The Scottish Banker of Surabaya

( 24 )

She heard from Perkasa as she was walking out of Ace Hardware with a bag holding two rolls of duct tape.

“I’m here,” he said.

“Where exactly is ‘here’?”

“The lobby of the Sheraton Hotel.”

Ava checked her location in the plaza. The hotel was no more than a five-minute walk away. “Wait there for me. I’m on my way. I’m wearing a black T-shirt and black Adidas training pants.”

She liked him the instant she saw him. Young, tall, athletic, dressed in black jeans and a dark blue cotton shirt. He stood with his back against a pillar, his eyes darting right and left, attentive without being obvious. He looks like Derek, Ava thought — the same build, the same confident way he carried himself. When he saw her, he smiled and gave her a little wave. That’s like Derek too — easygoing, relaxed, even when going about the hard part of a job.

“I didn’t expect someone so young,” he said as she approached, her right hand extended.

“Me neither. Uncle’s contacts are usually older and usually policemen or army officers. You aren’t army or police, are you?”

He took her hand and shook it firmly. “No, I’m not military or police. As for Uncle, he’s known my family for a long time. He and my grandfather left Wuhan around the same time and they’ve kept in touch ever since. We owe him a lot of favours.”

The Wuhan link again, Ava thought. It spanned decades, thousands of miles, and all of the adopted cultures.

Ava looked around the lobby. It was quiet, and she motioned to a nearby seating area. “Let’s sit and talk,” she said. “Time is working against us.”

He was about a foot taller than she was, and close up she saw that he was far more muscular than she had thought. He had two knapsacks with him; he tossed one over each shoulder.

“Have you checked in?” Ava asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to take those to your room?”

“They can wait. I came to work, so let’s get started.”

They found two chairs in an alcove and settled in. “Did Uncle give you any idea what I want you to do?”

“The only thing he said was that it would probably be something physical.”

“There’s a bank president here by the name of Andy Cameron. I want to get him someplace private and secure so I can talk to him. We’ll need to use a couple of locals. We’ll need two vehicles, preferably SUVs — something large. We need a place to take him where we don’t need to worry about him making a racket. And we’ll probably need weapons,” she said. She waited for his reaction.

He just shrugged as if he’d heard it all before. “My jawara have guns. One of them drives a Pathfinder, and I’m sure we can find another car without any trouble. I’ll call them as soon as we’re finished here and ask about a place to take your banker. If they don’t have one, they’ll get one.”

“You trust them, do you?”

“I’ve worked with them many times before. The older one is a policeman, the other is his brother. They don’t speak English, which under these circumstances is probably a good thing, because we won’t have to guard our words. But even if they understood everything we were saying, it wouldn’t bother me. They’re reliable, very professional.”

“And they know you’re here today?”

“I had them on standby after talking to Uncle the first time, and I called them this morning right after talking to you. I asked Waru — he’s the older one — to find the picana you wanted. They’re waiting for me to contact them for a meeting. I wanted to talk to you first so I could give them some idea of what we were up to.”

Ava said, “Uncle told me your name was Perkasa, but I don’t know if that’s your first name or last name. What should I be calling you?”

“Perkasa — that’s it. Like many Indonesians, I have only the one name.”

“Well, Perkasa, I’m going to leave you to call Waru and his brother. Let’s confirm the car and find out about a secure holding area for the banker. When that’s done, arrange for them to meet with us around here somewhere. I’m completely available, but the sooner we can talk, the better. My objective is to have this job wrapped up by Monday morning, because that’s when people are going to start missing him, at least his colleagues at the bank. Your locals should be a lot of help from a planning viewpoint.”

“It won’t take long with Waru. Do you want to wait here while I make the call?”

Ava wasn’t used to this level of efficiency, even from Uncle’s men. “Sure, why not?”

He took a BlackBerry from the top pocket of one of his knapsacks. Two flicks of his finger, a ten-second wait, and then Perkasa began speaking in Indonesian. Ava listened, not understanding a word, but guessing from his nodding head and occasional smile that it wasn’t going badly.

He put the BlackBerry in his shirt pocket. “Okay, we’re set,” he said.

“Everything?”

“I told you, these are capable men.”

“The cars?”

“They have matching Pathfinders.”

“A place to take the banker?”

“Waru’s house is outside the city. His nearest neighbour is several hundred metres away. He’s going to phone his wife and tell her to take the kids to her mother’s for a few days, starting tonight.”

“And the picana?”

“He bought one.”

Ava was impressed. “Whatever you’ve been paid, I’m going to give you extra for yourself and the two men.”

“That’s not necessary. Uncle sent more than enough.”

“I insist, so please don’t argue with me.”

Perkasa conceded with a nod. “After he gets his wife settled, Waru will drive into the city. I told him to come here to the hotel. They should be here by six.”

“Perfect. That gives me time to get organized,” she said and then paused. “You said Waru is a policeman.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“When he freelances, does he mind using that to his advantage?”

“What do you have in mind?” Perkasa asked carefully.

“I’m not entirely sure yet. We’ll need to go over the plan, such as it is, before we see if there is any need.”

“Then that’s when we can ask him.”

“Fair enough.”

“Now what?”

“I’m going back to my hotel. Call me when they arrive.”