Free The Disciple of Las Vegas by Ian Hamilton Page B

plans.”
    She called her travel agent in Toronto, and within five minutes she had a flight to Vancouver and a room at the Pan Pacific. She decided it was time to call Uncle.
    â€œ Wei ,” he said.
    â€œIt’s Ava.”
    â€œDid you find him?” he asked.
    She was surprised by his abruptness. “I did.”
    â€œAnd the money?”
    â€œNo.”
    There was a heavy silence. Uncle told Chang Wang more than he should have , she thought.
    â€œDo you know what happened to it, where it is?”
    â€œJim Cousins doesn’t have it. He was a just a conduit,” she said.
    â€œYou are certain?”
    â€œI’m one hundred percent certain. Cousins was hired to be the front man for this piece of work.”
    â€œBy Chew?
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œI was hoping for something else — anything else.”
    â€œNot to be.”
    â€œThis is very bad,” he said.
    She wondered what he meant by bad . “The thing is, I don’t want you to say anything to Chang Wang or Tommy Ordonez just yet.”
    â€œI told Chang that you had located Jim Cousins.”
    â€œNow tell him that Cousins wasn’t in San Francisco when I got there. Tell him that I’m on his trail and I’m confident I’ll catch up to him in a day or two. Buy me a couple of days.”
    â€œWhy, Ava?”
    â€œBecause I don’t know what happened. I mean, I do know what Chew did and I have the documents to prove it, but I don’t know why he did it and I don’t know where the money is. It will take some time to figure it all out. If you mention that we have proof Chew did it, Ordonez won’t be able to contain himself. He’ll be on the first plane to Vancouver and the situation will degenerate into a family brawl, and any chance we have of collecting our fee will be dead.”
    â€œI trust Chang,” Uncle said.
    Ava took a deep breath. “Uncle, you told me that Chang is Ordonez’s creature. He may be an old and dear friend, but you know his primary loyalty is to Ordonez.”
    It wasn’t often that Ava argued with Uncle, partly out of respect for his position and his age, but also because she accepted that he had tremendous judgement when it came to understanding situations and people. Uncle had gone quiet after her outburst, and she feared she had offended him.
    â€œDo you have a plan?” he finally asked.
    â€œI do.”
    â€œA few days, you said.”
    â€œHopefully.”
    â€œI would like to collect our fee as much as you would.”
    â€œThen let me run with this,” she said softly.
    â€œI will tell Chang that Cousins has not been run to ground yet.”
    â€œThank you, Uncle.”
    He paused, and Ava was wondering if he was angry at her when he blurted, “How could Philip Chew do this to his family?”
    In Uncle’s world, family extended far beyond blood relations, and disloyalty, even to the remotest fringes of the group, was cause for dismay. Causing harm to your immediate family was unthinkable to him. “That is what I hope to find out,” Ava said.
    She was expecting him to criticize Philip Chew some more, but instead he said, “Ava, I have not found Jackie Leung yet, but I know who he contracted with. I have confirmed that there are two men looking for you.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œThe gang is from Guangzhou. I have been negotiating through an intermediary to have the contract cancelled. So far they have resisted, but I am not done yet. Either way, Jackie Leung will be located and dealt with. In the meantime, stay alert.”

( 11 )
    Ava was sitting in the lobby of the Pan Pacific Hotel in black slacks and a powder-blue Brooks Brothers shirt with her jade cufflinks. Her hair was still damp from the shower she had taken after checking in. She glanced at her Tank Française watch. It was just past eight o’clock.
    She saw Edward Ling before he saw her. A bulky man with a shock of