exist anymore. “Okay. I’ll make it work,” he said.

“I thought you might,” she said. “Now I’d like you to go into the restaurant and wait for Lop. He won’t be long. Sonny will escort you.”

Lop released Tan’s elbow. Tan shook his arm and grimaced. “Get out,” Lop said, grabbing him by the collar and turning him towards the door.

“Jimmy, you’ll have some of our men for company until you actually get on the plane. So don’t get any ideas about doing something stupid,” Ava said to his back.

He swivelled towards her. “I have things to do, personal things. If you want me out of here in three days, how can I do them with those guys hanging around my neck?”

“Your wife and girlfriend will understand. And if they don’t, that’s too bad.”

He started to speak, but Sonny moved in front of him and stared down at him. Tan’s head dropped and he resumed his walk towards the kitchen exit.

“Take a seat, please,” Ava said to Lop.

He took a chair next to Wing, directly across from her. He sat ramrod straight, his hands intertwined and resting on the table. Ava noticed that his eyes weren’t blinking quite so fast, but now his shoulders seemed to be twitching.

“Now we need to talk about you,” she said to Sammy Wing.

“I’m not leaving Hong Kong unless it’s in a box,” Wing exclaimed.

“There’s no need to be so dramatic,” she said. “Xu is prepared to consider the events of the past few days the result of a misunderstanding. He thinks he could have been a bit more sensitive to the economic pressures you felt were imminent, and he thinks you would have been better served by going to Shanghai to discuss things with him face-to-face. Can you agree with that?”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes. Why not?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“He doesn’t see any reason why you shouldn’t keep running Wanchai.” She didn’t know who looked the more surprised, Wing, Suen, or Lop.

“What?” Wing said.

“You have the infrastructure and you have the street connections, and, I assume, the right police connections. Why would he want to disrupt one of the best markets for his products?”

“Then why did he dump Jimmy?”

“Lop will be replacing him. He is your new deputy Mountain Master. Xu is going to leave him here with about twenty of his men. They’ll make sure none of the local gangs try to take advantage of you in your current weakened state. They’ll make sure there isn’t a repeat of what happened yesterday. Can you live with that?”