Ava heard Jeremy Ashton before she saw him, a stream of “fucking Chinese” preceding his return to the house. Carlo was walking behind him, the gun pressed into his back. It was true that Carlo didn’t speak English and understood very little of it, but “fucking Chinese” was something he did comprehend. Ava could tell that he was barely controlling himself.
When Ashton emerged from the kitchen, his eyes locked on Ava and he yelled, “You fucking bitch,” and spat in her direction. The spit had hardly left his mouth before Carlo’s arm shot out, smashing Ashton across the forehead with the barrel of the gun. He reeled back, his hand reaching for his head as blood trickled between his eyebrows and down both sides of his nose. He started to say something and then looked at Douglas for the first time.
Ashton gasped. “What have you done to him?” he cried. Whatever bravado he had left was ebbing away at the sight of his partner’s pain and humiliation.
Ava also turned to look at Douglas. He had sipped half a glass of water and some colour was returning to his face. The stump of his thumb was wrapped in cloth but blood had seeped through; he was still naked from the waist down.
“It’s worse than it looks,” Ava said, following Ashton’s gaze to the dried feces on Douglas’s thighs.
Carlo pushed Ashton towards her and motioned for him to sit in the chair next to Douglas. As he passed her, Ava smelled urine. “What happened? Did he pee himself?” she asked Carlo.
“No, it was the dog. It splashed him, I guess.”
She turned to Andy. “Tape him.”
Carlo held the gun trained on both men while Andy taped Ashton’s hands together and his legs to the chair. “Now, Mr. Ashton, just so we’re clear, I’m not going to waste my time trying to persuade you to tell me things I already know. Your partner has already confirmed that you manipulated the software and cheated various high-stakes players out of more than sixty million dollars. Some statistical analysis has already been done. The Mohneida are now cross-referencing and confirming the information they’ve been given, but they obviously believe us already. Why else do you think they were prepared to work with us? So you cheated. And you got caught. The only thing up for discussion now is how quickly you’ll return the money to the people you stole it from — my clients.”
“If they and you are so sure we cheated anyone — and I’m not admitting we did — then sue us,” Ashton said. Ava noted his accent. It wasn’t exactly working class but it was rough around the edges.
“Lawyers are very expensive and very slow. We prefer a more direct approach. Mr. Douglas has already experienced it. Maybe you would like to try it yourself?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Mr. Douglas, would you care to talk to your partner?” Ava said.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Douglas said to Ashton.
“They can’t just do this,” Ashton said.
“I promise you, we can and we will,” Ava said. “We want our money back, and we want it back now.”
Ashton went silent. Ava noticed that sweat was mingling with the blood on his face, and his eyelids were flickering. She turned to Douglas. “Do you have a home office, a computer, a printer?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s through the door on the left.”
“And when you make a transfer from the Cyprus account, do you use a specific form?”
“No, most times we just write a letter on company letterhead addressed to the bank, asking them to do the transaction. I sign it here, and Jeremy and Lily sign it in London and then send it off to Cyprus.”
At the mention of his fiancee’s name, Ashton’s head spun towards Douglas. “Why did you bring her into it?” he shouted.
“They knew about her already, and if they hadn’t, they would have soon enough.”
“Where is she, by the way?” Ava asked. “I’m assuming she’s in London.”
Ashton was silent.
“That was a question, and I’d like an answer,” Ava said.
“She’s there,” he said.
She turned back to Douglas. “Did you keep copies of previous transfer requests?”
“In the bottom right drawer of my desk there’s a file.”
“Thank you.”
Ava looked at Ashton. He was sweating more profusely now. “Do you need your meds?” she asked.
“Fuck off, you Chinese cunt,” he said.
Ava drew a deep breath. “You really are beginning to irritate me, Mr. Ashton, and I’m not going to waste much more time being nice to you. So let me tell you what’s going to happen now. I’m going to go along to the office and I’m going to prepare a confession that both of you will sign, and a request to transfer $65 million from the account in Cyprus to a bank account in Hong Kong, which the two of you will also sign.”
“That — ” Ashton began.
“Hit him,” Ava said to Carlo, and averted her head as the gun raked across Ashton’s face.
She waited until his scream became a moan. “I won’t ask him to be that gentle again,” she said. “The next time you choose not to cooperate, you’re going to lose a body part.” Ava leaned in closer. “Look at me,” she said.
Ashton tried to avoid her eyes, but Ava kept staring until he gave in. “You are going to do exactly what I want,” she said. “You aren’t going to argue, you aren’t going to negotiate, and you are going to stop telling me to fuck off. There’s no other option. I’ve lost my patience with you, and on top of that, I don’t like you. Whatever hurt you decide to bring upon yourself by being less than totally obedient is of absolutely no worry to me, because in the end you will do what I want anyway.”
His eyelids were flickering wildly, but Ava held his attention. “Say ‘Yes, Ms. Lee, I understand.’”
“Yes, I understand,” he said.
Ava turned away from him. “Where do you bank in Las Vegas?” she asked Douglas.
“Tri-State.”
“Can you bank online?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there a file in your office with an account number?”
“Yeah.”
“What password do you use?”
“Disciple.”
“Do you need any special codes? Do both of you have to sign on?”
“No.”
“Great. Now how about your personal bank and investment accounts?”
“Do you really have to — ”
“Yes, I do.”
Douglas looked nervously at Carlo and Andy, who were edging towards him. “The information is in the bottom left desk drawer. The password is the same for everything.”
Ava looked at Ashton, whose eyes were closed. “Carlo, take his wallet out of his jeans,” she said.
Ashton jumped at Carlo’s touch and looked at Douglas in alarm. Carlo went through Ashton’s pockets and passed the wallet to Ava, who took out three bank cards. One was for Tri-State. She held the other two in front of his face. “Can you bank online with these cards?”
He closed his eyes and lowered his chin to his chest.
“Is that a yes?” Ava demanded.
He was silent, and Ava wondered if his meds had indeed worn off. “Yes,” he finally said.
“Password?”
“Sheffield.”
Ava stood. “I’m going to be gone for a while. Before I leave I’ll ask the boys to see if they can do something about your thumb, Mr. Douglas. Maybe they can find ointment and some bandages. They can get both of you some water as well.”
Douglas nodded. Ashton didn’t acknowledge that she had spoken.
Ava explained to Carlo and Andy what she wanted them to do. She had started walking towards the door to the office when she remembered Martin.
He was still in the car, his eyes closed and his head resting against the back of the seat. When she knocked on the glass, he jumped, then lowered the window.
“Things have gone very well,” Ava said, “but I still have at least an hour’s worth of work, maybe more.”
“I’m sorry if I was a bit difficult earlier,” he said.
“No reason to be; it was more my fault than yours. I should have explained things more clearly so you knew what to expect.”
“Ava, I’ve been thinking,” he said carefully. “When we leave here, what’s going to happen? I mean, what if they call in the police? They know who we are.”
“They won’t,” Ava said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Trust me.”