Page 21 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Sabre shook her head. “That’s not enough.”

Bay frowned. “You don’t think I listen, do you?”

“I think you hear what people say,” Sabre countered. “That’s different.”

Bay held her gaze. “You don’t know me.”

“No,” Sabre said. “But I know this.” She leaned forward. “You tracked a man for days. You confronted him alone. You stabbed him.”

Bay’s jaw tightened.

“And you won’t tell me why.”

Bay shook her head. “I told you.”

“You told me he deserved it.” Sabre shook her head. “That’s not the same thing.”

Bay looked down at the table.

Sabre softened her voice. “If I take your case, I need the truth.”

Bay looked up again. “You won’t get all of it.”

“Then I won’t take the case.”

Bay stared at her.

Sabre held steady. “I’m not asking you to tell me everything right now. But you need to give me enough to understand what I’m walking into.”

For a moment Bay looked very young. “What do you want to know?” she asked.

“Why him?”

“He hurt someone.”

“Who?”

Bay shook her head. “I’m not telling you that.”

“Why can’t you tell me who he hurt?”

“Because I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Then tell me this,” she said. “What did he do?”

Bay’s fingers tightened on the edge of the table. “He doesn’t stop.” Bay’s voice was steady, but there was something underneath it now. Something controlled. “He finds people who can’t fight back.”

Sabre felt a chill move through her. “And then?”

“No one believes them.”

“He did this before?”

Bay nodded.

Sabre took a breath. “And you think he was going to do it again?”

“Yes.”