The Mountain Master of Sha Tin, page 10
“We’re drinking tea,” Carter said, motioning to the two pots and the nest of cups that sat on table.
“Tea is all there’s going to be. We’re not here to eat,” Sammy said. “We’re here strictly for business, and I’m sure you feel the same way.”
“We do, and I don’t need the tea,” Ava said.
Sammy smiled, sat back in the chair, put his hands together, and placed them on top of his protruding belly.
The fatter he gets, the more he looks like a malevolent Buddha, Ava thought.
“Why don’t you start?” Sammy said.
“Start how? Start with what? We’re still waiting for you to explain what you think you’re doing and what you hope to gain by it,” she said.
“The answer to what I’m doing and what I hope to gain is the same. I’m reclaiming Wanchai.”
“Reclaiming Wanchai from whom? You’re already the Mountain Master.”
“Ava, don’t play games with me. Lop is dead or out of commission and that rat pack army of his is lost without him. You know we’re holding six of Xu’s men. I have men in Wanchai who are still loyal to me, and I have the considerable backing of my nephew,” Sammy said. “So Xu should abandon whatever illusions he has about still having any kind of control. If he’s as smart as he’s supposed to be, what he should be doing right now is finding a way to leave Wanchai while keeping as much face and business intact as possible.”
“You and Xu made an agreement,” Ava said. “He’s honoured his end of it. I know he’s expecting you to do the same.”
“The only reason there was an agreement in the first place was because I had a gun pointed at my head. And, as I remember it, you were the one holding that fucking gun.”
“And if you’d been dealing with any Mountain Master other than Xu, you would have been dead,” Ava said. “He spared your life and then helped you save face. You should thank him every night at bedtime, Sammy, instead of attempting to pull shit like this.”
“He humiliated me.”
“He gave you a chance to retire gracefully. Why do you need all this tension and violence? You’ve earned the right to live out the rest of your years in peace.”
“You aren’t listening to me — I have no interest in retirement. I’m going to get Wanchai back and I’m going to run it the way I see fit.”
“Does that mean eventually turning it over to your nephew to add to his new empire?”
“That is none of Xu’s fucking business.”
“Speaking of Xu, why isn’t he here? Why are we talking to you?” Carter Wing snarled. “I still don’t get it.”
“I’ve explained about Xu already. I’m not going to do it again,” Ava said. “And this isn’t the first time that Sammy and I have negotiated on behalf of other parties.”
“They’re partners,” Sammy said to Carter. “She and Xu are partners in some business. I found that out before my last go-round with them. She’s probably got a stake in Wanchai, and if she has, he’d never want anyone to know about that.”
“So, first Uncle and now Xu. You get around, don’t you,” Carter said to Ava. “At least he’s closer to your age.”
Ava felt Sonny stiffen and gently tapped him on the knee. “Insulting me won’t help us get closer to resolving our problem,” she said.
“You’re the only one with a problem, and the resolution is simple. Xu and his men must leave Wanchai,” Sammy said.
“That isn’t going to happen. But there is, perhaps, room for compromise.”
“I’m not interested in compromise.”
“Xu understands that you may have suffered financially from the changes made in Wanchai,” Ava continued, as if Sammy had never spoken. “He is prepared to increase the amount of money you’re getting as long as the number is reasonable.”
“This isn’t about money,” Sammy said.
“He also understands that you may feel left out of some of the important decisions, and he’s prepared to talk about expanding your role.”
“I don’t need his permission to expand my role. I’ll look after that myself.”
“We’re trying to find a middle ground,” Ava said. “Won’t you help?”
“There’s none to be found.”
“I think I’ll have some tea now,” Ava said, reaching for a cup.
Sonny took one as well and then picked up a pot and poured for both of them.
She took several sips, put the cup down, and leaned towards Sammy. “You tested Xu before and you came up short. If you challenge him again, what makes you think it will be any different?”
“I’m ready for him this time.”
“Ready how?”
“There’s no Lop. And there’s the not insignificant fact that we’re holding six of his men.”
“Sammy also has my full support,” Carter Wing said. “Make sure Xu understands that.”
“Oh, I will. But I think he knows that already, and it doesn’t seem to bother him,” Ava said. “If you don’t mind my being blunt, you’re putting an awful lot at risk on the assumption that Xu will capitulate in order to save his men, and on the assumption that he doesn’t have someone as capable as Lop prepared to step in.”
“He won’t sacrifice six men,” Sammy said.
“You don’t know that. In fact, I don’t even know that. What I’m saying is that it’s careless and dangerous of you to make that assumption.”
“Our message is clear. Leave Wanchai and we turn the men loose. Don’t leave and we’ll kill them. I want an answer today,” said Sammy.
“Do you have a specific deadline?”
“Midnight.”
“I have a lot of calls to make. There will need to be discussion. Can you make it midnight tomorrow?”
“When we extended the deadline to tonight, we were already giving you an extra twenty-four hours,” Carter said. “I would have killed all the men last night, but my uncle is a kinder man than me and persuaded me to hold off.”
