Page 53 of Grave Danger

“Second child privilege,” said Jack. “Firstborn has to obey all the rules. The rest get away with murder.”

Zahra passed the hose to Jack. “Funny thing is, had Mother left out the guilt and just told me that hookah causes cancer, like all other tobacco, I probably would have listened.”

Jack coughed on the inhale. She laughed, and Jack smiled back. Then he turned to business. “Let’s start by managing expectations for tomorrow.”

Zahra smiled thinly. “I can’t wait to see Farid squirm on the witness stand.”

“That’s what I meant by ‘managing expectations.’ There are a few points I can score tomorrow, but we are not going to win the case on cross-examination.”

She looked at him with confusion. “But... that’s your job.”

“Zahra, this is not a trial. This is a hearing under the Hague Convention. There’s been no discovery.”

“What do you mean by ‘discovery’?”

“I have no ammunition. No phone calls to the Iranian equivalent of nine-one-one. No medical records showing bruises or injuries from abuse. No photographs of kicked-down doors or broken dishes thrown across the apartment. In a trial, I would have those things and confront Farid with them on cross-examination. Without them, we can’t expect him to just break down on the witness stand, cry like a baby, and admit he’s an abusive parent.”

It was like watching the air escape from a balloon; Zahra seemed to deflate before his eyes. “Are you saying we can’t win the case?”

“Not at all. I’m saying we can’t win the casetomorrow. To win, we have to present strong evidence next week as part of our case.”

“Okay. What kind of evidence?”

“That depends. If we want to show that Farid was an abusive husband, your testimony will be enough. But if we want to prove that Farid was an abusivefather, we may need another witness.”

“Who?”

Jack hesitated to say it, but there would never be a good time. “We may have to put Yasmin on the stand.”

“No,” she said firmly.

“Farid’s testimony today made a big impression on Judge Carlton.”

“No,” she said, even more firmly.

“Legally, it’s our burden to prove that returning Yasmin to her father puts her in grave danger of physical or psychological harm. And we have to prove it by clear and convincing evidence. A battle of he-said, she-said is not going to win this case.”

“I saidno! Yasmin is not testifying. She’ssix.”

It was the reaction Jack had expected, but it was his job to raise it. “I understand,” he said. “I really do.”

“I don’t care if you understand or not, Jack. I care about winning this case. How do you plan to do that?”

“There is one other angle.”

“Tell me.”

“Under the Hague Convention, the abuse doesn’t have to be directed at the child. There’s a strong argument that a child suffers psychological harm by witnessing the abuse of her mother.”

Zahra inhaled from the hookah, thinking, then exhaled. “So it’s not enough to prove that Farid was abusive to Ava and me. We need to prove he did it in front of Yasmin.”

“That’s right,” said Jack.

Zahra swallowed hard, looked off somewhere to the middle distance, and then brought her gaze back to Jack. “We’ll prove what we have to prove,” she said.

“I’m going to need details.”

“Not here,” she said quietly. “Let’s not spoil my safe place.”