Page 109 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Chapter 41

Tuesday late afternoon

Sabre was still at her work office when JP came in. Most of the building had emptied an hour earlier. Elaine remained in the front lobby, and Sabre’s office remained bright and crowded with open files, legal pads, and two cups of cold tea she’d forgotten to drink. I can’t believe I’m struggling so hard with a case I’m not even on.

JP stepped in without knocking, Stetson in hand. “Are you planning to sleep here?” he asked.

“Considering it.” She looked up.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know you haven’t moved in ten minutes.”

Sabre rubbed her eyes. “How’d you know?”

“Because you were doing that thing where you stare at paper like it insulted you.”

Sabre almost smiled. “I had a productive afternoon. Bay talked today.”

JP pulled the visitor chair around and sat backward in it, folding his arms across the backrest. “Now you have my attention.”

Sabre shut the file and gave him a full account of the visit: meeting Bay alone, the change in strategy, and the answers Bay gave about where she would go and how she’d survive.

JP listened without interrupting, which meant he was listening hard. “Those weren’t guesses; they were rules.”

“She knew the answers too fast,” Sabre said. “How to move, how to avoid attention, how to use cash, and how to disappear.”

“So, not homeless or drifting.”

Sabre stood to stretch. “She’s been living in apartments, houses, regular places, but mostly temporary. The longest was two years.”

JP’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think they move when neighbors get curious?”

“Yes, or when landlords ask questions, or before anyone starts noticing too much.”

JP tapped a finger against the chair. “That takes money, planning, and someone organized.”

“And someone who understands records, leases, routines.”

JP gave a short grunt. “Or someone who knows how to ask the right questions without sounding suspicious.”

The intercom on her desk buzzed.

She pressed the button. “Yes, Elaine?”

“It’s Ethan Vale. He said you were expecting him.”

Sabre buzzed him in. A minute later, Vale stepped into the office carrying a thick file.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?”

“Yes,” JP said.

“No,” Sabre said at the same time.

Vale hesitated in the doorway.

“Sit down,” Sabre said. “Ignore him.”