The Goddess of Yantai

by Ian Hamilton

“Why did they come here?”

  “To warn us off. The guy in the balaclava said they know we’ve been trying to find out who’s behind the blackmail. They want us to stop asking questions, and I think it’s fair to assume that they want me gone.”

  “What happens now?”

  “I don’t know,” Ava said. “You heard what he said on the phone about releasing the video at noon today if I didn’t go out into the courtyard. Well, if he meant it, we may have just pissed him off even more.”

  “I see.”

  “But I’m not sure he meant it. I’m not even sure he’s got any real role in this, beyond being the guy someone else chose to communicate with you,” Ava added quickly.

  “Why do you think that?”

  “It was so amateurish — the phone call, the guys in the courtyard. A professional wouldn’t have bothered phoning. He would have used surprise as an element and then bluntly delivered the message instead of pretending to have a conversation,” Ava said. “But even if the thugs aren’t amateurs and just not very good at their job, why would the person who’s supposedly blackmailing you come to the courtyard in person? Why risk exposing himself? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “So who was the guy in the balaclava?”

  “Someone hired to do a job, but an amateur, which is why I think he did it badly,” Ava said. “I think it’s possible that our poking around did get back to whoever is behind this, and they told this guy to put a stop to it. Phoning us in the middle of the night and meeting me in the courtyard with two thugs is what he came up with as a solution. The instructions may not have come from the blackmailer. At least, that’s what we should hope.”

  “It sounds kind of logical.”

  Ava sighed. “Yeah, ‘kind of logical’ is the right description. If I’m wrong, then by noon today the video could be all over the Internet. If I’m right, we’re still stuck with the challenge of finding out who’s behind this and putting a stop to it.”

  “Or finding the money to pay them.”

  “Let’s not talk about money,” Ava said. “What I’d like to know is who you think would have told the blackmailer that we’re asking questions. Because someone we spoke to did. That’s the only positive thing I got out of my courtyard conversation.”

  “Well, who did we talk to? Mak Guang. Mr. Fan. Lau Lau. Ding Fa.”

  “I spoke to Bai Jing.”

  “And Guang talked to Ren Lan.”

  “And anyone we’ve mentioned could have spoken to who knows how many other people. It could have been an innocent exchange with no malice intended. It could have been just passing along gossip.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t think we should start phoning people to ask them who they’ve spoken to. We need to sit down face to face, and my first two priorities are Lau Lau and Bai Jing.”

  “That makes sense. Mak Guang won’t want the video released any more than we do, and I truly believe that Ding is a friend. And, despite the fact that you don’t like him and he can be sneaky, I can’t believe Mr. Fan knows anything,” Fai said. “When do you want to meet with the other two?”

  “Normally I’d say tomorrow morning, but that could be pointless if they release the video before noon,” Ava said. “And I have a meeting scheduled for eleven o’clock with the Suns and Suki. I could cancel it, I guess, but it wouldn’t be wise from a business or relationship viewpoint.”

  “I think you should go. Don’t cancel,” Fai said. “You’re right that there isn’t much point in meeting with anyone if they release the disk. And like you said, we’re not going to know until noon.”

  “How will you stay on top of that?”

  “I don’t imagine there’s much I’ll have to do,” Fai said. “I’m quite certain that if it appears I’ll hear from Chen about a minute later. He’s got a young woman in the office who obsessively tracks every reference and comment made about the talent.”

  “It’s going to make for a long morning,” Ava said.

  “After a long night.”

  Ava looked at the time and groaned. “I’m going to leave here by ten, which means I have to be up by nine. And I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get any more sleep.”

  Fai put her hand around Ava’s waist and pressed closer. “We can stay here like this for a little while.”

  “Sure we can,” Ava said, closing her eyes.

  ( 41 )

  She dreamed about Uncle. Before Uncle’s death, her father had dominated her dreams, in endless futile chases through hotels with shifting floors and rooms, in airports with gates she could never find, on taxi rides that never quite reached their destination. She was always searching and never finding. Glimpses of her father far in the distance was the closest she could ever get to him. But when Uncle died, all that changed. He was the one who visited her at night, taking the time to sit and talk, to explain, to calm, and to advise. It seemed to her that he was always there at times of crisis, but oddly, he dealt with the future as well as the present.

  On this night they were sitting in a noodle shop that she knew was in Hong Kong, because it was his favourite. He was eating noodles with beef and XO sauce. The place was empty except for them, with no sign of the old man who was the cook and owner or his wife, who served the tables. Ava had a bowl of soup with noodles and shrimp dumplings; for some reason the dumplings kept slipping from her chopsticks, which made Uncle laugh. This upset her, and she said, I’m not quite myself. I’m worried about Pang Fai. I think I’ve brought her bad luck.

  She made her own luck long before she met you, said Uncle. She has had a complicated life and now some of it is catching up to her. But I would not worry so much. She is resilient.

  What if things go badly? Can I trust her?

  With what?

  My love.

  The answer to that question is as complicated as her life.

  Please don’t speak in riddles.

