several times on his own. Iâm not sure what I would do if I had both of them hammering at me. Iâm sure Philip knew what was in store for him.â
âAnd the detectives â they came up empty?â
âCanât find Cousins, canât find the money. All they can tell us is that the KVD bank account is empty and Cousins cleaned out his personal account too.â
âHow much was in his account?â
âWeâre told about two million.â
âThatâs a lot of money.â
âHe fronted the two million to start the project, so he had to have some money,â Marx said, and then caught himself. âOf course, he really didnât front anything, did he?â
âNo,â Ava said softly.
The room went quiet. She had been making notes as Marx spoke. She circled the words two million and personal bank account .
âNow what?â Marx asked.
âIâd like to spend some time alone with the files. Iâm sure Iâm not going to find anything other than what youâve told me, but you never know â I could get lucky.â
âBe my guest. Iâll be glad to get out of this room.â
âDo we need to call anyone?â
âTo get permission for me to leave, you mean?â
âYes.â
âThey told me to do whatever you asked.â
âGood. Then why donât you go back to your hotel, have a drink, get a massage, get whatever. Just relax. Louis, weâre colleagues now. Iâm not the inquisitor. Iâm here to figure out what happened and to try to fix it.â She shook her head. âI think you should get back to Vancouver as soon as you can. Youâre like a red flag to these guys. Every time they look at you theyâre reminded of what went wrong, and they need to lash out. Go home. Iâll tell them I need you in Vancouver.â
She watched him leave the boardroom, his suit jacket slung over his shoulder, his shirttail hanging out the back of his trousers. She didnât give him another month with the company. If he didnât quit theyâd fire him. Someone was going to have to take the blame for this fiasco. And Louis Marx wasnât Chinese and his brother didnât own the company.
( 5 )
Her phone rang at seven in the evening. It was the wake-up call she had booked after leaving Ordonezâs offices and before crawling into bed with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Ava showered herself into relative consciousness before calling Uncle, who had left a note for her at the front desk, asking her to call him when she checked in.
â Wei ,â he said.
âUncle, itâs Ava.â
âIâm in suite 1040. Come and see me.â
His door was open when she arrived. The room was beautiful, with gleaming teak floors, elegant bamboo furniture of a quality she knew you couldnât buy anymore, and a king-size four-poster bed with a snow-white down comforter. Uncle was sitting on a bamboo chair, his feet barely touching the ground, a bottle of Tsing Tao beer in his hand. âI have some white wine on ice for you,â he said, pointing to a credenza.
âYouâre spoiling me,â she said.
âIt is by way of an apology.â
âIâm sorry, Uncle, I donât understand.â Ava couldnât think of anything heâd done that required an apology. Even if there had been a slight, their relationship was such that he would have made amends in a more subtle and less direct way.
He waited until she had poured herself a glass and seated herself next to him before leaning towards her. He caught her eye, and she flinched when she saw the anger in his face. âI was very unhappy with the manner in which Chang Wang and Tommy Ordonez treated you today,â Uncle said. âI had words with Chang after you left the room. I told him I was not certain we wanted to take the job and that I would leave it up to you.â
Ava was surprised by his reaction. She