Page 13 of Grave Danger
“Let’s talk about this,” said Jack. “I’ll come to you. What’s your address?”
She told him, and then reiterated her plea. “Please, Jack. For my sake and Yasmin’s, don’t call the police. Things willget so much worse. I know how he operates.”
“How do you know whoheis?”
“I don’t. Not for certain. But every fiber in my body is telling me that you just met Farid.”
Jack caught his breath. “I’ll be at your house in five minutes.”
“Okay. And, Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s an awful lot you don’t know.”
“I gathered that,” he said, and hurried out the door.
Chapter 4
Jack’s SUV skidded to a stop in the driveway outside Zahra’s town house. Theo Knight pulled up right behind him.
He’d called Theo on the way over and told him to come. Theo was Jack’s best friend, bartender, therapist, confidant, and sometime investigator. He was also a former client, a onetime gangbanger who easily could have ended up dead on the streets of Overtown or Liberty City. Instead he landed on death row for a murder he didn’t commit. Jack literally saved his life. Theo was forever trying to return the favor. A case like this one—where the threat of physical injury was real—offered the perfect opportunity. Theo was six foot six and two hundred and fifty pounds of pure badass. Nowhere would Jack find a more loyal or capable bodyguard.
“You okay, bro?” asked Theo as they walked up the sidewalk.
“I’m fine. Got blindsided by some amateur trying to scare me.”
“Every punk I met on death row was a fucking amateur.”
Jack took his point. Zahra opened the door on the first knock. Jack introduced Theo, after which Zahra politely drew their attention to the mat beside the door, where both Zahra and her daughter kept their shoes.
“I normally offer slippers to guests,” she said, “but not in his size.”
“We’re fine,” said Jack, and they removed their shoes.
She led them through the small living room, and they sat at a round table in the dining area. Two court filings lay on the table side by side. Both were petitions under the Hague Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. One was captioned “John Doe v. Jane Doe”and markedfiled under seal. The other was captioned “Farid Bazzi v. Zahra Bazzi,” with no indication of being under seal. It was plainly markedamended petition.
“Where did the amended petition come from?” asked Jack.
“The babysitter gave it to me. She said it was delivered while I was at your office.”
Now that he was officially Zahra’s attorney, he was free to review the petitions, sealed or not. Zahra made coffee while he compared the two filings. When she returned with three cups, he was ready to talk.
“Farid has completely changed strategies,” said Jack.
“Obviously,” said Zahra. “I’m the respondent, not Ava.”
“I meancompletely,” said Jack. “Ava is not even mentioned in the amended petition.”
“Why didn’t he file that petition in the first place?”
Jack flipped to the last page of each petition, the attorneys’ signature block. They were different.
“For one, he has a new lawyer. My guess is that Farid’s first lawyer thought you would capitulate and hand over the child rather than try to defend the fact that you’ve been pretending to be Ava for the last year.”
“I told you why I did that.”
“It’s still a crime. The key point is that after you hired me, Farid knew you weren’t going to surrender.”