In the Shade of the Blossom Tree

by Joanna Rees

  She knew she would have to leave soon, to talk to her team and deal with the millions of problems stacking up. But Aidan had done the most wonderful thing and made her forget them, just for a moment. It had been more rejuvenating than any sleep could ever have been.

  He had a towel wrapped around him as he sat down on the bed beside her now and handed her another whisky. He smiled softly at her as they clinked glasses. But she was aware that this easy intimacy was just an illusion. They hardly knew one another and now she didn’t have a clue where she stood.

  ‘So you were about to tell me . . .’ she said pointedly. Whatever it was he’d wanted to talk to her about, there was no sense in putting it off now.

  ‘Ah, yes.’ Aidan frowned heavily, as if contemplating a tricky problem. ‘Well, you see the thing is . . .’ He put the whisky glass down on the chest next to the bed. Then he looked at his hands and clasped his fingers together. ‘You’re not going to like this.’

  Again she saw it, that look in his eyes she’d seen last night. But he couldn’t still be harbouring a grudge against her, could he? Surely not now?

  ‘That doesn’t sound good.’

  ‘No.’ Aidan winced. ‘You see, I haven’t been entirely honest with you.’

  ‘I see,’ Lois said. But she didn’t see at all.

  ‘I’m not really who you think I am.’

  She already knew he was some kind of mercenary, some kind of gambler. How much worse could it get?

  ‘Then who are you?’

  ‘I’ll need your word that what I’m about to tell you will stay strictly between us.’

  ‘What?’ She laughed in disbelief. He couldn’t be serious. ‘You want me to sign a confidentiality agreement when I don’t have a clue what you’re about to tell me?’

  ‘I said, I need your word. Nothing more. That’s good enough for me.’

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Fine. You’ve got it.’

  Aidan took a deep breath and let it out again. ‘The thing is . . . three years ago, I was seconded to an undercover international task force to investigate the trafficking of heroin into the US from China,’ he said.

  ‘You mean you’re not a—’

  ‘A mercenary? I think that’s how you once so charmingly put it,’ Aidan said. ‘No. That was just a cover. Ex-army, yes, but actually this special task force is government. DEA.’

  ‘The DEA?’ Lois asked. ‘As in Drug Enforcement Administration?’

  Every time she’d thought about him, she’d forced the image into her head of Aidan in a war zone, making money out of other people’s misery.

  But no wonder it had been such a struggle to conjure up the images that put him in shady situations. Because Aidan was a good guy. DEA.

  That night. The races . . .

  If she’d known this about him, everything would have been so different.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’

  ‘I wanted to. Believe me, I was dying to. But I was undercover. I hinted at it far too much as it was.’

  ‘And what about the gambling? Is that all bullshit too? Part of your cover?’

  Aidan raised his eyebrows at her. ‘What do you think?’

  She laughed incredulously, remembering how out of his depth he’d been that night at the poker game. ‘Well, that sure explains a few things,’ she said.

  ‘I got into so much crap for losing all that government cash at Jai Shijai’s table, I can’t tell you. When we went to the pagoda that time, I was in shock.’

  ‘So why are you telling me this now?’ she asked.

  ‘Because I trust you, Lois,’ he said, his voice soft and low. ‘And because I care about you too much not to tell you, even though this has serious implications for you.’

  She didn’t like the sound of where this was going, but equally she knew she couldn’t back out now.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘You see the thing is, my investigation has all been focused on Jai Shijai. And his business interests, of course. The US government . . . through me . . . invested in the Good Fortune in order to see where the funds went. To see how Jai Shijai’s finances flow . . .’

  ‘But why? What’s he done wrong?’

  ‘We suspect that Jai is using this casino, as well as his other businesses around the world, to launder funds from his narcotics operation. The heroin he exports to the West.’

  Lois stared at him. ‘And you’ve got evidence of this?’

  ‘That’s what we’re still trying to get.’

