by Carsen Taite
“I have known you and your father for a very long time. You have always done right by my family, but it seems we are both under a microscope right now, although I do not know why. I would never turn you away from my home, but you probably should not have come here.”
Ellery set her coffee cup down and contemplated her next move. She could get up and walk out, choosing not to consult with Amir before she made a decision about whether or not to give the feds what she knew. Or she could give him a chance to explain. Technically, what he had done didn’t fall into the realm of attorney client privilege, at least not as to her. He’d used her name on documents that implicated them both in potential federal crimes. The fraud released her of her duty to him.
But it wasn’t that easy, especially since it was highly likely her father had been the impetus behind Amir’s action. As frustrating as her father was, was she willing to implicate him as well? And she felt she owed it to Amir to tell him exactly what he was facing since neither he nor his new lawyer would have any way of knowing the full detail until the warrant was unsealed.
Not for the first time she considered the balance between her duty as a lawyer and what she owed strangers who might be harmed by the secrets she kept. She’d never violated a client’s confidence and she’d take many awful secrets to her grave, but she’d never had her own liberty at stake. Was it selfish to think she should break the rules to save herself or was it merely practical? She decided to start by seeing if he would even admit what he had done. “The government thinks your charity is a front, a way to funnel money to terrorist groups.”
“It isn’t true.” He straightened in his chair and slapped the arm to emphasize his point.
“They say they have money trails to prove it.”
“They can’t because it isn’t true.”
“Who is Sadeem Jafari?”
“He is family, my cousin. Why?”
Ellery watched him carefully, but he didn’t show any visible surprise that she’d asked about Jafari. “His foundation, Global Enterprise Alliance. What do you know about it?”
“I know we have many of the same interests. We have worked together many times.”
“And you give WHI money to his foundation?”
“Yes. It’s part of our outreach. We work together.”
“I’ve read both of your mission statements and they are essentially identical, which makes me wonder why Sadeem even bothered to start his own foundation. Why didn’t he just use his resources to bolster WHI?”
“He’s very independent, younger, with new ideas. We are a more conservative organization. I think he fancies himself the modern Muslim. He felt he could reach a different donor base than that of WHI.”
Yeah, the radical extremist Muslims. She took another sip of coffee and considered Amir’s measured reactions to her questions. He seemed genuinely puzzled at any suggestion he or his cousin, Sadeem, might be doing something wrong, but she’d lost count of the amount of times she’d had a client lie to her face. As well as she knew him, she wasn’t confident she would be able to tell if he was dissembling or not.
She decided the best way to judge was to catch him completely off guard so she spat out the question she really wanted answered. “Why did you put my name on the IRS forms for WHI?”
Amir closed his eyes and shook his head. “He said it wouldn’t matter, but I worried about your reaction. I promise you, I meant you no harm.”
“He? My father?”
Amir nodded. “This work is very important to me, but there is so much scrutiny. I thought if they ever asked any questions, I would tell you about it, but until now, no one has raised any issues. I suppose you have told them that I lied.”
“No, I haven’t, but I need to. My accounts are frozen and I may face criminal charges for whatever activity the government suspects you of. Protecting a client’s information only goes so far, but I wanted to come to you first before I tell anyone anything.”
Amir reached out a hand. “You do what you must.”
“How can you say that, Father?”
Ellery looked up to see Naveed standing in the doorway to the study. “Hi, Naveed. How are you?”
“I will be fine, no thanks to you. Are you really going to turn my father in?”
She’d never seen him angry and his demeanor surprised her. “Well, I’m not sure what you heard, but it’s not that simple. Maybe I should leave you two to discuss it.”
“First you abandon me and my case and then you betray my father. He has done nothing wrong and he never will.”
Naveed’s voice carried a distinct edge that had been absent when she’d met with him at the courthouse a few weeks ago. “Naveed, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you on your case, but I left you in good hands with Meg. It wasn’t personal.”
“Naveed, apologize to Miss Durant. It’s not her fault you followed the careless whims of your cousin and his fanatic friends.”
The look Naveed shot his father was piercing, but his words were light and casual. “You’re right, Father. Ms. Durant, I’m sorry. I get agitated when I think about the police pawing through our things, but that’s no excuse for taking it out on you.”
“Apology accepted.” Ellery stared at Naveed’s eyes as she spoke. The sharp edge was still there. No matter how nice and polite his words were, he was still angry about something. She couldn’t really blame him. The crime he’d been charged with was small change compared to the possible indictment his father faced. Even if nothing came of the government’s investigation, just by virtue of the asset freeze and search warrants, Amir would likely suffer setbacks to all of his business interests. She made a quick decision.
“Amir, if you come clean about the IRS application, it will be better than if I tell the feds about it. Talk to Novack and see what he says. If you want, I’ll talk to him directly, but it will need to be fast—there’s a short window here for cooperation. If you ever trusted my advice before, trust me now when I say you will be in a better position if you go to them first.”
