Page 62 of Grave Danger

Andie looked out the passenger side window. “An immigration document was filed under Ava Bazzi’s name eight months ago.”

“That could be a fake.”

“The application has Ava Bazzi’s fingerprints on it.”

“Those could be fake too.”

“The FBI verified them.”

“Maybe the FBI faked them.”

Jack sensed the weight of Andie’s glare. A quick glance in her direction confirmed it, and then his eyes returned to the road.

“What?” he asked.

“I just shared the contents of a classified dossier with you, and your only response is that it’s a fake? Not just that it’s fake, but that both the State Department and the FBI are in on it.”

“I’m not saying you’re part of it.”

“Oh, well, that’s a relief,” she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

“You’re being used, but you’re not in on it.”

Her jaw dropped. “That is the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me. How could you think I would let myself be used like that?”

“That’s not—I’m not saying you’relettingit happen.”

“I’m too stupid toeven knowI’m being used? Is that it?”

“No! You’re totally not hearing me.”

Jack was struggling, and he was intimately familiar with “the first rule of holes,” when digging yourself into one:Stop digging!But he couldn’t stop.

“Andie, here’s a true story. In the middle of my videoconference with the State Department, a thought popped into my head: I see a federal conspiracy under every rock. That’s my flaw. But you have the opposite problem. You refuse to accept that not everyone in the federal government is made of the same material you are.”

“Can we just stop talking about this, please?”

“Why?”

“It’s not healthy. You sound more like a nutjob conspiracy theorist than you realize. I’m starting to think we were better off under the Rule.”

“No. Thisishealthy.”

“Jack, just stop talking and drive.”

They rode in silence. Jack steered onto the Rickenbacker Causeway toward Key Biscayne. He could see the blue-green waters of the bay, the speedboats skimming along in the shadows of the signature Miami skyline, the windsurfers gliding just off the sandy beaches. He loved living on the Key. It never failed to work its magic on his state of mind, making everything chill. It seemed to be working on Andie, too.

“By the way,” she said, “I would never cheat on you.”

“Good to know.”

“I might kill you. But I would never cheat on you.”

Jack tried a bad Jimmy Stewart imitation. “Well, lucky for you, I, uh, happen to know a good country lawyer who, uh, could get you off on a defense of, uh, temporary insanity.”

“That is the worst Tom Hanks imitation I’ve ever heard.”

Jack didn’t bother correcting her. “I’ll work on it,” he said.