The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,70

were. That was a question that was going to have to be answered, and answered soon.

( 24 )

She heard from Perkasa as she was walking out of Ace Hardware with a bag holding two rolls of duct tape.

“I’m here,” he said.

“Where exactly is ‘here’?”

“The lobby of the Sheraton Hotel.”

Ava checked her location in the plaza. The hotel was no more than a five-minute walk away. “Wait there for me. I’m on my way. I’m wearing a black T-shirt and black Adidas training pants.”

She liked him the instant she saw him. Young, tall, athletic, dressed in black jeans and a dark blue cotton shirt. He stood with his back against a pillar, his eyes darting right and left, attentive without being obvious. He looks like Derek, Ava thought — the same build, the same confident way he carried himself. When he saw her, he smiled and gave her a little wave. That’s like Derek too — easygoing, relaxed, even when going about the hard part of a job.

“I didn’t expect someone so young,” he said as she approached, her right hand extended.

“Me neither. Uncle’s contacts are usually older and usually policemen or army officers. You aren’t army or police, are you?”

He took her hand and shook it firmly. “No, I’m not military or police. As for Uncle, he’s known my family for a long time. He and my grandfather left Wuhan around the same time and they’ve kept in touch ever since. We owe him a lot of favours.”

The Wuhan link again, Ava thought. It spanned decades, thousands of miles, and all of the adopted cultures.

Ava looked around the lobby. It was quiet, and she motioned to a nearby seating area. “Let’s sit and talk,” she said. “Time is working against us.”

He was about a foot taller than she was, and close up she saw that he was far more muscular than she had thought. He had two knapsacks with him; he tossed one over each shoulder.

“Have you checked in?” Ava asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to take those to your room?”

“They can wait. I came to work, so let’s get started.”

They found two chairs in an alcove and settled in. “Did Uncle give you any idea what I want you to do?”

“The only thing he said was that it would probably be something physical.”

“There’s a bank president here by the name of Andy Cameron. I want to get him someplace private and secure so I can talk to him. We’ll need to use a couple of locals. We’ll need two vehicles, preferably SUVs — something large. We need a place to take him where we don’t need to worry about him making a racket. And we’ll probably need weapons,” she said. She waited for his reaction.

He just shrugged as if he’d heard it all before. “My jawara have guns. One of them drives a Pathfinder, and I’m sure we can find another car without any trouble. I’ll call them as soon as we’re finished here and ask about a place to take your banker. If they don’t have one, they’ll get one.”

“You trust them, do you?”

“I’ve worked with them many times before. The older one is a policeman, the other is his brother. They don’t speak English, which under these circumstances is probably a good thing, because we won’t have to guard our words. But even if they understood everything we were saying, it wouldn’t bother me. They’re reliable, very professional.”

“And they know you’re here today?”

“I had them on standby after talking to Uncle the first time, and I called them this morning right after talking to you. I asked Waru — he’s the older one — to find the picana you wanted. They’re waiting for me to contact them for a meeting. I wanted to talk to you first so I could give them some idea of what we were up to.”

Ava said, “Uncle told me your name was Perkasa, but I don’t know if that’s your first name or last name. What should I be calling you?”

“Perkasa — that’s it. Like many Indonesians, I have only the one name.”

“Well, Perkasa, I’m going to leave you to call Waru and his brother. Let’s confirm the car and find out about a secure holding area for the banker. When that’s done, arrange for them to meet with us around here somewhere. I’m completely available, but the sooner we can talk, the better. My objective is to have this job wrapped up by Monday morning, because that’s when people are going to start