“But you must understand that even if Xu did agree to leave Wanchai, it would take days, if not weeks, to disentangle his interests,” Ava said, ignoring Carter’s remark.
“I’d accept a commitment from him. I’d want it sworn, of course, with some other Mountain Masters as witnesses. If he did that, we’d work out a schedule. But it would be days, not weeks, and we’d hold on to the men until he fulfilled his commitment,” Sammy said.
“Okay, I think I know where you stand. But just to make things perfectly clear, you are asking Xu to turn over Wanchai in exchange for the lives of his men,” Ava said. “You have absolutely nothing else to offer?”
Sammy paused. “We’d keep buying those knock-off devices from him, some software, and those perfumes he’s making. There — I’ve given him a bone. There’s nothing else I’ll offer.”
“You’ve offered enough,” Carter said to Sammy. He looked at Ava. “My uncle is also more generous than me.”
“If you say so,” Ava said.
“When will you talk to Xu?” Sammy asked.
“After I leave here.”
“When will I hear from you?”
“That’s another assumption you’ve just made,” Ava said. “You may not hear from me. Xu may decide to call you himself, or he might decide he doesn’t need to tell you what he’s going to do.”
Carter suddenly looked angry and turned to Sammy. “Let’s go. We’ve made ourselves clear. These idiots can do whatever they want.”
Sammy nodded at the men standing against the wall, and they started to move in their direction. Ava saw Ko’s hand reach inside his jacket, but he withdrew it when the men came to a stop next to Sammy and Carter.
“Bring the box here,” Carter said to the men seated at the other table.
One of the men stood and walked over to them, carrying a box the same size as the ones Xu used to pack his cellphones. The man put it in front of Carter.
Carter and Sammy stood up. “We brought you a gift, but don’t open it until we leave,” Carter said, pushing the box across the table to Ava. “And don’t worry, it isn’t a bomb.”
The six men left, with Carter and Sammy leading the way. Ava waited until they were at the exit before looking at the box.
“I’m not sure I’d open that,” Sonny said.
“It is a bit small for a bomb,” Ava said, sliding the inner box from the sleeve. She opened it and stared into it, then passed it to Sonny and Ko.
“Holy shit,” Ko said.
“Fingers. Six of them,” Sonny said.
“Well, if we didn’t know what kind of man we were dealing with before, we sure do now,” Ava said.
( 10 )
Ava wasn’t overly surprised by the outcome of the meeting. Despite her reservations going in, she had hoped there would be room for compromise until the Wings slammed that door shut. She was, however, shocked by the box of fingers. She had been around triads long enough to know they had a penchant for removing body parts as a means of persuasion or punishment, but what Carter had done was beyond the pale. Putting one finger in the box would have delivered the same message as six. Carter Wing was obviously as malicious as described.
“What are we going to do?” Ko asked, still visibly shaken.
“We need to find Xu’s men, and we need to find them tonight.”
“Do you believe what they said about killing them?” Ko asked.
“We can’t afford not to, which is why we don’t have any time to waste.”
“We don’t have any real links to Carter’s organization, and we know very little about Sha Tin.”
“Did you offer money in exchange for information?”
“No.”
“It’s time we did,” Ava said. “How many Hong Kong dollars do you think it will take to get potential snitches interested?”
“I have no idea,” Ko said.
“It would take a lot,” said Sonny.
“How much is a lot?”
“Half a million might do it.”
“Hong Kong dollars?”
“Yeah.”
“We need to move quickly, so let’s pay for speed. We’ll put up a million,” Ava said. “I’ll tell Andy and Carlo to spread the word among their contacts here in the Territories. Sonny, you can do the same. And Ko, will you let your men know what we’re offering?”
“The money won’t make a difference to my men. They care about their brothers.”
“I wasn’t thinking about the Shanghai men. Your Wanchai men are more likely to have contacts in the Territories . . . And that leads to a question I was going to ask: how loyal are those men? Sammy told me last night that part of the Wanchai gang is still loyal to him. Could that be true?”
“We have a hundred and sixty men on the ground, thirty of whom came here with Lop and me from Shanghai. Those thirty are completely loyal. The rest we inherited, but they seemed happy enough. We pay well and we treat them with respect. I haven’t seen any signs of discontent.”
“Which doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” Sonny said. “Hong Kongers are proud people. It doesn’t matter how well you run the gang — you’re still mainlanders, and there will always be some level of resentment.”
“I can understand that, but am I wrong in thinking that the right amount of reward money will take priority over resentment?” Ava asked.
“Not everyone can be bought, but there are brothers who would sell their mother for a lot less than a million,” Sonny said.
“Those brothers are the ones who need to hear about our reward. Let’s get the word out as quickly and widely as we can. We need to get it to the ears of the right snitch today.” Turning to Sonny, she said, “Andy and Carlo should still be outside in the mall. Would you mind getting them?”
