The Red Pole of Macau

( 23 )

Amanda had taken the map and floor plans from the wall and was rolling them up. May was still leaning against the wall, now with a phone to her ear. Ava grabbed a bottle of water and sat at the table. She’d never had a woman involved in her business before, even marginally, and now she had brought two of them into it. She had no way of telling them how the day would transpire. Derek had described it best, she thought, when he said that working with her was twenty-three hours and fifty minutes of waiting and boredom followed by ten minutes of action and terror.

“The driver is two hours from Macau,” May said, ending her call.

“Great. If he gets in early enough we’ll have a chance to drive over to the house. It would be useful for him to see the road,” Ava said. “Now, have you two introduced yourselves?”

“Not yet.”

“May Ling Wong, this is Amanda Yee. Amanda is my brother’s fiancée.”

“You hardly look old enough to have a boyfriend, let alone be engaged,” May said.

“Thank you,” Amanda said.

Ava said, “She has a master’s degree in international business from Brandeis, and she’s biding her time before taking over her father’s modest company and turning it into a massive conglomerate. I think you two could do some good business together.”

“She’s exaggerating about my ambitions,” Amanda said.

“Everyone has to start somewhere,” May said. “Anyway, pleased to meet you.”

“And you. I’ve heard of you, of course. All the Chinese girls at business school have heard of you.”

“That’s kind.”

Amanda looked awkward and Ava wondered if she felt intimidated. “May has been instrumental in arranging the things that will help me get Simon back,” she said.

Amanda took a seat. “This so weird,” she said.

“I owed Ava some favours. This is my way of paying her back.”

“That’s not what I mean — No, it is partly what I mean, because how could I expect to have May Ling Wong helping me and Michael? I mean, the closest I ever thought I’d come to meeting you was looking at your photos in the Hong Kong Tatler. And now here you are.”

“Here I am.”

“And here you are with those men and that map and God knows what else Ava has been working on . . .” Amanda said, and then turned to Ava, her face taut. “Are all those men going with you?”

“They are.”

“That’s good . . . At least, I think that’s good.”

“Amanda, I’m going to need you to be really supportive over the next twenty-four hours,” Ava said.

“Whatever you want — you know that.”

“The most important thing is, you have to help me manage Michael and look after Jessie. In the next hour or so he should be getting his photo of Simon from Lok, and after he does he has to call Lok and finalize the arrangements for the exchange.

“I’m going to call him from here when we’re finished and tell him that I have all the money he promised to deliver to Lok. He’s to tell Lok that and to finalize the form of payment. I will tell Michael that whatever Lok wants, I will arrange to get it to him — to Michael — by noon tomorrow.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Amanda asked.

“I want you to be there when he makes the call to Lok. Don’t let him waver. He has to sound confident and eager. Hammer that home.”

“He’s almost as worried about repaying the money as he is about Simon.”

“I know. I’m going to tell him I’ve arranged a long-term, low-cost loan with interest postponed for the first year. If he says anything, just repeat that. Tell him I’ve called in some favours. Actually, tell him whatever you think will keep him calm. I can’t have Lok having doubts about the money. He has to believe that Michael has it, and that Michael is going to bring it to Macau in one form or another on Friday afternoon.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“And then there’s Jessie. We don’t want her doing anything to upset our plans, and frankly, after talking to you last night, she worries me. So, if you don’t mind, after Michael makes his call I think it would be a good idea for you to go to Sha Tin. Is there any way you can arrange to spend the night there?”

“Sure. I’m certain she’d like it.”

“And you would be there tomorrow morning, wouldn’t you.”

“You’ll call, right?”

“The first call is to Sha Tin.”

Amanda nodded. “It would be nice to give her the good news in person.” Then she sighed so deeply she shuddered.

“Everything is going to work out,” Ava said.

“Four days ago I was worrying about what to wear to Sunday brunch before the horse races. Now look at me,” Amanda said.

“I’ll call Michael now,” Ava said.

He sounded defensive and nervous when he answered the phone, and Ava couldn’t blame him. The clock was ticking on Simon, and all Michael had to go on was Ava’s assurances that she’d get the money. So she leapt right at him. “Michael, I’ve secured the money.”

“Ava, that’s great, how —”

“I called in some favours,” she said. “You’ve heard of the Wong Group in Hubei?”

“Of course.”

“They’re advancing it. You’ll have it for the first year interest-free. After that they’re prepared to turn it into some small equity position in your company or convert it into a loan at no more than the standard bank rate. So that should buy you boys some time to build up the business — and give you the option of having a partner with some serious muscle.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Well, it at least gets us past tomorrow, doesn’t it.”

“I haven’t heard from Lok since yesterday, when we talked about the exchange.”

“That’s okay, you call him. Call him after you get the photo. Tell him you’ll meet him tomorrow afternoon at two in the lobby of the Venetian, and that you’ll be bringing him cash. That will make him happy.”

“How will this actually happen, I mean — ?”

“The exchange?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s leave that for the morning.”

“But if he asks, I have to tell him something.”

That was a very good point, Ava conceded, realizing she hadn’t given it a thought, and that Lok might find it strange if Michael didn’t have something in mind, since it was he who had asked for the exchange in the first place. “Tell him that you’ll be coming with me and a man by the name of Sonny Kwok. He can bring any two men he chooses. We’ll meet directly in front of the check-in desk. They must have Simon with them. Simon walks to us, we slide the suitcase over to them, and then we turn and leave the hotel. Simple.”

Michael didn’t reply, and Ava thought, Yeah, simple. Real simple. Too simple.

“Look, Michael, I really have to go now. Let me know how it goes with Lok this afternoon. I’ll keep my phone on.”

“How was he?” asked Amanda after Ava hung up.

“I think you should get over there as quickly as you can.”

“That was a hell of a story you spun. Where can I get some of that interest-free money?” May asked, smiling.

“Sorry, it just came to me. I thought throwing the Wong Group’s name into the mix added credibility.”

“Sounded great to me,” Amanda said.

“Well, if the day ever comes when we do do business together, you’ll learn quickly enough that the word free doesn’t exist in the Wong Group’s vocabulary.”

Amanda turned to Ava. “So now what?”

“You go home to Michael. He’ll tell you about our chat and you’ll pump him full of confidence. Please listen in on his conversation with Lok, and make sure he calls me when it’s over. If it goes okay, then you grab the MTR and head for Sha Tin.”

“How about me?” May asked.

“Keep in touch with your driver and call me the moment he reaches Macau. I’m going to go to my room. I still have things I need to finish.”