The Scottish Banker of Surabaya

( 50 )

Poirier rode with her to the main terminal at Juanda International Airport. It was seven o’clock in the morning, and she was on schedule to catch her eight-thirty flight.

They had finished counting the money an hour before. The magnitude of the sum involved had done nothing to make it less tedious, and it was with a sense of relief, not any particular pleasure, that Ava wrote the final figure in her notebook and had Aries and Poirier sign off on it. And then, for good measure, she took photos of that page and of the money piled high on the floor and sent it to her Ava Lee email address.

The night before, it had taken a line of soldiers less than twenty minutes to get the money off the plane. The rest of the time was spent sorting. Her plan had been to bundle and weigh one hundred stacks — ten thousand notes — and then weigh everything else in bulk. This would have eliminated the need to count, and if the block contents had been uniform it would have been a rapid process. But the blocks had been constructed with no rhyme or reason and contained multiple denominations and currencies. They had to be taken apart and then completely reconfigured into bundles of like denominations before she could start weighing.

She explained to Aries and Poirier the process she had decided to use, and they both agreed to it, but when the Indonesian saw the resulting numbers, he made her repeat the explanation. The numbers were not exact, Ava stressed, but they would be a good approximation. He then asked her to reweigh everything while he watched.

The results turned out to be identical. The plane had been carrying just over fifty-two million euros, one and a half million pounds, and six million U.S. dollars.

“That’s about seventy million U.S.,” Ava said. “Thirty for my client and forty for you guys to split however you decide.”

“Very nice evening’s work,” Aries said.

They drove her back to the barracks, where she showered and changed. Poirier stood by the open door while she was inside to prevent any soldiers from wandering in. She appreciated the gesture, and told him that on the drive to the airport.

“Consider it part of my diplomatic responsibility towards a Canadian citizen,” he said, and then paused. “You are Canadian, aren’t you? They told me you were, but the only ID I’ve seen is a Hong Kong passport.”

“It’s a bit late to ask.”

“Does that mean you aren’t going to answer?”

Ava smiled. “I was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Vancouver and Toronto. A Hong Kong passport is more convenient and raises fewer questions in this part of the world.”

“But you’re flying back to Hong Kong?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Ottawa wants to know where to reach you. I spoke to them a few hours ago. They’re keen to get their hands on the information you promised.”

“Once they have our thirty million dollars ready to transfer, then we’ll work out the details of the swap.”

“That could be as soon as tomorrow, from what I’ve been told. They know they’ll get the money from the Indonesians eventually, but they don’t want to wait. The money will be sent from Ottawa.”

“Tell them to call me any time they want. My client has opened an account with a Kowloon bank, so he has things organized at his end.”

“Okay, I’ll let them know.”

The Nissan pulled up at the departures area. Ava opened the door, climbed down onto the sidewalk with her bag in hand, and looked back at Poirier. She was about to say goodbye when the door slid shut. She was still standing there when the car drove off.

The terminal was quiet, at least in contrast with Hong Kong, and Ava checked in, cleared security, and found her way to the business-class lounge with an hour to spare. She had a quick coffee at the bar and then carried a second cup to a sofa.

She phoned Uncle. Lourdes answered.

“Where is he?”

“He just left. He’s gone to meet a friend. He said for you to call him on his mobile.”

He picked up on the second ring. “Ava, where are you?”

“I’m at the airport in Surabaya.”

“And?”

“There was about seventy million U.S. on the plane. The Canadians are ready to send us the thirty million as soon as tomorrow.”

“That is fantastic news. Good work, my girl.”

“I need the Kowloon banking information.”

“Do you remember Mr. Tang?”

“Is he the one who helped us with the phony wire transfers to the British Virgin Islands?”

“That is him. Call him when you get in. He will give you the details.”

“Don’t you have them?”

“Not with me.”

“Well, then, when we meet.”

“Ava, I will not be able to see you today. I have a friend arriving from Shanghai. He has a lunchtime meeting here in Hong Kong, and then I have promised to go to Guangzhou with him for a dinner. We will probably stay overnight.”

“Is Sonny taking you?”

“My friend has his own driver.”

