Page 115 of Grave Danger
“Could she possibly be at another location?”
“I checked the global database. Not here. Not anywhere.”
“The report I have is eight months old,” said Andie. “Maybe she’s no longer there.”
“Eight months? No. Retired, deceased, terminated—she’d still be in the database. We purge after two years. You must have wrong information.”
“Okay, thanks for checking.”
Andie ended the call. She could follow up with Human Resources on Monday, but she didn’t see the point. There was no Leslie T. Cahill. Therewere no fingerprints from Ava Bazzi on the visa application that the State Department had shared with Andie.
Jack, it seemed, had been right. Ava Bazzi was dead. And for some reason, the US government didn’t want Jack, Andie, or the rest of the world to know it.
She dialed Jack’s cell, and he picked up from his car.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “There’s one more thing you should know.”
Chapter 42
Jack’s call from Andie didn’t last long. When it ended, he made a U-turn at the traffic light, picked up Theo from Cy’s Place, and drove to Zahra’s town house.
“How we getting in?” asked Theo.
“Zahra told us she keeps the spare key in the bird feeder on the back patio. Remember?”
“Dude, she was being a smart-ass about Farid and the Republican Guard taking her hostage. There’s no spare key.”
“We’ll find out,” said Jack.
They climbed out of the car and followed the sidewalk around the building to the back of the town house.
“Did you tell Andie we’re doing this?”
“Nope.”
“Is that because this is technically breaking and entering?”
“It’s not B&E. The FBI conducted an illegal search of my client’s home, and we’re going back inside to document and photograph the invasion of her Fourth Amendment rights.”
“B&Ewith attitude,” said Theo. “Cool. What was illegal about the search?”
Jack opened the gate to Zahra’s fenced-in patio.
“Right off the bat, I knew a warrant to search for Yasmin was a pretext. My suspicion was that the FBI came to confiscate any evidence Zahra might have that Ava is dead.”
“Part of the whole Ava Bazzi, US-Iran, you-scratch-my-back-we’ll-release-the-hostage cover-up?”
“You got it. After talking to Andie, I’m certain that’s what this was about.”
Jack went to the bird feeder, poked around, and found the spare key.
“I’ll be damned,” said Theo, eating crow.
Jack slid the key into the lock, the tumblers fell into place, and the deadbolt gave up the sweet sound of success, like the shuck of a shotgun.
“We’re in.” Jack pushed the door open and switched on the light. Theo followed him inside.
“Shoes off,” said Jack.