Page 99 of Grave Danger
“Yes, you did,” said Andie. “I fully appreciate who you work for, okay? But do you really have to make these sudden appearances out of nowhere like the ghost of King Hamlet?”
“Please, sit with me,” he said.
He was polite enough, but Andie knew it was more of a direction than an invitation. She followed him to an open table by the window, where they sat opposite one another.
“I see your husband is at it again,” Hartfield said.
“At what again?”
“Doing his best to sour relations between the US and Iran at a tender moment in our negotiations.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My intelligence from this morning’s court hearing is that now he intends to prove that the entire family law system in Iran is a violation of basic human rights.”
“I’m sure that’s an overstatement.”
“Thejudgesaid it.”
Andie drank from her demitasse. “This doesn’t concern me.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Agent Henning. That was quite a stroke of genius you and your husband came up with in the Hague proceeding.”
Andie was truly confused. “I really don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“Jack needed to prove that Ava Bazzi is dead. I told you our concerns about trying to prove that she was murdered by the morality police. On a dime, Jack pivots: Farid did it.”
Hartfield was only confirming her suspicions. “And voilà, my promotion came through.”
He smiled wryly. “I have no comment on that. Except to say that as the newest member of the FBI’s international corruption squad, you will of course be interacting with various agencies that have international reach, including mine. Jack’s latest position seriously undermines my confidence in your ability to do that.”
“Are you threatening to rescind my promotion if he doesn’t change his position?”
“No, of course not. I’m merely pointing out that in every squad, there are career-advancing assignments, and there are dead-end assignments. I want you to have a rewarding experience.”
Andie quelled her anger. “Your concern is noted. But this conversation is over.”
“I’m trying to help you,” he said.
“I don’t want your help. I want what Jack wants.”
“Which is what?”
“The truth.”
Hartfield chuckled. “That’s cute.”
“Not one bit of the story about Ava that was presented through Yasmin in the courtroom was in the classified dossier that the State Department shared with me. There was nothing in the dossier about Ava having fled domestic violence. And there was nothing about her role in a secret ‘network’ of messengers, which I just heard about from Farid.”
“No dossier tells the complete story. Especially one that isn’t designated Top Secret.”
“All I know is this. The dossier doesn’t line up with what Judge Carlton has determined are the real facts, or what Farid now claims are the real facts. It makes me wonder.”
“Wonder what?”
“Whether the things that you and the State Department have told me about the hostage negotiations—and the hostage—line up with the real facts.”
Andie rose and started away from the table, but Hartfield stopped her.