Page 34 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“The mother’s boyfriend, Victor Hayes, was convicted.”

“Is he still in prison?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll check that for you,” Nelson said. “So, from a legal standpoint that case is closed.”

Sabre didn’t answer.

“Do you think it shouldn’t be?” Nelson asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But whoever sent this message thinks I missed something.”

“It’s a hook,” Nelson said. “They’re trying to pull you back into something specific.”

“What can you do with it?”

“Not much. There’s no direct threat and no identifiable victim tied to the message.”

“I figured.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ll ignore it,” Nelson added.

“So, what do I do?” she asked.

“You dig. You said the case never sat right, so start there.” Nelson’s voice shifted. “JP, this is your specialty.”

JP leaned toward Sabre’s phone. “I’m on it.”

“And be careful. This person knows your past,” he said. “Knows your cases. That’s not casual.”

Sabre’s grip tightened slightly on the phone. “I know.”

“Keep me posted on anything that shifts,” Nelson said. “Anything that feels like it crosses a line.”

“I will.”

“And, Sabre, maybe you should just not take the case. It’s bound to get worse.”

“If I don’t, it will definitely get worse for Bay.”

Chapter 12

Tuesday night

The building felt different at night, with none of the other attorneys there. They moved quickly down the hall to her inner office. Sabre unlocked the door and stepped inside, JP right behind her. She didn’t turn on all the lights, just the one over her desk.

JP closed the door and set his hat on the corner of a chair.

Sabre moved to the file cabinet along the wall and pulled open the bottom drawer where the older cases were. She flipped through the folders, through names she remembered and some she didn’t want to. She stopped and pulled one free.

The thin tab read: CALDWELL, HANNAH & KEATING, AUGUST

She carried the file to her desk and for a moment, she didn’t open it.

Finally, she did. The first page was the case summary. Hannah Caldwell. Age 5. Reported missing.

Sabre read it silently, as JP pulled up a chair beside her. “What brought this case into the system? Why were you on it?”