Chapter 68
Wednesday late afternoon
Sabre was finishing notes just outside of Department 5 when her phone vibrated. She glanced down. It was JP.
The second she answered, his voice came low and controlled. “Where are you?”
“At court.”
“Stay there.”
Her stomach tightened. “What happened?”
“We lost him.”
She looked down the hall, instinctively looking through the crowd for Rourke. “He knows?”
“Yeah. He burned surveillance.” JP paused. “And he’s good at it.”
That chilled her more than she expected. “Where are you?”
“I’m coming to get you.”
“I can drive myself.”
“No.” Simple. Flat. Not negotiable.
Sabre started down the hall. “JP—”
“I already called Gene.”
That stopped her. “What?”
“Gene and Conner are picking up your car from your office.”
Sabre blinked once. “You sent Conner?”
“He’s driving Gene.”
Which meant JP had already thought this through. He made sure there was no reason for her to go back to the office building alone. No predictable routine and no exposed parking lot.
Her pulse quickened. “Do you think Rourke would come after me?”
“I don’t know what he’d do. But I’m not gambling on it.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen.”
~~~
Sabre sat back down and Bob joined her on the bench while she explained everything.
“Dang, Sobs, you get in the craziest messes.” He put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug. “I’ll wait with you until Gene or JP get here.”
“You don’t need to do that. There’s plenty of bailiffs around to protect me.”
“You’re right, they can protect you. I’ll just keep you company.”
A moment later Gene walked up. They stood and approached him.
“Thanks for coming,” Sabre said.
“Anytime. Conner’s in my truck. I just need your keys.”
Sabre handed them to him.
“Thanks. See you at home.”
Sabre sat back down. It was quiet at the courthouse since most of the calendars were finished. Only a few attorneys and parents remained. Normal life continued. Meanwhile somewhere nearby, Daniel Rourke now knew police had followed him.
Sabre turned to Bob. “If he knows we suspect him, we may never see Hannah again.”
“There’s only so much you can do, Sobs.”
Her cell beeped. Sabre looked down at it. “JP’s outside.”
“Let’s go.”
Sabre looked through the courthouse glass doors toward the curb. JP’s truck waited at the red zone. Bob walked her out, she said good-bye, and got into the truck.
“Are you okay?” JP asked as he pulled away from the curb.
“No.”
He nodded like he’d expected that. Traffic crawled through Kearny Mesa while the late afternoon sun dropped lower across the buildings.
Sabre stared out the windshield. “He’s going to run with her.”
JP’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Maybe.”
She shook her head. “He’ll disappear. They’ll have new identities, a new city, a new state maybe.” And she believed that completely.
JP glanced over briefly. “Do you think he’d leave Bay?”
Sabre considered it. “I don’t know. Bay complicated things for him. She’s in custody now, charged with murder, and visible. She may be expendable to him.” That bothered Sabre more than she wanted to admit.
JP changed lanes. “DuBois put surveillance around our house.”
Sabre sucked in a breath. “Do you think he’d go there?”
“I think we stop assuming what he would or wouldn’t do.”
Silence settled between them for several blocks.
JP finally said, “He’ll contact you.”
“Why do you think so?”
JP slowed at a light. “Because men like Rourke don’t think they’re villains. He believes he saved Hannah, which means part of him wants you to understand.”
Sabre looked out the window. The city blurred past. “What if Hannah doesn’t want to leave him?”
“We deal with that when we get there.”
Sabre nodded. But deep down she knew that finding Hannah might turn out to be easier than bringing her home.
They were halfway to the house when Sabre’s phone rang. An unknown number.
“Put it on speaker,” JP said, his voice tight.
Sabre took the call. “Hello?”
Silence for a second. Then Daniel Rourke’s voice calmly filled the truck cab. “You disappointed me today.”
Sabre felt her stomach drop.
JP’s eyes stayed on the road, but his entire posture stiffened.
“Daniel—,”
“I really believed you wanted the truth.” He almost sounded hurt. “I didn’t think you’d bring police into it.”
Sabre forced herself to sound empathetic. “No one’s accusing you of anything.”
“You know, Sabre,” Rourke lectured, “one of the hardest lessons in this world is understanding that finding people sometimes hurts them more than losing them.”
Not quite a threat, but close enough.
Sabre kept her voice even. “Where’s Hannah?”
Silence. Then softly, “That depends on what happens next.”
The line disconnected.