Page 187 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

“Hannah—”

“He said no police.”

Sabre kept her voice calm. “I came alone.”

Hannah looked at her for a long moment. “You didn’t.”

Sabre said nothing.

Hannah glanced again toward the street. “He always knows.”

Sabre followed her gaze. Still no Rourke, but she was sure he was watching from somewhere.

“Hannah,” Sabre said softly, “you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Hannah’s eyes pooled with unshed tears. “That’s the problem.”

Stunned, Sabre asked, “What does that mean?”

Hannah stared down at the table. “He told me if I saw you again…” Her voice weakened. “Everything would change.”

Sabre realized that part of Hannah wanted it to. Rourke knew it too.

The waitress returned with pancakes and hot syrup.

The interruption felt surreal, the clinking plates, families laughing nearby, and normal life continuing around something impossibly broken.

Hannah whispered, “I used to think about this moment all the time.”

Sabre’s chest tightened.

Suddenly Hannah’s eyes shifted sharply past her shoulder. Fear flooded her face, and she whispered, “He’s here you know.”

Sabre didn’t look around. “In the restaurant?”

“No. But he’s close.”

“You don’t need to be afraid. As long as we’re here, he can’t do anything.”

Hannah’s eyes darted nervously toward the street. “What about Bay?”

“She’s okay.”

Hannah shook her head. “Daniel said she got arrested for murder.”

Sabre chose her words carefully. “You’re right. She was arrested.”

Hannah’s face crumpled. “Oh no!”

“She’s alive,” Sabre said quickly. “And she’s safe.”

Hannah looked overwhelmed. “She didn’t kill Todd.” She said it with absolute certainty.

“How do you know that?”

“I know she stabbed him. She did it to protect me. She told me to leave and I did.” The girl paused. “I came back to help her, but Bay was already gone. Todd was still moving.”

Sabre felt the world narrow sharply around the words. “What happened then?”