him from the station platform. “Great work. Four days is good, but is that four days from today or from tomorrow?”
“We never actually discussed that.”
“In that case we’re going to assume it’s from tomorrow. Was he okay about sending the photos every day?”
“Yeah.”
“And how was he otherwise?”
“Actually quite co-operative. He didn’t even go off on me when I told him I needed more time.”
“He’s got his head in the money now,” Ava said. “He’s not going to do anything that’ll screw up his chances of getting paid.”
Michael went quiet. Ava knew exactly what he was thinking, and before he could speak again she said, “I’m working on some options. The money is only one of them.”
“How the hell can you get that kind of money? And even if you can, how are we going to pay you back?” he said.
“It’s one option. You’ve bought us all some time, so let me use it.”
Ava felt Amanda staring at her as she spoke to her brother. She ended the call and said, “Now, how do we get to Jessie’s?”
They inched their way out of the station and then inched their way to New Town Plaza. At one time it had been the biggest mall in the New Territories, with more than fifty acres of shopping space in a nine-storey structure. Amanda led Ava through the maze to the back exit and right into a wall of apartment towers.
As they walked, Ava talked about how to handle Jessie. “We have to be upbeat, positive. The boys are involved in a business dispute in Macau, pure and simple. As a sign of good faith, Simon and Michael offered to have one of them stay there until the money that is owed is paid. Simon insisted it be him, so now Michael is back in Hong Kong organizing the money. He should have it transferred to Macau in a few days. It’s a bit unusual, but that’s the way business is often done over there. The really good news is that the deal seems to be back on track.”
“Do you really think she’ll buy that?” Amanda asked.
“That depends on how well you spin it.”
“Me?”
“Hey, I’m a stranger. I don’t have any credibility with this woman. Why should she believe anything I have to say? You’re the one she knows and trusts — her husband’s partner’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not a very good liar.”
Ava stopped walking, reached for Amanda’s arm, and turned her so she could see her face. “You are not lying, and you have to convince yourself of that before you can convince her. You’re doing a little bit of shading, using gentler semantics, but the message is essentially true, is it not? He is being held in Macau. We are organizing the money. He will be home in a few days. What more is there to say? Just avoid loaded words like ransom or hostage.”
“When you put it that way —”
“There is no other way to put it. And one more thing: lead with the bad news. Don’t try to ease into it. It should just be ‘Jessie, Simon is stuck in Macau for a few days over a business dispute, but we’ll have him home by Friday.’”
“She’ll want to talk to him.”
“I know, but you’ll have to be firm about the fact that he can’t talk to anyone, not even Michael, until the deal is finalized. Again, try to keep it low-key, make it sound like the natural course of business in Macau. If you can, Amanda, try to raise the topic of communication before she can ask the question — be proactive. And, of course, you’re going to have to tell her that she can’t talk about this with anyone, not her mother or her siblings or any of their friends. Say that you’re under the same restrictions, that the deal requires this level of confidentiality. She can always call you, night or day, right?”
“Right.”
“If you’re calm and in control, she’ll absorb it.”
“I believe you.”
“Can you do it?”
“I think so.”
“I think you can too.”
The building wasn’t quite what Ava had expected: gritty, mid-grade security in the lobby in a small office with a plastic shield, two elevators for thirty floors, and notices from debt collectors plastered on the walls. The notices were a standard Hong Kong debt collection technique, naming the debtor and the amount owed and making ugly references to his or her character as a way of shaming them in public, in front of friends and neighbours.