Page 63 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“What was that about?” Vale asked.

“She’s trying to tell me something. I’m not exactly sure what yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I sort it out.”

“She didn’t give us much,” he said.

“No,” Sabre agreed. “We do know she’s protecting someone.”

“Do you think she’s telling the truth about that?”

Sabre kept walking. “Yes,” she said.

“Then we need to figure out who.”

Sabre wasn’t listening. Her mind was in a small interview room, years ago with a little girl swinging her feet under a chair. Her voice had been soft and serious when she’d said, “I can be brave for a little while.”

Sabre pushed the memory down hard and kept walking.

Chapter 22

Thursday afternoon

JP sat at his desk, Rourke’s report spread out in front of him, Hannah Caldwell’s file open beside it. Two versions of the same story, one official, one observational.

They didn’t match as cleanly as they were supposed to, but then he knew his reports didn’t usually either. Rourke was thinking outside the box. The County was the box.

JP picked up a pen and started writing on a yellow legal pad.

Witnesses:

Frank Deluca—crossing guard ✔

Students (3)—walking group

Substitute teacher

Mother

Victor Hayes✔

He decided to start with the kids. They often saw things adults missed. And sometimes they remembered them better, especially when no one had asked the right questions the first time.

He pulled his laptop closer and started digging. He found their names in the file buried in a short paragraph that may not have seemed important back then.

Tyler and Megan Burch—twins—age 11 (6th grade)

Alana Ruiz—age 11 (6th grade)

He started with the twins. They had the same last name and the same address, at least back then. JP ran a search that didn’t take long.

“Still local,” he said.

Property records showed the same house, still in the parents’ name. Tyler, one of the twins, was still listed at the address.

Megan was easier. She had lots of social media accounts, and her out-of-state college was listed.

JP made a note. Megan Burch—University (Oregon), call later

People talked differently in person, especially about uncomfortable subjects.