“What did Sonny say about that?”

“Since when do I need to seek Sonny’s approval for anything?” he said softly.

“I meant no offence, Uncle. We just worry about you.”

“There is no reason for that either.”

“I understand.”

“Now I see my friend waiting for me. I am going to go and enjoy my day with an old comrade, and that is something I can now do with a clear head and peaceful heart, thanks to you. I told Sonny when I thought you would be arriving, but you should call him and confirm. I will see you tomorrow or the day after.”

She stared at her phone, not sure what she had just heard. She went back to the bar for a third coffee, debating whether she should call him back. But if she did, what would she say? Excuse me, Uncle, did you just tell me a lie?

Ava phoned Sonny and went directly to voicemail. She left her flight details and nothing else. She was about to open her notebook when she saw that an email had arrived with a familiar name attached. It has been three whole days. You should go to a lab today and submit your samples for STI testing. Give them my email address and ask them to forward the results to me. Hope you are well. You have been on my mind. Vivian Ho

Thank you. I will try to get it done today, Ava replied, and then thought how strange it was that she had been back in Surabaya and had not had the memory of Cameron revisit her.

She finally opened her notebook, turned to the page where she had totalled the Italians’ money, and began to calculate just how much she would be able to return to her real clients — the Vietnamese-Canadian ones. She had hardly given them a thought since she had arrived in Surabaya the first time, except when her mother had injected them into the conversation. Now she would be able to divide twenty-one million dollars U.S. among them, and with the exchange rate favouring the U.S. dollar, the total would be close to twenty-two million.

It was eight o’clock in the evening in Toronto. Her mother might not be playing mah-jong yet. She phoned her at home.

“Hello?”

“Mummy, it’s Ava.”

“Where are you? Is everything okay?”

“I’m nowhere very interesting, getting ready to go back to Hong Kong.”

“And you are okay? I’ve been having these strange dreams.”

“I’m fine . . . What kind of dreams?”

“I don’t want to talk about them. I find them too upsetting.”

“Well, you won’t find this upsetting: I’ve recovered the money that Theresa and the others lost. We’ll start doing wire transfers into their bank accounts in a week or so. After Uncle and I take our commission, they will get about twenty-two million.”

“I knew you would do it. When will you tell her?”

“I don’t want to tell her anything. You call her.”

“I . . . would like that,” Jennie said slowly.

“Rub it in.”

“I’ll do more than that.”

“You handle it any way you want; you can say whatever you want.”

“The ungrateful bitch had the nerve to say she didn’t think you were taking it seriously, that you were never really working on their behalf.”

Ava sighed. “That sort of thing happens more often than you would believe. And then when Uncle and I come through for our clients, they pretend they never doubted us and overcompensate on the thank-you side. By then it’s too late, though. There aren’t many clients we’d accept a dinner invitation from.”

“Come home, Ava,” Jennie blurted.

“I can’t. Not right away.”

“I am worried for you. These dreams are bothering me. Maybe they’re affecting me because I don’t dream very often, but I want you nearby.”

“I’ll come home when I can.”

“The job is done.”

“I think Uncle may be ill,” Ava said slowly.

Her mother gasped, and then Ava heard her struggle to find her breath.

“Don’t panic. I don’t know for sure, but I need to stay here until his doctor comes back next week, so I can find out exactly what the situation is.”

“And if it is bad?”

“I may stay longer.”

“Why do —”

“I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s all speculation coming from Lourdes and Sonny. I need to find out for myself.”

“But you suspect something?”

“Yes, I do. But he is an old man, and it would be unusual if he didn’t become ill sooner or later.”

“Ava, in my dream I saw you . . . I saw you lying in a hospital bed.”

“Mummy, please.”

“Uncle was there as well. He was by your side, lying next to you, holding your hand. I was sitting in a chair in the room and trying to speak to you. But you couldn’t hear me, or you couldn’t answer. When I spoke louder, Uncle lifted his head and asked me to be quiet.”

“Mummy, they’re going to board my plane in a moment.”

“You have to call me from Hong Kong.”

“I will, I promise.”

“I am going to pray for him.”

“Yes, Mummy, say a prayer for all of us.”