Page 43 of Grave Danger

“Yes.”

“And you expect me to bet that Jack would say nothing about the reason for his about-face? He’d offer no explanation to his client, to the judge, or to the media—solely to keep me from going to prison for revealing a confidential dossier?”

Her question seemed to surprise both division chiefs. Comstock spoke this time. “Is that not a safe bet?” she asked Andie.

Andie wanted to say that was a safe bet. That Jack would put her above his duty to his client. But in light of all that was happening between them, she honestly didn’t know the answer—which troubled her in ways that she couldn’t possibly share with the State Department.

“As safe as it would be in any marriage, I suppose,” she said.

“Good,” said Comstock. “Because these negotiations are as sensitive as they come. They are truly a matter of life and death.”

A matter of life and death. Their use of her own words was as close to confirmation as she would get. The division chiefs would never admit explicitly that the life of an imprisoned American was hanging in the balance, but all signs indicated that the woman who visited her had been for real, that her husband was on the verge of a negotiated release or perhaps even a prisoner swap, and that Jack was putting those negotiations in jeopardy by reopening the issue of Ava Bazzi and taking the position that Ava was murdered by the morality police.

“Okay,” Andie said. “Show me the proof.”

Chapter 16

The hearing entered its third day on Thursday morning. It was the first day of live testimony from a witness in the courtroom.

“The petitioner calls Zahra Bazzi,” said Farid’s lawyer.

Zahra grabbed Jack’s arm so firmly that he felt her fingernails through his suit. In a proceeding under the Hague Convention, the petitioner has the right to call the abducting spouse to the witness stand. Jack had done his best to prepare Zahra for this moment, but sometimes a lawyer’s best wasn’t quite good enough.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered.

It wasn’t Jack’s style to watch from the sideline as his client fought for survival on the witness stand. He did what he could to stop Farid’s lawyer in her tracks.

“Your Honor, I presume Ms. Beech is calling my client as a witness to establish that she brought Yasmin to Miami without Mr. Bazzi’s consent. If it would streamline matters, we are willing to stipulate to those facts.”

The judge seemed open to the idea. “Ms. Beech, are you willing to accept Mr. Swyteck’s stipulation and forgo your examination of the witness?”

“Absolutely not, Your Honor. I have a right to question Zahra Bazzi on my own terms.”

“Nice try, Mr. Swyteck,” the judge said. “Ms. Bazzi, please come forward.”

With a subtle show of encouragement from Jack, Zahra rose from her seat beside him, stepped slowly to the other side of the courtroom, and stopped before the bailiff. It took only a moment to swear the familiar oath and settle into the proverbial chair that no one ever found comfortable. Zahra seemed particularly nervous, sitting up a bit too straight, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. The bailiff adjusted the gooseneck microphoneto her level and stepped away, leaving nothing between her and Farid’s counsel.

“Good morning, Ms. Bazzi,” Beech began.

“Good morning,” Zahra replied, and that was the end of the pleasantries.

Beech worked quickly, getting Zahra to agree to basic facts that could not be disputed. Zahra and Farid were married in January. Zahra adopted Yasmin soon after. In July, the family traveled to London on visas. Those opening questions would serve as the foundation for the lawyer’s attack.

“I’d like to ask you more about that trip to London,” said Beech.

Her tone changed. The questions became sharper, more like accusations, which made it easier for Jack to discern her strategy. Beech had rejected his proposed stipulation because she wasn’t really interested in gathering information per se. Her aim was to expose Zahra as an unworthy mother skilled in the ways of fraud and deception.

“Ms. Bazzi, about six months after your marriage, you and Farid took your daughter Yasmin on a flight from Khomeini Airport in Tehran to Heathrow in London. Do I have that right?”

“That was in July, yes.”

“To be exact, your flight landed in London on the twenty-second of July.”

“That’s correct.”

“The three of you checked into a hotel in Kensington, correct?”

“Yes. The Adria.”