by Ian Hamilton
“But you gave the video to him and to no one else?” Ava said.
“Yes.”
“So how does that fact bring us to this point without Chen being implicated in one way or another?”
“I have no idea,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “And don’t ask me to speculate.”
Ava leaned closer towards Xia. “Fai is having issues with the Syndicate and with Mo. Have you heard?”
“There are rumours, gossip. Nothing of any substance.”
“Well, it’s true, there are issues. She’s told him the days of sexual favours are over. Mo hasn’t reacted well, and as a result I think Chen is afraid of losing even more of his business than what Fai represents.”
Xia turned his attention away from Ava. “Fai, as much as I want to be helpful, I won’t get into a personal discussion about Mo or the Syndicate, with you or your friend.”
“Are you that afraid of him?” Ava pressed.
“I prefer to use the word ‘cautious’ when it comes to describing our dealings.”
“And Chen, of course, is equally cautious?” Ava asked.
“I imagine he would be.”
“He would be or he is?”
Xia nodded. “Chen is very sensitive to any mood swings within the Syndicate.”
“If Mo decided to put either of you out of business, could he do it?”
“I repeat, I will not discuss Mo on any level.”
“Okay. But if your agency for some reason fell out of favour with the Syndicate, whether he’s there or not, how serious would the repercussions be?”
“It could certainly damage our business, but I like to think I’d find a way to compensate.”
“Is Chen as flexible as you?”
Xia shrugged. “He’s much older than me. He’s accustomed to doing business a certain way, and I don’t think he likes change anymore.”
“So the answer is no?”
“On balance, I guess it is, but it’s an opinion and nothing more.”
“Given those circumstances, how do you think Chen would react if the Syndicate decided it wanted nothing more to do with Fai?”
“I can’t imagine them taking that position, so your question is hypothetical.”
“I think he’d drop her in a heartbeat,” Ava said.
“If he ever did,” Xia said, extending a hand towards Fai, “I’d take her on a second later.”
“Even if that video were made public?”
“That would complicate things, especially here in China and other parts of Asia,” he said, now squeezing Fai’s hand. “But I’m sure I could make it work, somehow, somewhere.”
“Thanks, Jun. You’re very kind,” said Fai.
“Truthfully, I’m also very disappointed. When you called and told me about foreign offers, I starting making plans for us in my head,” Xia said. “This meeting isn’t quite what I expected.”
“Maybe we’ll still get a chance to work together,” Fai said.
“I can only hope that’s the case.” Xia stood up. “Now, I don’t think I have anything else to contribute, so you’ll have to excuse me. I bumped several meetings to accommodate you, and I have people waiting.”
“You’ve been very helpful,” Ava said. “We’ll let you know how this plays out.”
“You don’t have to do that. If something of any importance happens, you can be certain I’ll hear about it ten seconds later.”
( 46 )
Fai waited until they were outside Xia’s office building before she grabbed Ava by the arm and said, “Do you really believe Chen is involved in this?”
“Did you believe what Xia had to say?”
“Yes.”
“I did too, and that can lead us in only one direction.”
“But, like Xia said, why would he do it?”
“Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he just made it possible, even inadvertently, for someone else to do it. Either way, we need to talk to him. Which building is his office in?”
“That one,” Fai said, and pointed.
“Let’s go.”
It was the end of the day for many office workers, who now began to empty out of the towers and crowd the sidewalks. Fai took a cap and an oversized pink cashmere cardigan from a tote bag and put them on. She jammed on the cap so hard that the tops of her ears bent downwards, and she pulled the cardigan up to her mouth.
“I’m cold,” she said. “And I don’t want to be recognized in this crowd.”
Their anticipated ten-minute walk took closer to half an hour. As Ava and Fai shuffled along, they didn’t talk, and they wouldn’t have heard much if they’d tried to amid the rush-hour noise. When they reached the building — another forty-storey generic tower — Fai removed the cap and cardigan.
“What do we do if he’s not in?” Fai asked as they walked through the lobby.
“Will his assistant or secretary know where he is?’
“Most likely.”
“Then we’ll go to wherever that is.”
“I could phone him now.”
“No. I’d like to surprise him, if at all possible.”
“He’s on the sixth floor,” Fai said, walking past a security desk.
The elevators arriving in the lobby were full, but empty going back up. Fai pushed the sixth-floor button and muttered something.
“What are thinking?” Ava said.
“I don’t want to believe Chen is behind this.”
Chen’s offices were, like Xia’s, behind double doors, except these were grey metal with the initials CCA embossed in gold on both doors.
“CCA?” Ava said.
“Chen Creative Artists.”
Fai opened a door and led Ava into a surprisingly plain office. On their left was a small reception desk with a middle-aged woman sitting behind it, and on their right a floral sofa, a couple of padded chairs, and a wooden coffee table. Directly ahead of them were ten or twelve desks scattered around an open floor, and beyond those desks were six offices, all of them with their doors closed. Through their glass walls Ava could see that four of them were occupied. There was no sign of Chen.
