The Dragon Head of Hong Kong: The Ava Lee Prequel

Chapter 17

( 17 )

AVA REACHED FOR her wineglass and in two large sips almost drained it. She refilled it from the bottle in the ice bucket.

"I wasn't sure what you were going to say to me, but offering me a job wasn't anywhere in the mix," she said.

He pushed his chair back from the table. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Not at all."

He took a package of Double Happiness White Label cigarettes from his jacket pocket, lit one, inhaled deeply, and then blew the smoke away from the table. "I have more business than I can handle, but some of it - some of the most interesting and potentially lucrative jobs - I have to turn away because I do not have the right kind of people for it."

"Excuse me, Uncle, I'm not a hundred percent sure just what your business is. I understand that you collect debts, but is that the extent of it?"

"It is."

"And you are Hong Kong-based?"

"I am, although I have a client base that goes beyond."

"And you use Hong Kong collection methods, or at least the approach I saw Andy and Carlo take?"

"Do you mean threats, intimidation, embarrassment, kidnapping, and ransom, in all their variations?"

"Yes," Ava said. "Uncle, I could never work like that."

"You misunderstand me," he said. "It is true that right now we do practise traditional collection tactics, but that is mainly because of the rather limited talents of the people I have working for me. But as well, it has been my experience that the thieves we chase are not usually inclined to be responsive to gentle persuasion or empty threats. When I was a young man, starting my business, I soon learned that most people do the right thing for the wrong reason. I have drummed that lesson into the men who work for me, and some have become adept at finding those wrong reasons.

"That said, the clients I mentioned earlier - the ones I have had to turn away - they have problems that demand a far more sophisticated approach in terms of detection and recovery. The sums of money involved are, I assure you, far more substantial than what we were trying to pry out of Kung. Someone with your talents would be invaluable."

"I'm not really looking for a job," Ava said.

"And I was not looking for someone to hire. We seem to have stumbled into each other."

"And Uncle, I'm not sure what talents you're referring to. I'm an accountant."

"Exactly, and one who happens to speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English fluently."

"There must be others who are in Hong Kong already."

"There are. But I have not met any with the imagination and flair you displayed in getting Kung to rise to the bait."

"I was jet-lagged and not thinking clearly."

"You are modest as well."

She had to smile. "Actually, my mother is always taking me to task for being a know-it-all."

"There is nothing wrong with having confidence. There is also nothing wrong with having the ability to look after yourself. In this business there are always physical challenges. Andy said he could not believe that you took Kung's man down once, let alone twice."

Ava shook her head. "It wasn't anything I enjoyed or would want to repeat. The fact of the matter is I have my own business in Toronto. I also don't think I could live in Hong Kong, with all the ties I have in Canada."