  Lois remembered Roberto sporting a new suit and how he’d admitted that Jai Shijai had given it to him. One of the finest from his factories in China, he’d told her proudly. She remembered how Roberto had claimed to be a convert, saying that Jai’s people had Italian design and cheap production all sewn up. A miracle of modern efficiency.

  ‘But Jai Shijai’s a businessman. Legitimate. He’s got textile factories all over China. His government trusts him so much they even let him organize the whole Shangri-La deal.’

  ‘Ghost factories,’ Aidan said. ‘At least the ones we can directly trace to him. Condemned low-output operations. Worth next to nothing, unless you’re looking for a front.’

  Lois got up from the bed and started pacing. Her mind was rushing ahead. Roberto trusted Jai Shijai completely. It was thanks to Jai Shijai that Enzo had won the concession in Shangri-La in the first place. The Good Fortune’s success and Jai Shijai’s patronage were inextricably linked.

  ‘But what about all his assets? His private islands?’ she asked.

  ‘Just because Jai isn’t legit, it doesn’t mean to say he’s not wealthy. In fact, quite the reverse. He’s extraordinarily cash-rich. That’s why he gambles at the level he does. Either way – win or lose – he gets to launder some of his money.’ Aidan stood up too and stared at her across the bed. ‘It’s taken me so long to track down his actual assets. He has an elaborate spider’s web of aliases. And he diverts money through his contacts.’

  ‘So that’s why you were at Jai Shijai’s island for the game?’ she asked him.

  ‘Yes, I wasn’t sure then. But I had a hunch. I went to find out who his business associates were. The best cover was to pose as an investor in the Good Fortune myself. Through being part of the set-up, we were hoping to get access to his accounts, but so far we haven’t been able to turn up a damn thing.’

  ‘But the bankers . . . all the people Jai brought to the table? All the money behind the Good Fortune? Surely you’re not telling me that it’s all corrupt? It can’t be.’

  ‘Our thinking is that this is the biggest money-laundering operation ever to come out of the East.’

  ‘What about Roberto? Does he know?’

  ‘To be honest, I doubt it. We checked out the Vegas operation and it’s all clean. He’s acted in good faith.’

  Lois could barely begin to comprehend the implications of what he was telling her.

  ‘So what’s going to happen?’ she asked.

  ‘I have to find proof. To take to the Chinese authorities. And soon. But so far all the evidence I have is circumstantial. I have nothing to link it together. Every time I think I’m on to something, the trail vanishes.’

  Lois rubbed her forehead, Jai Shijai’s proposal the previous night haunting her. Not just the words, but the way in which he’d said them. The way she’d felt threatened. He was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. She’d sensed that then, but Aidan’s revelation and suspicions put him in an entirely new light.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ he asked her.

  She told him about Jai Shijai’s proposal.

  ‘But you told him no?’ Aidan said. He looked worried and, Lois saw now with a glimmer of satisfaction, jealous.

  ‘Of course I did.’

  Aidan rubbed his chin and Lois realized that he was mulling over the repercussions of her decision. He wasn’t going to ask her to go back on it, was he? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t . . .

  She’d thought Aidan was her friend, but a horrible
sense of dread filled her now. Because he wasn’t a friend. He was a man who was about to detonate her entire life. Because finding the means and the evidence to bust Jai Shijai was going to be bad enough. But if he succeeded . . . then the Good Fortune, Roberto, her team and the future was just a house of cards that Aidan Bailey was going to bring crashing down.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  Savvy was sure that delayed shock must be about to kick in, but for the time being she felt euphoric. At the top of her game. Thrilled to be alone with Luc here in France. Or maybe it was just that she felt lucky to be alive.

  And this was what life was all about, she thought. Tonight she felt like herself for the first time since Elodie had died. Tonight she was having fun.

  So much so that the problems at El Palazzo, her responsibilities in Vegas and all the craziness of the last few days, starting with the fire at the Good Fortune, seemed to have faded into the background.

  ‘Let’s go again,’ Luc said, his eyes shining. ‘We’re on a roll.’

