Chapter 4

Jack’s SUV skidded to a stop in the driveway outside Zahra’s town house. Theo Knight pulled up right behind him.

He’d called Theo on the way over and told him to come. Theo was Jack’s best friend, bartender, therapist, confidant, and sometime

investigator. He was also a former client, a onetime gangbanger who easily could have ended up dead on the streets of Overtown

or Liberty City. Instead he landed on death row for a murder he didn’t commit. Jack literally saved his life. Theo was forever

trying to return the favor. A case like this one—where the threat of physical injury was real—offered the perfect opportunity.

Theo was six foot six and two hundred and fifty pounds of pure badass. Nowhere would Jack find a more loyal or capable bodyguard.

“You okay, bro?” asked Theo as they walked up the sidewalk.

“I’m fine. Got blindsided by some amateur trying to scare me.”

“Every punk I met on death row was a fucking amateur.”

Jack took his point. Zahra opened the door on the first knock. Jack introduced Theo, after which Zahra politely drew their

attention to the mat beside the door, where both Zahra and her daughter kept their shoes.

“I normally offer slippers to guests,” she said, “but not in his size.”

“We’re fine,” said Jack, and they removed their shoes.

She led them through the small living room, and they sat at a round table in the dining area. Two court filings lay on the

table side by side. Both were petitions under the Hague Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. One

was captioned “John Doe v. Jane Doe” and marked filed under seal . The other was captioned “Farid Bazzi v. Zahra Bazzi,” with no indication of being under seal. It was plainly marked amended petition .

“Where did the amended petition come from?” asked Jack.

“The babysitter gave it to me. She said it was delivered while I was at your office.”

Now that he was officially Zahra’s attorney, he was free to review the petitions, sealed or not. Zahra made coffee while he

compared the two filings. When she returned with three cups, he was ready to talk.

“Farid has completely changed strategies,” said Jack.

“Obviously,” said Zahra. “I’m the respondent, not Ava.”

“I mean completely ,” said Jack. “Ava is not even mentioned in the amended petition.”

“Why didn’t he file that petition in the first place?”

Jack flipped to the last page of each petition, the attorneys’ signature block. They were different.

“For one, he has a new lawyer. My guess is that Farid’s first lawyer thought you would capitulate and hand over the child

rather than try to defend the fact that you’ve been pretending to be Ava for the last year.”

“I told you why I did that.”

“It’s still a crime. The key point is that after you hired me, Farid knew you weren’t going to surrender.”

“Trust me,” said Theo, chiming in, “Jack doesn’t wave white flags.”

“Neither does Farid’s new lawyer,” said Jack. “Farid definitely traded up. He’s found someone who can go blow for blow, the

full fifteen rounds, Farid versus Zahra.”

“And now the case is all about me, not Ava.”

“Just like my attacker said it would be,” said Jack.

“Which is another reason I think your attacker was Farid,” said Zahra.

“That’s possible,” said Jack.

“Who else could it be?”

“It depends on what the guy meant by his threat, ‘If you make this case about what happened to Ava, someone is going to get

hurt.’ If ‘what happened to Ava’ means what happened after she was arrested, then he could be some operative hired by the

Iranian government to make sure no questions about Ava’s disappearance are reopened.”

“Maybe it was the Iranians who hired his new lawyer, too,” said Theo.

“But if ‘what happened to Ava’ means what happened while she was married to Farid, then they are dealing with something very

different. It might be Farid, and he doesn’t want this case to be about the abuse he inflicted on your sister.”

Zahra drank her coffee, but she was unconvinced. “Farid is a bully and an abuser. It was him.”

“And yet you told me not to call the police.”

“As I also told you, I know how Farid operates. If you hit him once, he hits you three times. If we call the police, there’s

no telling what he might do.”

“I understand. But my issue with what you’re telling me now is that you weren’t honest with me in my office.”

“I told you the truth.”

“Not the whole truth. You led me to believe Farid’s abuse was purely verbal. Nothing physical.”

Zahra placed her cup in the saucer, and Jack noticed that it rattled a bit.

“I... I was afraid,” she said softly. “I’ve always been afraid.”

“I get that,” said Jack. “I really do. But I have to ask the questions that Farid’s lawyer might ask you in court: Why would

an intelligent, beautiful, clear-thinking woman like you marry Farid if you knew he physically abused his first wife—your

own sister?”

The sound of little footsteps emerged from the stairwell, and Yasmin entered the room. She hurried to Zahra and whispered,

“Can I have a juice box, Mommy?”

Zahra hugged her, then looked across the table. “Does this answer your question, Jack?”

