The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,67
some stranger, not any client. Andy Cameron was on the bed. He had finished with her, but her legs were still open and he was rubbing his penis across her breasts, leaving a trail of semen. He had a grin on his face, and he was happily humming a tune she didn’t recognize.
Ava had stopped just outside a coffee shop. She couldn’t run anymore. She needed water, she thought, and was starting to walk into the shop when a tear rolled down her cheek. She hesitated, her hand reaching out for a wall. Another tear fell, and she felt a weakness in her legs. She turned and pressed her back against the wall for support as she began to sob, her body shaking uncontrollably.
( 23 )
Ava decided she wasn’t going to tell Perkasa the real reason why they were going after Cameron.
Earlier that morning, when her run had ended so abruptly and so emotionally outside the coffee shop, it had taken half an hour for her to drink a bottle of water and to stop her hands from trembling. Two women inside the shop had seen her distress and come out to comfort her. They gathered around her, talking between themselves, as one wiped Ava’s tears with a serviette and the other gently massaged her neck and shoulders.
The woman Ava had seen earlier with Indra was at the front desk when she returned. As Ava approached, she saw the woman’s face take on a worried look.
“I’d like to change rooms,” Ava said.
“Is there something wrong with the room you’re in?”
“I just want another room, something different.”
“Certainly, Ms. Lee,” she said, tapping at her keyboard. “There’s a suite available on the fourth floor.”
“Fine, I’ll take it.”
Time wasn’t moving all that quickly for Ava. The woman seemed to take forever to finalize the arrangement and pass her a key. When she was finally done, Ava said, “Now I need you to arrange something else for me. Could you please ask one of the room maids to go to my old room and pack all my things and bring them to the new one?”
“Yes, we can do that, of course.”
“Thank you. I’ll sit over there until it is done.”
The hotel was busy. There was a steady parade of people crossing the lobby, about half Western and half Asian. Ava counted them, tried to guess where they were from and why they were in Surabaya and in that hotel. It was a pointless exercise but entirely distracting. She had reached thirty-seven when she heard her name being called.
“Your suite is ready,” the desk clerk said.
The suite wasn’t any larger than the room she had before but it was configured differently, and the view from her window revealed a new part of the garden. In Ava’s mind it was enough of a change.
The maid had left Ava’s bags on the floor by the door. Her computer, notebook, and cellphone were on the desk. Ava stepped out of her clothes, threw them on the floor, and got into the shower. When she was done, she rubbed herself dry with a fierce determination, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and crawled into bed.
She closed her eyes, only to have Cameron’s cocksure face flood her mind. I will get rid of that grin now, she thought. She would have her revenge. Cameron had taken what should have been just business and made it personal. Now she was going to repay him in her own way — quietly, privately, painfully. She pressed her eyelids tightly together. The face vanished.
When she woke, the room phone was ringing. Ava looked at the bedside clock and saw it was one thirty. She’d been asleep for three hours.
“Ava Lee,” she said.
“You changed rooms,” Vivian Ho said. “I called 313 and a man answered. I panicked for a second.”
“I thought a change of scenery might help.”
“Yes, I think that was wise,” she said. “I have those lab results you wanted.”
“So soon?”
“You were the only priority at the lab this morning.”
“Thanks for making that happen.”
“You have flunitrazepam in your system.”
“I see.”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“I have.”
“It would have taken about twenty to thirty minutes to kick in after you ingested it. And judging from the traces, you were given enough to have affected you for eight hours or so.”
“I can remember only the first part of my evening in the lounge.”
“That’s not surprising. It does cause anterograde amnesia.”
Ava said, “Maybe it’s just as well that’s all I can remember, don’t you think?”