Page 145 of Grave Danger
“Don’t try to talk,” said Jack, but the look in Nouri’s eyes drew Jack’s ear closer.
“I want what they promised me,” he said in a voice that faded. “I want my parents and my sister out of Iran.”
The request cut to Jack’s core. This dying man, Ava Bazzi’s handler, had been used by the US government and then used by Zahra. Jack wasn’t ready to forgive him for having put a gun to his head and put Yasmin at risk, but still, he was struck that after all that, Nouri wanted nothing for himself.
Jack wasn’t sure if Nouri could hear him, but he answered anyway.
“It will happen,” said Jack. “I promise.”
Nouri’s eyes closed, and he was gone.
Epilogue
November was a month of changes.
Jack stopped being Zahra’s lawyer the moment they stepped out of the cottage on Jupiter Island. He’d represented worse human beings in his career, but Jack drew the line at defending anyone who lied to him. Even without his help, Zahra avoided the more serious criminal charge of child abduction. As in most cases of “parental kidnapping” in Florida, Zahra faced a single charge of interference with a custody order, a third-degree felony. A federal immigration judge rendered all of it moot: Zahra was deported and sent back to Iran before the arraignment. Jack shuddered to think what life was waiting for her there.
Farid and Yasmin found a happier ending. Farid could have taken the easy road. He could have continued to insist on the legitimacy of the custody order of the Iranian family court—the order that the US State Department had certified as “authentic,” that his lawyer had presented to a family court judge in Miami, and that the judge had enforced. He could have relied on that order to claim full custody of Yasmin, packed their suitcases, and taken her anywhere. Instead, Farid hired a new lawyer and initiated supplemental proceedings before the same judge in Miami family court. Dr. Vestry, the child psychiatrist Jack had hired, was a key witness at the hearing. She cleared Farid’s name and reputation, testifying that in her expert opinion Yasmin’s drawings were the product of Zahra’s coaching—parental alienation syndrome—and that Farid presented no danger, much less grave danger, to his daughter.
Jack checked in with Farid’s lawyer after the hearing, and she made it possible for Jack to say a proper goodbye to Yasmin. He drove to the airport and met Farid and his daughter at the international terminal two hoursbefore their flight to Heathrow. Their bags were checked, and Jack had a few minutes with them before they joined the long, snaking line through security.
“How long are you planning to stay in London?” Jack asked Farid.
“Forever, I hope,” said Farid.
A horn beeped, and an electric vehicle loaded with elderly passengers zipped past them. Yasmin held on to her father even more tightly.
“Did your British citizenship come through?”
“My immigration lawyer says it looks good,” said Farid. “In the meantime, we can stay under the Entrepreneur visa.”
Jack got down on a knee to bring himself eye-to-eye with Yasmin. “I brought you a present from Righley,” he said.
“Righley’s nice,” she said in a little voice.
“Do you want to see it?”
Yasmin nodded. Jack opened his backpack and pulled out a stuffed bear.
“His name is Paddington,” said Jack.
Yasmin extended her arms. Jack handed over the bear, and she squeezed it so hard that Paddington’s signature red rain hat popped off. It reminded him of Righley’s reaction, two years earlier, when he’d returned from London with the same gift.
“Thank you,” said Yasmin.
Farid checked the departures board. “We have to be going.”
Jack rose and wished him luck. Farid took Yasmin by the hand, and they started away.
“Farid,” Jack said, stopping them.
Farid turned and looked.
“I’m glad you’re honoring Ava’s wish,” he said.
Jack didn’t have to explain. Farid knew he meant Ava’s wish that Yasmin be raised in a free country. He simply nodded, and the new family—Farid, Yasmin, and Paddington Bear—entered the security line.
It was early evening by the time Jack escaped the traffic and left the airport. Andie had asked him to meet her for happy hour at one of their favorite neighborhood bars, and he drove straight there.