Exiles in America(129)

while I cleaned,” she said. “I needed the noise.”

She led them to the big table just outside the kitchen. “I am making cup-

cakes for the kids. A special treat when they get home.” She sounded dis-

tracted, that’s all, mildly preoccupied, nothing worse.

Daniel remained standing. He looked terribly uncomfortable to be in this

house. “I’m sorry. You don’t really need us here, do you? Everything will be

fine, right? We’re overreacting, right?”

She stared at him as if she didn’t understand a word he’d said. “Oh no.

Terrible things happen in other countries. Why not here?” She told them to

sit. She would make coffee.

E x i l e s i n A m e r i c a

2 9 5

Daniel lowered himself into a chair and looked around at the toys on the

floor, the paintings on the walls. Zack was trying to think of something to say

to put Daniel’s mind at ease when his cell phone buzzed in his coat pocket. He

took it out. “Hello?”

It was Jeremy, their lawyer. A displaced Yankee in his mid-thirties, Jeremy

was quick and to the point. Why did Zack need a criminal attorney? Who was

this Iranian? Were they sure it was FBI? He was in extreme lawyer mode, so

he was highly melodramatic, with a terse, macho, TV masculinity.

“You’re right,” he declared when Zack finished. “I can’t handle this case.

There’s a couple of good lawyers I can call, but I probably won’t hear back

from them today. Let me lay out the menu of possible events. So you’ll know

what you’re in for.”

Zack signaled for pen and paper, which Elena brought over. She and

Daniel sat on either side, watching him write it down.

First, the FBI could do exactly what they said they were doing, talk to this

man over sandwiches, take their sweet time but return him home safe and

sound.

Second, they might want to hold him as a material witness. In which case

they could actually arrest him or, more likely, issue a subpoena and release

him on his own recognizance.

“As a witness to what?” said Zack. “Doesn’t there need to be an actual

crime for a man to be subpoenaed?” Zack had testified in court on several oc-

casions and knew a little law.

“Don’t you watch the news, Doc? The war on terror? Under the Patriot

Act, the feds can do whatever they like. They don’t have to charge anyone, not

if they think it’s terror-related. Which brings us to the third possibility. They

arrest your man, hold him a few weeks while they investigate. Then, if they

don’t find anything, they deport him. They don’t need cause. They don’t need

a public hearing. They just ship him back to his homeland.

“Or the fourth possibility, they do charge him with a crime and the case

goes to trial. Which is a good thing, since it means he gets legal representation

and can communicate with his family while he’s in jail.

“Because there’s a fifth possibility, a worst-case possibility, where they

label him a suspected terrorist. ‘Terrorist’ has become a very broad category.

2 9 6

C h r i s t o p h e r B r a m

If you’re friends with a terrorist, if you give money to one, if you tell him the

time of day, then you’re a terrorist, too. They could hold you in this country

without charges or bail. They could even send you to Guantánamo in Cuba,

where they’re holding the al-Qaeda suspects seized in Afghanistan.”

Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed playing the omniscient know-it-all today. He

loved politics, but his vocation was civil law and his cases were rarely exciting.

He was glad to have a chance to show off his insider knowledge. He didn’t in-

tend to be cruel, yet he expressed no compassion, no pity. Zack had never

treated him, but he couldn’t help wondering if Jeremy had had a bad experi-

ence with another shrink and was taking it out on him.

“Your man has an Iranian passport?”

“No, French, I think.” Zack looked at Daniel and Elena. They nodded ea-

gerly. “Yes. A French passport.”

“That’s good. The French aren’t too popular nowadays, but they are legal.

You might want to get the French embassy involved once we know what’s

going on.”

“And when do you think we’ll know?”

“We could know by the end of today. Or tomorrow. Or next week. Or not

for months.”

Whatever the story, Jeremy wanted to help. He’d make a few calls and

there’d be a qualified attorney involved by Monday. “And you’ll need him.

Because if your man hasn’t been released by Monday, we’ll know he’s in big

trouble.”

Zack thanked Jeremy, promised to report all developments, said goodbye,