chasing money and forged art, she felt she deserved more than one day in Toronto.
She thought about going back to bed, but Michael’s problem was now bouncing around in her head. She turned on her laptop and scanned her email. As she did, a message arrived from Michael with the heading Contract. She opened the message and the attachment and scrolled down. Michael was right; it was a standard agreement.
They had partnered with a company called the Ma Shing Realty Corporation, which had secured a reasonably large plot of land on the Cotai Strip of Macau, the so-called Las Vegas of the East, with casinos such as the Venetian and Wynn. The plan was to build a shopping centre to service the casino customers. Michael and Simon would be given space for a convenience store and a noodle shop and thirty percent ownership of the complex in return for their investment.
On balance, Ava thought it looked like a well thought-out deal. Macau was booming, its sixteen casinos generating more income than Las Vegas’s hundred or more. She knew Chinese gamblers. Their money would be pumped into the tables, not hotel rooms, big-name boutiques, or expensive restaurants. Convenience stores and noodle shops were more their style, so the concept seemed sound. She checked the timeline. Ground should have been broken more than a year ago. Michael and Simon should already be occupying their spaces.
She went over the contract a second time, examining the wording, which was quite loose. There were no penalties if Ma Shing did not meet specified dates. There was also no exit provision for Michael. It didn’t say that his money was locked in, but there was no clause in the contract to trigger taking it out.
If her father hadn’t asked her to help and if Michael hadn’t been her brother, she probably would have told him that his best option was to be patient and wait for the centre to get built. But they both seemed so distressed that Ava wondered if something else was in play.
And then a thought occurred to her: Whose money is really at risk here? She reached for the phone to call Richmond Hill and then paused. Her father had been vague the day before, saying only that Michael had a problem. What more was he likely to say? Well, all I can do is ask, she thought, as she punched in the number.
Her mother answered on the fourth ring.
“You’re up so early?” Ava asked.
“Daddy has gone for a walk. I made him coffee and toast before he left.”
“I wanted to talk to him about Michael.”
Jennie Lee sighed. “Such a mess.”
“Has Daddy told you what’s going on?” Ava asked, realizing that maybe she didn’t have to talk to him.
“I’m not sure that —”
“Michael just called me and then he sent me some information.”
“So you should have everything you need.”
“Except I can’t make much sense of it.”
“You need to speak to your father.”
“I can’t imagine that he’ll tell me any more than he did yesterday.”
“And that’s not enough?”
“No. For one thing, I want to know if he’s involved in this investment.”
She could hear her mother inhaling and wondered whether she was holding a cigarette to her lips or airing out some tension. “He’s not involved — at least, not directly.”
Ava felt a door opening and barged through. “Michael said he borrowed the money they put into it. Did Daddy secure the loan?”
“No, but he might as well have.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how much I should tell you.”
“You should tell me absolutely everything if you want me to help.”
“That’s what I told your father, but he’s a little embarrassed about the situation.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t think Michael and his partner did proper due diligence. He said that on his own, Michael is quite conservative and not much of a risk taker. His partner, Simon To, is another story. He’s aggressive, rude, and at times too greedy. Your father thinks that Simon talked or pushed Michael into this thing.”
“If the shopping centre gets built, it isn’t that bad a deal,” Ava said.
“But they don’t have time to wait.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your father said they’ve breached a loan covenant at the bank. The bank is demanding its money back. If they don’t come up with it, the bank will put them out of business.”
“Businesses go under all the time. If Daddy didn’t secure the loan then they have no recourse with him.”
“You don’t understand,” Jennie Lee said slowly. “They used Daddy’s bank to get their loan.