The Advocate (The Advocate Series) (17 page)

“What did you tell them?”

“I just told them Elizabeth had dropped Alexis off and left like she always did. They asked me questions about her demeanor, and if she’d said anything else. But I just told them she acted normal. The younger one kept asking me things. He tried to be sensitive and still do his job, but the older guy told him to let up, just the same. I was grateful. I didn’t want to slip and say something. I thought at the time the older cop was concerned about upsetting me.”

“What do you mean, ‘at the time’?”

“Well, later on, I went down to the police station. I decided to tell them what I knew. I figured the goon lied about having the police in his pocket and they could protect Alexis. When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the gray-haired cop standing by a car talking to someone inside. At first I wasn’t sure it was the same cop who had been at my house earlier, so I drove up closer and sure enough it was. I thought, ‘This is good; I caught him before he left.’ He was the one I wanted to talk to anyway because he’d been so nice to me.” Ruby paused to take a breath.

“So did you stop and talk to him?”

“No, because when I got close enough to see his face real good, I could see the big goon who had been at my house earlier sitting in the car. The really big goon.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. He filled the whole space in the driver’s seat and I could see the tattoo, ‘Mama tried,’ on his arm sticking out the window. He reached over with his other hand and gave the cop an envelope full of money.”

“How do you know it had money in it?”

“Because the cop took the money, fanned it out, stuck it back into the envelope, and put it in his pocket.”

“So what did you do then?”

“I drove out of the parking lot and went home. I was so afraid they might have seen me, but apparently they hadn’t, because the cops came back to my house a few times and asked more questions. The gray-haired one always treated me real nice. They both did, but I figured he’d act different if he’d seen me. I always told them the same thing. Once the young cop came by himself, but I didn’t know who to trust, so I didn’t say anything. I was too afraid of what they would do to Alexis if I told.”

“Did Gaylord know about any of this?”

“Not from me. They may have threatened him, too. I don’t know. But if they did, they made a believer out of him, because he never said a word. Nor have I ever told a soul, until now. I sure hope I’m not making a mistake trusting you.”

“All I want is the same thing you do, Mrs. Sterling, for your granddaughter to be safe. I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen.”

“I hope so. I don’t care what happens to me. My daughter is gone and I don’t get to share in Alexis’ life anymore. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to see either of them ever again. It’s all I live for – that possibility. I’d gladly give up my life to have Alexis safe and unafraid.”

“It’s not going to come to that. And we’re going to make sure Alexis is protected.”

When Sabre hung up the phone, she wondered just how she would be able to keep her promise. She looked up and saw Bob standing in her doorway. “You’re pale as a ghost. What’s up?” he asked.

The knots tightened in Sabre’s stomach as she shared the details with Bob in hopes he could help her form a plan.

17

The dawn awakened Sabre long before the alarm rang out. She opened her eyes, looked around, and let out a lingering sigh. Her own bed, her own home, and the need for routine and normalcy overpowered her.

Sabre propped up in the bed, reached into her nightstand, and removed her little red notebook. She read through her goals. Her last entry read,
Skydive.
Certain she could live without any more excitement right now, she thought it best to put it on hold for a little while. She read on,
Learn another language
. She made a mental note to check on some schools in Mexico where she could immerse herself in the culture.

Reading through the rest of the list, she hoped to implant the items into her subconscious. She had read somewhere, if you could transfer your dreams to your subconscious, they had to come true; your mind wouldn’t let you
not
accomplish them. So, every day she read through her list. She chuckled again when she saw
Marry Victor Spanoli
. She had crossed it off her list, but it remained the only entry in red ink, so it always jumped out at her. At six years old, red ink seemed appropriate. She wondered about the “subconscious thing.” If that entry implanted in her subconscious, she feared she may never marry – not that she was looking. She liked living alone, but maybe someday.

Sabre felt good this morning, except for a slight headache. She stepped out of bed with a smile on her face and headed downstairs to make her coffee, thinking she needed to buy one of those coffee pots where she could set the timer and wake up to the smell of coffee brewing in the mornings. On the way down the steps, she noticed her little brown bear sitting on the wrong step. He always sat on the second-to-the-top step, but this morning he sat on the fourth step from the top. For a split second she felt uneasy, but dismissed it thinking she must have moved him when she vacuumed. She placed him back where he belonged and went downstairs and brewed her coffee.

Sabre picked out one of her favorite mugs, threw a piece of wheat bread in the toaster, and walked into the living room. The sun streamed in through the sliding glass door, making her aware the blinds were slightly open. Fear welled up inside her. She would never have left the blinds like that. Hurrying across the floor, she checked the slider and found it locked. Moving first to the front door and then the back, she checked the other locks, all locked. “I’m way too jumpy. Bob must’ve left it open last night when he came by here.”

The phone rang, startling her. She picked it up, but no one answered. She hung it up. Concerned, she ran upstairs to get dressed. The phone rang again. She picked it up and snapped, “Hello.”

“What’s the matter with you this morning? You get up on the wrong side of the bed?” Bob asked.

“I’m sorry. The phone rang a second ago and no one answered. I thought it was someone goofing around,” she fibbed.

“Sorry, I’m the culprit. I called on my cell and I could hear you, but apparently you couldn’t hear me. I kept saying hello, but you didn’t answer.” He heard her sigh. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little jumpy; I’ll tell you about it later. I’ll be leaving here in about fifteen minutes for court. Did you call about something special?”

“No, just to check on you. See you in a bit.”

Sabre finished getting ready and drove to the courthouse. She pulled into a parking space and sat for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Her head spinning, she thought about everything that had happened: the bat, the conversation with Mrs. Sterling, the stuffed bear in the wrong spot, and her open curtain. “Ahhh . . . !” She jumped, startled by the knock on her window.

