“Before you say anything, we can’t call the police,” she started. “They will know if you do, and they will most certainly kill Simon.”
“Are you sure?” Michael asked.
“Listen to her,” Amanda said.
“We also can’t discuss this with the family — I mean, families. Not a word to Daddy, not a word to your brothers. And, Amanda, keep your family out of it as well.”
She nodded.
“Now what about Jessie? Have you heard from her?”
“No, but I imagine I will,” Amanda said.
“Simon is a Macau regular,” Michael said. “He has pulled all-nighters there before.”
“That’ll get us through today, but not much longer,” Ava said. “Amanda, I think we need to visit Jessie. She needs to know what’s going on, and she needs to know that she has to keep quiet.”
“Tell me what you want me to do.”
“I have to figure out what I’m going to do first.”
( 9 )
Uncle didn’t answer his apartment phone, and his long-time housekeeper, Lourdes, said she didn’t know where he was. Ava called his cell and it went to voicemail. “I need to talk. It’s urgent,” she said, and then called Sonny.
“I need Uncle,” she said when he picked up.
“He’s in a meeting.”
“Where are you?”
“Hong Kong side. He’s at the Korean barbecue restaurant just up the street from your hotel.”
“Please ask him not to leave until I get there.”
She looked at her brother and Amanda. He was spent, exhausted. “You need to sleep. Take some pills if you have to, but get some sleep.”
Amanda seemed better; the tears had dried up and she had a look of determination in her eyes. Ava couldn’t help noticing how tiny she was, maybe pushing five feet without her stilettos, and she couldn’t have weighed a hundred pounds. Without any makeup she looked even more like a teenager. Still, there was something to her, a strength. “Look after him. I’ll call when I know something,” Ava said.
“Don’t worry,” Amanda said.
Ava walked to the restaurant, her sense of urgency balanced by the need for time to think. The first thing she had to do was get over her anger at the stupidity of the two men she’d actually considered going into business with. How could they have imagined, for even a second, that Lok was being sincere? How could they think that in the few hours between the rancour of the lunch and early evening his attitude could be so completely transformed? How could they believe that Wu would so quickly forgive his broken arm?
Part of it is my fault, she thought. If she had called Michael after her meeting with Uncle and relayed the results of his conversation with Lok, he would have known for certain that there was no chance of reconciliation. She had played things too close to her chest, as was her habit, controlling the flow of information, playing God in her own little way. Shit, she thought. Now what?
There was no car outside the Korean barbecue place, just Sonny leaning against the wall, his eyes flitting in all directions, his vigilance a habit he couldn’t shake despite the fact that it was no longer so necessary. He saw Ava the moment she came into view, then stood straight and turned to face her. When she first met him, he had worn nothing but jeans and tight T-shirts that showed off a rock-hard body decorated with tattoos. The years with Uncle had mellowed him.
“Uncle says you should go right in,” he said.
He was sitting at a table in the back with two men she recognized from previous lunches. They were old comrades, now retired, and they met regularly to discuss the state of the world. None of the men stood as she approached, instead offering small smiles and nodding heads. “Lang lei,” one of them said.
Ava sat and Uncle poured her a cup of jasmine tea. There was no need for introductions. She sat quietly at the table as the men continued their conversation. They had long since finished eating, the last empty platters still on the table, the barbecue grill coated with remnants of meat and sauce. Finally one of them called for the bill, only to be told by Uncle that it was his turn to pay. Then everyone stood and there was a round of handshakes. The men made arrangements to meet the next week at a Shandong restaurant on the Kowloon side.
Uncle didn’t sit down until his friends had left the restaurant. Then he looked at Ava and