The King of Shanghai Read online

  Ava hesitated near the door to the restaurant, making sure no one was following her. When she went inside, both Andy and his wife, Winnie, were at the hostess stand. Winnie smiled and bowed her head in Ava’s direction as Andy walked towards her, his face grim and full of worry. He had been Carlo’s partner for many years as an occasional employee of Uncle’s, and he had helped Ava from time to time. The restaurant was his father’s, but now he had passed it on to Andy and Winnie, and Andy was mainly out of the old life. Ava knew him well enough to trust him, and she knew that setting up a table in the kitchen where she and Carlo could talk wouldn’t be an issue. Andy was small and wiry, like Carlo, but didn’t have as many tattoos. His head and face were now completely clean-shaven.

  Ava kissed him on both cheeks. “Is Carlo here?”

  “In the kitchen.” He turned and started towards the back of the restaurant. “I’ve never seen him so panicked.”

  “We have a bad situation to deal with.”

  “He should never have gone to work for Wing.”

  “It’s the only life he knows.”

  “I told him he could come here and work with me.”

  Ava couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a good friend to him, but Winnie would have a fit and he would scare off half your customers.”

  Andy pushed the door that swung into the kitchen. Through a veil of steam she could see Carlo, sitting on a folding chair at a card table set against the wall. He stood when he saw her, his shoulders slumped, his face downcast.

  “There’s tea on the table. If you want anything else, just ask one of the chefs,” Andy said.

  “I’m not hungry,” Ava said.

  “Neither is Carlo.”

  As she approached, Carlo took two steps towards her. She shook her head. “Just sit down,” she said. “Let’s make this as businesslike as possible.”

  He eased back onto the chair, his eyes darting around the kitchen.

  She sat across from him and poured herself a cup of tea. “The last time I had a cup of tea, I was in Shenzhen with Xu,” she said.

  “I told you, Ava, I had nothing to do with any of it.”

  “I believe you. This was all Sammy Wing, with maybe a little help from Li Kai. He was clever — or he thought he was being clever.”

  “So now what?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Will it be that bad?”

  “I think so.”

  “Fuck.”

  Ava sipped her tea. “You have to decide where your loyalties lie.”

  He pushed back from the table. His head tilted skyward and all she could see was the whites of his eyes. “Am I dead whichever side I choose?”

  Ava took a deep breath. “Carlo, there’s only one side you can choose, and that’s my side. Xu is going to crush Wing, and everything and everyone associated with him. I would like it to happen as quickly as possible, and for that to be the case, some help is needed. That’s why you’re here.”

  “What can I do?”

  “I want information.”

  “I don’t know anything.”

  “I don’t believe that. All you need to do is think. For example, how many men does Wing have? I mean how many men who will fight for him.”

  “Forty or fifty maybe. I’m not sure.”

  “Think about it some more. Take your time.”

  “Well, Jimmy Tan works the bars and clubs in Wanchai and he has about ten men,” Carlo said. He was actually counting on his fingers. “His cousin Marlon runs the street markets. He has a lot of people, but I don’t think many of them are forty-niners or even blue lanterns.”

  “Just a second,” Ava said, reaching into her purse. She took out a sheet of paper and a pen and placed them in front of Carlo. “Let’s do this a different way. What I would like you to do is write down the name of everyone you know who works for Sammy, and next to their name, where they are most likely to be found. Concentrate on the main guys: Sammy and Jimmy and Marlon and whoever else runs things. Can you do that?”

  “Ava —”

  “Listen, Carlo, I know you don’t like being a rat, but think about what these guys tried to do.”

  “What about me? What will happen to me?”

  “I want you to write down everything you know. Do that and you can leave. You’ll have to go underground, more to protect yourself from Wing than from Xu. When this is over, I’ll make sure you have a life and a future.”

  “How can you do that?”

  “You doubt me?”

  He sighed. “No, I’m not saying that.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Look, do you have somewhere you can go?”

  “If anywhere, it would be Macau.”

  “Good. Give me what I want and then head for Macau. I’ll make sure your name isn’t on any of Xu’s lists and that when this is over, you can come back to Hong Kong and get a decent job.”

  He picked up the pen and looked across the table at Ava. “My life is in your hands.”

  “Can you think of anyplace safer?”

  He shook his head. “Life has been shit since Uncle died.”

  “For all of us.”

  “This will take more than a few minutes. I need to really think.”

  “I’ll go and chat with Andy. I’ll be back in a while.”

  When she walked into the dining room, Andy was only a few metres from the kitchen door, leaning against a wall. He was smoking. The restaurant, like all the others in Hong Kong, had a government-imposed no-smoking policy. And the restaurant, like all the others in Hong Kong, treated the policy as a guideline that could be waived for special customers or, in this case, owners. He straightened when he saw her, threw the cigarette to the floor, and stomped on the butt.

  “Let’s sit,” she said.

  The restaurant was quite busy for late afternoon and they had to sit close to the front door. Winnie was in listening range, so Ava lowered her voice. “Carlo will be going to Macau today. He needs to hide out for a while.”

