system and we’re slow getting to the house and through the door. Then they have time to figure out what’s going on, get armed, and be waiting for us. There could be as many as seven of them. And then what? Twelve men firing at each other in close quarters? It would be a mess.”
Sonny walked over to the table and poured himself a cup of tea. May leaned against the wall, watching him. He looked up and smiled at Ava. “It would remind me of the old days.”
Carlo and Andy came back into the suite with the other men and all of them took their seats again.
“Okay, questions,” Ava said.
There was silence.
“Nothing?” Ava said.
“When do we go over?” Andy asked.
“I want you all on standby until we get confirmation that the boat has docked and is secure and we know the truck has arrived. We should know both those things early this afternoon. So plan on going over starting late this afternoon and into the early evening, but don’t leave until you’re given the green light. And when you do go, don’t do it as one big group.
“Now, when you get there, head for the Kingsway Hotel. I’ve booked three rooms under the names of Carlo, Andy, and Sonny. Figure out among yourselves who stays with whom.
“I’ve rented two SUVs. I’ll be driving one, Sonny the other. Sonny, you’ll have to collect yours when you get to the Macau ferry terminal. We’ll have the cars at the front of the hotel at five a.m. Meet us there, and bring your bags — we’re not going back to the hotel after the job. We’ll drive to the wharf, pick up the hardware, connect with the truck, and then convoy to Coloane. We should be there comfortably by six.
“Carlo, you need to call me, Andy, and Sonny as soon as you hear from your cousin. May will let me know about the truck, and I’ll pass it along.”
“The truck is on schedule to be in Macau by one,” May said.
Ava heard a noise from the adjacent room. Amanda peeked in from around the corner. “Come in,” Ava said.
She carried a megaphone in her hand, and Ava had to smile because it was almost half her size. “This is Amanda, everyone. She’s been helping me.”
“What is that for?” Carlo asked.
“That’s for you,” Ava said. “We don’t know how loud the alarm is going to be, and I want to make sure you can communicate with the guys in the wing. This should help if the noise is too loud. Try it out — but wait until you leave here.”
Amanda put the megaphone on the table in front of Carlo and then moved back against the wall next to May. They exchanged nods.
“Two more things before you go. There are balaclavas in the box over there; each of you take one.”
“I hate wearing those things,” Andy’s brother-in-law muttered.
Ava stared at Andy, who nudged him. “We’ll be wearing them,” Andy said.
“You can get rid of them when you’re in the house and it’s secure. Until then, keep them on,” Ava said.
“Last, I want to talk about money. I’m paying all of you for four days,” she said, reaching for her bag. She extracted the envelopes and gave them to Carlo. “Pass those out for me, will you?”
She saw Sonny hesitate and said, “Sonny, it isn’t fair for me to treat you any differently.”
When the envelopes had been distributed, she said, “That’s your full four-day advance. If the job is as successful as I think it’s going to be, there will be a bonus for everyone as well. So that’s it. We should be in touch with you in the next few hours.”
The men shuffled towards the door. Ava trailed after them and touched Carlo lightly on the elbow. “Just a minute,” she said to him.
“What is it, boss?”
“What were the men saying when you went out for a smoke?”
“They have a good feeling about this, and having Sonny along is a big plus.”
“They know Sonny?”
“If they don’t know him, they’ve heard of him. He’s a legend.”
( 23 )
Amanda had taken the map and floor plans from the wall and was rolling them up. May was still leaning against the wall, now with a phone to her ear. Ava grabbed a bottle of water and sat at the table. She’d never had a woman involved in her business before, even marginally, and now she had brought two of them into it. She had no way