  Savvy laughed and agreed. In all the time she’d seen him at La Paris, Savvy had never known Luc to be around any of the tables in the casino, but now, hours into their night at the Casino Royale in Monte Carlo, Savvy realized that she’d found her gambling soulmate at last.

  He was just like her. Not only did he share her passion for roulette, but he stacked his bets just like she did, with the same amount of determination and crazy faith in lucky numbers.

  In the busy hall, below the chandeliers of the famous casino, Savvy felt very much the part at the VIP tables. It was so much fun being with Luc. He had charmed the people around their table and a cosy sense of camaraderie had descended on them all.

  The sleek French croupier wrapped up the other bets, quickly and professionally stacking the chips on the green baize, his hands moving rapidly and nimbly in the white gloves, like a magician.

  He picked up the ball and held it briefly aloft, as if he was showing it to the players before he made it disappear. Just before he dropped it, Savvy flashed him a flirtatious smile and mouthed the word ‘red’.

  The ball clattered into the outer groove, the wheel spinning fast and smoothly, like the spoked tyre of a vintage car. The colours flashed as Savvy tracked the silver ball, her heart whirring in tandem. She loved the thrill of waiting for fate to take its course. It was this moment of hiatus – of life in freefall – that excited her the most. For this split second, the future was wide open and anything was possible.

  ‘Red! Red! Red!’ she chanted, under her breath, as the ball started losing momentum.

  She saw Luc’s brow furrow with concentration. He glanced to where she was standing next to him and grinned, holding up his crossed fingers and pulling a face, as the ball whooshed around the wheel once more.

  Savvy watched it, acutely aware that Luc’s shoulder was touching hers. Neither of them broke the contact, both leaning into it instead.

  She clasped her hands together, willing the ball to land on red. She’d read somewhere that an experienced croupier could probably make it do so nine times out of ten if he wanted to. She wondered now whether this guy had already rigged it for her. She glanced up at him and, sure enough, saw straight away that she’d captured his attention. He was staring directly at her cleavage.

  Embarrassed, he looked quickly away, concentrating on the wheel, but she noticed a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

  The wheel slowed and the ball whooshed slower and slower around the outer ring, in ever-decreasing circles, before teasing and rattling over each groove.

  The tension was unbearable. Luc was pressed right up against her.

  Bang on cue, the ball landed on red.

  Luc won and punched the air, grinning at her. The French croupier congratulated him, whipping the chips across the green baize in a businesslike way, calling bets for the next round. Luc stacked his chips, running his fingers sensually along their smooth sides.

  Savvy smiled at him, but just then a waiter interrupted them, muscling in between them to place a glass of champagne in front of Luc and one in front of Savvy. She pushed it away politely. He talked to Luc, who then turned round and waved, raising his glass to two players at an adjoining table.

  ‘Who are they?’ Savvy asked, impressed. She liked seeing Luc in France, seeing his mannerisms come alive in his own language.

  ‘Old friends. Gérard Paul used to be a manager here. He knew my father,’ Luc explained.

  ‘Oh?’ she asked. She didn’t break eye contact with him.

  ‘Papa used to bring me here to the casino when I was young.’

  ‘Really?’ Savvy was intrigued. She’d never heard him talk about his family before.

  In fact she’d only really seen him before in terms of Vegas and how he’d been around Hud and Elodie. He’d taken up so much of her head space for so long, but she realized now that there was a whole lot she didn’t know about him.

  Sure, she’d looked into his love life once, to see what kind of girls he’d gone out with, but that was only to discover how attractive he might find her. How immature and childish that seemed now. All the important stuff – his past, his family, even his tastes – she knew almost nothing about. She felt ashamed now that she’d been so selfish. And shallow. That she’d made so little effort to find out the truth about him.

  ‘Your father liked gambling?’ she asked.

  ‘He owned a casino.’

  ‘I had no idea,’ she said. ‘So it’s all in the blood?’

  ‘I guess. Although my father would never have approved of El Palazzo, or La Paris for that matter. He loved this casino.’

