Page 101 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“You have to understand,” she continued, “he was drunk. Not just a little, he was out of it. He was slurring his words, and he could barely sit up.”

“So, you didn’t tell the police about that?”

Yvonne shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t think it would help,” she said. “All it did was make him look worse. And he wasn’t supposed to be in the house. I was afraid I’d lose my kids again if they knew he went to pick her up.”

JP let that sit.

“They were focused on him anyway,” she added. “They didn’t need my help to get there.”

Silence settled between them.

JP locked eyes on her. “You don’t think he did it.”

Yvonne’s expression hardened. “I think he’s a liar. I think he was drunk and shouldn’t have been anywhere near her. But I don’t think he planned it. He didn’t plan anything.”

“So, what do you think happened?”

Yvonne seemed pensive. “I think he picked her up and something happened after that.” She held his gaze. “And whatever that was, he doesn’t even remember clearly.”

JP nodded. That worked with Gates’ claim to have seen Hayes with the girl. “Thank you,” he said.

No response from Yvonne.

JP moved toward the door, then paused. “Do you know what liquor store he stopped at?”

“It was probably the one he always went to, the 7-11.”

JP clarified where it was located and wrote it in his notepad. He thanked her and stepped outside thinking, Hayes lied, yet another time.

Some things were certain. Hayes picked her up. Hayes had her in his car. Hayes stopped at the liquor store. After that, certainty thinned out fast.

Hayes had been drinking, and he wasn’t careful. A drunk man with a child in the front or back seat would draw attention.

JP looked again at the store notation. Hayes went inside for several minutes and left the vehicle unattended. What if it was that simple?

What if someone saw a little girl sitting alone in a car and made a quick decision? They opened the door and said the right words. Maybe told her that her mom sent them, or told her that Mom was in trouble, or anything a scared child might believe. There would be no struggle, no screaming. She’d just be gone.

It fit better than a planned abduction in several ways. It was opportunistic but clean. A child already vulnerable, already separated from safety, handed to the first person bold enough to take advantage of it.

JP didn’t like how well it fit. Because if that version was true, then Hayes may have committed a crime, but not the one everyone remembered.

JP walked to his truck and got inside. It was a simple theory of the case and would be even harder to prove than if Hayes took her for himself, or heaven forbid, for someone else. All they really knew for sure was that Hayes picked her up, then lost her. Someone else kept her.

Chapter 38

Monday evening

JP stretched out his legs as he sat, his half-eaten plate of food cooling. “We’re missing something.”

Sabre sat across from him, her files pushed aside, though not far enough to escape her line of sight. “We’re missing a lot of somethings.”

“Two cases,” JP said. “One current, one buried, and somehow, they’re circling the same drain.”

Sabre shook her head. “Or we’re forcing them to.”