Page 62 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Bay didn’t respond.

Sabre leaned in. “Bay.”

The girl blinked, then looked back at her. “She wasn’t supposed to be at his house,” she repeated.

“So, what happened?” Sabre asked.

Bay shook her head. “I’m not doing this part.”

“You have to,” Sabre insisted. “If you want help—”

“I didn’t cry,” Bay cut in.

The room went still.

“I didn’t cry,” Bay said again, softer now. “When something bad happens… I don’t cry. I just get really quiet.”

Something shifted inside Sabre, a sense of anguish for what this girl had been through.

“Is that what you’re doing now?” she asked.

Bay looked at her. “Yes.” The word was almost a whisper.

Vale glanced between them, as if he was sensing something he couldn’t quite name.

“Bay,” he said, more gently now, “we need more than that. We need facts. What did he do? What did you do?”

Bay kept her eyes on Sabre. “I told you what matters.”

Sabre let the silence sit for a moment. “Bay,” she said, “you can’t protect someone by taking everything on yourself.”

Bay’s eyes sharpened. “Yes, you can.”

“Not like this.”

Bay didn’t answer.

Sabre asked a few more questions, and Vale made an attempt as well.

They got nothing new. The girl shut down piece by piece until there didn’t seem to be anything left to get.

Vale finally closed his folder. “We’ll come back,” he said.

Still nothing.

Sabre stood, and Vale did the same. He moved toward the door.

Sabre paused, hand on the back of her chair, and turned. “Bay,” she said.

“Are you doing okay?”

Bay nodded, then said, “I can be brave for a little while.”

Sabre felt it this time—words that reminded her of Hannah. It was clear, sharp, and familiar, but Sabre kept it to herself. “Okay. I understand.”

Bay gave a small nod. “Okay.”

Sabre followed Vale out, and they walked in silence down the corridor.