Page 28 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

"Immediately."

"I won't delete anything."

"Good."

Nelson opened the door. "Because whether this is somebody trying to scare you, or somebody trying to help you, it's part of my homicide investigation now."

Chapter 10

Tuesday afternoon

JP sat at the small desk in his home office, Sabre’s forwarded text open on his phone. Take the case… or the girl dies.

It was short and clean with no wasted words. Whoever sent it wasn’t panicking. They were directing.

JP tapped the screen, enlarging the number. There was no name and no saved contact. He ran it through a basic lookup first, but it was a prepaid, disposable number. He expected that. People who sent threats like this didn’t want to be found.

He studied the message again. It wasn’t just the threat that bothered him. It was the timing. The girl asked for Sabre to represent her. Sabre hesitated. Then the message arrived right when Sabre might walk away.

He stood, grabbed his jacket, and headed out.

~~~

An hour later, JP parked across the street from a small duplex where Todd Maddox had lived. It wasn’t much, a single-story duplex with faded paint, and an assortment of cars lining the curb. The kind of place people passed without noticing.

JP sat behind the wheel, watching, as people came and went. No one looked twice at the victim’s door.

JP stepped out and crossed the street. The front door to Maddox’s unit had crime scene tape stretched across the frame. JP crouched, studying the lock. There was no sign of forced entry. He straightened.

“That tracks,” he said under his breath. If Bay had followed Maddox there, the man might have even opened the door himself.

JP stepped back, scanning the building. He checked out the windows, angles, and sightlines. If someone were watching this place, they would’ve had plenty of options.

He turned slowly, taking in the street. There, across the street was a narrow alley between two buildings. It was partially obscured, but with a clear line toward Maddox’s front door.

JP walked over, boots quiet against the pavement. The alley smelled of damp concrete and old trash. He found nothing unusual, except a small mark on one wall, a faint scuff, about shoulder height. Near it on the ground was a cigarette butt.

JP crouched and picked it up. It wasn’t today-fresh, but not old enough to have been there for weeks either.

He looked across the street. From this exact spot, you could see Maddox’s door enough to watch who came and went.

JP dropped the cigarette in a baggie, not sure if it meant anything. But someone might have been there watching.

Back in his truck, JP called Sabre.

She answered on the second ring. “Tell me you found something,” she said.

“I’m at Maddox’s place.”

“And?”

“There’s no sign of forced entry, but I think someone had eyes on that apartment.”

“Yeah, Bay did.”

“I mean besides her, unless she smokes Marlboro red cigarettes.”

“She doesn’t strike me as a smoker, but I’ll ask.”