Page 131 of Grave Danger
“Oh, my God, Ava!” said Zahra.
The video turned shaky again. Ava and the cameraman were on the move, walking at first and then running. A steel door swung open to the night sky. They were in a dimly lit parking lot surrounded by a chain-link fence. A car came into view. More running.
The video went black.
Zahra was overcome with emotion. She ran from the room, leaving Jack alone with Nouri at the kitchen island.
“How did you get this video?” asked Jack.
“How do you think I got it?” asked Nouri.
Jack was still trying to wrap his mind around it, but the conclusion was inescapable.
“Ava wasn’t murdered by Tehran’s morality police. She made it out of Evin Prison, alive and well. Withyou.”
Nouri stared back at him. “With me,” he said finally.
Jack’s cell phone rang, but no incoming number was displayed. Nouri put the call on speaker, and on his signal, Jack answered.
“This is Jack Swyteck.”
“Jack, this is Todd Tidwell from the Miami field office.”
Nouri hit the mute button. “Who’s Tidwell?”
“My wife’s boss in Miami. The assistant special agent in charge.”
Tidwell’s follow-up came over the speaker. “Jack? Are you there?”
“He’s not high enough in the chain of command,” said Nouri, the call still muted. “Tell him we need someone with complete authority.”
Jack unmuted the call. “Todd, are you calling to agree to my client’s terms of surrender?”
“I’m calling to give you a dose of reality,” said Tidwell. “I don’t know what you were trying to prove with that video you sent to your wife, but it’s a complete fake.”
Jack wasn’t sure how to respond, but Tidwell had hit a nerve with Nouri, and Jack was suddenly relegated to the sideline.
“Fuck you, it’sfake,” said Nouri.
“Who is this?” asked Tidwell.
Nouri was steaming, and the look in his eyes was the same one Jack had seen in the “rehearsal,” when something had triggered his anger toward the US government.
Jack remembered his words.It uses people. Puts them in a position where they can’t say no, ruins their lives, and then leaves them to fend for themselves.
“This is Nouri Asmoun,” he said, his voice hissing. “I’m sure your friends at the CIA wish this video wasn’t real, the same way they wish I didn’t exist. I’ve been abused from the day I bought Ava Bazzi out of prison. My life is fucked. My entire family in Iran is fucked. But the CIA is going to do right by Ava’s sister and daughter. I want this deal wrapped up in thirty minutes. If the next call doesn’t come from the right person, the truth about Ava Bazzi will no longer be a secret.”
Nouri ended the call. He breathed in and out, bringing his anger under control, and then noticed Jack was watching him.
“What are you looking at, Swyteck?”
Jack didn’t look away. He had no answer for Nouri. Only a question.
“Whoareyou, Nouri Asmoun?”
Chapter 49
From the kitchen, Jack heard sobbing in the next room. It was Zahra. He wanted to go to her, but Nouri was of the mind to “let her cry it out.” A few minutes later she appeared in the entranceway to the kitchen with a tissue in her hand, her eyes puffy.