by Ian Hamilton
“That’s what he’s heard. He can’t confirm it.”
“And what Englishman is he referring to? Yin?”
“No, Calhoun.”
“He knows this or he thinks this as well?”
“Well, he said that one night he was with Men and his wife and they started to talk about the money that Mega Metals was making. They were happy about it, of course, but Men couldn’t help mentioning that the Englishman, Calhoun, had been so difficult during the negotiations that it was a wonder the deal had ever gotten done.”
“Did Men pass along any other details?”
“No.”
“Shit.”
“Ling is still here. I can ask him again.”
“No, don’t bother.”
“Is there anything else you want besides the insurance emails?”
“No. Just tell him to keep his eyes and ears open and to report to you if he hears anything unusual concerning me.”
“He already told me that they’re all bent out of shape about you.”
“We know.”
“And that they sent two off-duty military men to pick you up.”
“I was there.”
“Lau Ai was impressed with the way you handled them.”
“A lot of good that does me.”
Feng hesitated. “Ava, I’m sorry about Mega Metals.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Ava said. “But listen, what you can do is ask Ling where I can find this Vincent Yin. And ask him what kind of man he is.”
“Do you want to wait a minute? He’s next door.”
“Sure.”
Xu was looking at her from across the table. “It doesn’t sound like we’re making as much headway as you wanted with Mega Metals.”
“We’re not done yet.”
“Ling can’t help?”
“Not much, but there’s an English-Chinese guy named Vincent Yin who might be able to.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“No, but he’s all we’ve got right now.”
“Ava,” Feng said.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Mega Metals’ office is in the southern outskirts of Nanjing. I’ll text you the address and phone number.”
“Thanks.”
“And Ling says that Yin is in his mid to late thirties and is sort of a nonentity. He’s listed as the legal representative of Mega Metals, but he acts more like a bookkeeper.”
“But he does run the business?”
“He does in name, but he doesn’t make any real decisions. The company was set up to operate in a very structured way. He works strictly within a system.”
“There’s nothing I like more than a man who does what he is told,” Ava said.
( 34 )
Ava sat quietly at the kitchen table mulling over everything she’d just learned. Xu took back his phone, checked his messages, and took a sip of tea.
“I have to make a few calls,” he said. “I’ll be back shortly.”
“No problem.”
When he left, Ava picked up her own cell and punched in May Ling’s number.
“How is it going?” May said.
“Have you heard something?” Ava replied, sensing concern in her friend’s voice.
“Nothing specific, but I was talking to Brenda about an hour ago and when I asked how your project was coming along, she was evasive. That’s not like her, so I figured something had happened.”
“Well, things are heating up,” Ava said. “The Tsai family is onto me. Last night they tried to have me picked up by some paramilitary men.”
“They obviously didn’t succeed.”
“The fact that they tried was alarming enough.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Go after them.”
“How?”
“I’m still working on it but I’m making some progress.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes, there are a few things,” Ava said. “First, I don’t have the time or the will to worry about Lane Crawford and PÖ. Could you please take control with Amanda? You have my complete trust. Do whatever you think is right.”
“Okay, that’s easy enough.”
“Next, could you start thinking about friends and contacts you have in China who might have some influence in Beijing?”
“Why?”
“We might need to create a firestorm around the Tsai family, and we may have some information we want you to feed to your people. The information will be accurate, but it could be controversial.”
“The more controversial the better,” May said with a laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Most of them like to gossip.”
“That’s good to hear.”
May drew a deep breath. “Seriously, though, you need to be careful. I know I keep saying it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
“I should have listened more closely to you before,” Ava said.
“Hey, you’ll find a way out of this. You always do. And this time, you’re not so alone. You’ve got quite a few of us standing behind you.”
“Thanks.”
“Stay in touch.”
“Count on it,” Ava said.
She checked the time and figured that the Mega Metals head office had to be open by now.
“Mega Metals,” a receptionist answered.
“Good morning. My name is Jennie Kwong and I’m calling to speak to Vincent Yin.”
“He’s not in the office at present.”
“Are you expecting him shortly?”
“No, he’s out of the office on business matters.”
“Will he be checking in for messages?”
“Yes.”
“Then could you tell him that Jennie Kwong called? I represent a Hong Kong–based construction consortium that will be starting some projects in Jiangsu, and I’m told he’s the man to speak to.”
“I could connect you with our vice-president of sales. He’s in the office today.”
“Actually, I was told to speak directly to Mr. Yin. The senior partner in our firm is an old colleague of Mr. Dennis Calhoun. Mr. Calhoun was quite insistent that Mr. Yin be our point of contact.”
“I see. Well, I will pass that message along to Mr. Yin.”