The woman behind the desk looked up at them impatiently and then recognized Fai. She leapt to her feet. “Ms. Pang. Was Mr. Chen expecting you?”
“No, we were in the vicinity and decided to pay a surprise visit.”
“He’s not here,” the woman stammered.
“Where is he?” Fai said.
“I think maybe you should talk to Ms. Yi, his assistant. That would be more appropriate.”
“Then get Ms. Yi.”
The woman hit an extension button. Ava, watching the offices, saw a young woman pick up the phone and then look through her glass wall at them. She smiled in their direction and then hurried from her office.
“Ms. Pang, it’s so good to see you. What brings you here?” Ms. Yi said, lowering her head and smiling as she approached.
“Nothing in particular. My friend Ava had a meeting nearby, and we just decided to drop in and say hello.”
“Mr. Chen will be sorry to have missed you. You don’t come to our office very often. In fact, I have trouble remembering the last time.”
“Maybe a year ago.” Fai smiled. “Where is Mr. Chen? Is there an event in the city?”
“He’s in Shanghai,” she said, looking at her watch. “He’s in meetings until at least seven, and then there’s a dinner. He’s planning on catching a late flight back to Beijing.”
“When did he go?”
“This morning.”
“Was it a last-minute thing?” Ava asked, as innocuously as she could.
“It’s been planned for months.”
“Can you reach him?”
“He never has his phone on during meetings, and it’s a business dinner, so he’ll probably h
ave it off for that as well,” she said, turning from Ava to Fai. “I do expect him to call in for messages at some point, though. Is there anything, Ms. Pang, that you’d like me to tell him?”
“Just ask him to call me whenever he can.”
“Is there something urgent you need to discuss? Maybe I can interrupt his meeting.”
Fai glanced at Ava, who gave a slight shake of her head. “It isn’t that important,” Fai said. “I have some worries about Mao’s Daughter that I want to discuss with him.”
“That is such a wonderful film,” Ms. Yi said. “I’m sure it will be a great success. It reminds me in some ways of the early films you made with Lau Lau.”
“I still want to talk to him about it.”
“I’ll tell him, and I’m sure he’ll call you as soon as he can.”
“Thanks. Sorry to have dropped in like this.”
“Oh my god, Ms. Pang, you’re welcome anytime. We’re always thrilled to see you.”
Ava left the office with less energy than she’d had walking in. During the walk she’d been getting psyched up for a showdown with Chen, and now felt the letdown.
“What do you want to do?” Fai asked as they made their way to the elevator.
“We need to talk to Chen. Until then, I’m not sure what else there is for us to do.”
“We can have dinner,” Fai said. “I’m starving.”
“I ate with Lop in a restaurant near here called Da Dong, which specializes in duck.”
“I don’t want to be that public. Dressed like this I’m sure to be noticed, and I’m not going to wear that cap and sweater during dinner,” Fai said. “I’d be more comfortable at the canteen. And I do have a yearning for zhajiang noodles and those jiaozi with scrambled eggs and chives.”
They caught a taxi and began the hour-long trip back to Xicheng. What made it seem even longer was that any conversation they might have had was inhibited because the driver seemed to recognize Fai and kept staring at her through his rear-view mirror. They were both relieved when they reached the entrance to the Hai Wan Canteen’s hutong.
As Ava was paying the driver, Fai fidgeted. “It’s going to rain,” she said. “Let’s hurry.”
The rain didn’t start until they were safely seated inside the canteen. “That was good timing,” Ava said as she watched rain pelt against the windows. “But we don’t have umbrellas to get from here to the house.”
“We’ll take our time over dinner,” Fai said. “If it’s still raining I’m sure I can get someone to lend us an umbrella.”
“How do you handle this weather? I find it rather depressing,” Ava said.
“There’s nothing I can do about it, so I just ignore it.”
The waitress had made a bit of a fuss when they arrived, insisting that they sit at the best table and bringing the owner and cook from the kitchen to greet them.
“You’re being so regular again,” the owner said. “We worry when we don’t see you. I’d like to get you some drinks on the house.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“You can’t say no,” he said. “Beer for you as usual? And what does your friend want?”
“I’ll have a cognac,” Ava said.
Fai ordered their food, including hot and sour soup. “I’m boring when it comes to food. If I like something I can eat it day after day and not get tired of it.”
“I’m like that as well, at least to some extent.”
Fai took her phone from her bag and looked at it.
“Did you miss a call or text?”
“No. I was just making sure it’s on,” Fai said, laying it on the table.
Ava did the same with hers. “We’ll see if Chen calls.”
“I can’t imagine that he won’t.”
“If he does, I want you to talk to him, but keep it low-key. We don’t want to panic him over the phone. It’s important that he agree to meet us face to face.”
“That could be difficult to arrange tonight if he arrives late.”
“Then try to schedule something for first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Where?”
“His office will be fine, I think. It will make it harder for him to run out on us, and I can’t imagine he’ll do anything as drastic as calling security to escort the great Pang Fai from the building.”
