Page 65 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

Tyler didn’t say anything.

“Have you got a few minutes?” JP asked.

Tyler nodded toward the side of the building. “Yeah.”

They moved away from the noise, toward a loading dock where the hum of machinery softened into the background.

Tyler leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “I already told the cops everything,” he said.

“I read what you told them,” JP replied. “I want to hear what you remember.”

Tyler gave a small, tired smile. “Same thing.”

“Maybe,” JP said. “Maybe not.”

A second passed, then Tyler looked away. “We were supposed to walk her home,” he said. “Me, my sister, and Alana.”

“Was that the regular plan?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “Every day.”

“And that day?”

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck. “We left without her.”

“Why?” JP asked.

Tyler hesitated. “Because I told them to.”

“Walk me through it.”

Tyler shifted his weight. “Hannah was always late coming out. She’d pack up slow, or she was talking, or whatever. We’d stand there, waiting.”

“And that day?”

“I didn’t want to wait,” Tyler said. “I had something to do at home, a new video game or something. I don’t even remember now.” He let out a short breath. “I just remember I didn’t want to stand there another ten minutes.”

“So, you left?”

“Yeah.”

“All of you?”

“I couldn’t leave without my sister or I woulda been in big trouble.”

“Did the girls want to leave?”

“They were tired of waiting for her too, so it was easy to convince them. I said she’d catch up. She always did.”

“Did you ever leave her before?”

“No. But sometimes she walked too slow, or stopped to pick a flower or something. But she’d always catch up before we got to the creepy guy’s house.”

That caught JP’s attention. “Tell me about the creepy guy.”

“An old guy who lived on the corner a couple of blocks from our house. He’d come out when school was over and sit on his porch, watching.

JP kept his voice calm. “Watching what?”