“Please tell him I’m in the vicinity of Nanjing and that I’m hoping we can set up a meeting.”
“I’ll pass that information along as well.”
Xu returned to the kitchen and sat at the table. “I have to head out in a while. I have some meetings scheduled that I shouldn’t postpone, although God knows I’d like to,” he said.
“Before you go, could you do something for me?”
“What?”
“I’m trying to get together with Vincent Yin from Mega Metals today. I’ve put in a call to him, and if I’m lucky he’ll agree to see me. What I need is a meeting space that is businesslike but secure at the same time.”
“You could use the boardroom at the Xin Fang Fa Co-operative.”
“That’s the business you used to funnel money to the Three Sisters.”
“Yes. The office is about half an hour from here towards Nanjing. It isn’t fancy, but it is a real business environment.”
“Could you make an arrangement with the co-op for me to have the boardroom for at least a few hours, assuming I get Yin to agree to meet?”
“Sure, I’ll call them before I leave.”
“And could you lend Suen to me? I don’t want Yin to feel threatened in any way, but in case he reacts badly or decides to bolt, I want to have some backup.”
“I can do that,” Xu said. “Anything else?”
“I may need a videographer.”
“I’ll talk to th
e people at the co-operative about that,” he said, a slight smile crossing his face. “I’ll tell them to have one on standby.”
“Great. Now I need to get ready just in case he calls back and is willing to meet.”
“I’m here for another half-hour or so. I’ll contact Suen and the co-operative before I leave.”
Ava went to the bathroom to shower, carrying her phone with her. She turned up the volume and placed the cell on top of the toilet, next to the shower stall. She washed quickly, fearful the phone would ring. When it did, she was already leaving the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.
“Hello,” she said.
“Jennie Kwong?”
“Yes.”
“This is Vincent Yin from Mega Metals. I understand you want to talk to me.”
She walked into her bedroom and sat on the bed. “I’d like to meet. Today actually, if that’s possible.”
“This is very short notice.”
“I apologize for that. I didn’t expect to be in Shanghai today, but my plans changed at the last minute and here I am,” Ava said. “I realize my timing could be inconvenient, but I thought I’d take the chance that you might be available. My boss was quite insistent that I should speak to you. He was talking to Mr. Calhoun — who is an old friend of his — about our projects, and Mr. Calhoun said your company could be of real assistance to us. He also said you were the man we had to deal with. He seems to really admire everything you’ve done with the business.”
“You’re with a construction company?”
“A consortium of companies that, among other things, do construction,” Ava said. “We are considering some large projects in this region and we would be grateful for the opportunity to go over them with you. My boss said you might be able to give us some strategic advice, as well as, of course, be one of our major suppliers.”
“You’re in Shanghai?”
“Yes, but we have offices in Qinjin, on Harvest Street, number 338. Would meeting there work for you?”
“It would, actually — I’m only twenty minutes from Qinjin.”
Ava checked the time. “I can’t get there until about noon.”
“One is better for me.”
“Then one it is. Just ask for me when you get there. We can use our boardroom.”
“Do you need me to bring any information about our company?”
“No, just bring yourself.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Ava opened the bedroom door and stuck her head out. “Xu, I’m meeting Vincent Yin at one,” she called.
“Okay, I’ll have Suen ready with the car at twelve. That should get you there in lots of time. I’ve already spoken to the co-op and they’re expecting you.”
“Fantastic.”
“Now I have to get going. I won’t be back until late today and I may be hard to reach.”
“Hopefully I won’t need to talk to you.”
Ava closed the door and stepped back into the room, filled with a sense of anticipation. She had her man. She would have his undivided attention. It was an opportunity she had to exploit. Standing in the shower, she had already begun to create a question-and-answer scenario, one that would lead Vincent Yin to the inescapable conclusion that doing what Ava wanted was the only sensible option he had.
From her travel bag she took out clean underwear, a white shirt with a modified Italian collar and French cuffs, and a clean pair of black linen slacks. She slipped on the underwear and shirt, and to secure the cuffs she fastened the blue enamel links she had bought at Shanghai Tang in Hong Kong. She pulled back her hair and clasped it with her ivory chignon pin. She hung her crucifix around her neck and then slipped on her Cartier Tank Française watch. She hoped it wouldn’t be too much. Makeup was out. She wanted to look as plain and sincere as possible.
Xu was still sitting in the living room when Ava left her room. He had put on a black jacket and black tie. He sat in a chair, leaning forward, his eyes focused on the front door. An unlit cigarette dangled in his right hand. Ava blinked. For a moment she thought she was looking at Uncle. The profiles were almost identical, and the way Xu was positioned was as familiar to her as Uncle’s voice.
