various wives — and had enough money, or access to it, to partner with Packer on the City of Dreams development. Ava knew of Ho through friends in Toronto. A Canadian citizen, he had been partly raised in the city and attended the University of Toronto. He had returned to Hong Kong to pursue his business interests but still came to Canada on a regular basis.
The development had opened in 2009 and was the largest in Macau. There were four soaring towers sheathed in steel and glass, one home to a Hard Rock Hotel, one to a Crown Towers Hotel, and two towers for the Grand Hyatt, all of them connected to a central podium about three storeys high that looked like a massive glimmering flying saucer. The numbers associated with the complex were impressive: more than 2,200 hotel rooms, more than 200 stores, and, at 420,000 square feet, more than double the gaming space of the MGM Grand, the largest casino in Las Vegas.
This sure isn’t the Macau I remember, Ava thought as she closed her computer and packed her notebook into her bag. She headed downstairs to meet Michael.
He was already in the hotel lobby, talking on his cellphone. He waved her over. He seemed as nervous as he had been the day before, and that worried her. Looking unsure wasn’t a good negotiating tactic.
“We’ll take a taxi to the Macau jetfoil terminal,” he said, closing the phone. “Parking is brutal around there.”
“Where’s Simon?”
“Waiting for us at the terminal. He’s already bought our tickets.”
It was only a five-minute cab ride, but they had to wait in line at the terminal for another five minutes before they could disembark. Simon was at the gate, briefcase in hand, dressed in a blue pinstripe suit, white shirt, and red Hermès tie. Except for the blond hair he actually looked like a conservative businessman. Michael looked dashing in a pair of grey slacks with a blue blazer, white shirt, and light blue Gucci tie. Ava wasn’t accustomed to travelling in such well-dressed company, and said so.
Simon stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. He had evidently forgotten about his rudeness the night before, or else didn’t want to acknowledge it. “You look good,” he said. “Maybe that’ll distract them.”
She wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic. “Thanks, and I can promise it won’t,” she said.
He had bought them three seats in first class, which was almost empty. Most of the hydrofoil was filled with gamblers making a day trip to Macau. And gamblers don’t spend money on unnecessary frills, Ava thought.
Once they had sat down, Simon pulled some papers from his briefcase. “You’ve seen the contract?” he asked.
“Yes, we went over it in detail yesterday,” she said.
“And what do you think?”
“You seem to be within your rights to request the money back.”
“But . . . ?”
She could sense he was ready to argue with her. “But nothing. You seem to be within your rights.”
“How do you want to handle the meeting?” Michael asked.
“It’s your meeting, not mine,” she said. “I’d prefer to be an observer until we see what it is they really want and can figure out what is actually going on. Who normally talks to them?”
“Initially we communicated through David Chi. It wasn’t until we saw the site that we actually met them, and then, as I said, we had one more meeting after that to sign the agreement. For the first six months or so we kept routing messages through David, but then he began to distance himself. Simon and I have both had a few phone conversations with Wu — progress reports, or, more accurately, non-progress reports. And then, of course, David disappeared entirely. So it’s been basically me and Wu on the phone. This will be our first face-to-face since we signed.”
“Is Kao Lok going to be there?”
“So I was told.”
The sea was choppy, the jetfoil bouncing up and down as it roared over sixty-five kilometres of water towards Macau. She’d never been in one that didn’t bounce — it was only a matter of degree, and on this day the degree was severe. Ava was thankful it was only a one-hour trip.
“Only one of you should speak,” she said. “It’s important that there be only one voice. My experience is that if both of you try to talk, there could be contradictions, however unintentional or slight, and you don’t want to give them any opening to create confusion or doubt. So, one