The Dragon Head of Hong Kong by Ian Hamilton Page A

your aunt has been very helpful to me and this is a way I can pay her back.”
    “Still,” Ava said, glancing nervously at the bodyguards. “I don’t think I would be comfortable with quite so many men.”
    “What if it was just you and me?”
    She lowered her eyes. “I think that would be acceptable.”
    “Terrific. Do you have a restaurant in mind?”
    “No, I was just going to walk around until I found a place that looked nice.”
    “There’s a Szechuan place about two streets away that I really like.”
    “That sounds nice.”
    He looked around the lobby. “I have to go upstairs to shower and freshen myself. Why don’t you sit over there and wait for me? I’ll be ten minutes or so.”
    “Yes, Mr. Kung,” she said.
    “Call me Johnny.”
    “Yes, Johnny.”
    “And I didn’t catch your name.”
    “Ava.”
    He smiled. “I’ll see you in ten minutes, Ava.”
    As Kung went towards the elevators, Ava began to walk to the lobby couches. The bodyguards hadn’t budged when he left and Ava could feel their eyes burning into her back. After she sat down, she avoided looking in their direction for a few minutes and then took a quick glance. They were gone.
    Andy sidled close to her but kept his face turned away. “What happened?” he mumbled.
    Ava put her hand to her mouth in case she was being watched. “We’re having dinner, just him and me.”
    “We’ll be nearby,” he said, and then left.

( 1 0 )
    KUNG’S TEN MINUTES stretched into twenty, and again Ava found her anxiety building. Was Kung upstairs calling the office in Mong Kok? Where were the bodyguards? It had all been so easy — too easy. Surely he suspected something. Even if he didn’t and they went to the restaurant, she wasn’t convinced that Kung would go quietly with Andy and Carlo. It was all so random, and the more she thought about it, the looser and less likely to succeed the plan seemed. She was almost ready to go looking for her accomplices when she saw Kung cross the lobby towards her. He had changed into a dark blue silk shirt and a pair of grey slacks. There was no sign of the bodyguards.
    She stood and smiled at him.
    “Hello, little Ava, are you ready to go?” he said.
    “Your friends really don’t mind that it’s just the two of us?” she asked, not detecting anything strange in his manner.
    “Don’t concern yourself with them. They do what they’re told.”
    As they walked towards the entrance, Kung’s hand reached out and clasped Ava’s elbow. The move surprised her and she struggled not to wrench it free. Relax , she told herself. This will be over soon enough.
    They made a right from the hotel. “This restaurant is very good,” he said. “It has a specialty dish I love — cold noodles with chili sauce. Have you tried that?”
    “No,” she said, looking around quickly for signs of his men or of Carlo and Andy. She didn’t see any of them.
    “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
    He continued to hold her elbow as they walked, but it was a light grip and she didn’t feel constrained by it.
    “What business do you have here?” he asked.
    “I’m an accountant. We’re trying to sign up a new client,” she said. “How about you?”
    “I’m an importer.”
    “I thought as much, since my aunt’s office is full of traders and importers.”
    She waited for him to respond, to add something to his short reply. She was relieved when he didn’t, and happy to lapse into her own silence.
    The restaurant was as close as he had promised. When they walked through the front door, Ava was engulfed in the aromas of fried garlic, ginger, and chilis. Her appetite spiked. She hadn’t eaten all day, she realized. The place was rather stylish, with carved wood-panelled walls and a wooden floor. Along one wall, massive shark fins were displayed in glass cases.
    “This is lovely,” she said.
    The hostess guided them to a table set for four near the front. Ava took a chair, expecting that Kung would sit across from her.