Victoria was only half an hour away by air from Vancouver. Ava emailed her travel agent and told her to book an early-morning flight into British Columbia’s capital city. Then she sat back in her chair and thought again about calling Uncle. Now that Maynard’s and Hunter’s data was in hand and looked solid, she knew he needed to be briefed. She reached for her cellphone. As she did, it rang. He must be reading my mind, she thought as she picked up the phone.
“My father…” a voice sobbed.
“Maggie?”
“My father — ”
“What is it?”
“He tried to kill himself.” The sob turned into a wail.
Ava closed her eyes. “Is he okay?”
“He jumped from the roof of the house. My mother saw him as he went past the living-room window.”
“Maggie, is he okay?”
“They don’t know yet. They just took him to the hospital.”
Ava didn’t want to know any more. “Maggie, go and look after your family. I’ll be in touch when I have something to tell you.”
“My uncle did this!”
“Go and look after your mother,” Ava said.
“I’ll never have anything to do with that son of a bitch again, and neither will my mother. And if my father lives I’ll make sure he doesn’t — ”
“Maggie, if I can get some of the money back, maybe that will help make things right. Your father had to be racked with guilt about this.”
“I don’t care about the money anymore. It’s my uncle’s money. It can stay lost, for all I care.”
“Okay, I understand how you feel, but please, Maggie, go and tend to your family.”
“I will… and if you talk to Tommy Ordonez, tell him never to contact any of us again.”
Ava sat at the desk for several minutes, still in shock. What could Tommy Ordonez have said to his brother? Surely Maggie had told her father about Ava’s involvement and the information Jack Maynard had passed on to her. Surely he must have realized there was some light at the end of the tunnel.
She picked up the phone and dialled Uncle’s number.
“ Wei,” he said.
“Uncle, it’s Ava. I’m sorry for calling so early.”
“ Momentai, my dear.”
“Uncle, there have been a lot of developments on this side, and not all of them are in our favour.”
“I am listening,” he said.
Ava took Uncle through her day, from the phone conversation with Edward Ling to her meeting with Maggie Chew, her conference call with Jack Maynard, and her attempt to contact Ronald Francis. Uncle listened quietly. When she had finished the business side of the report, he said, “You have made tremendous progress. Did that Maynard send you his information?”
“Yes, and I’ve gone through it. It holds up. His conclusions are fully supported by the data.”
“So now what?”
“I need to talk to the Mohneida. I need them to tell me who Kaybar and Buckshot are.”
“I have confidence in your powers of persuasion.”
“And if it takes more than that?”
“Meaning?”
“Financial incentives.”
“Do whatever you have to do. I will make it work from this end.”
“Uncle, there is one more thing that may affect how, and even if, we proceed,” Ava said.
“What is that?” he asked, caution in his voice.
“Philip Chew tried to kill himself about an hour ago. He jumped from the roof of his house in full view of his wife.”
Uncle paused, and then said deliberately, “Is he dead?”
“Injured. How badly, I don’t know.”
Uncle said slowly, “He has brought such disgrace upon himself and his family. It had to be a terrible burden to bear.”
“Uncle, Tommy Ordonez called his brother yesterday, and from what I’m told he berated him so severely that Chew was reduced to a trembling mess. Maggie blames him for her father’s reaction.”
“Who is to know what causes men to do what they do?”
“If Chew dies?”
“The damage he has caused can still be mitigated if we get some of the money back. I will talk to Chang about making sure that the wife and daughter are not abandoned.”
“So you think Ordonez will want us to keep pursuing this course?”
“Once he knows that the money was definitely swindled from his brother, and from the company, he will want it back. In his mind I am sure he can separate the money from his brother’s tragedy. If anything, it might make our case for getting the money back even more compelling.”
“And you don’t think he’ll feel any guilt about his brother’s attempted suicide?”
“Ava, Ordonez is the kind of man who thinks people get whatever they deserve in this life, and that their characters are what they are. I am sure he will believe that his brother jumped because his character was too weak to withstand the guilt he carried, and that whatever he said to him had nothing to do with it.”
“And you’re comfortable with our continuing to work for him?”
“Ava, since when did our clients have to be nice people?”
“True enough.”
“As long as they honour their agreement, we should honour ours.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“I know you do not like Ordonez, but men like him do not care whether we like them or not, and any emotion spent in that regard is wasted.”
“I understand, Uncle,” Ava said. “I forgot to mention — Ordonez called me today as well.”
“Chang did not mention anything about that.”
“He may not know. The call was at three o’clock in the morning, Manila time. He wanted me to call him with updates.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
“How did he take it?”
“Not well.”
“I will talk to Chang.”
“Uncle, if Chang can’t get him to back off, I may need you to speak to him. I can’t work like this. I’m going to Victoria in the morning to meet with Chief Francis, and I want to have a clear head. I don’t want to be worried about answering my phone.”
“I understand,” he said.
Ava knew he did. What she didn’t know was whether Tommy Ordonez would listen.