Page 93 of Grave Danger
“Yes. I’m here to serve Zahra Bazzi.”
On another day, Jack might have slammed the door on him. He didn’t see the point, especially with an FBI agent as witness.
“I’m her attorney. I’ll accept service.”
The man made a notation on his return-of-service form and handed Jack the papers. Jack closed the door, asked Andie to get Zahra, and stepped away from the party to a quiet place in the dining room. He was just finishing a quick first read through the papers as Zahra entered.
“What is it, Jack?”
“Farid has filed another lawsuit against you.”
All signs of happiness drained from her expression. “But we just won our lawsuit.”
“That was in federal court under the Hague Convention. This lawsuit is in state court.”
She stepped farther into the room. “What kind of a justice system is that? Farid loses before one judge, and he can just file another lawsuit in front of another one?”
“The Hague Convention is a treaty with a very specific focus,” said Jack. “It deals only with the question of whether one parent wrongfully abducted the child and took her to another country.”
“And we won that case. It’s over.”
“There’s a catch,” said Jack.
“A catch?”
“A Hague proceeding is not a custody case. Judge Carlton ruled that your defense to child abduction was valid. But he didn’t enter a child custody order. He didn’t rule that you have sole custody of Yasmin. Custody decisions are made in state court.”
She seemed to grasp the legal distinction. “So, this new case. It’s a lawsuit to decide who should have legal custody over Yasmin?”
“It’s a little different,” said Jack.
“Different how?”
“Farid alleges in his complaint that he already has an order from a court awarding him full custody over Yasmin.”
“From what court?”
“Family court. In Iran.”
Her confusion turned to horror. “Is that valid?”
“We’ll find out. He’s not asking the Florida state court to decide custody. He’s asking the court to enforce the order already entered by the Iranian court—which gives him custody.”
She lowered herself slowly into the chair, stunned. “That’s what Farid’s lawyer meant when she came up to us and said ‘This isn’t over.’”
“I presume so.”
She looked at him with fire in her eyes. “We have to fight this, Jack.”
“Yes,” said Jack. “We will.”
Chapter 32
A classic rock radio station was playing in the elevator as Andie rode to the fourth floor of the Miami Field Office on Tuesday morning. The receptionist flagged her the moment the chrome doors parted. Andie was slammed with work, and the last thing she needed was an unscheduled visitor, but as the elevator music had just reminded her, you can’t always get what you want, and when Murphy’s law collides with the wisdom of the Rolling Stones, you just might find, you getmore thanyou need.
“Agent Henning, there’s a Mr. Farid Bazzi here to see you.”
Andie stopped. She had yet to take her morning coffee, so the message didn’t quite compute.