The Two Sisters of Borneo

by Ian Hamilton

  One time Xu veered off into a discussion about his business, and Ava had to pull him back. “I don’t want to talk about how you make your living,” she said.

  He retreated, but not without saying, “My business is in a constant state of flux. What it is today could turn into something entirely different tomorrow. When things are settled in your life, I would like you and Madam Wong to visit me in Shanghai. We may have some areas of shared interest, mei mei.”

  At Uncle’s funeral he had made the same request. Ava had put it down to politeness. Now it had more import, but not enough that she wanted to pursue it. “Tell me more about that young female film director from Yantai you mentioned last week,” she said, changing the subject.

  In her third month at home, she felt the urge to travel. Maria took a week of leave from her job as assistant trade commissioner at the Colombian consulate in Toronto and they flew to Aruba. Four days into the trip, Ava felt the first touch of guilt about being idle. By the end of the week she’d had enough of beaches and eating out and was ready to go back to work.

  She called May Ling as soon as she got back to Toronto. “I want to step into the business,” she said.

  “This is sooner than you thought,” May said.

  “I think I’ve worked through enough of the pain.”

  “Are you sure? We can wait.”

  “There will always be a hole in my heart where Uncle was, but I can’t let it paralyze me. He wouldn’t want that either.”

  “Well, in that case, how about meeting Amanda and me in Shanghai in a few days?”

  “Shanghai?”

  “It’s year-end for Suki Chan. I’ll be going over her numbers and looking at her plans for the coming year. She tells me she has some ideas she wants us to consider. I could use your input.”

  “How about Amanda?”

  “She has her own project there, some mysterious investment proposal that she tells me has to be seen.”

  “Seen?”

  “I’ve asked for the business plan. She says she’ll give it to me when we’re in Shanghai.”

  “That isn’t like Amanda.”

  “I know, but she’s quite giddy about it. I was going to go there anyway. She’ll be even giddier knowing that you’re coming.”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  “Ava, is something wrong?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “You don’t sound particularly enthusiastic.”

  “It’s Xu,” Ava said.

  “What about him?”

  “He’s been calling me.”

  “What does he want?”

  “We share memories of Uncle. It’s helped me get past some things.”

  “He lives in Shanghai,” May said. “Is that the problem?”

  “Yes. He asked me at the funeral, and again over the phone, if you and I could meet with him there.”

  “Both of us?”

  “He hints that he has some business interests that could be mutually beneficial.”

  “Why on earth would we ever do business with a triad gang leader? I know he’s sophisticated and doesn’t look like your stereotypical gangster, but he didn’t get to be as successful as he is without a very sharp cutting edge.”

  “I’m not suggesting we do business with him, May,” Ava said. “I just don’t think I can go to Shanghai and not meet with him. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea, then I’ll go alone.”

  “Is this about both of you being tied to Uncle?”

  “It’s partly that, of course, but I also can’t forget that I owe Xu my life. We both know I would have been killed in Borneo without him,” Ava said. The memory of being kidnapped and held for ransom by a local triad gang was still fresh. Uncle had been in Shanghai with Xu when it happened and had prevailed upon him to send men to rescue her. Ava was saved, but ten men died as Xu exacted revenge for reasons that had nothing with her.

  “He did what he did for Uncle. I’m not sure you owe him anything.”

  “That could be true, but I can’t deny that there’s a connection that runs between us and that there’s an obligation — if not a debt — that must be recognized. Meeting with Xu, especially socially over dinner or lunch, would be a trivial thing for us, and it’s the only thing he’s ever asked of me. So I can’t go to Shanghai without telling him, and I can’t be there and refuse to see him.”

  “All right, I’ll go along,” May sighed. “I’ll ask Amanda to build a meeting with him into our schedule. Which do you prefer, dinner or lunch?”

  “I think dinner shows more respect.”

  “Dinner it is.”

  “When Amanda forwards me the entire schedule, I’ll call Xu and make sure the time works for him.”

  “From what you’re telling me, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make any time work,” May said.

  “Perhaps, but regardless of when we end up meeting with him, I don’t want Amanda there. He was quite specific about it being me and you. Will she be offended by that?”

  “She isn’t that sensitive, but in any event I’ll tell her it’s strictly a social thing.”

  “Okay.”

  “Ava, do you have any idea what he wants with us?”

  “No.”

  “Really?” May said.

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This is the sixth book in the Ava Lee series, and as Ava’s life expands, so does the number of people who have made contributions.

  As always, my family’s support has been paramount as the first readers and editors of any Ava Lee book, and then as drum-beaters after the books have been released.

  My thanks to Sarah MacLachlan and her team at House of Anansi Press.

  Very special thanks — again — to my editor, the great Janie Yoon. In addition to being the custodian of Ava’s and the book’s style, in this case she also contributed a key plot change.

  My agents, Bruce Westwood and Carolyn Forde, continue to keep my back covered. Their enthusiastic support has brightened many a bad writing day.

