The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,129
realizing he must have been waiting by the phone.
“I have been anxious.”
“You can begin to relax; the worst is over. The plane arrived full of money and we secured it.”
“The Italians?”
“Both dead, and the pilot.”
“So they resisted?”
“There seemed to be one gun and one shot. The Indonesians used that as an excuse to put a hundred bullets in each of them.”
“That bad?”
“Maybe not quite that many, but there isn’t much left for a mother to recognize.”
“Once a man is dead, what does it matter how he looks?”
“Well, there’s no doubt they’re dead, and not much doubt, I think, that they were going to die anyway, whether a shot was fired or not.”
Uncle hesitated. “It is better that way.”
“The Canadian doesn’t think so.”
“Did he react badly?”
“He showed his displeasure in a subtle way. Otherwise he was very professional. He knows the game.”
“As do we.”
“Yes, Uncle, as do we.”
“So what happens now?”
“They’re removing the bodies and the van the Italians came in. When that’s done, I’ll count the money, get as many official signatures as I can, and catch an early flight out of here tomorrow morning.”
“I am glad you made the decision to go.”
“Me too.”
“There is always a risk when you are dealing with so many moving parts, but if you had not gone, it would have been very difficult for us to even start to put the Italians behind us.”
“And we have the money.”
“I care less about the money. Maybe I did when I first suggested trading our information for it, but as I took more time to think, it was the Italians that weighed on me. That is why I am happy you went. You are too young to have to worry about being pursued by people who never forget that vengeance is owed.”
“I’m going to count the money anyway, and I’m going to get them to sign off on it.”
“The Indonesians will keep it for now?”
“Yes, but they have their agreement with the Canadians and the Canadians have their deal with us, and we have the information the Canadians are waiting for.”
“A few days, then, before we will see it in Kowloon?”
“I would hope so.”
“By the way, I got a small package from Perkasa today.”
“Stick it in a drawer. It’s a copy of the bank records. I wanted you to have it as backup.”
“It is nice to know that we should not need it.”
“I’ll see you sometime tomorrow,” Ava said.
“What time do you think you will arrive?”
“If everything goes well, around noon on the CX flight.”
“Call in the morning to confirm. If you cannot reach me, talk to Sonny. Either way, he will meet you at the airport,” Uncle said. “Now I need to get some rest.”
Ava looked at her watch. It was still early in the evening. “See you tomorrow,” she said.
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat. The van was idling, the air conditioning humming, but she still felt hot. Sweat began to trickle down her face and she felt the onset of panic in her stomach. She sat upright, unstrapped the bulletproof jacket, and threw it behind her. Things had gone well, better than she had any right to expect. Now wasn’t the time to let other issues intrude. I have to get outside myself, she thought.
Poirier came to the back door of the Nissan and opened it. “The bodies are gone,” he said.
“Yes, that’s great,” Ava said, pulling herself together.
“The van is being hooked up for a tow and I’ll have someone get rid of the blood, so you can start emptying the plane anytime you want.”
“A scale?”
“They’re looking for one. It will take you a while to get the money organized. By the time you do, we should have what you need.”
“Thank you very much for being so helpful.”
Poirier’s hand rested on the door handle. “I am sorry it got so brutal in there.”
“You didn’t seem very pleased with the way things were conducted.”
“I wanted to take the Italians alive.”
“Yes, that was obvious. Your friend the captain didn’t seem to think it was that important.”
“He is his own man. Or at least he’s the marines’ man, and he knows how to obey an order,” Poirier said.
“I don’t see how it matters that much anyway,” Ava said. “We have the money, the bank will be put out of business, and I’ll be sending Ottawa the information that has been promised. What else did you want?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to know the things the Indonesians don’t want me