stepped between them and then kissed each of them on the cheek. “Good luck.”
They were the only two passengers on the helicopter, and Ava thought that would give them a chance to talk. But as soon as the rotors kicked in, she knew she’d have to yell to be heard. May spent the flight looking out the window and occasionally glancing at Ava.
Ava remembered how anxious May had been in Wuhan, her eyes dull with worry, the skin around her mouth etched with lines. Now her face had taken on a younger, vibrant look. Her eyes were black orbs in a sea of pearl white, her skin taut, not a line, not a sag. She was in her forties at least, maybe even fifties, but if Ava had been paid to guess, she would have said late thirties.
There was one more obvious difference from Wuhan — her jewellery. May wore diamond stud earrings that had to be a carat each, a Movado watch with a large diamond at the twelve-o’clock mark, a ring with the largest diamond Ava had ever seen, and a delicate white nephrite jade bracelet. It was the bracelet that really caught Ava’s attention. The jade had been carved into small round beads that were separated by slivers of what looked like platinum. Ava knew the bracelet was rare, and probably old. It was so Chinese — if you had the taste to want it and the money to acquire it.
Macau appeared on the horizon and Ava braced as the helicopter began to descend. As it did she felt a rush of anxiety. An awful lot — perhaps too much — depended on one woman’s guanxi. She glanced at May Ling. Her face was completely impassive.
As they disembarked, Ava couldn’t help saying, “You’re wearing jewellery today.”
“In Wuhan I don’t have to impress anyone. When I travel, I have an image, there are expectations, and I don’t like to disappoint,” she said.
What looked like an army officer stood at the entrance to the helipad. He opened the door for them and then stepped back. “I’m Captain Kuo. General Feng sent me to meet you.”
“A pleasure, Captain,” May said.
“The car is outside. Please follow me.”
“How about Customs and Immigration?”
“No need.”
The two women slid into the back seat of the Lexus and the captain sat up front with the driver. “We’re going to meet the General at a restaurant. He thought, given the time, that lunch would be appropriate.”
“Wonderful,” said May.
The car took what to Ava was now a familiar route over the Friendship Bridge to Taipa and the causeway to Coloane. But instead of turning west towards the park, they went east. The Barrier Gate, the entrance to China proper, was in the distance. There was a lineup of buses, trucks, and cars that Ava knew would take hours to clear the border. She was thinking that they would be late for lunch when the driver pulled the Lexus to the far right and drove along the shoulder until they reached a lane marked Restricted, which led to a guard booth. Ava reached into her bag for her passport. The captain looked back at her and said, “No need.” The car drove through, the driver waving at the guard.
The two women hardly talked during the drive. Ava was comfortable with silence, and it seemed to her that May was as well.
Ava hadn’t been to Zhuhai. She knew it was the second of the Special Economic Zones set up by the Chinese government, hard on the heels of Shenzhen. But whereas Shenzhen had gone from being a town of twenty thousand to a city of ten million in twenty-five years — visually, culturally, and environmentally representing everything ugly about uncontrolled growth — Zhuhai had barely grown at all. Its population was just over one million, and it was more of a sleepy tourist destination than a boomtown.
They were somewhere near the centre of the city when Ava’s phone rang.
“I spoke to Lok,” Michael said.
“And?”
“We’ll make the exchange Friday afternoon, and he’s agreed to the Venetian.”
“You couldn’t get Saturday?”
“Ava, he blew up at me. He said the original deadline was Thursday. I had to argue with him for ten minutes to get him to agree to Friday.”
“I wasn’t being critical, Michael. Friday will just have to work.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“I believe you.”
“And I got Simon’s photo. Physically he looks fine, just completely depressed.”