He heard her and turned and smiled. “I thought I’d wait for a few extra minutes. Suen just phoned. He said the co-op has a videographer on standby.”
( 35 )
Two hours later, Ava walked into the courtyard to find a black BMW X6 with a driver Ava had never seen behind the wheel. Suen leaned against the back door. When he saw Ava, he stood up and opened it for her. She climbed in. He sat next to the driver.
“Traffic is good,” Suen said. “We should be there by quarter to one at the latest.”
Ava took out her notebook and began to review the notes she’d been making. She lost all sense of time and direction as the BMW worked its way through the city, and was surprised when it came to a stop and Suen said, “We’re here.”
She looked out the window at an unmarked four-storey brown brick building. She started to open the door, but before she could, Suen opened it for her. As she climbed out of the car, a man and a woman rushed out of the building and headed for Suen. He held out his hand and said something that Ava couldn’t quite hear, but which generated huge smiles.
“We can go inside,” Suen said to Ava. “The boardroom is available to us now, and we have it for as long as you need.”
The couple led Suen and Ava into the building. It was as plain inside as out — brown tile floors, beige walls, and a white tile ceiling. They walked past an unstaffed reception desk and down a corridor lined with closed doors. At the end of the hall, the man opened a set of double doors. The boardroom was large and had four long tables forming a square and twenty plastic chairs. The walls were covered with whiteboards.
“We need everything erased from the boards,” Ava said. “He doesn’t need to know anything about the co-op’s business. Besides, I think it could be visually distracting.”
“Xing, will you look after that please,” Suen said to the man who had led them into the boardroom.
“Sure,” he replied and went immediately to work on the boards.
“Is this room okay?” Suen asked.
“It’ll do fine.”
“Most of the offices on this floor are empty, so you don’t have to worry about being overheard.”
“Are you going to stay when I talk to him?”
“Do you need me to?”
“I think I’d rather have you sitting just outside.”
“No problem. What else will you need?”
“Some water, and eventually I hope I’ll need that videographer. How close is he?”
“Fifteen minutes, and he’s been told to be on standby.”
Suen’s phone rang. He answered it, nodded, and said to Ava, “Your man is here.”
“He’s a bit early. That’s good,” Ava said. “Could you bring him here?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll get organized,” she said, taking her notebook from her bag.
“How much time do you think you’ll need with this guy?”
“I have no idea. It depends on how smart he is.”
“Smart or scared?”
“A bit of both isn’t bad, but I prefer smart. It always goes faster when the other party really understands what kind of situation they’re in and how limited their options are.”
( 36 )
She heard them first, footsteps on tile. Then the door opened and Suen filled its frame. Looking slightly uncomfortable in the big man’s wake was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, thin, about five foot nine, his hair stylishly shaved along both sides and spiked on top. He wore a smart slim-cut grey tailored suit and a blue and gold Hermès tie.
“What a pleasure to meet you,” Ava said, extending her hand. “I meant to ask
you before what language you prefer to speak — English or Chinese?” she asked him in Chinese, and as he stumbled over an answer she added in English, “I’m a Hong Konger and went only to English schools there.”
“Then English will be fine,” he said. “It will be nice for a change.”
“Your accent is quite distinctive.”
“I was raised and educated in Newcastle. I have a bit of a Geordie accent, although it isn’t as broad as most you’ll hear.”
“Have a seat. Can I offer you some water or another beverage?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said.
“How did you get here? Do you have a car and driver?”
“No, I came by taxi.”
“Well, thank you for taking the time to see me,” Ava said, opening her notebook.
“What company did you say you were with?” Yin asked.
“I didn’t say.”
“And which one is it?”
“Well, this is where things start to become a little complicated, Mr. Yin.”
“Call me Vincent, and I don’t understand what you mean by ‘complicated.’”
“For starters, there isn’t any company.”
“What?”
“I can explain.”
“How about Mr. Calhoun’s friend?”
“I’m sure Mr. Calhoun has many. I just don’t know or work for one of them.”
“This is absurd,” Yin said, starting to rise.
“Don’t do that,” Ava said. “The large man who brought you here is sitting outside. He won’t let you leave until we’ve finished talking. So please sit down.”
He flinched, and she saw a trace of fear in his eyes.
“You have to tell me what this is about,” he said, now standing.
“In the very broadest sense, it is about the rest of your life,” she said.
“That’s crazy.”
“No, it really isn’t,” Ava said. “Because by the time we’ve finished talking, you’re going to have to make some important and difficult decisions that will affect the rest of your life. I know what I want you to do, and I know what I think is best for you to do, but ultimately we’re going to find out how practical and sensible you are.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”