Jack replied with a sad, thin smile. Then he caught Yasmin’s eye. “How old are you, Yasmin?”

“This many,” she said, holding up six fingers.

“I have a daughter. Her name is Righley. She’s this many,” he said, holding up eight.

Yasmin smiled, then was suddenly bashful. She buried her face in Zahra’s lap.

“No juice,” said Zahra. “It’s bedtime. I’ll bring you water in a minute, Zahra. Now, say good night and go back to bed.”

“Good night,” Yasmin said softly, and scurried back up the stairs.

Jack’s question had been answered, but Zahra laid it out even more plainly.

“I married Farid because I knew Ava was never coming back. She’s dead. How could I leave that precious child alone with him?”

“That makes sense,” said Jack. “I get why you married him. But why did Farid marry you? What did you say—‘Hey, Farid, let’s

pick up where we left off when we were dating?’”

“It’s more complicated than that,” said Zahra. “Let me show you something.”

She walked across the room to a black lacquer wall unit, pulled a framed photograph from the shelf, and handed it to Jack.

Jack looked at it carefully. “Is this you?”

“No. That’s Ava.”

Jack handed it to Theo, who did a double take. “You two could have been twins.”

“Everybody says that,” said Zahra.

“But you told me in my office that Ava was ‘the pretty one.’ You look just like her.”

“Ava was the one everybody liked. It was her personality. Her sparkle. That’s what made her ‘the pretty one.’”

Theo handed the photograph back to Zahra, who laid it on the table.

“So, I have a little girl waiting on a cup of water,” she said. “Are we agreed, no police?”

“I’ll respect your choice,” said Jack. “But I’m still concerned about your safety, staying here.”

“There’s always my place,” said Theo.

“Excuse me?” said Zahra.

“I meant the apartment above my club,” said Theo.

“Theo owns a jazz bar in Coconut Grove,” added Jack.

“It’s called Cy’s Place,” said Theo. “My great-uncle Cy used to live in the apartment above it. He’s in his nineties now, and the stairs got to be too much for him. I live right across the hall.”

“In other words, it’s safe,” said Jack.

“Thank you, but I’m not moving my daughter into an apartment above a bar.”

“Fair enough,” said Jack. “But Theo as your bodyguard is not a bad idea.”

“I thought I was your bodyguard,” said Theo.

“I’m married to an FBI agent who can shoot the cap off a Coke bottle from fifty yards away. I’ll survive.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” said Zahra.

“Two minutes ago, you told me Farid is a bully and an abuser.”

“Okay, fine. If Farid and the Revolutionary Guard come crashing in here and take us hostage, I keep a spare key in the bird

feeder on the back patio. You and Theo can come save us.”

Jack didn’t respond. She wasn’t the first overstressed client to snap at him.

“I’m so sorry,” said Zahra after taking a deep breath. “I know you’re just trying to help.”

“No apology needed,” said Jack. “Actually, protection is only part of my thinking. This is going to be a difficult case. The

legal hurdles for a mother accused of kidnapping her child are very high. We have to prove in court that returning Yasmin

to her father would put her in grave danger of physical or psychological harm. And we have to prove it by ‘clear and convincing

evidence,’ which is very close to the ‘reasonable doubt’ standard in criminal court.”

“I can prove it,” said Zahra. “Both physical and psychological. And it will be clear and convincing.”

“Proof requires evidence,” said Jack.

“Isn’t my own testimony ‘evidence’?”

“It will be your word against his,” said Jack. “In any case of ‘he said/she said,’ you look for any little thing that can tip the balance. If Theo stays close to you and sees Farid stalking you outside your house or following you to the grocery store, he could be the witness at the hearing who tips the balance in your favor.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Zahra.

Yasmin’s little voice carried down the stairwell: “Mommy, are you bringing my juice?”

“On my way, sweetie,” Zahra answered in a loud enough voice. “And I said water, not juice.”

Jack and Theo walked with her to the foyer, and she opened the door.

“I’m going to be perfectly honest with you,” said Jack. “I came here thinking I would probably have to tell you ‘I’m out’—that

you need to hire a new lawyer.”

“Because you got roughed up?”

The whole truth was bigger than that: because he was roughed up, and because Andie wouldn’t approve. “Yeah,” he said. “Because I was roughed up.”

“I’m glad you changed your mind.”

“Mommy! My water!”

Jack glanced up the stairway toward Yasmin’s bedroom. “I didn’t change my mind. She changed it for me.”

Zahra’s big dark eyes shone with gratitude. Jack and Theo put their shoes on and stepped out, and the door closed behind them.