“I will talk to Mr. Novack and have him call you.”
“Thank you, Amir.” Ellery stood up, ready to leave, but she realized she had one more question. “Your cousin, Sadeem, did he use my father to advise him as well?”
“No, your father was retired by the time he established his foundation.” Amir looked sheepish. “He went directly to your former partner, Megan Patrick, to do the paperwork, because he’d heard she was not as thorough as you. He thought she wouldn’t ask many questions. As far as I know, he just made up a name of an attorney for the application, thinking she wouldn’t check.”
His words were a blur as she realized how deeply Meg had betrayed her. She must’ve doctored the paperwork to make it look like her father had drafted it, but why hadn’t she mentioned it when she’d handed over the search warrant affidavit that contained Jafari’s name along with Amir’s? As for the contents of the application, she hadn’t checked Jafari’s paperwork or she had and she hadn’t cared. The very idea she’d been deceived by both her father and her friend and former law partner was suffocating. “I should go.”
“I’ll show her out,” Naveed volunteered.
“Thank you, son.”
Ellery followed Naveed to the door, but she paused in the entryway. “Your father is an honorable man.”
“My father is a weak man. He will take the easy way out. He hasn’t done anything wrong. If you both keep quiet, they would never be able to prove otherwise.”
His tone was casual, but Ellery could hear the undercurrent of judgment. “I believe your father is not a terrorist, but he did do something wrong. He lied on a document filed with the government. The good news is the falsehood is a minor crime compared to the allegations of terrorism. If he admits the one, he might be able to avoid the other. Besides, are you really being fair? Just a few weeks ago, I was in court trying to get you a deal rather than have you fight charges.”
“That was different.”
Ell
ery waited for him to explain, but he didn’t elaborate. The old her would have asked what he meant. The old her would have pressed Amir for more detail about Sadeem, since his foundation information was in her old law firm files. For a second, she wondered about Meg and whether she had been duplicitous, but then the second was over and she decided she didn’t much care. None of these people and their decisions were her problem anymore. If Amir didn’t do the right thing, she would. If it meant implicating her father and Amir both, she didn’t care. She’d lived too long with the guilt caused by keeping confidences. The personal cost was too high and she was done paying for other people’s mistakes. The only way to truly break free from her old life was to cut all ties completely.
As she walked out the door, she met a young blonde walking up the sidewalk, toward the Khan’s front door. She smiled and the girl smiled back, but she looked more nervous than happy and Ellery noticed she quickened her pace. When Ellery reached the street, she glanced back at the Khans’ door and caught a few words of the whispered conversation as Naveed ushered the girl into the house. “Jasmine, you shouldn’t have come here.” “I didn’t have a choice.” After those few words the voices were jumbled until she heard the door shut behind them as they entered the house.
Something about the exchange bothered her, but she shrugged it off and climbed into her truck. Amir had likely told Naveed not to have anyone over while they were in the middle of this mess, but the pull of teen drama often outweighed parental caution.
As she drove away, she waved at the occupants of the sedan still parked at the end of the street, imagining the surprised expressions of the agents behind their dark sunglasses. She wondered how long it would be before Sarah knew she’d visited Amir. She had until tonight to give Sarah her decision, but part of her wanted to call her now and tell her she’d made up her mind. But she’d promised Amir she’d give him a chance to do the right thing, and as much as she wanted this over, she felt compelled to keep her word even if it meant another twenty-four hours before she could see Sarah again.
Chapter Seventeen
The hallways of the Dallas County courthouse were dead compared to the last time she was here. Sarah found Danny sitting in her office with two guys, one of whom she recognized from her visit there several weeks ago. Before the bombing. The day she’d first met Ellery.
“Hey, Sarah. Come on in.” Danny waved. “We’re just finishing up.”
“You get your jury squared away?”
“For what it’s worth. Not the greatest bunch, but we got to keep a few of the ones we wanted. We start opening first thing in the morning.”
“You ever think about doing something different?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe work at a big firm, tax law or some crap like that.”
“Crap is a good word for it. You know the big firm lawyers have no life.”
“And you do?” Sarah asked. “I’m betting you were working on this case all weekend.”
“Yes, but the difference is I’m doing something that matters. Kind of makes it worth all the work.” Danny frowned. “What’s all this about? You suddenly regret leaving BAU?”
“No. I mean I don’t know. I don’t regret leaving the unit or moving, but I’m not sure I landed in the right spot.”
“You’re not stuck. I’m sure you have options. You’ve been doing this a while. Any unit would be lucky to have you.”
“I think I’m just feeling unsettled. I need a real life and this job is the perfect way to get one. I just have one thing to do before I can get back to it.”
“I’m not following.”
“My old supervisor, Trip, has me doing a side project for him. I’m sure that’s what’s got me messed up.”
“Care to share?”
“Has to do with a certain local attorney and a couple of charities. Do you follow?”
“I do. Is that why you were flirting with her at the show on Friday night?”
