The Princeling of Nanjing (19 page)

“Perfectly.”

Lau looked down at her hands and fiddled with the diamond ring, turning it around her finger. “Since you felt free to ask a personal question, I’d like to ask one in return,” she said.

“Certainly,” Ava said.

Lau took a deep breath. “When you had dinner with Xu and my husband in Shanghai, was that woman with him?”

“What woman?”

“The actress.”

“Which actress?” Ava asked, not taking the bait.

“Pang Fai.”

“Yes, she was.”

Lau turned her head away from Ava. “Thank you for being direct.”

“No thanks are needed.”

“What was she like?”

“I don’t think I should answer that question.”

“Please,” Lau said. “My husband has been involved with her for some time, and all I know about her is what I’ve read in magazines and seen on the screen. I’d like to know more than that.”

“I didn’t spend much time with her.”

“But you formed an opinion?”

“Of course.”

“Share it with me, please.”

“Well, he pays her to keep him company,” Ava said carefully. “And I don’t think he’s the only one who does.”

“My husband thought that you and Xu had the same kind of relationship.”

“I can’t think of any man who’d pay to spend time with me,” Ava said with a laugh. “And if one made me that offer, I can assure you that I would take it the wrong way.”

“You are a beautiful young woman.”

“That’s not true, but I am completely monogamous.”

“Me too, but not by choice. This may be the modern China, but a married man can still do what he wants while a married woman is bound by age-old convention.”

“It’s the same in Europe or North America.”

Lau toyed with her ring again and then sighed. “Tell me what she’s like.”

“I did.”

“No, you only told me what was obvious.”

Lau was trying to appear calm, but Ava heard some desperation in her voice. She thought back to the few minutes she’d spent alone with Pang Fai, and then about her phone call to Ava. Ava had been drawn to Pang’s magnetism and was impressed by her candour and her understanding that Tsai Men’s questions about Ava could mean trouble. She was, in fact, a woman Ava would like to know better. Should she tell Lau what she actually thought of Pang or what she guessed she’d like to hear? “She is rather crude and mercenary. I doubt she has any real feelings for your husband. It’s all business,” Ava finally said.

“What leads you to think that?”

“Five minutes of conversation going to and coming from the bathroom.”

“What did she say?”

“What does it matter?”

“It matters. Please tell me.”

“It wasn’t anything specific,” Ava said hesitantly. “She was simply disparaging about the men who pay for her services, and then she told me something that I’m sure your husband didn’t want shared. I found that particularly disrespectful.”

Lau was about to say something when the door opened.

Two men dressed in black stood in the doorway. Ava glanced at them. She thought they were waiters and turned back to Lau, but when she did, she saw that the other woman’s mouth was agape.

“What do you want?” Lau said.

“We were told to get this woman.”

Ava’s head swivelled towards the door. Two men stood poised, staring her down. They were both of medium height, dressed in black running shoes, pants, and cotton turtleneck sweaters that showed off muscular shoulders and arms. One had a pair of handcuffs looped through one side of his belt and a nightstick on the other. His partner had what looked like a Taser in a long holster hanging down his right leg. There was nothing particularly sinister about them. They had none of the scars and tattoos that Ava associated with gangsters. Instead, they displayed a quiet, confident, and determined reserve.

“What do you want with her?” Lau said.

“There are people who have questions for her,” the man on the left said.

“We weren’t informed about this,” Lau said.

“We’re just following orders,” he said.

“Why don’t we leave now,” the other man said to Ava, taking several steps forward and extending his hand towards her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Maybe it’s better if you do go,” Lau said softly.

Ava stood and moved so she was closer to the wall. Her position didn’t afford the two men much of an angle to come at her.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the man with the handcuffs said.

“I appreciate that, but I’m still not going with you.”

He looked at his partner as if to say,
Do you want to take her or should I?

The partner answered by taking three or four rapid steps towards Ava. The suddenness and speed of his move surprised her and she fell back a step. He reached for her left arm, caught it around the biceps, and squeezed hard enough to make her grunt in pain.

“Now, come quietly or I will really hurt you,” he said.

“Okay,” Ava said.

His grip relaxed, and as it did her right hand shot forward and grasped the elbow of the arm that held her. Her fingers held tight while her thumb searched for the nerve it was looking for. She dug into it until he screamed. She kept digging until she was sure the pain was the only thing he was conscious of. When she let go, his arm fell uselessly to his side and his body lurched in the same direction. He tried to his swing his other arm at her, but it was a listless effort and she sidestepped it easily, driving the knuckle of her middle finger into his ear. He collapsed onto the floor, and she knew it would be a while before he would be able to get to his feet.

The other man stood almost transfixed, and it wasn’t until his partner hit the ground that he started to reach for the Taser. By the time it had left the holster, Ava was on him. She jumped over the body of the man on the floor and landed with her right foot poised. She propelled herself forward and sunk her foot into his groin, with her heel leading the way. He groaned but didn’t keel. Ava’s fist, clenched in the traditional and lethal phoenix-eye position, carved its way into his belly, striking the cluster of nerves gathered just below the middle of his rib cage. He fell back and then sideways, already beginning to vomit.

