Page 9 of Grave Danger

Jack’s personal office was once the dining room, his favorite room in the house. He switched on the lights and led his client past his desk to the matching armchairs in front of the fireplace, which Jack used about once every five years. He cleaned it once every ten.

“You didn’t offer your name when I introduced myself,” said Jack.

“Did you not read it in the court filing?” she asked.

“The complaint was filed under seal. I can’t read it until you engage me as your attorney. That aside, I assume your real name is not Jane Doe.”

“No,” she said quietly.

“I understand you go by the name Ava Bazzi.”

“Yes.”

“Are you Ava Bazzi?”

She glanced away, toward the dark window, then back at Jack. “No.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Zahra Bazzi. Ava was my sister. The pretty one.”

She was being modest; the woman before him was quite striking. But Jack had more important things to address.

“I’m going to need a very good explanation why you’re using your sister’s name. But before we get there, I want to know more about Yasmin. Is she your child, or your sister’s?”

“Yasmin is the biological child of Ava and Farid.”

“Which makes her your niece,” said Jack.

“She was my niece. Until...”

“Until what?”

“Until I married Farid.”

Jack was taken aback. “You married your sister’s husband?”

“I married her widower.”

Farid as widower comported with what Jack had learned from Myra about Ava’s encounter with the morality police. But he wanted Zahra’s version of the story.

“May I explain?” asked Zahra.

“Please do.”

“Ava is—was—my younger sister. Farid and I are almost the same age. We dated when I was eighteen and Farid was nineteen. It was serious, but he was a very jealous man.”

“Was he abusive?” asked Jack.

“Never physically abusive, but he had a temper and could be verbally abusive. I broke off the relationship.”

“And then?”

“A few years passed, and Ava blossomed into this beautiful young woman. Farid noticed. Everyone noticed. Ava asked me if it was okay with me if she dated him.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I had no feelings for Farid. But I warned her about his temper. Ava said that he was no longer the jealous boy I’d dated as a teenager, and that he’d matured into a caring and understanding man.”