Page 64 of Grave Danger

“May I speak to her about it?”

“Not without me in the room.”

“That would be fine,” she said. “Is she coming this morning?”

The doorbell rang, a speak-of-the-devil moment. Jack excused himself, went to the lobby, and let Zahra in.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “Babysitter problems.”

“No problem. I was just having a nice talk with Dr. Vestry. She has some questions for you.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Basic stuff. Nothing to be worried about.” Jack stopped outside the door to the kitchen and lowered his voice so that Dr. Vestry couldn’t possibly overhear. “Before we go in, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Jack, I’ve slept on it, and I’m not going to change my mind about putting Yasmin on the witness stand.”

“It’s not that,” said Jack. “It’s about Ava.”

“What about her?”

Jack didn’t have a ton of information from Andie about the confidential dossier on Ava, but he was hoping that Zahra could fill in the blanks.

“Eight months ago, an immigration form was filed with the US government in the name of Ava Bazzi.”

“Yes, a U visa application.”

“You know about that?” he asked.

“Of course. I filed it.”

“Under Ava’s name?”

“Yes, Jack. The whole time I was living in the United States, I was living under Ava’s name. You knew that. Itoldyou that.”

“That you did,” said Jack, no quibble there. “There’s just one thing that doesn’t add up.”

“What?”

“Do you have any idea how Ava’s fingerprints got on the application?”

Zahra’s mouth opened, but the words seemed to be on a few-second delay. “Ava’s fingerprints?”

“The FBI says they’re on the immigration form that was filed eight months ago.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“I hope that’s true,” said Jack. “Or is there something going on here I should know about?”

“Like what?”

“Sisters. The bond between them can be very strong.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Call me crazy, but some thoughts have crossed my mind.”

“Such as?”

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