“What’s going on in there?” a voice yelled.

From where she stood, Ava could see Xu and Tsai approaching the room. They both looked agitated.

“They wanted to take me somewhere for questioning,” Ava shouted. “Who are they?”

Xu and Tsai stopped when they reached the doorway.

“What the fuck?” Xu said, looking at the men on the ground.

“I had nothing to do with this,” Tsai Men said.

“I told her that,” his wife said.

“But you know who did,” Xu said.

“It’s a mistake,” Tsai said.

Xu shook his head. “I think we should be leaving,” he said to Ava.

Ava nodded and turned towards Lau. “It was lovely chatting with you, at least until those men arrived.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need.”

“I didn’t know,” Tsai repeated.

“You and I will talk later,” Xu said.

Tsai looked blankly at him.

Ava stepped out of the room and slipped an arm through Xu’s. Side by side, they left the restaurant, Ava glancing in all directions in case there were more men outside.

“I called Suen a few minutes ago,” Xu said. “He’ll be waiting.”

“Are we going to the hotel?”

“Not a chance.”

“Why not?” Ava asked.

“It isn’t safe for us anywhere in Nanjing.”

The Mercedes was sitting in the same spot where Suen had dropped Ava off. He leapt from the car as soon as he saw them and opened the back door.

“The InterContinental?” he asked.

“No, we’re going directly back to Shanghai,” Xu said.

“You have a bag at the hotel.”

“Send someone to get it later. I’ll give you my room key.”

Ava saw a question form on Suen’s lips and then disappear.

“Call Shanghai and let them know we’re coming back tonight. I want extra men posted around the neighbourhood and at both ends of the street. They should be on the lookout for police or military vehicles.”

“Yes, boss.”

As the car pulled away from the Yihe Mansions, Xu hit a number on his cellphone.

“Auntie Grace, it’s me,” he said. “I’m not staying over in Nanjing. I’m driving back to Shanghai tonight with Ava. Could you please prepare the guest room for her, and have some food ready? We haven’t eaten.”

The housekeeper’s voice was muffled, but Ava thought she heard concern in it.

“Yes, there is a small problem,” Xu said. “And I don’t want you to answer the house phone again unless you see it’s my number.”

They were driving through Nanjing now, negotiating heavy traffic, visibility made difficult by air dense with fog.

“Do you want us to take the main highway or side roads?” Suen asked.

“The main highway should be okay for now.”

The car veered left and started to climb an on-ramp. Ava saw a sign for Shanghai.

“Who were those men?” she asked.

“Probably military, but what’s strange is that they sent only two men. Normally they would have sent in a fully armed unit. They don’t do things in half measure. They must have thought a couple of their men could take one woman, or they’re trying to keep this low-key.”

“Whatever the rationale, those two men were professional. Do you think the Governor ordered them to pick me up?”

“Or his cousin did. Or both of them.”

“But not Tsai Men?”

“I honestly don’t think he knew. This meeting was all about confirming what Pang Fai had told him. By the way, it was wise that you didn’t lie to him,” Xu said. “He still could be our only lifeline.”

“What caused him to call her in the first place?”

“He’s shrewd. According to Men, the family — including his father and uncle — started getting phone calls yesterday from some of the banks and their business partners, telling them that someone was looking into their affairs. Their initial reaction was that some rival in Beijing was trying to cause mischief. But when Hong Kong and Toronto kept coming up, they thought it had to be an outsider. Men remembered an offhand remark Pang Fai had made about you and phoned her. She confirmed the Toronto connection.”

“Toronto is a large city.”

“In their minds, it was you.”

“That’s a very selective process of elimination.”

“That’s how they think.”

“Shit.”

“They already know the name of the bank in Toronto and of the law firm in Hong Kong. Another firm in Beijing also made contact, but they think it’s connected to the one in Hong Kong. They’re now using intermediaries to confirm who initiated the requests for information.”

“Men told you this?”

“Yes.”

“What else do they know?”

“Just what I told you.”

“Xu, I don’t have an account with the bank in Toronto, and my contact there would never reveal me. The law firm was hired by May Ling. She’s the client of record. They’re tight-lipped as well and wouldn’t disclose her name or mine. So the Tsais can try all they want, but they’ll never be able to connect me to the inquiries.”

“The problem is that it doesn’t matter if they can or not,” Xu said. “They don’t need proof of anything in order to believe that something is true.”

“What is it that they believe?”

“They think it was me who instigated the inquiries. They think I hired you. Men told me that point-blank, and then he said they knew I wasn’t happy about the drug proposal and that maybe I was trying to find a way to throw the deal back in their face.”

“They thought it through to that extent?”

Xu nodded.

“That is smart,” Ava said. “I’ve underestimated them.”

“I always knew they were smart,” Xu said. “What I didn’t really grasp was just how paranoid they are. All it took was the mention of Toronto and you went from being a pleasant dinner companion to the mysterious girlfriend who had appeared out of nowhere to cause trouble. They leapt to a great many conclusions, none of which favour us.”

“And you denied them?”

