The Princeling of Nanjing (16 page)

Amanda and Michael were already seated in Man Wah when Ava arrived at ten past seven. She apologized for being late and was forgiven in a flurry of hugs and kisses.

“I was at the lawyer’s office and lost all track of time,” she said.

“Is everything okay?” Amanda asked.

“It’s better than it was this morning.”

“You’re so mysterious.”

“That’s her style,” Michael said. “She kept me in the dark even when it was my case she was working on.”

“There’s nothing mysterious about what I’m doing, and it isn’t a case,” Ava said. “I’m doing something for a friend and I promised him I would keep it quiet.”

“Speaking of which,” Michael said, “are you going to call our father? I talked to him this morning and your name came up. I didn’t feel quite right not telling him you’re in Hong Kong.”

“I’ll call him tomorrow morning.”

“Great. Now let’s decide what we’re going to eat.”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Amanda said.

“Me too,” Ava said.

As Michael looked over the menu, Ava turned to Amanda. “Any word from Lane Crawford?”

“No. Chi-Tze and Gillian sent them our offer late this afternoon and we haven’t heard back. The girls agreed to just about everything they wanted except complete territorial exclusivity.”

“Money?”

“We told them we’d spend whatever it took to market the brand properly.”

“Good. At this point money should be the last of our concerns. We’re in so deep now that another million or so is irrelevant.”

“What do we do if they insist on having such a widespread exclusive?”

“What do you suggest?”

“We want the business, but I’m worried about how May Ling might react if we give in to them. As we discussed, she feels at least a moral obligation to the people she convinced to go to Shanghai.”

“If it comes down to that, I’ll make the phone call,” Ava said.

“To May?”

“No, to Carrie Song,” Ava said.

A waiter had arrived at the table and stood patiently while Michael continued to read the menu. Finally he put it down. “Do you mind if I go heavy on seafood?” he asked.

“We told you to decide,” Amanda said.

He nodded. “Okay, then we’ll have double-boiled fish maw soup, stir-fried lobster with caviar and scallop mousse, the stewed Japanese sea cucumber, fried rice with prawns and conpoy, and the wok-fried wagyu beef.”

“And to drink, sir?” the waiter asked.

“The Roche de Bellene Meursault.”

“How is your business doing?” Ava asked Michael when the waiter had left.

Ten minutes later he was still describing the growth of the noodle restaurant chain he and Simon To had started. They had more than forty locations now and had sold off the 7-Eleven franchises they owned to generate more capital for restaurant expansion.

As he spoke, Ava couldn’t help thinking of her father. Michael looked like him — tall and sturdy, with chiselled features and a full head of hair combed straight back — and he spoke in the same slow, measured way. It was Marcus Lee’s wish now that his three families become closer, but Ava was the only one who had actually bridged the gap between herself and the first family, and it had taken a crisis to make that happen. Now she was comfortable, if not that close, with Michael and his brothers. Truthfully, her relationship with Amanda was deeper and more enjoyable. Ava knew there would always be a distance between her and her half-brothers. Their loyalty was to Marcus and his wife, their mother, Elizabeth. Ava’s was to Jennie Lee. She might love her father and feel kinship towards her half-brothers, but she knew they would never come close to touching her emotionally in the way her mother could and did. And that thought brought Jennie Lee front-of-mind again. It was almost seven thirty in the morning in Toronto. Her mother should be home from Niagara Falls by now. Even an extreme round of gambling should have ended hours ago. Ava looked at her phone and felt the urge to call. As she pondered whether to do it, the phone rang.

“Hello,” she said, half expecting it to be Jennie.

“It’s Xu. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Well, I’m having dinner with Michael and Amanda,” Ava said.

“Feng seemed excited about what you were uncovering when I talked to him earlier, and that’s not like him.”

“He’s reading too much into things.”

“So no progress?”

“Some, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Is that why you’re calling?”

“No, I wish it was.”

“What’s happened?”

“I just got off the phone with Tsai Men. He wants to meet. I tried to put him off, but he was insistent to the point of being insulting.”

“What does he want?”

“All he said was that we have to meet and that I have to come to Nanjing.”

“Did you agree?”

“Not entirely, because I hadn’t spoken to you.”

“What do I have to do with it?”

“He wants you there as well.”

“Why?”

“I asked, but he waffled.”

“Xu, this is too strange.”

“All I can think of is that Pang will be there and he wants to balance dinner.”

“In Nanjing? She’s his Shanghai woman,” Ava said, and then noticed Michael and Amanda staring at her.

“Ava, I don’t know more than I’ve told you.”

“Okay, I understand that. The thing is, what do you want me to do?”

“Fly to Nanjing tomorrow.”

“What time is dinner?”

“Eight. I had one of my people check and there’s a Dragonair flight that leaves Hong Kong at four. It would get you into Nanjing at six thirty.”

