Reasonable Doubt

by Carsen Taite

  Maybe if she kept repeating the thought she would believe it, but the sharp ring of her cell phone would keep her from testing that theory. She looked at her phone and was instantly disappointed. “Meg?”

  “Have you heard from Naveed?”

  “You really need to break this habit where you think we still work together.”

  “Seriously, I was at the courthouse from eight thirty to just now and he never showed up. And Danny Soto, who’s usually pretty reasonable about these things said if he didn’t check in by noon, she was filing a motion to hold his bond insufficient. I’ve left him about a dozen messages, but I figured you might have talked to Amir recently since, well, you know.”

  “What? Since Amir and I are suspected of colluding to defraud the IRS and send money to terrorists?”

  “Funny. And you should probably be careful since you never know who’s listening.”

  Ellery laughed. If only Meg knew she’d slept with an FBI agent working the case mere hours ago. “That ship has probably sailed, but just in case any government agents are listening, I unequivocally deny any involvement in any schemes, foreign or domestic, to either commit fraud or support or engage in terrorism.”

  “Like I said, very funny.”

  Meg didn’t sound amused and Ellery couldn’t care less. She hadn’t forgotten the files that she’d found on Meg’s computer related to Sadeem Jafari, but she wasn’t going to be careless enough to confront her about it on the phone. She wanted to see her face when they had that little discussion. “I do have some information for you, though. Why don’t you swing by and we can talk about it?” She waited, hoping her deliberately vague reference would be enough to convince Meg to show up.

  “I can come by, but it’ll have to be later this morning. I’ve got to find Naveed and I’ve got a hearing set in Collin County I’ve got to get to.”

  “Fine, I’ll be here. Just come by when you can, but make sure you do. It’s important.”

  After she clicked off the line, she realized it was the second time in the last twenty-four hours she’d told a woman something was important, but her meanings couldn’t have been more different. Seeing Meg was important because she needed to know why Meg had lied to her. Seeing Sarah again was important because the life had been sucked out of her when Sarah ran out the door. No matter how important the two things, she wasn’t going to get what she needed from either Meg or Sarah for a while. She picked up the mug of coffee and walked out to her studio, where she had total control over outcomes.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Sarah led Trip into division headquarters and stopped at Beverly’s desk. “Are they ready?” Bev nodded and pointed at an office door down the hall. Sarah hid her surprise. She’d walked past that door dozens of times since she’d started here, and she’d never suspected it was an interrogation room.

  She hoped the chairs inside were comfortable. It was eight a.m. She’d left Ellery’s house just after one. Since then she’d picked Trip up at the airport, gone home to shower and change, and then spent the next several hours reviewing every scrap of information any government agency had on the suspects. She’d done her best to convince Trip her presence at the interrogation wasn’t necessary, but he insisted she join him. She suspected he wanted a show of force to let HSI know they weren’t the only ones with a vested interest in the outcome of this investigation. She’d resigned herself to the fact she was in for a long day of watching someone else conduct an interrogation. The prospect was both aggravating and exhausting.

  She motioned to Trip to enter the room first so she could hang back and observe. There were four other agents in the room. Way too many. While Trip introduced them around, she zeroed in on the one other woman in the group. Her olive complexion, long dark hair and dark brown eyes suggested she was of Middle Eastern descent, and her firm handshake and confident bearing said don’t be fooled by my petite size. Sarah liked her instantly.

  “Aadila Rashed, HSI, Office of Intelligence.”

  Sarah took note of the way Aadila didn’t lead with a title like the other agents had. She gripped her hand. “Nice to meet you.” She looked around the room. “Looks like it might get a bit crowded in here.”

  “You have a good point,” Aadila said. She pointed to one of the other HSI agents. “Shirani will be staying to observe with you and Agent Sandler. Daniels and Avery were on their way out to help look for the two witnesses we haven’t managed to locate yet.”

  Sarah cringed at the term witnesses. She’d been a witness to the bombing, or at least its aftermath, but as far as she was concerned, the term was too watered-down for the guys they were about to grill. They were suspects, plain and simple. “Who’s questioning the ‘witnesses’?” Sarah asked.

  Trip spoke up. “Assistant Director Rashed will be handling the interrogation.”

  Sarah looked at Aadila with a new sense of admiration for both her and the agency. It wasn’t easy to climb the ranks in the intelligence community, and she gave kudos to the agency for sending one of their higher-ups to deal with this particular task. “Do you want to discuss anything in particular before you begin?”

  Aadila motioned for them to sit. “Absolutely. I would like to get your perspective. I assume you’ve read the dossier we put together?”

  Sarah nodded, hoping she looked more awake than she felt. The file ICE had sent over had been a surprisingly thorough compilation of information about Naveed, Akbar, and the Barstow brothers, especially considering they hadn’t had much reason to suspect Naveed and Akbar at all until her discovery of the architectural firm break-in. She’d reviewed all of the information and found it to be heavy on facts, but short on substance. Luckily, she had some insight to offer, at least as to Naveed, although she felt a bit like she was betraying Ellery by speaking up. “The information you have is a good start, but I’d like to talk about how to dig a little deeper.”