“I wasn’t flirting.”
“Whatever.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Not that you noticed,” Danny said. “But there were plenty of eligible women there. Hot ones. But you only had eyes for one. Don’t even try to deny it.”
“It was work.”
Danny grinned. “You’re really good at your work.”
Her protests weren’t doing any good, so Sarah tried to change the subject. “Speaking of work, I came by to see if you could help me out with a couple of files. I wrote down all of the names.” She reached into her purse and pulled out an index card. “Here.”
Danny took the list and studied it for a moment. “I know these guys. It’s all one file. They were all indicted as parties to the same offense.”
“What was it?”
“Burglary of a building.”
“Sounds kind of dumb.”
“Maybe. It doesn’t look like they took anything, but it was kind of weird for that reason.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, it was an office building. I mean sure, there are computers and stuff, but it just didn’t strike me as the kind of place a bunch of kids would think of breaking into without a good reason. The fact they didn’t take anything, makes me curious about what they were really doing there. Ellery said they were just messing around, but usually when we get cases with a bunch of kids fooling around, they choose someplace more interesting—warehouses, malls, music venues.”
“Wait a minute, did you say Ellery?” Sarah sat forward in her chair.
“I did. You remember the day you came by? She was here for Naveed Khan’s first court appearance. I think she was just filling in for her old law partner, but she was pretty adamant that the whole thing was nothing more than a bunch of kids goofing off.”
Sarah remembered the meeting well. Ellery, looking sharp and handsome in lawyer clothes, had been annoyed with her for butting in on her talk with Danny about the fate of her young client. Sarah hadn’t meant to get on her bad side, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. Now she wished she’d listened more closely to the details of Ellery’s discussion with Danny. “Don’t you think it’s odd that Amir Khan’s son was facing felony charges just days before a bomb goes off in the city?”
Danny frowned. “What makes you think the two things are related? Naveed was arrested over six months ago. Our grand juries have been backed up and these punk cases got pushed back a bit. The fact that his court appearance happened the week of the bombing was a coincidence. Besides, you feds seem to think Amir is a felon, so why would you be surprised to find out his son is a member of the same club?”
“I’m not sure what to think.” That much was true. Sarah couldn’t put her finger on it, but she didn’t believe in coincidence. There was more to this story, and she was convinced there were connections even if no one had figured them out or even noticed their existence yet. “How fast can I get the file?”
“If you have a flash drive, I can download the police report and indictment for you right now.”
While Sarah waited for Danny to copy the file, her mind raced back to the first time she’d met Ellery. She’d seemed like a fierce advocate for her client, not at all like someone who was passing a case for a colleague. She’d been invested in the outcome of Naveed’s case. Was that because she had something at stake in getting a good result? What had she said about her client, Naveed? He was in the top of his class and he’d been accepted to an Ivy League school. What was a kid like that doing hanging around punks like the Barstow brothers who were on a CIA watch list?
Every nerve ending was on high alert. When Danny finally handed her the flash drive, she practically grabbed it out of her hand. She was halfway out the door before she registered Danny asking her a question.
“Want to come over for dinner tonight? You can help me brainstorm my opening statement for tomorrow.”
Dinner with friends. She should say yes because that was the kind of thing normal people did, but until she closed this c
ase, she wouldn’t get back to normal. She’d started this day intending to tell Trip she was done working on this case, but she should’ve known better. Digging deep, doggedly pursuing leads, those tasks were the things that had always defined her and moving across the country and working as a paper pusher hadn’t changed who she was. “I’ll have to take a rain check. Give my best to Ellen.”
An hour later, she’d examined every aspect of the file Danny had given her. She was no closer to a solution, but she had a hunch. She picked up the phone and dialed Trip’s number, happy to hear him answer on the first ring.
“Whatcha got?” he asked.
“Not sure, but I need your help.”
“Shoot.”
“If I give you an address for an office building, can you have Peter run down a list of every business in the building, rosters of employees and whatever else he can dig up?” Peter was the resident computer genius in the BAU and his information gathering skills were unparalleled.
“Mind telling me what you’ve got in mind?”
“I’d rather wait until I have more info.”
“I can have him start right now.”
“Faster the better.”
“On it. Anything else?”
“Not yet.”
“Did you talk to her? I know you were at her place yesterday.”
“I’m trying not to let it bother me that you know my every movement.” Sarah blushed when she remembered how yesterday’s visit with Ellery had ended, the memory of her claiming lips, her strong arms. Thank goodness whoever the agency had watching could only see what went on outside Ellery’s house.
“You know it’s not you we’re watching.”
“Still.”
“We need to move on this.”
“Tomorrow. Give me a day.”
“Done. And, Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“You were meant for this. You have the right instincts. It’s in your blood. You don’t have to come back to BAU, but don’t waste away in the fraud unit.”
When she hung up the phone, Trip’s words echoed and she knew he was right. Now she just had to figure out what to do about it.