  Last, I want to acknowledge the input I receive from readers, and in this instance, two of them in particular. As our readership has grown, so has the number of emails and letters I get. They arrive now on a daily basis from virtually all over the world and — complimentary or not — I answer them all. Some of them point out mistakes and offer advice.

  Fawn Gao, who lives in Vancouver, has been especially helpful with her advice about the proper use of Chinese terms and phrases. So I thank her and hope she keeps passing along her knowledge.

  Helena Ying, known professionally as Dr. Helena Lau, sent me an email that had quite an impact. She found an error in the The Scottish Banker of Surabaya that was contained in a single line. On the face of it, the error was quite minor. But the repercussions for The Two Sisters of Borneo were more telling, and I rewrote part of the book based on her comment.

  A very special thanks, then, to Helena and to all the other readers who keep me on my toes. Please don’t stop — I do pay attention.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  IAN HAMILTON is the author of the Ava Lee series: The Dragon Head of Hong Kong: The Ava Lee Prequel, The Water Rat of Wanchai, The Disciple of Las Vegas, The Wild Beasts of Wuhan, The Red Pole of Macau, The Scottish Banker of Surabaya, and The Two Sisters of Borneo. The Water Rat of Wanchai was the winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, an Amazon.ca Top 100 Book of the Year, an Amazon.ca Top 100 Editors’ Pick, an Amazon.ca Canadian Pick, an Amazon.ca Mysteries and Thrillers Pick, a Toronto Star Top 5 Fiction Book of the Year, and a Quill & Quire Top 5 Fiction Book of the Year. The seventh book in the Ava Lee series, The King of Shanghai, will be published in February 2015.

  ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

  House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored
books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi’s commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada’s pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”

  PRAISE FOR IAN HAMILTON

  AND THE AVA LEE SERIES

  PRAISE FOR THE WATER RAT OF WANCHAI

  WINNER OF THE ARTHUR ELLIS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

  “Ian Hamilton’s The Water Rat of Wanchai is a smart, action-packed thriller of the first order, and Ava Lee, a gay Asian-Canadian forensic accountant with a razor-sharp mind and highly developed martial arts skills, is a protagonist to be reckoned with. We were impressed by Hamilton’s tight plotting; his well-rendered settings, from the glitz of Bangkok to the grit of Guyana; and his ability to portray a wide range of sharply individualized characters in clean but sophisticated prose.”

  — Judges’ Citation, Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel

  “Ava Lee is tough, fearless, quirky, and resourceful, and she has more — well, you know — than a dozen male detectives I can think of . . . Hamilton has created a true original in Ava Lee.”

  — Linwood Barclay, author of No Time for Goodbye

  “If the other novels [in the series] are half as good as this debut by Ian Hamilton, then readers are going to celebrate. Hamilton has created a marvellous character in Ava Lee . . . This is a terrific story that’s certain to be on the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel list.”

  — Globe and Mail

  “[Ava Lee’s] lethal knowledge . . . torques up her sex appeal to the approximate level of a female lead in a Quentin Tarantino film.”

  — National Post

  “The heroine in The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton sounds too good to be true, but the heroics work better that way . . . formidable . . . The story breezes along with something close to total clarity . . . Ava is unbeatable at just about everything. Just wait for her to roll out her bak mei against the bad guys. She’s perfect. She’s fast.”

  — Toronto Star

  “Imagine a book about a forensic accountant that has tension, suspense, and action . . . When the central character looks like Lucy Liu, kicks like Jackie Chan, and has a travel budget like Donald Trump, the story is anything but boring. The Water Rat of Wanchai is such a beast . . . I look forward to the next one, The Disciple of Las Vegas.”

  — Montreal Gazette

  “[A] tomb-raiding Dragon Lady Lisbeth, sans tattoo and face metal.”

  — Winnipeg Free Press

  “Readers will discern in Ava undertones of Lisbeth Salander, the ferocious protagonist of the late Stieg Larsson’s crime novels . . . she, too, is essentially a loner, and small, and physically brutal . . . There are suggestions in The Water Rat of Wanchai of deeper complexities waiting to be more fully revealed. Plus there’s pleasure, both for Ava and readers, in the puzzle itself: in figuring out where money has gone, how to get it back, and which humans, helpful or malevolent, are to be dealt with where, and in what ways, in the process . . . Irresistible.”

  — Joan Barfoot, London Free Press

  “The Water Rat of Wanchai delivers on all fronts . . . feels like the beginning of a crime-fighting saga . . . great story told with colour, energy, and unexpected punch.”

  — Hamilton Spectator

  “The best series fiction leaves readers immersed in a world that is both familiar and fresh. Seeds planted early bear fruit later on, creating a rich forest that blooms across a number of books . . . [Hamilton] creates a terrific atmosphere of suspense . . .”

  — Quill & Quire

  “The book is an absolute page-turner . . . Hamilton’s knack for writing snappy dialogue is evident . . . I recommend getting in on the ground floor with this character, because for Ava Lee, the sky’s the limit.”