  “What’s he done?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Then why does he have to take off?”

  “He’s accidently put himself in the middle of a turf war between Sammy Wing and Xu. You’ve heard of Xu?”

  “Who in our life hasn’t?”

  “Well, it’s going to be messy and Carlo runs the risk of being collateral damage. He works for Wing but he’s loyal to me, and my loyalties are with Xu.”

  “What does Xu want with Hong Kong?”

  “Wing tried to kill him earlier today in Shenzhen. He failed.”

  “Fucking hell.”

  “Anyway, Carlo has decided to help me with some information about the Wing organization. There’s no way he can go back to work with them, so staying in Hong Kong is a non-starter.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Andy, do you have any customers who work for Wing?”

  “A few,” he said without hesitation.

  “They might know we worked together.”

  “They might.”

  “They would certainly know that you and Carlo were partners.”

  “Everyone knows that.”

  “So they might come around asking questions. I think, for your sake, you should be prepared for that eventuality.”

  He shrugged. “I haven’t seen you since Uncle’s funeral, and I haven’t heard from Carlo since he went to work for Wing.”

  “Perfect.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up.”

  “Momentai. Now I should go back to the kitchen and see how Carlo is doing.”

  “Ava, if he does go to Macau, tell him not to stay with that mama-san whose place he usually goes to. She has a big mouth, in more ways than one,” Andy said, smiling at his little joke
.

  Despite herself, Ava found herself smiling as well. “I’ll tell him,” she said.

  Carlo was still hunched over the table when she walked back into the kitchen. The paper was almost completely covered with his handwriting. He looked up when he heard her heels striking the concrete floor. “I’m done, I think,” he said.

  Ava sat down and reached for the paper. “This is long on names and short on everything else,” she said.

  “Well, they don’t exactly have an office or a clubhouse,” Carlo said.

  “If you were going to look for them, where would you go?”

  He sighed and ran his fingers through the stubble on his scalp. “The Hong Kong Jockey Club has three betting centres in Wanchai: one on Hennessy Road, one on Jaffe Road, and the third on Spring Garden Lane. Some of them hang around in the vicinity. There’s a street market near the MTR exit on Hennessy. Look for the stalls selling phones; they’ll be nearby.”

  “How about bars and clubs?”

  “On Hennessy and on Gloucester Road, but mainly Hennessy. They like to operate out of bars close to hotels like the Metropark.”

  “Where can we find Sammy Wing?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “How about Jimmy Tan?”

  “There’s a bar called Oasis on Hennessy. He hangs out there at a table in the back. Though with all this shit going down, he may have decided to relocate.”

  “Marlon?”

  “He’s at the street market every night. There’s a 7-Eleven about twenty metres from the MTR entrance. He’s usually standing by the front door.”

  “Describe him.”

  “He’s tall and skinny with bleached blond hair.”

  “That’s distinctive.”

  “He thinks of himself as a ladies’ man.”

  Ava had been making her own notes as Carlo spoke. The last detail she ignored. “This is all helpful, and hopefully it will never have to be actually used,” she said. “Still, I think you need to get to Macau as fast as possible. Today wouldn’t be too soon. Don’t tell anyone you’re going and don’t contact anyone from there, including me. When I think it’s safe for you to come back, I’ll call your cell and leave a voicemail. If you don’t hear from me, stay there and keep quiet.”

  “I got it.”

  “Andy says you’ll probably stay with a mama-san.”

  “Well, if I’m going to lie low, I might as well take advantage of it. She gives amazing blow jobs.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Make sure that’s the only thing she does with her mouth. Andy says she blabs.”

  “All he knows about her is what I’ve told him, and I never told him that.”

  “Okay, enough said.”

  Ava folded the papers, put them in her purse, and then stood to leave. Carlo started to stand and then hesitated.

  “What is it?” Ava said.

  “I hope you don’t get too involved in this feud. I don’t pretend to understand the reasons for it, and even if you explained it, I still might not make sense of it. All I know is that Sammy Wing is a cruel son of a bitch. He sees insults in everything and carries grudges like nobody I’ve ever met. He doesn’t care who gets in his way. Man, woman, or child, he’ll whack anyone.”

  “Thanks for the concern.”

  He looked down at his feet. “I still like to think of us as a team, you know — me, Andy, Sonny, and you. We may have different interests from day to day, but when things matter, we cover for each other.”

  She put a hand on his arm. “Which is why you need to get on a jetfoil to Macau.”

  ( 25 )

  Ava checked her phone as soon as she left the restaurant. There was nothing from Sonny and nothing from May Ling or Amanda. She listened to the message that the lawyer, Bowlby, had left. He wanted to set up a meeting. She thought about calling him and then quickly decided it would have to wait.

  She caught a taxi at the MTR station and took it to the ferry terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. Fifteen minutes later she had stepped off the Star Ferry and was walking from the waterfront in Central to the Mandarin Oriental. When she got to her room, she hesitated and contemplated packing her bags. The thought held no appeal. She hated the idea of running from anyone, but she was not a careless person. Ignoring the possibility that Wing might target her, if only as a way to get to Xu, would be careless in the extreme. The hotel was too accessible, and no matter how tight the security, too many employees had master keys — employees who could be threatened or bribed.