“Forcefully and rather angrily. Men backed down a bit when he saw how furious I was. He then said that whether I had hired you or not, the family thought you were the one digging into their affairs. That’s a problem for them. A problem that he said had to be dealt with.”

“Dealt with how?”

Xu reached for Ava’s hand. “He told me to get rid of you. He didn’t specify how, but he made it clear that they were open to a wide range of options. They just want you gone from their lives.”

“And taking me from the restaurant tonight was the first step?”

“It could have been, although I still think he knew nothing about it.”

“What did you say to Men when he asked you to get rid of me?”

“I told him that you’re my girlfriend and have been for the past year,” Xu said. “I told him that you know nothing about my business and wouldn’t dare interfere even if you did. I said the Toronto and Hong Kong connections were coincidental, and that there was nothing abnormal about either banks or law firms doing due diligence and running credit checks on Chinese companies.”

“How did he react?”

“Guardedly, but then I told him I’ve just returned from Guangzhou and have cemented a deal with the triad head there to build the designer drug factory. I explained to him that any reluctance I’d had was based on my worries about how that colleague would react to the factory initiative. I told him that colleague is now going to be a partner. At that point he asked if they were expected to give up part of their shares to him. I said no, and he started to relax.”

“I know this may be repetitive, but did he also let go of the idea of getting rid of me?”

“He agreed that might have been an overreaction. He said he is meeting with his father and uncle later tonight and will explain things to them.”

“What are the chances he’ll be successful?”

“Before I saw the two men on the floor I would have said not bad, but now I think he’ll have to be extremely persuasive.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“On the highway heading back to Shanghai.”

“Okay, I get that, but do you think it’s really necessary to place extra men at the house?”

“The Tsais are going to get together for dinner tonight, and they’re going to talk about you and about me. They’ll feed off each other’s paranoia, and by the end of the evening they’ll likely have decided that you’re going to be an even bigger problem and I’m going to be one as well, because no matter what Tsai Men says, I’m defending you, and they’ll be convinced that proves I put you up to it. We’ve done them no harm, but that won’t matter. They see the potential for harm. They don’t take any chances. One way or another, they’ll find an excuse to set the cops or the military on us.”

“Do they know where you live?”

“No, very few people do. Not even Feng. It’s the safest place I can think of, and even though I don’t think they’d try to do anything in Shanghai, it would be foolish not to take extra precautions. I don’t want to be surprised in the middle of the night. Even a ten-minute warning would give us time to prepare.”

“But how?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Ava shook her head. “May warned me about the family. She told me that the old man will strike at shadows. I should have listened to her.”

“She was right,” Xu said.

“This is getting out of control.”

“That’s my sense of it as well, but the problem is that I’m not sure there’s anything we can do to get them to back off. Once you become a target, you are forever one, until you’re gone.”

“We have to respond. We can’t sit back and let this happen.”

“You say that like you have something in mind.”

“We have to move faster than them.”

“What do you mean?”

“We need to give them something else to worry about, something that diminishes our significance,” Ava said. “Are you prepared to go public with some of the information we’ve uncovered?”

“Through those newspapers you’ve been talking to?”

“Yes. We’ve laid the groundwork. Maybe we can find a way to speed the process.”

“Can the papers be connected directly to you?”

“I haven’t communicated with any of them. It’s all been done through our lawyers, and I trust them completely.”

“It would be good to get out in front instead of being chased.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Go ahead.”

“Great. Let me make some phone calls.”

“Before you do, I have one that I need to make,” Xu said. “I want to brief Lop on everything that’s going on with the Tsai family.”

Ava blinked in surprise. “What can he do from Wanchai? Unless of course you’re thinking of bringing him back here to fight.”

“I don’t want to bring him back or to fight — although he would gladly do both if it came down to it,” Xu said. “I don’t know if you remember, but he was a captain in the Special Forces of the PLA, and he’s still well connected enough to get inside information. So if something is going down, he’s our best chance to get an advance warning.”

While Xu called Lop, Ava looked out the window at the passing apartment buildings and office complexes. He was completely matter-of-fact, almost abnormally calm, as he described the situation to Lop. Ava’s one encounter with the ex-military man had been in Wanchai, when he flew into Hong Kong with Suen to take down Sammy Wing, the triad leader in the district. It had been a quick and brutal skirmish, and Lop’s emotions were barely held in check. Ava wondered if that was why Xu was taking such care to speak calmly about the Tsais.

“He’ll make some phone calls to some senior people on the inside who he trusts,” Xu said when he had finished the conversation.

“That’s great. I’m only sorry that it’s necessary.”

He glanced at her. “Is that your way of trying to say you think this is your fault?”

“In hindsight, I involved too many other people. Maybe I wasn’t careless, but I sure wasn’t cautious enough.”

“The only way you could have exercised greater caution would be to have done nothing at all.”

She started to respond and then stopped. Mistakes had been made and they were on her. She’d not only involved too many people, she’d also sent them off in too many directions. She had been uncharacteristically undisciplined, something that Uncle would never have allowed. There were times when she sorely missed his judgement, and this was one of them. But there wasn’t much point in rehashing errors. The only thing that mattered now was getting to a different place, and that was going to take some work.

She reached for her phone.