Page 31 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Sabre waited.

"Both texts came from the same prepaid phone."

"Who owns it?" Sabre asked.

"No one."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It was activated as a prepaid phone, bought with cash, and never registered. There is no subscriber information."

"So, it is a burner?"

"It looks that way."

Sabre stared at the message on her screen. "'Just one day left.'"

Nelson broke the silence. "Whoever's sending these doesn't want your attention for very long."

"What do you mean?"

"If they wanted to keep talking to you, they'd start a conversation. Instead, they're creating urgency."

Sabre read the words again. Just one day left.

"If another one comes in, send it immediately."

"I know the drill."

"And Sabre, if this is connected to Maddox—and I think it is—we're missing something bigger than a murder."

Chapter 11

Tuesday evening

The evening settled in quietly. Sabre sat at the dining table, a file open she hadn’t read in ten minutes. Across from her, JP leaned back in his chair, the dessert between them untouched.

Sabre finally broke the silence. “If I take the case, I’m stepping into something I don’t understand.”

JP nodded. “Yeah.”

“And if I don’t…”

“Then you’re betting that message is a bluff.”

“Do you think it is?”

“No.”

The word landed flat and certain.

“So, those are my options,” Sabre said. “Take the case and walk into whatever this is”—she gestured toward her phone— “or risk that a fifteen-year-old girl dies.”

JP shrugged. “That about sums it up.”

“What would you do?”

“I’d figure out who’s making the rules before I agreed to play the game.”