  She walked over to the window and looked out onto Victoria Harbour. Her mind was spinning with possibilities, and none of them seemed to work in favour of her staying at the hotel. She moved away from the window and methodically repacked her bags. As she did, she weighed her options about where to resettle.

  She knew she could always stay at Amanda and Michael’s apartment in the Mid-levels, or even out in Sha Tin with Amanda’s father, Jack Yee. But how could she put them at risk? She thought about moving into another hotel. The trouble was, she hadn’t brought her alternative ID and credit cards with her. There had been no need, she had thought as she packed her bags in Toronto, for Jennie Kwong on this trip.

  Uncle’s apartment in Kowloon was the most logical, safest choice. What she didn’t know was whether she could handle it emotionally. She reached for her phone and called Sonny’s line. Still no answer. “Sonny, I’m at the hotel. Call me when you can. I need to know how things are going.”

  She sat on the edge of the bed. In the past at times like this, a phone call to Uncle would have brought calmness and certainty. Now she felt alone and vulnerable.

  Her phone rang and she almost leapt at it. The screen said private number. Who could that be? she thought. On the third ring she hit the answer button. “Yes.”

  “Ms. Lee?” an English voice said.

  “Yes.”

  “This is Richard Bowlby. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you.”

  “No, not at all. I was just expecting another call.”

  “I phoned earlier.”

  “I know. I didn’t have a chance to get back to you.”

  “We have all the paperwork related to the acquisition in China and I’m about to assign it to someone on staff to draft the agreement. Before I do, I would like to sit down with you and review it. I spoke with Ms. Wong after I couldn’t reach you and she gave me a bit more detail about the Beijing offer. Frankly, it isn’t that complicated, so I think we are probably good to proceed.”

  “I would be happy to sit down with you,” Ava said.

  “Excellent. It will be good to meet the third partner in what promises to be a substantial and impressive business.”

  “Today isn’t very good,” Ava said.

  “Nor for me. I do have an opening tomorrow at eleven a.m. Will that suit you?”

  “Where is your office?”

  “We’re in the Bond Building, on Queen’s Road West in Central. We occupy three floors. I don’t know which boardroom we’ll use yet, so come to main reception on the thirty-first floor and we’ll take it from there.”

  “That sounds fine.”

  “You’ll be meeting with me, Ms. Ma, and Mr. Ong. And I expect that my partner, Brenda Burgess, will poke her head in to say hello.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

  There was no reply, and Ava wondered if Bowlby had hung up. Then he said, “Ms. Lee, you do still intend to go ahead with this acquisition?”

  “Of course. Why do you ask?”

  “If you don’t mind my saying so, you sound rather hesitant.”

  “I have another issue to deal with that is pressing, Mr. Bowlby. Hopefully by tomorrow it will be less of a concern.”

  “Would you rather put off our meeting?”

  “No, not unless I have no choice,” Ava said quickly. “This is very important for us. The sooner w
e can close, the better. But if there’s any change in my plans, I’ll let you know.”

  “All right then. So I’ll either see you or hear from you tomorrow.”

  She placed the phone on the bed and went to her computer to turn it off. First she checked her email and saw that both May Ling and Amanda had sent several messages. May Ling and Suki were now burrowing deep into the financials of the Beijing business and continued to be pleased with what they found. Amanda wrote that she hadn’t heard from Gillian Po but wasn’t worried. She and Chi-Tze were taking advantage of their time together in Shanghai to review other business proposals that Three Sisters had received. Well, no bad news, Ava thought. At least one part of my life is on an even keel.

  Ava wrote an email to May: I have spoken with Richard Bowlby and I will be meeting with him and some of his associates tomorrow. It doesn’t seem that there are any reasons not to go ahead at full speed. So unless you tell me to slow down, that’s exactly what I intend to do. Then she paused and added: I am moving out of the Mandarin today. I didn’t want you to phone the hotel and find that I’d checked out. I’ll explain when I see you.

  She sent the message and then composed one for Amanda. While I appreciate that Gillian and Clark are probably consulting with their lawyer and accountant, our offer isn’t any different from what you discussed with them and I reiterated. I don’t want this dragging on. Call Gillian tomorrow if you haven’t heard from her by then. We need to know where their heads are. Don’t press her, though. Treat it as a friendly enquiry.

  After she had sent the message, Ava closed her computer. Now all she had to do was wait for Sonny. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so she looked at the room service menu. Before she could decide between nasi goreng and fried noodles with shrimp and squid, her cellphone rang. It was Sonny. “Finally,” she muttered.

  “Where are you?” she said.

  “Standing on the street outside the clinic.”

  “How is he?”

  “The doctor said we got him there just in time. He’d lost so much blood he could have died. He’s just come out of surgery. He’s been patched up and now he’s getting another blood transfusion. He’s going to be completely out of commission for at least a few days.”