Page 16 of Grave Danger
“It will be your word against his,” said Jack. “In any case of ‘he said/she said,’ you look for any little thing that can tip the balance. If Theo stays close to you and sees Farid stalking you outside your house or following youto the grocery store, he could be the witness at the hearing who tips the balance in your favor.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Zahra.
Yasmin’s little voice carried down the stairwell: “Mommy, are you bringing my juice?”
“On my way, sweetie,” Zahra answered in a loud enough voice. “And I said water, not juice.”
Jack and Theo walked with her to the foyer, and she opened the door.
“I’m going to be perfectly honest with you,” said Jack. “I came here thinking I would probably have to tell you ‘I’m out’—that you need to hire a new lawyer.”
“Because you got roughed up?”
The whole truth was bigger than that: because he was roughed up,andbecause Andie wouldn’t approve. “Yeah,” he said. “Because I was roughed up.”
“I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“Mommy! My water!”
Jack glanced up the stairway toward Yasmin’s bedroom. “I didn’t change my mind. She changed it for me.”
Zahra’s big dark eyes shone with gratitude. Jack and Theo put their shoes on and stepped out, and the door closed behind them.
Chapter 5
Jack’s first step as Zahra’s lawyer was a Thursday-morning videoconference with the US Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues, the central authority charged with the implementation of the Hague Convention in the United States.
Jack was at his desk in Miami. The real-time images of two division chiefs were on his split computer screen: Cheryl Comstock, Europe Abductions and Prevention, covering the UK; and Ben Davis, Eastern Hemisphere, covering Iran.
Jack began by sharing the key allegations in the amended petition, but Comstock interrupted. A Harvard-educated lawyer with salt-and-pepper hair and the discerning gaze of a powerful intellect, she looked to Jack more like a federal judge than a bureaucrat who’d spent her entire career on the ninth floor of the State Department.
“Chief Davis and I are intimately familiar with your client’s case,” said Comstock. “No need to brief us.”
“Then I’ll get right to the point,” said Jack. “I intend to file an immediate motion asking the court to dismiss Mr. Bazzi’s petition under the Hague Convention.”
“What is the ground for dismissal?”
“Farid Bazzi is an Iranian citizen. Iran is not a signatory to the Hague Convention. There’s no basis for him to bring this action under the convention.”
Comstock showed no reaction. “What are you asking us to do?”
“Respectfully, I want the State Department to join in my motion and support my position.”
“Is that the only purpose of this conference?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s going to be a very short one. The answer is no.”
Jack waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. “May I ask why?”
“Before a foreign parent can file a petition in US court, he is required to file an application in the country of the child’s habitual place of residence. Mr. Bazzi filed his Hague application in the United Kingdom.”
“How?” asked Jack. “He’s Iranian.”
“Farid and his family lived in London under the UK Entrepreneur visa program. They lost their visa when his business failed, but Farid reapplied for British citizenship for himself and his daughter.”
“Don’t you see that as a clever legal maneuver to get around the fact that he’s an Iranian citizen, with no rights under the Hague Convention?”