  He shook his head. I am only reflecting on the breadth of your question. Do you mean can you trust her now or do you mean can you trust her with your love over many more years?

  Both.

  I believe you can trust her now. She understands everything, including the worst of consequences, and she will not disappoint you. The future is more difficult to predict, because when two people with complex pasts try to make a life together, who really understands what ghosts will return?

  Uncle, you aren’t helping me very much with this.

  I am sorry, but I have some worries of my own tonight.

  Such as? she asked, feeling panic.

  Xu is going to have a problem.

  He called me about Wanchai, about Lop and Sammy Wing. I have Sonny working on it.

  This has nothing to do with Wanchai, he said as he disappeared.

  “Ava.”

  She opened her eyes and saw Fai standing over her. She was still on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, and the sun was streaming in the window. “What?”

  “Your phone has been ringing for the last hour. I didn’t want to answer it but I finally had to. There’s a woman calling who says she’s Auntie Grace.”

  Ava took the phone from Fai. “Auntie, what’s going on?”

  “Xu is ill.”

  “What?”

  “He’s ill.”

  “I heard you Auntie, but I don’t know what you mean,” she said as she sat up.

  “It started late yesterday afternoon. He had a headache and started to develop a fever,” she said, her voice catching. “I gave him a herbal potion and he went to bed. Then I heard him in the middle of the night, wandering around the kitchen. He was confused about where he was and started to complain again about headache and a stiff neck.”

  “Did you call a doctor?”

  “He doesn’t have one. He’s never needed one.”

  “Where is he now?”<
br />
  “In his room.”

  “Auntie, do you have regular painkillers in the house? By that I mean something like Tylenol or Advil or even plain Aspirin.”

  “I’ve always given him natural remedies. I don’t believe in pills.”

  “In this case I want you to. It sounds like he has some sort of flu. The pills will help.”

  “Okay. I’ll go and buy some.”

  “Thank you. Call me later and let me know how he’s doing. I’ll keep my phone on.”

  “Is everything okay?” Fai said.

  “I think it should be. Xu’s having headaches and his housekeeper is worried. She’s been with him since he was a baby, and from time to time she still treats him like one.”

  “I was going to wake you anyway. It’s almost nine-fifteen.”

  “And I spent the night here on the couch?”

  “You slept very well. Me, not so much. I was out early enough to get some congee,” Fai said. “I also bought you some coffee, since I know you prefer that over tea.”

  “I have to pee,” Ava said as she got up, her head still a jumble of Uncle and Auntie Grace.

  “Everything is in the kitchen when you’re finished,” Fai said.

  Five minutes later Ava came downstairs and sat at the kitchen table.

  “You look upset,” Fai said.

  “I had dreams, and then the phone call from Auntie, and now I’m thinking about our day.”

  “Our half-day, because until we get to twelve o’clock, we won’t know what the rest of it will be like.”

  Ava sat back in her seat and stared across the table. “You seem to be resigned to whatever the day brings.”

  “I can’t control it but I can accept it.”

  “I’m not so good at accepting things I can’t control.”

  “Which is why I’m depending on you.”

  “Are we going in circles?”

  “What I’m trying to say is that I can live with whatever the outcome is, as long as you and I are together.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be?”

  “Not everyone wants to be associated with a soon-to-be washed-up middle-aged lesbian actress who can’t speak English well enough to act anywhere outside China.”

  “I do,” Ava said. “And fuck anyone who doesn’t.”

  “If enough people feel that way, maybe I can salvage part of my career.”

  Ava stared across the table at Fai and wondered if she was simply putting on a brave front. There were times when she had to remind herself that Fai was an actress, even though she’d never felt she was being played. Ava sipped her coffee from the cup Fai had placed on the table. It was lukewarm, but she wasn’t going to complain. The congee, on the other hand, was hot and needed only a dash of white pepper.

  Ava dug in. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked Fai.

  “I’ve had two bowls already.”

  Ava ate slowly, her mind returning to the problem she faced and her last conversation with Fai the night before. She remembered that they’d talked about the candidates most likely to have spoken to someone else and had decided on Lau Lau and Bai Jing. A decent sleep later, removed from the emotions of the incident in the courtyard, she still felt they were the two. Part of her wished she didn’t have the meeting scheduled with the Suns and Suki and that she could go after them right away, but she knew the decision they’d made the night before — to wait until noon — was the most rational one. At least the meeting would provide a distraction.

  “Do you want more?” Fai asked.

  Ava looked down at her empty bowl. “No, thanks. I have to shower and get ready for my meeting.”

  “Will you have your phone on all morning?”

  “Yes, and you have to call me the instant you hear anything at all.”

  “You can count on that,” Fai said.

  Half an hour later, Ava came down the stairs dressed for business. She wore a black pencil skirt, a light blue Brooks Brothers shirt with French cuffs, and black pumps. There was a touch of mascara on her lashes and her lips were glossy red. The shirt cuffs were held closed with her green jade links, the Tank Française watch adorned her left wrist, and her hair was pulled back and held in place by the ivory chignon pin. She carried her Vuitton bag, in which she had her phone, cash, wallet, and the Moleskine notebook that contained the data on the Sun business purchase and her notes on Fai’s dilemma. She hoped that during this day she would only have to turn to the front pages.

