Page 110 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“I’m hard to ignore,” JP said.

Vale sat.

Sabre gave him the condensed version of Bay’s statements, emphasizing not the words themselves, but how Bay said them.

“She wasn’t imagining what she’d do,” Sabre said. “She was remembering what’s always been done.”

Ethan frowned. “You think she’s been coached?”

“More like conditioned. I got the impression they never stay where suspicion builds.”

Vale looked grim. “That sounds like someone hiding from law enforcement.”

“Or hiding a child,” JP said. “Which means her silence might not be defiance. It could be survival.”

Vale sat back, absorbing it. “That helps me argue behavior.”

“It helps you explain behavior,” Sabre corrected. “Don’t overstate it.”

He gave a quick nod. “Where are we procedurally?”

“You tell us,” JP said.

“Arraignment’s done. We’re set for a readiness conference before preliminary hearing. Prosecution wants to move quickly.”

“Of course they do,” Sabre said.

“They think they have enough.”

“Do they?”

“Enough to get through prelim, maybe.”

Sabre’s expression sharpened. “Then your job is to make enough feel thin,” Sabre said.

JP smiled. “That’s why she gets paid the medium bucks.”

Sabre ignored him. “File for everything: supplemental reports, notes, scene diagrams, digital extractions, and any prior witness contacts.”

“I already requested some of it.”

“Request more.”

Vale scribbled that down.

JP reached for one of Sabre’s yellow pads and wrote three words in large block letters:

MONEY. ACCESS. PATIENCE.

He turned it toward them.

“That’s who we’re looking for,” he said. “Someone with enough money to keep moving them. Enough access to secure places. Enough patience to do it for years.”

“A family member?” Vale asked.

“Maybe,” Sabre said. “Probably someone trusted.”

“Someone useful,” JP added. “A person people let into their lives.”