  ‘So when you were talking to me at El Palazzo,’ she said, thinking that it seemed like months ago already, although it was only a couple of days earlier, ‘and you said you thought Shangri-La had no soul yet, was this what you meant?’

  ‘You look surprised,’ he said.

  ‘You and Hud, you always seemed to want to build big, brash places. I never thought this was your thing.’ Savvy shook her head, amazed. ‘And I thought . . . well, I thought you agreed with his vision.’

  Luc smiled gently. ‘He made it impossible to do anything else. You know, he would have been proud of you for seeing it through. Keeping his business philosophy alive,’ he added.

  He said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were a fait accompli. But Savvy saw a new possibility opening up. If neither she nor Luc agreed totally with Hud’s vision of the future, why should they slavishly keep attempting to make it come true? Sure, it might be too late to make any great changes at El Palazzo. But as for the rest of Hud’s empire, for any new venture they might undertake . . . well, what was to stop her and Luc steering the business down a different and altogether more exciting path?

  Perhaps that was what she should do. Get all the senior members of her team together and be democratic about it. Perhaps now more than ever was the right time to pin down their business strategy in the long term. She made a mental note to call Paige about it so that she didn’t forget.

  It was so frustrating not having her phone, but her bag had been lost at the Good Fortune. And Paige had gone into full panic mode. She was all fighting talk about suing the Good Fortune for negligence. She hadn’t stopped saying how Luc and Savvy might have been killed.

  But they hadn’t been harmed, Savvy had pointed out several times. Neither she nor Luc had suffered from smoke inhalation and after a once-over by the medics they had left the hospital in Shanghai straight away.

  And looking on the positive side, the fire at the Good Fortune had only played into their hands. The Good Fortune had flopped on its very first night. Now El Palazzo could capitalize on all the bad press and come out on top. The only really annoying thing was that the photos Savvy had sent Paige from her phone hadn’t reached her. In the aftermath of the fire, it infuriated Savvy that she didn’t have pictures of the barrels of sealant to show the world. Luc’s camera had been totally trashed when he’d dived in to save her.

&n
bsp; ‘If you don’t mind, I must go and give them my regards,’ Luc told her.

  Savvy smiled. ‘Sure. I’ll be at the bar. I need some water after all this excitement.’

  Excusing herself from the table, Savvy walked over to the bar to get a drink. She smiled, watching Luc laughing with his two old acquaintances. God, he was handsome, she thought.

  ‘Filly, two o’clock,’ she heard the fatter of two guys at the bar say to his companion. Lost in thought as she was, her ears pricked up at his Scottish accent.

  He had freckles and ginger hair and there was something familiar about him as he turned round to make room for her. He stared at her, grinning.

  ‘Do I know you?’ she asked.

  ‘It shames me to say you don’t.’ Now he actually swaggered as he smiled at her. ‘Sir Angus Raddoch,’ he said, holding out his fat hand.

  Raddoch. She stared at him.

  ‘Are you related to Jonny Raddoch, by any chance?’ she asked.

  ‘You know Red?’ He looked momentarily shocked. ‘Yes, well, that figures. Little Bro always has had exquisite taste.’

  This bloated, older, red-faced version of the Raddoch genes only served to remind Savvy how handsome Red had been in comparison. She pictured him now at Peace River Lodge standing so tall and calmly in the meditation area, and how he’d opened his eyes slowly and smiled.

  Her life was so different now, but she remembered Red’s measured strength and his empathy. She felt sad that her life had hurtled away so fast from the peace she’d felt back then. And she was sad too that he’d never been in touch. She’d tried to send him an email through Peace River but had heard nothing back. She assumed he’d moved on and, in the chaos after Hud’s death, she’d moved on too.

  But in the rare quiet moments she had alone, she still often thought about him, as she’d last seen him when he admitted that their relationship had messed with his head, too. She’d felt so close to him, she remembered. As if they were on the verge of something amazing. A closeness she’d never had with anyone else.