Page 183 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“A couple weeks maybe.” Bay looked up. “Then Daniel said we had to go.”

“Why?”

“He said people were asking questions.” Her expression tightened. “And he said if social services got involved, they’d separate me and Hannah forever.”

The same tactic, over and over, compliance through isolation and fear of separation from loved ones.

“So, you left with him?”

Bay nodded. “Hannah was so sad because she thought my mom might come back and we wouldn’t be there.” Bay swallowed. “Daniel told her sometimes adults leave and don’t come back. That we had to take care of each other now.”

A cold chill ran up her spine. From that point forward, the little girls lost their families, and Rourke became the center of both their worlds.

Bay looked up again. “He wasn’t evil. He took care of us. He taught us things and made sure we ate. But everything was always about staying hidden and keeping secrets.” Another pause. “Especially after Hannah started remembering things. Hannah believed him more when she was younger.”

“And later?”

“She started questioning things.”

“What kinds of things?”

Bay looked directly at her now. “You.”

Sabre felt her breath catch.

“She remembered enough about you that she couldn’t completely let go of the idea somebody out there actually cared.”

“Why didn’t you tell somebody?”

“Who would I tell? He was better than being alone with my mother. She brought all those men home. They were awful. Besides, I was very young.”

Sabre had so many questions, but most could wait. “What happened after he found out about Todd?”

Bay’s eyes flickered with anxiety. “He changed.” Fear crept back into her voice. “He stopped sleeping. He started watching outside all the time.” She swallowed. “Hannah got scared.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sabre said. “I have a question, Bay. If Hannah sees me, will she come with me?”

“I think she’ll listen to you. And I think a part of her has been waiting for you. Didn’t she already reach out to you?”

“How would she do that?”

“We had a plan. If either of us was ever in real trouble, we would find you somehow. The other would use Uncle’s phone to text you. We had secret messages. If we were in trouble with the law, the message was— “

“Take the case… or the girl dies,” Sabre interrupted her.

“You got the message.”

“I did, but I never thought it was coming from Hannah.” Sabre cleared her throat. “I got a message that said, Just one day left. I got it the day before the hearing that the judge set for the time limit. How would she know that?”

“She wouldn’t. We just had some made up to send along the way. They were meant to put pressure on. We figured it didn’t matter what was going on, it meant time was running out.”

“How long have you been planning this?” Sabre asked.

“Since we moved the first time. But it got more elaborate as time went on. We never thought we’d get to use it.”

Sabre shook her head.

“We got a lot of the ideas from movies. Uncle was big on movies. We watched them most every night.”