“Hey, it’s just me,” Bob said. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, as she exited the car.

“Sorry, Sobs. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“It’s okay, just lots of things making me jumpy these days. I noticed one of my stuffed animals sitting on the wrong step this morning and I don’t recall moving him, and my window blind was partially open. Do you think maybe you moved the blind last night when you checked the house?”

“I don’t recall moving the blinds, but I certainly could have. I did look around pretty carefully. What else could it be? It’s not likely someone came in your house just to move a bear and mess up a curtain.”

“You’re right. Just too much going on, and it has me a nervous wreck,” she said, dismissing the concern. She changed the subject. “I haven’t been able to get the conversation I had with Ruby Sterling out of my head. How terrified they must’ve been. I don’t know what to do with the information. What good does it do me? How am I going to protect Alexis? If I tell anyone, it might be her death sentence. I just don’t know what to do.”

Bob put his arm around his friend’s shoulder and gave her a hug as they walked towards the courthouse. “Let’s think about this. For starters, you need to keep Alexis safe. She’s probably better off at Jordan Receiving Home than she would be anywhere else right now. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Sabre replied.

“Okay, talk to Marla. Don’t tell her what you know because she’ll have to write it up in a report. Just tell her you have some reason to believe Alexis could be put in harm’s way. She’ll trust you and beef up security the best she can.”

“Good idea,” Sabre responded. Not thinking clearly, and with her head still aching, she appreciated Bob’s help.

“Then you call Detective Carriage and see if he has found the Sterling file yet. Maybe there’s a clue in there.”

“Do you think I should tell Detective Carriage what I know?”

“Can you trust him?”

“I don’t know. He’s been very helpful, providing me with information he has found. He followed up on Mattie for me and has kept me informed on everything. Well, as far as I know, everything. I do have to admit I wondered in the beginning why he seemed so anxious to help me. And Ruby did tell me the thugs said they had the police in their pocket.”

“Do you think he is somehow involved with all this?”

“I just don’t know. He could be. In my gut I don’t think so, but I’m just not willing to take the risk. What if I’m wrong?”

“Good reasoning. See, you are thinking logically. So, get whatever information you can from Carriage and we’ll take it from there. We still have five days before the hearing. In the meantime, I don’t want you at the office by yourself, and I think you should stay with us for a few days.”

“Do you think there’s a connection between this case and all the crazy stuff happening to me?” Sabre grimaced.

“Perhaps, in which case, even the slightest thing we’ve been writing off to coincidence may be a part of some diabolical scheme.”

“No, that’s just too crazy.” Sabre tried once again to dismiss it all. “Look, I’ll be fine. I promise not to be at the office alone, but I’m not staying with you and your family. Besides, if someone is after me, it’s only going to put all of you in danger as well. In fact, are you sure you want to hang around with me? You never know,” Sabre said in a spooky voice.

“You joke, but I think we need to take this seriously. Look, I have a friend, JP, who’s a private investigator. You met him just a couple of months ago at Corey’s school play, remember? Tall, nice-looking guy, very intense?”

“Yeah, the one who reminded me of the movie star, what’s his name . . . Robert Urich.”

“He’s the one.”

“So, what about him?”

“Well, I’m sure you could stay with him for a little while. I’ll give him a call and make the arrangements.”

“Bob, I’m not leaving my home. You’re overreacting. I’ll be fine.” Sabre had made up her mind. “Let’s finish up here.” They walked into the courthouse and went to work.

With Sabre’s head bandaged, the scratches, and her black eye, word of the incident didn’t take long to spread around the courthouse. Everywhere she went she had to explain what had happened. She shared with Judge Cheney, Mike, and the court clerks in Department Four what had really occurred. The rest of the questions were answered with silly responses – things like “wild date” or “got to fix that trapeze.” Bob made up an elaborate story about some guy on stilts. The stories kept changing from one courtroom to the other. Some people kept pushing the issue. When they did, the stories just became more preposterous.

Bob and Sabre completed their morning calendars and walked out of the courthouse together. “Wreaking havoc in the courthouse about your accident was fun,” Bob said.

“Yeah, it broke up the monotony for sure, but I started to run out of clever things to say. You, on the other hand, seemed to improve as the morning went on. And the story you and Mike cooked up together–about the whips and chains and leather – please! I should be so lucky.”

“Mike really got into it. I think he had that little social worker going for awhile.” Bob laughed. “So, what’s up, Sobs? Time for lunch?”

“Yup. Pho’s?”

“Sure, it’s close and I have a trial this afternoon. How about you?”

“No, but I have a doctor’s appointment at three o’clock. I plan to stop and see Carla on the way. She’s worried about me. I think she just needs to see I’m okay. Also, her therapist asked me to stop in sometime between one and three today. He wanted to talk to me.”

After lunch, Sabre drove to see Carla. Things had been pretty bad for Carla since her encounter with Dr. Steele, whom she believed to be Ron. She had suffered a relapse, and didn’t seem to be gaining any ground. During Sabre’s visit, Carla mostly sat and stared at the walls. Sabre held her hand and talked to her until time for her appointment with the therapist.

Dr. Vincent, a rather plain looking, fifty-five-year-old man, stood about five-feet, ten inches tall. He had a stocky build and a full head of bushy, brown hair, with very little grey sprinkled throughout. On his rather large nose, appearing to have been broken several times, sat a pair of “Buddy Holly” glasses. He was a gentle, soft-spoken man and was well respected in the community. His credentials from Stanford and Notre Dame permitted him to work wherever he wanted. Fortunately for Carla, he chose to work with patients in her facility, and he seemed quite pleased with the progress Carla had made prior to this recent setback with Dr. Steele.