  “I think Naveed is a sociopath and, although he’s the youngest, he’s the ringleader of the group. The others defer to him because of his family’s standing in the community and his future aspirations. Top of his class, popular at school, accepted to several top colleges, these things give him credibility with the others, especially his cousin Akbar, whose successes must have been purchased by his father.”

  “How do you know this about Akbar? I don’t recall seeing anything about that in the file?”

  “Simple. His grades and résumé alone weren’t good enough for him to get into SMU. The fact he didn’t have to earn what he has will make him feel more entitled, but it will also cause him to be insecure, and that’s probably how Naveed convinced him to break into his former employer’s office and get those plans.”

  “You are attributing a lot of authority to a high school senior.”

  “I am and I could be dead wrong, but my gut tells me I’m not and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

  “With a great deal of success, I’m told.”

  Sarah glanced at Trip who shrugged and said, “Don’t look at me. I didn’t tell her anything.”

  “Your reputation is well-known,” Aadila said. She waved at Trip. “If he leaves the room, I’m going to steal you from the Bureau.”

  “Thanks, but I’m out of the biz. This is just a one time thing.” Sarah did her best to ignore Aadila and Trip as they exchanged knowing looks without any consideration for the fact that she was standing right there. “Are we going to get started?”

  “Sure, who should we start with?”

  “If Naveed is here, you should start with him. Act like you don’t know much at first. You’re relying on him to fill you in. Approaching him that way will feed his pride and ego. He won’t tell you much of anything, and he may even attempt to send you in a completely different direction. Act as if you believe what he has to say, no matter how absurd and then take a break. After the break, you can act as if you have spoken with the others and now you have the real facts. Once you crack his ego, by convincing him that his followers have turned on h
im, you can wedge it open to get him to confess. Push him to take all the credit. He’ll want to do that anyway.” Sarah stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry. This is your show. I didn’t mean to take over.” She looked over at Trip, who was smiling indulgently and she could almost hear him thinking “see, this is in your blood.”

  Aadila smiled as well. “No need to apologize. I appreciate the insight. Very thorough. You’ll watch and signal if I get off track?”

  “Uh, sure.” Once she’d snapped out of the realization she wasn’t actually running this interrogation, she felt a growing sense of agitation. To combat the desire to escape the small room where she was relegated to waiting, Sarah leaned back in her chair and watched Trip and Aadila make small talk. She paid little attention to their words, instead slipping into a hazy state of wishing she were back home in bed. Make that back in Ellery’s bed. Had it really only been hours since she’d left Ellery’s house? It seemed like days. Long, lonely days. She hadn’t hesitated to take Trip’s call, pick him up at the airport, do her job, but the easy way she’d slipped back into work mode was disturbing. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out for anything but the job. For all her desire to find something satisfying outside of work, it was entirely possible she simply wasn’t built for anything but dedication to her career and a personal life that was transient at best.

  A few minutes later, the phone on the wall rang. She watched as Aadila answered it and told whoever was on the other end she would be there soon. When she hung up, she opened the curtain to the two-way window and they could all see Naveed, seated at a table in the center of the room. He wasn’t handcuffed and he was alone. He looked casual, bored even.

  “How long should I wait?” Aadila asked.

  “If his demeanor doesn’t change in about fifteen minutes, go on in,” Sarah said. She didn’t think it would, but it wouldn’t hurt to observe him for a bit.

  The time dragged by. Sarah figured they were all anxious to hear what he had to say, if he would say anything at all. When fifteen minutes had ticked away, Aadila stood. “I’ll take a break to check in with you in a bit. There’s a button on the wall. Use it if you think I’m off track.”

  When she left the room, Trip spoke. “Would you rather it was you in there?”

  Sarah looked over at the HSI agent, Shirani, who was still in the room. He didn’t look remotely interested in their conversation, but it still made her uncomfortable to talk about this in front of him. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “It’s the best I have. I know you or I could do this as well or better than anyone else, but she’s smart and I’m sure she’s capable of getting what she needs. And she’s objective. You know it’s not just what we talked about before. I was there, only blocks away. I heard the bomb go off. Maybe this is all too personal for me.”

  “Objectivity isn’t all it’s cut out to be. We all tend to fight harder for things when we have a stake in the outcome. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” Sarah knew he was still talking about the bombing, but her mind wandered to Ellery and the very real personal connection they shared. From the night of the bombing to last night, their lives were intertwined in ways they could have never imagined.

  She turned her attention to the two-way glass and watched as Aadila calmly lobbed questions at Naveed aimed to loosen him up. He answered lazily, as if this meeting had no potential consequence, and he responded to queries about his grades, extracurricular activities, and plans for college with seeming nonchalance.

  After what seemed like forever, Aadila finally broached the first subject of substance and Sarah stood at the window, intent on not missing a single detail of Naveed’s demeanor.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering why you are here,” Aadila said.

  Naveed shrugged. “I suppose I’ve gotten used to being the subject of scrutiny.”

  “And why is that?”

  He laughed. “Really? You of all people are asking me that? Don’t tell me the color of your skin or your religion has never caused the people you work with to question your loyalties.”