“Do you always think in those terms?”
“It’s a habit. I was in a business that chewed up careless people, so I learned very quickly to be cautious. And part of that is preparing, mentally even more than physically, for all possible eventualities.”
“I’m so lucky to have you,” Fai said suddenly, her voice breaking. “I was sitting in that meeting with Xia and thinking that I would never have had the nerve to ask for a meeting, let alone go to one, if you weren’t by my side. In fact, I could never have handled any of this. I would be curled up in a ball at the house, waiting for fate to do what it chose.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re much stronger than you think, and I’m impressed with the way you’re handling things. We make a good team.”
Fai smiled and was starting to speak when the owner arrived with their drinks on a tray. He had brought two beers and a water glass more than half filled with cognac. As he put the drinks on the table, Ava’s phone rang. She saw Sonny’s number. “Fai, do you mind if I take this call? It’s my man Sonny in Hong Kong.”
“Go ahead.”
Ava picked up the phone. “Sonny, what’s going on?”
“Hey, boss, I’m in the car. I’ve just left the Kowloon Tong MTR. I had dinner with Andy at his noodle restaurant.”
Andy had worked for Uncle, usually in partnership with another Triad named Carlo. Ava knew Andy well; she trusted him enough to have used him on several sensitive and dangerous jobs. He’d never let her down. “How is he?” she asked.
“He’s good, and he sends his regards.”
“Why did you see him?”
“He stopped working full-time at the restaurant about six months ago. He said being with his wife twenty-four hours a day was ruining his marriage, but I think he just missed the excitement on the street. Anyway, he started doing some part-time work for the gang in Tai Po, and that brought him into contact with some of the guys from Sha Tin. Ava, he thinks something is going on.”
“Like what?”
“He’s not sure. It’s a feeling he has more than anything. But you know Andy — he’s always sensitive to his surroundings and how people are treating him and reacting to him. He says that the Sha Tin guys were friendly enough, but then things changed almost overnight. They know he worked for Uncle and that he’s done work for you, and that you’re still close. None of that seemed to matter until about a month ago, when one of the Sha Tin guys asked him if he knew you’re tight with Xu and Lop. He said sure he did, and then he made a remark about how well they’re running things. No one has wanted to talk to him since.”
“Sonny, with respect, that hardly constitutes evidence that anyone is planning to move against Lop.”
“I know, but then the Tai Po guys started cutting Andy out of stuff as well. He went to one of them he thought he was close to and asked what the hell was going on. The guy told him that no one trusted him anymore because of his ties to you, and your ties to Xu and Lop. Andy said he was loyal to whoever he worked for. The guy pulled Andy aside and told him to be careful. He said that when they took back Wanchai, there was going to be a lot of payback.”
“‘When they took back Wanchai.’ He actually said that?”
“According to Andy he did, and when I challenged him on it, he didn’t back down or change his story in any way.”
“This isn’t good,” Ava said. “Even if it doesn’t come to fruition, it isn’t healthy to have gang members talking like that.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Sonny said.
“You want me to keep digging?”
“A bit more, but again, be cautious.”
“Momentai.”
“And Sonny, don’t say anything to Lop,” she said. “I’m going to give Xu a heads-up, and he can make the decision about when and what to tell him.”
“I would never have talked to Lop.”
“No, of course you wouldn’t,” Ava said, realizing immediately that she might have insulted Sonny. “I’m tired and I’m not thinking very straight.”
“Look after yourself, boss. You’re the one person none of us can afford to lose.”
“Thank you, Sonny.”
“And Ava, you will let me know if Xu decides to do something?”
“Of course I will, but don’t expect to hear back from me tonight. He isn’t feeling that well and I’m going to let him get some rest and peace of mind. I’ll call him in the morning.”
Ava put down her phone as the large bowl of hot and sour soup arrived at the table.
“Sounds as if you have another problem,” Fai said.
“There could be a problem, but if there is, it isn’t mine. It belongs to Xu and Lop,” Ava said, dipping into the soup.
They ate quietly, Fai constantly looking at her phone. Ava didn’t want to add any additional stress by appearing anxious, so she focused on the food. Her comments were restricted to how good it was and how bad the weather outside remained.
Chen still hadn’t called by the time they’d finished dinner. “He’s avoiding us,” Fai said.
“Possibly.”
“The son of a bitch.”
“He can’t do it forever. Eventually he’ll have to talk to you,” Ava said, and then looked at the rain-streaked window. “In the meantime, we have to worry about getting home without getting soaked.”
Five minutes later they stepped out of the restaurant holding a gigantic Callaway Golf umbrella over their heads. The umbrella belonged to the owner, who laughed when Ava asked him if he actually played golf.
They hurried along the sparsely populated streets, and as they turned right into the hutong, there wasn’t a person in sight. When they reached the entrance to Fai’s compound, Ava held the umbrella while Fai opened the door. They went inside and had taken no more than four or five steps when a voice said, “Don’t go any farther.”