“Did you book it for me?” Ava asked, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

“No, I’m not that presumptuous.”

Ava realized she’d overreacted, and sighed. “Well, that still leaves me part of the day to work here tomorrow.”

“So you will come?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you want me to book the Dragonair flight?”

“Sure.”

“And I should reserve some hotel rooms for us. There isn’t a Mandarin Oriental or Peninsula Hotel in Nanjing. I usually stay at the InterContinental.”

“That’s fine.”

“I’ll send Suen to the airport to meet you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I know, but it would make me feel more comfortable.”

“Okay, book the flight and the hotel and send Suen to meet me. In the meantime, could you try to find out why he wants us to go there?”

“I have already put out feelers.”

“I didn’t mean to sound bossy.”

“I can’t fault you for being curious.”

“And you’re not?”

“I am. I just don’t vocalize it.”

“Xu, we are finding out things that could be very useful to you when it comes to dealing with the Tsai family, but if you want me to stop, I will.”

“There’s no reason for that. Keep going.”

“Okay, I will,” Ava said as a tureen arrived at their table. “I should go now.”

“Fine. I’ll call if I find out anything. If I don’t, then I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

Ava put down her phone as the fish maw soup was ladled into their bowls. Both Amanda and Michael were looking at her and she could feel questions lurking. “That was my friend Xu,” she said. “He has an investment opportunity that he wants me to see in Nanjing.”

“You’re going there?” Amanda asked.

“Yes,” Ava said, noting the concern in her sister-in-law’s voice.

“But you’ll still be able to meet with Dad tomorrow?” Michael said.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Ava said, wondering how he could be so tone-deaf. “I won’t leave until late afternoon.”

The dinner was superb, but Ava struggled to eat. The phone call from Xu had unsettled her more than she had let on, and she was worried about her mother. She passed on dessert and coffee and used jet lag as an excuse to make an early exit.

It was just past nine when Ava said goodbye to them at the elevator. “Call me as soon as you hear about Lane Crawford,” she said as she hugged Amanda.

“I will.”

“And don’t worry,” she said to Michael. “I’ll email Daddy tonight about getting together tomorrow.”

Ava opened the door to her room and stepped inside with a feeling of relief. She had silenced her phone after Xu’s call. Now she checked it for messages and saw there were none. She went to the computer and opened her email account. Xu had sent her the flight information and confirmation.

Without much thought she called her mother’s mobile. It went directly to voicemail. Ava said, “It’s me, Mummy. I’m in Hong Kong. I’ll be seeing Daddy sometime tomorrow. Hope you’re well. Call me when you can.”

She then phoned the house. Five rings later it also went to call answering and Ava repeated her message.
Where are you?
she thought. She had the number for Jennie’s friend Cindy, and for a second contemplated trying to reach her, but then she put aside the idea. Her mother would consider it meddling, and she had no tolerance for shifts in the normal balance of power between mother and daughter: the mother could meddle all she wished and the daughter’s only response should be silent respect.

She returned to the computer and wrote to her father.
I arrived in Hong Kong today, but I have to leave tomorrow for Nanjing. Can you meet me for breakfast or an early lunch? Love, Ava.

When that was sent, she opened her notebook and began to review the notes she’d made at the meeting with Brenda Burgess and Vanessa Ogg. At its conclusion they had assigned tasks, but there wasn’t anything for Ava to do until she heard from the lawyers. Then she saw a remark she had underlined and picked up the phone again to call Toronto.

“Are you still in Shanghai?” Johnny Yan asked.

“Hong Kong.”

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering if Felix has heard more from any of the banks he contacted.”

“Not in any way that would please you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I talked to him an hour ago. He said he tried to follow up with one or two banks that hadn’t replied to his initial information requests, and he fired off a couple of additional questions to those that had given us something.”

“Let me guess. None of them would co-operate?”

“It was worse than that.”

“How?” Ava said.

“Not only would they not give him anything, they grilled him about why he was asking questions and they wanted to know who our client is.”

“What did he say?”

“Not much. He said he stumbled around a bit,” Johnny said. “I believe him. Felix was never too quick on his feet.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned. I told him, if anyone else calls, to refer them directly to me. I’ll handle it.”

“What will you say?”

“I’ll come up with something.”

“Johnny, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“I’ll manage,” he said.

“I wish you didn’t have to, but it is important that you keep a lid on this.”

“Speaking of which, Ava, why did we get so much blowback? I can’t remember the last time one bank, let alone several banks, confronted us like this. What the hell are you involved in?”

“Nothing dramatic.”

“I’d like to believe that.”

“You can. And in time I’ll be able to tell you more.”

“Okay. Now let me go and calm Felix,” he said. “And if someone from here wants to talk to you?”