  Aadila nodded as if she were acknowledging his assessment. “Has this happened to you before?”

  “It happens every day to some Muslim in the Western world. What happens to my brother, happens to me.”

  “You seem wise for your age.”

  He shrugged again. Aadila waited for a moment, but he didn’t offer anything else, so she pressed on. “There are people here who think your friends were involved in the bombing.”

  “My friends?”

  “Well, your cousin, Akbar Jafari, and Michael and Brian Barstow.”

  “Akbar is my cousin, that is true, but I don’t know the others.”

  She flipped through a few pages on the notepad in front of her. “I’m sorry. You would probably know them better as Hasid and Abdul Kamal.”

  Sarah saw the slight shift in Naveed’s eyes. He lied about not knowing them, but why? He had to know exactly where this was headed and he had to be aware they would’ve already connected him to the Barstow/Kamal brothers through the pending case in Dallas County.

  “What did you call them? Barstow? I didn’t recognize that name, but I know the Kamals.”

  “Excellent. I was hoping you did because we could use your help.”

  He looked surprised at Aadila’s statement, relieved even, and it was only then that Sarah remembered how young, how immature he was. Not too young to help carry out a terrorist scheme, but he might be too immature to appreciate the enormity of what he’d done. Or he might just be evil. At this stage it was hard to tell.

  She looked over at Trip, who was watching Naveed intently. “First impressions?”

  “He’s a cool customer, that one. But then again so are those kids who load up with weapons and march into schools to gun down everyone in their path. Just because he’s young, doesn’t mean he didn’t mastermind the whole thing.”

  “Agreed.” She looked back at the window. Aadila had opened a file folder and was thumbing through the contents, an act likely designed to give the impression she had hard evidence of the things they were about to discuss.

  “What can you tell me about Akbar’s father’s charity, the Global Enterprise Alliance?”

  Naveed looked confused, apparently surprised by the direction of the questioning. “I don’t know much about it other than they do good work or at least that’s what I’ve been told.”

  “Like your father’s charity?”

  “I think they might be more modern than my father. He embraces the past.”

  “And you are more modern?”

  “I suppose you could say that.”

  “What can you tell me about your father’s attorney, Ellery Durant?”

  Sarah sucked in a breath at the mention of Ellery’s name. “What the hell is she doing?” She felt a hand on her arm and looked over to see Trip standing beside her. He jerked his head toward the far corner of the room and she remembered they weren’t alone although Agent Shirani still looked bored out of his mind. She nodded at Trip to signal she had her temper under control and resumed watching the interrogation.

  “She was a good attorney,” Naveed said. “She quit though, so she must not be too good at what she does. My father has a new attorney now.”

  Sarah almost laughed at the quick summation of Ellery’s net worth. This kid didn’t deserve someone like her on his side. He obviously didn’t appreciate her or the lengths she was willing to go to protect him. Jackass.

  “Why are you asking about Ms. Durant?” Naveed asked. “Did she do something wrong?”

  Aadila didn’t miss a beat. “I’m not sure. When we talked to her, she said she didn’t, but I thought you might know differently.”

  He shrugged again, but Sarah noticed a hard glint in his eyes that belied the apathetic gesture. Before she could process what she was seeing, she heard Trip grunt. “What’s with all the shrugging? Don’t they teach kids to
answer questions nowadays?”

  Sarah laughed. “Shut up, you sound like an old man.”

  “I will be an old man before this interrogation is over.”

  She punched him in the shoulder and pointed at the glass where Naveed had started to talk again.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” he said.

  Aadila hesitated for just a moment before she said okay. Sarah watched as she explained an agent would go with him, but only because of protocol. When Naveed left the room, she joined them in the observation room.

  “Time to step it up,” Trip said. “When he comes back, start hitting harder. He won’t be expecting it since you’ve been so easy on him. It’s got him off guard. He’s smart enough to know he wasn’t dragged down here just to help us out, but his ego wants to believe you’re not smart enough to get to the truth. Start surprising him with some facts about the break-in.”

  Aadila started to answer, but the wall phone next to where Shirani was standing rang. He answered it and listened for a moment, and then covered the mouthpiece. “The kid wants to make a phone call. We took his cell when he came in. Told him they weren’t allowed in the building.”

  Sarah looked at Trip and could tell he was thinking the same thing. “Let him,” she said. “But get the number, dial it for him, and record the call. Maybe we’ll get something decent out of it.”

  While Shirani gave the instructions to the agent with Naveed, Sarah excused herself to the restroom. What she really needed was a few minutes of quiet, away from anything to do with this case. She’d been fine until Aadila brought up Ellery’s name. She understood why Aadila would want to touch on every point of reference in her conversation with Naveed, but the reminder that Ellery was wrapped up in the case was a distraction. Of course everything about Ellery was a distraction and it was taking every bit of self-control she possessed to keep the memory of coming in her arms from obliterating her focus. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection, at her furrowed brow, at the big black circles under her eyes. She looked unhappy, haunted even, and she knew it was the job. The job loaded with violence and evil. The job she’d moved across the country to escape. The job that for years had robbed her of a personal life and was robbing her still.