Rebel wished his hands weren’t zip-tied behind him and hecould hug Tash, but he couldn’t. “Listen, Tash, it’ll be all right. We’ll get this straightened out before you know it.”
Joanna said quickly, “Tash will come home with us, Agents. If they have any questions, have Child Protective Services contact Sheriff Merriweather. Rebel, do you have a lawyer?”
Rebel shook his head. “Not a criminal lawyer, no. I don’t think my literary attorney would be of much use.”
Ethan said, “I know an excellent criminal attorney in Philadelphia. He’ll meet you at the Federal Building. In the meantime, Rebel, don’t say anything to anyone. Do not answer any questions. From this moment on, all you do is listen. All right?”
“Yes, I understand.” Rebel knelt down in front of Tash, who was hugging him fiercely. “Listen, Tash, you’ll go and stay with Autumn. This is some sort of mistake. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Briggs snorted, pulled Rebel to his feet. “Let’s go.”
Morales said to Joanna, “I’m not going to call Child Protective Services. I can see Tash will be in good hands.” She looked down at Tash, his tears running down his face. She shook her head as they left, pushing Rebel ahead of them.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Savich house
Georgetown
Friday evening
Dillon!
Savich heard Autumn shout his name loud and clear, clearly panicked.
Just a moment, sweetheart.He put down his fork and said to the table at large, “Excuse me a moment. I’ll be right back,” and he left his dining room, Elizabeth and Rome staring after him.
Sherlock said easily, “He must have just thought of something important and has to make a call,” and bit into her BBQ pork spare rib. “What were you saying, Rome?”
Savich leaned against the hallway wall, concentrated, and saw Autumn sitting cross-legged on her bed, her face drawn and pale.What happened, Autumn?
We were all at Rebel’s house to eat his paella whenFBI agents came and took him away. They’re taking him to Philadelphia. Dad called Rafael Jordan, one of the best lawyers anywhere, he said. Dad went to school with him. He also told Rebel not to say a single word. Dillon, can you do something?
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 Rebelthey 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.
I didn’t expect this to happen, Autumn. I can’t imagine what they found to arrest him. I’ll make another call to the SAC of the Philadelphia field office and get back to you. Listen to me, they’ll keep him safe, so don’t worry. Where’s Tash?
He’s staying with us. Mom said she’d deal with anyone who tried to take him away from us.
And she will, Autumn. Try to convince Tash everything will be okay. He needs to hear it from you. I’m counting on you. Can you do that?
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.
A money trail, Savich thought as Autumn’s face faded away. He prayed Rebel Navarro wasn’t really in league with his brother. He stayed in the hall, called Special Agent Claire Gregson, the SAC of the Philadelphia field office, on his cell.
“Claire, Dillon Savich here. I’m sorry to disturb you on a Friday night, but I need to talk to you again about the Navarro case.”
Four minutes later, Savich walked back into the dining room, gave Sherlock a brief nod, and said, “Rome, you were going to tell us how you came to speak Arabic.”
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 said on a sigh, “I wish I could have spoken Italian as a kid. I could have let loose at Luigi at Marvello’s Pizza when he cheated on the pepperoni.”
