The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,64
floor — could you put them in a laundry bag and take them with you? Burn them, throw them away . . . do whatever you want with them.”
“Certainly.”
Ava sat on the bed and watched as Vivian Ho took a bag from the closet and stuffed the clothes into them. Then it dawned on her. “Vivian, are there jade links in the shirt cuffs?”
“No, nothing.”
“On the floor?”
“Not that I can see.”
“How about on the dresser or the desk?”
The doctor looked and then looked again. “Nothing.”
“He couldn’t have,” Ava muttered.
“Are you okay?”
Ava nodded. “Maybe they’ll turn up later.”
( 22 )
Alone, more alone than she could ever remember being, Ava sat in the chair by the window. The fog that had enveloped her was gone. The world around her was vivid again. Outside, the city was going about its business. She looked down into the garden and watched a woman wearing a cone-shaped straw hat picking up debris from the ground. She pulled herself from the chair, went to the desk, and called the concierge. “This is Ava Lee, could you connect me to hotel security, please?”
“Is there a problem, Ms. Lee?” a female voice asked.
“I need to speak with the head of security. Please put me through.”
The woman hesitated. “That is Pak Indra.”
“Is he in the hotel?”
The woman paused. “Just a moment, I have to check.”
The phone went silent. If he’s not in the hotel then they can go and get him, Ava thought.
A male voice came on the line. “Indra here, Ms. Lee.”
“Are you in the hotel?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I need to speak to you.”
“Can you give me some idea of what this is about?”
“No, not over the phone.”
“What do you suggest?” he asked, caution creeping into his voice.
“Do you have an office?”
“Yes, I’m downstairs on the ground floor, behind the front desk.”
“I’ll see you there in about fifteen minutes,” she said, hanging up before he could reply.
She opened her notebook and found the phone number for Perkasa in Jakarta. He didn’t answer so she left a message on his voicemail. “This is Ava Lee. Call me.”
Time to get dressed, time to move, she told herself. She brushed her hair and tied it back. She rooted in her bag for a pair of underwear and her sports bra, her hand shaking as she took them out. She struggled to get them on and then climbed into her Adidas training pants and pulled a black Giordano T-shirt over her head. The roll of bills she had taken out to pay Vivian Ho still sat on the dresser. She peeled off five of them and put them in her right pants pocket. Her cellphone went into the left.
She was halfway down the stairs towards Indra’s office when her phone rang. “Ava Lee.”
“Bu Ava, this is Perkasa. I got your message.”
“Uncle spoke with you?”
“I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Can you get to Surabaya today?”
“Of course. There must be twenty-five flights a day between here and Surabaya.”
“Get in this afternoon. There’s a Sheraton Hotel attached to the big downtown plaza. Check in there and then call me.”
“Okay.”
“Uncle said you had some men in Surabaya you could use.”
“How many do you need?”
“Two should be enough.”
“No problem.”
“They have to be men you really trust, men who know how to keep their mouths shut.”
“No problem.”
“I’m not sure if we’re going to need weapons, but if we do, can you access them?”
“Whatever you need, I can get.”
“A picana?”
“What is that?”
“An electric cattle prod.”
He paused. “Yes, I’m sure the men in Surabaya can find one of those.”
“Fine. Then have them do that today.”
“I will do that,” he said, this time without hesitation.
“Good. Then I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Ava ended the call, already feeling good about Perkasa. She liked his confidence, his directness. Men who talked too much or asked too many questions also tended to think too much. She didn’t need any thinkers.
As she approached the front desk, she saw a well-dressed man with grey hair standing next to a young female associate. The look he gave her was all she needed to know. “Pak Indra,” she said.
“Ms. Lee, I thought it would be less disruptive if we met out here. Maybe sit in the lounge?”
Ava said, “I’d like to meet somewhere where there aren’t security cameras. So we can go to your office or we can go outside and stand on the street in the heat.”
“My office would be the best of those options,” he said, motioning for her to go to the door that led from the lobby