Chapter Thirty-six

Savich house

Georgetown

Friday evening

Dillon!

Savich heard Autumn shout his name loud and clear, clearly panicked.

What are the agents' names?

They're the same two agents who came to his house last time—Morales and Briggs. She's nice; he's mean, a bully. They told Rebel they were arresting him—she slowed a moment, making sure she got it exactly right—for wire fraud and conspiracy. They think he helped Archer steal money from the Navarro Investment Fund.

He's staying with us. Mom said she'd deal with anyone who tried to take him away from us.

He saw her straighten her shoulders, draw a deep breath, and nod at him, complete trust in her eyes. Yes, I will. Tash is in the guest room. He knows I'm calling you. He's really scared, but I'll go right now and tell him what you said.

I'll call you as soon as I know what they've found that implicates Rebel.

Sherlock grinned. "And shocked the crap out of Aboud and his bodyguard Musa."

It was obvious to Rome that how he came to speak Arabic was the last thing on Savich's mind, but it was obvious, too, Savich didn't want to talk about whatever had pulled him away, so Rome waved a hand holding a chewed BBQ rib and said, "You know my dad runs the detectives out of the nineteenth precinct in New York, but his younger brother, my uncle Leo, took a different route. He's in the diplomatic corps. When I was a kid, my uncle did a two-year stint in Damascus on the American ambassador's staff. I spent the summer with my three cousins and we roamed the streets and alleys in the city. We learned how to bargain and how to fight, no holds barred. By the end of my stay, I was pretty fluent in kid street talk. My uncle was appalled whenever he heard his sons and me speaking Arabic, since his spoken Arabic was of a much higher order. I don't speak much Arabic anymore, no opportunity. The CIA did come calling, but I wanted the FBI, always. To be honest, what I said to Musa—the words just came out."

Elizabeth cocked her head at him. No way could she imagine Dillon forgetting anything. "Did you solve the case?"

"Let's just say I learned some information I need the Philadelphia field office to act on."

Sherlock picked up the conversation. "Getting back to Aboud, we haven't heard back yet about the federal warrant. It's already too late in the day to send out the forensics team to Aboud's horse farm. It doesn't matter, they've already had time to cover up what they can. Still, a team will go over in the morning, examine the hangar, question his employees, see whether the helicopter could possibly have been stolen without inside help and direction. Dillon assigned two agents to do a deeper dive into Aboud's background and affiliations, here and in London, any possible connection to the players John Eiserly is considering."

Sherlock said, "Maybe it was the voice we heard on the recording. Maybe that person is calling the shots."

"I sure hope one of those irons heats up soon."

Elizabeth brightened. "That's true. But after Dillon told John I was here, I told them we were all working together and that you were keeping me safe. But I haven't mentioned to them that we were attacked in the warehouse parking lot, or by the Sikorsky. What good would it have done except to scare them?"

Elizabeth looked around the table. "I did want to ask my dad whether he's dealt with Aboud, but I decided not to."