“Give them my cell number.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank
you
, and Johnny, when this is over, I will send you a serious chunk of business.”

“
Momentai
,” he said.

Ava pushed her chair back from the desk. Vanessa and her people had run into a brick wall. Johnny and Felix had run into another. Had she pressed too hard? Was the Tsai family’s influence that pervasive?

She checked the bedside clock. It was almost nine thirty and Brenda had promised to call her at ten. She had time to shower and get dressed for bed, but if Brenda had had any luck, Ava knew she wouldn’t be sleeping for several hours.

Ava was on the bed when her cellphone rang. She leapt at it.

“Brenda?”

“I just finished talking to Richard.”

“How did it go?”

“Well enough, I think. He has a lawyer friend who is very politically connected and prominent in the London legal community. According to him, all the trouble in the Middle East has caused the government to fixate on corruption. They don’t want U.K. corporations being the vendors of choice for dictators and despots.”

“Tsai Lian is hardly that.”

“When it comes to foreign governments, the lines do become blurred.”

“I guess in this case that’s a good thing.”

“We’ll find out soon enough. I sent Richard the Mega-Calhoun files we compiled. He’s going to pass them along to his friend, who in turn has promised to pass them along to some senior government people. I sent him a larger package on the Tsai family empire separately, to share with a few journalists that he trusts.”

“How long will this process take?”

“I stressed the urgency.”

“I think it just got even more urgent. My Canadian banking friends got some pushback from the Chinese banks they were talking to, and I’ve been invited to go to Nanjing to meet with some members of the Tsai family.”

“I’m not surprised about the banks, but that Tsai family invitation is decidedly strange. Do you have any idea what they want?”

“No.”

“You aren’t going to go?”

“I don’t know how to get out of it.”

“Just say no.”

“I can’t.”

“So what should we do?”

“Have you heard from Vanessa?”

“She was going to wait until ten before calling her friend in Washington and the other one in New York.”

“The lawyer is in Washington?”

“Yes, and the reporter is in New York.”

“I am starting to think that we don’t have enough time for the legal processes to work their way through the two systems,” Ava said.

“I thought we agreed that getting charges laid would be the perfect vehicle for generating publicity.”

“I’m not sure we can wait that long. We might need another angle.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just started to think about it. Perhaps if we tried to do something privately?”

“Blackmail them into doing what you want?”

“I’d prefer to think of it as persuading them to do the right thing for the wrong reason.”

“My experience in dealing with people in China who have their kind of power is that they would take your attempt at ‘persuasion’ as a direct attack. They have the entire state apparatus behind them. Your attempt to construct a private deal would last only for as long as it took them to set the police on you and make you and your information disappear. The least risky option for all of us is to have someone else firing our bullets.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Ava, my husband has just called in a very large favour, and Vanessa is doing the same. We can’t ask them to go back and say, ‘Sorry, but we’ve changed our minds.’”

“No, I agree with you, but is there any reason why we can’t push one of the pieces we have in play a bit faster than the other?”

“You mean publicity?”

“Why not? Even without corruption charges being laid against the Tsais or their partners, it’s a fascinating story. I mean, who in the Western world thinks of the word ‘multi-billionaire’ when they picture a government official in China?”

“More people than you can imagine. And there is nothing particularly remarkable about Tsai that would cause him to stand out.”

“He is a princeling. There is that connection to Mao through his father.”

“Ava, you’re stretching.”

“I might be, but I find it interesting all the same how a diehard Communist family can evolve from being peasant revolutionaries to billionaire establishment politicians in one generation,” she said.

“Have you ever worked in advertising or public relations?” Brenda asked with a laugh. “You do know how to spin things.”

“I just have an active imagination.”

“Well, let’s keep it in reserve until we see what Richard’s friend can do, and let’s hear what Vanessa has to say after she’s talked to her friends. Right now we’re operating from a limited information base.”

“That’s true enough.”

“Will you come by the office in the morning? We should know more by then.”

“What time is good?”

“How’s ten?”

“That’s fine.”

“Good. See you then.”

Ava put down the phone with a sigh and began to regret involving the lawyers. Burgess hadn’t said anything that was particularly wrong, but Ava felt constrained nevertheless. In her old life, speed had been of the essence. It was all about creating and maintaining momentum and then striking before the target knew what was happening. Approaching the justice departments in the U.K. and the U.S. to try to initiate legal action against Calhoun Metals and Patriot Insurance had seemed a good enough idea in the boardroom, but the phone conversations with Xu and Johnny Yan had jolted her.

Something was going on in Nanjing. She didn’t know what, but she wasn’t programmed to be passive.

Ava decided she was going to give it twenty-four hours. She would talk to the lawyers in the morning and she’d go to Nanjing for dinner. If she still felt the same way afterwards, then she would do something. She didn’t know what, but something would come to her.

It always had.