  — Inside Halton

  “A fascinating story of a hunt for stolen millions. And the hunter, Ava Lee, is a compelling heroine: tough, smart, and resourceful.”

  — Meg Gardiner, author of The Nightmare Thief

  “Few heroines are as feisty as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander, but Ian Hamilton’s Ava Lee could give her a run for her money . . . Gripping . . . [Ava is] smart, gutsy, and resourceful.”

  — Stylist UK

  “With Ava Lee comes a new star in the world of crime-thrillers . . . Hamilton has produced a suspenseful and gripping novel featuring a woman who is not afraid of anything . . . Captivating and hard to put down.”

  — dapd/sda

  “Thrillers don’t always have to be Scandinavian to work. Ava Lee is a wonderful Chinese-Canadian investigator who uses unconventional methods of investigation in a mysterious Eastern setting.”

  — Elle (Germany)

  “Ava has flair, charm, and sex appeal . . . The Water Rat of Wanchai is a successful first book in a series, which will definitely have you longing for more.”

  — Sonntag-Express

  “Hamilton is in the process of writing six books and film rights have already been sold. If the other cases are similar to this first one, Ava Lee is sure to quickly shake up Germany’s thriller business.”

  — Handelsblatt

  “Brilliantly researched and incredibly exciting!”

  — Bücher

  “Page-turning till the end of the book! . . . Ava Lee is the upcoming crime star.”

  — dpa

  “Exciting thriller debut with an astonishing end.”

  — Westdeutsche Zeitung

  “Seldom does one get a thriller about white-collar crime, with an intelligent, independent lesbian and Asian protagonist. It’s also rare to find a book with such interesting and exotic settings . . . Readers will find great amusement in Ava’s unconventional ways and will certainly enjoy accompanying her on her travels”

  — Literaturkurier

  PRAISE FOR THE DISCIPLE OF LAS VEGAS

  “I started to read The Disciple of Las Vegas at around ten at night. And I did something I have only done with two other books (Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Douglas Coupland’s Player One): I read the novel in one sitting. Ava Lee is too cool. She wonderfully straddles two worlds and two identities. She does some dastardly things and still remains our hero thanks to the charm Ian Hamilton has given her on the printed page. It would take a female George Clooney to portray her in a film. The action and plot move quickly and with power. Wow. A punch to the ear, indeed.”

  — J. J. Lee, author of The Measure of a Man

  “I loved The Water Rat of Wanchai, the first novel featuring Ava Lee. Now, Ava and Uncle make a return that’s even better . . . Simply irresistible.”

  — Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail

  “This is slick, fast-moving escapism reminiscent of Ian Fleming, with more to come in what shapes up as a high-energy, high-concept series.”

  — Booklist

  “Fast paced . . . Enough personal depth to lift this thriller above solely action-oriented fare.”

  — Publishers Weekly

  “Lee is a hugely original creation, and Hamilton packs his adventure with interesting facts and plenty of action.”

  — Irish Independent

 
“Hamilton makes each page crackle with the kind of energy that could easily jump to the movie screen . . . This riveting read will keep you up late at night.”

  — Penthouse

  “Hamilton gives his reader plenty to think about . . . Entertaining.”

  — Kitchener-Waterloo Record

  PRAISE FOR THE WILD BEASTS OF WUHAN

  “Smart and savvy Ava Lee, Toronto forensic accountant, returns in this slick mystery set in the rarefied world of high art . . . [A] great caper tale. Hamilton has great fun chasing villains and tossing clues about. The Wild Beasts of Wuhan is the best Ava Lee novel yet, and promises more and better to come.”

  — Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail

  “One of my favourite new mystery series, perfect escapism.”

  — National Post

  “You haven’t seen cold and calculating until you’ve double-crossed this number cruncher. Another strong entry from Arthur Ellis Award–winner Hamilton.”

  — Booklist

  “An intelligent kick-ass heroine anchors Canadian author Hamilton’s excellent third novel featuring forensic accountant Ava Lee . . . Clearly conversant with the art world, Hamilton makes the intricacies of forgery as interesting as a Ponzi scheme.”

  — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

  “A lively series about Ava Lee, a sexy forensic financial investigator.”

  — Tampa Bay Times

  “This book is miles from the ordinary. The main character, Ava Lee is ‘the whole package.’”

  — Minneapolis Star Tribune

  “A strong heroine is challenged to discover the details of an intercontinental art scheme. Although Hamilton’s star Ava Lee is technically a forensic accountant, she’s more badass private investigator than desk jockey.”

  — Kirkus Reviews

  “As a mystery lover, I’m devouring each book as it comes out . . . What I love in the novels: The constant travel, the high-stakes negotiation, and Ava’s willingness to go into battle against formidable opponents, using only her martial arts skills to defend herself . . . If you want a great read and an education in high-level business dealings, Ian Hamilton is an author to watch.”