  Fai came out of the kitchen and smiled when she saw her. “The power woman,” she said.

  “What?”

  “That’s what the girls in London called you when they saw you dressed like this. They meant it as a compliment,” Fai said. “They liked the way you looked — professional and ready to do business, but still attractive as hell.”

  “Then I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ava said, opening the front door and looking outside. “It isn’t raining, but I’ll take an umbrella with me just in case.”

  “I’ll walk with you to the end of the hutong,” Fai said.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but I want to. It’s becoming a habit,” Fai said. “And I like the fact that we’re developing habits. It makes me feel that our being together isn’t so casual.”

  ( 42 )

  The Beijing traffic was, as usual, horrendous, and Ava was glad she had allotted extra time for the trip. She phoned Suki to let her know she was on her way. Suki was already at the Suns’ office and told Ava not to fret if she was a bit late. Everyone understood the traffic situation.

  Ava took out her notebook, turned to the front, and began to review the numbers involved in the deal. They didn’t favour Three Sisters to any degree, but they were fair, and if Suki applied the same kind of discipline she had to the other Beijing business they’d bought the year before, Ava was confident they would swing to their advantage.

  She closed the book, then frowned and turned to the back. She read the list of names that had somehow attached themselves to Pang Fai’s problem. Who did she want to talk to first? It was still a toss-up between Lau Lau and Bai Jing, assuming that the video wasn’t distributed and the question made irrelevant. Emotions aside, she couldn’t believe that after going to all that trouble, the blackmailers would release it in reaction to the events of the night before. They would still want to get paid, she assured herself. The only danger she could anticipate was that they’d be so angry with her they’d release the disk out of revenge. But then again, that assumed the petty thugs who’d come to the courtyard actually had anything to do with the blackmail attempt. Ava wasn’t convinced they did, not even the guy in the balaclava.

  She underlined Lau Lau’s name. He would be the starting point. He was the one who’d cut the deal with Bai Lok. He was the one who’d confirmed that Lok hadn’t turned over all his tapes to Ding Fa for editing. But had Ding received the tapes directly from Lok or had they come through Tiger Paw? She turned to her notes from the meeting with Ding. He claimed to have received the tapes from Tiger Paw. Could Tiger Paw have withheld one? If they did, why did Lok have it? Maybe he’d made copies. And Ding said the guys who’d run Tiger Paw were dead. Even if they were, they could have left something behind.

  I’ll start with Lau, she thought. But if he can’t help, I may go back to Ding Fa before Bai Jing.

  Her phone rang. Ava looked at it with a touch of panic, but instead of Fai’s Beijing number she saw a familiar Shanghai one. She answered with a sense of relief. “Is that you, Auntie Grace?”

  “It’s Xu.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “That’s why I’m calling. I know Auntie Grace called you a little while ago, and I didn’t want her to alarm you. She’s too overprotective, although there’s not much I can do to prevent that,” he said. “I have a touch of the flu or something. She’s ju
st came back from the store with some extra-strength Tylenol. It should do the trick, and thanks for suggesting it to her. She listens to you. If she hadn’t talked to you I’d be drinking some concoction made from twigs and grass that looked like mud and tasted worse.”

  “You’re lucky to have someone who cares so much about you.”

  “I know, and I’m not really complaining. I’ve taken a couple of pills and now I’m going to lie down. I should be fine by later today or tomorrow.”

  “Have you heard any more from Lop about his Sammy Wing concerns?” she asked.

  “No, but with him you never know if that’s a good thing or bad.”

  “I’ve talked to Sonny. He made some discreet enquiries and didn’t find anything that should be a cause for concern. He said there’s some grumbling and complaining at the ground level in Sha Tin and, I think, Tai Po, but that it isn’t anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Grumbling about what?”

  “The fact that someone who isn’t from Hong Kong is running a Hong Kong–based gang.”

  “That was to be expected for the first year or so. It will eventually stop, as long as they’re all making money.”

  “And there were complaints about the way some of the software and electronic devices are being distributed.”

  “We have a formula that we haven’t deviated from. Everyone is treated fairly.”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” Ava said. “I’m sure it’s all like Sonny said — nothing out of the ordinary. But just in case, I’ve asked him to keep looking. He’s sharp enough to pick up any negative vibes that could be more than just the usual grumbling.”

  “Keep me posted.”

  “You go and rest. I won’t bother you unless it’s something major.”

  Ava ended the call and then double-checked to make sure she hadn’t missed one from Fai. Lop isn’t the only person with a touch of paranoia, she thought.

  The taxi finally reached the Suns’ offices at ten after eleven. They came to the entrance to greet her and then led her to the boardroom. Suki was there, with two middle-aged men and two younger-looking women. Ava recognized one of the men as the lawyer they’d used for their previous Beijing deal. She nodded at him and he introduced one of the women as his assistant. The other couple were lawyers representing the Suns.