The Disciple of Las Vegas by Ian Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page A

does matter to him. He’s viewed as a man who never puts a wrong foot forward. That’s not true, of course, but that’s his image, and there is a lot to be gained from maintaining that image. And it’s a great source of pride to him as well as being a matter of practicality. Public knowledge of discord in the family, let alone that a younger brother might have cheated him, would cause Tommy almost unbearable humiliation.”
    â€œAssuming there was cheating.”
    â€œI’m not a man who puts his head in the sand,” Chang said. “Fifty million dollars or more is missing from our company’s coffers, and Philip’s signature is on every agreement.” He knocked back his cognac in one shot and looked at Ava. “Find out what happened, find out why it happened, and find as much of the money as you can.”

( 7 )
    It was just past nine thirty in Manila, which meant that offices in Toronto were open for business. Ava turned on her laptop and went into her phonebook. She hadn’t spoken to Johnny Yan in three months but she hadn’t heard of any change in his employment status at Toronto Commonwealth Bank through their mutual friends from York University.
    When Ava attended York, almost a third of her class were of Chinese origin. Some of them had naturally gravitated towards one another, and bonds were formed. By the time she graduated her group was down to ten close friends, all of them committed to succeeding and all of them committed to helping each other. It was the Chinese way — not much different from the ties that Uncle had forged over the years, although the scale was obviously much smaller.
    She called Johnny on the hotel line and he answered on the second ring. “This is Ava,” she said.
    â€œWhere are you? I don’t recognize that country code.”
    â€œManila.”
    â€œLucky you. It’s snowing like hell here.”
    â€œJohnny, I need a favour. Can you talk?”
    Johnny knew what Ava did for a living, so nothing she asked for surprised him. “Shoot,” he said.
    â€œThe company is called Kelowna Valley Developments and it had an account at one of your branches. The sole signee was a guy named Jim Cousins. The account would have been opened about six months ago, and over those six months around fifty million dollars was deposited and withdrawn. I need to know where the money went.”
    â€œDo you have an account number?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œGod, you always make me do extra work.”
    She laughed. “Johnny, one more thing. I think Cousins had a personal account there as well, and I’d like to know how active it was. You may have to go back further. In fact, it would be helpful if you could go back as far as you can.”
    â€œTwo years is about the maximum the system will allow.”
    â€œThat’s fine.”
    â€œHow quickly do you need this?”
    â€œNow.”
    â€œOf course,” he said, laughing. “I have a meeting starting in ten minutes and I’ll be tied up most of the morning. I won’t be able to get to it until lunch time.”
    â€œI’ll wait up.”
    Ava hung up and signed into her email. There was a note from Derek saying he had moved into her condo for a few days and that he intended to contact Mimi. And by the way ,he wrote, is she the short, chunky brunette or the tall blonde with large breasts?
    Before leaving Toronto, Ava had barely had enough time to get things sorted. She had been reduced to firing off last-minute emails to her sister, Marian; her mother, Jennie; and her best friend, Mimi. However, she did have time to talk to one of her closest male friends, Derek Liang. Derek was the only other person she knew who practised bak mei, one of the oldest and deadliest martial arts, and she employed him from time to time in her work. He lived in Richmond Hill, a northern suburb of Toronto that was predominantly Chinese, and had expressed interest