As she watched Sonny leave, Ava said to Ko, “You and I should call Suen now. He’s waiting to hear about the meeting.”
“He isn’t going to be pleased.”
“Who is pleased?” Ava said, as she found Suen’s number and pressed it.
“Hi, Ava,” Suen said.
“Can you hear me okay? There’s a lot of noise coming from your end.”
“I’m outside the hospital. I was waiting for you to call before going inside,” he said. “Give me a minute and I’ll get into the car.”
Ava put the phone on speaker mode and set it on the table between her and Ko.
“What’s up?” Suen said, his voice clear.
“I’m with Ko. The phone is on speaker. We’re at the restaurant in Sha Tin and the meeting is over.”
“So soon?”
“Sammy and his nephew were direct and they’re not interested in finding common ground. There was no point in dragging things out. We know where they stand.”
“And from the sound of things, they haven’t changed their position.”
“They have not. They want all the Shanghai men gone from Wanchai and Sammy back in charge,” Ava said. “I floated the idea of giving Sammy more money and even restoring some of his former authority, but they weren’t interested.”
“They had no interest at all?”
“Nope.”
“That’s stupid of them.”
“They don’t see it that way. They seem confident that, with Lop incapacitated, you won’t be as effective on the ground. They’re also convinced that Xu will cut a deal rather than let his men die. The only deal they say they’re prepared to cut is the one they’ve put on the table,” Ava said.
“How did you respond?”
“I told them they were making some risky assumptions.”
“Is that how the meeting ended?”
“No. They’ve given us until midnight tonight to decide how to proceed.”
“What happens if they’re not satisfied when midnight arrives?”
“They said they’ll kill the six men,” Ava said. “And Suen, I believe them.”
Suen paused and then said, “Ko, have you organized the weapons I asked for?”
“We’re still working on it. Right now we could equip between forty and fifty of your men.”
“And how many of your men can you count on for support?”
“Our thirty men from Shanghai. Until we met with the Wings, I assumed we could count on most of the others, but now I’m not so sure. Sammy Wing was boasting about having a lot of men in Wanchai who are still loyal to him.”
“I wouldn’t use those men unless you have to,” Ava said. “You don’t know how much you can trust them in a fight, and the last thing you need is Sammy Wing and Carter Wing knowing what your plans are.”
“I agree, but if I don’t use them I’ll have to bring more men from Shanghai, and I’m worried that will take too long.”
“There are no easy choices.”
“Were they firm about the midnight deadline?”
“It would be foolish to assume they aren’t, but we’re going to be doing everything we can to locate the men before midnight. If we can find them, we’ll go in after them. The way I see it, they are the Wings’ main leverage. If we can get the men back, they’ll be forced to back off.”
“Or just go toe to toe with us,” Suen said.
“But at least the playing field would be more level,” Ava said. “Right now it seems to me they’re banking on Xu’s basic decency. They’re convinced he won’t sit back and let his men die. That’s why they’ve set such a tight deadline. They don’t want to give us time to think or to get properly organized.”
“They could be bluffing about killing our men.”
“That’s possible, but when our meeting ended, Carter left us with a gift — a box containing six severed fingers,” Ava said. “So, while it’s possible they are bluffing, it’s also possible that they might continue to send us body parts from the men for the next week. They’re obviously cruel enough to do it. Suen, in all honesty, I think we should believe them.”
“That fucking Sammy Wing,” Suen said.
“Don’t leave out Carter. He deserves to be cursed just as much, if not more than Sammy,” said Ava.
“Fuck them both. We’ll fuck them both.”
Ko reached towards Ava and touched her gently on the arm. “Sonny is coming with Andy and Carlo,” he whispered.
Ava saw the three men weaving their way through the tables. “Suen, why don’t you go talk to Xu. We’ll start organizing our hunt for the men, and I need to brief Sonny and two friends of mine. Call me back as soon as you’ve finished with Xu.”
“If he’s out of isolation he might be able to speak to you himself.”
“As unpleasant as the subject is, it will be good to know that he’s well enough to do that,” she said, ending the conversation.
“I haven’t heard Suen that angry in quite some time,” Ko said.
“He has every reason to be. We all do,” Ava said, standing to greet Andy and Carlo.
“Hey, Ava, good to see you,” Carlo said.
He and Andy had worked for Uncle in the collection business before Ava joined him. Once she did, they had returned to their triad gangs and only did odd jobs when she or Uncle needed them. Carlo was about five foot six, skinny like Andy, and heavily tattooed. He had a thin, scraggly beard and was now wearing his hair in a modified mohawk. Despite appearances, he considered himself to be a ladies’ man. Most of the women he propositioned turned him down, but he was never upset about being rejected and, to Ava’s amusement, kept trying. Ava had a lot of time for both men. Carlo had been working for Sammy Wing when Xu took over Wanchai, and he had almost been caught up in the violence. Ava had bailed him out, and though Carlo was still with the Wanchai gang, she was sure his first loyalty lay with her and his second with Xu.
