Page 12 of Final Approach (Lake City Heroes #4)

“Okay, then yes, I would appreciate it. When you get to the house, next to the front door, look to your left. The third brick from the bottom is loose. Pull it out and there should be a key under it.”

“Okay, thanks.”

She rubbed her hands on her sheet-covered thighs. “I hope they’re going to let me out of here before too long. I need to get home to my children. My neighbors I’m sure didn’t factor in overnight stays.”

“But they came through for you when you needed it.”

Her brow crinkled as though she hadn’t thought of it quite like that before. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“I think you have more friends than you might have been aware of.”

“I don’t know. Jacob says they’re only offering to help so they can tell their friends they know the hijacker.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them with tears shimmering. “How is Jacob? When will he be able to come back home?”

“I’m not sure, but I would guess as soon as you’re able to care for him.

” She hesitated. “We need the names of the friends your other kids are with. As long as you give permission for them to stay there and CPS clears them, they should be all right and can stay put until you’re able to take them home. ”

“I ... I don’t know. I don’t know if I should tell you that or not.”

Kristine bit her lip, trying to choose her words carefully. “Look, they’ll find them one way or another. If you cooperate and let CPS check in on them, things will go better for everyone. Especially the kids. You hear what I’m saying?”

The woman dropped her eyes and sniffed. Then nodded. “Yeah.” She gave Kristine the names, and she sent the information on to Andrew and Nathan in a group text. They’d pass that to those who needed it. She looked up at Tabitha again. “The social worker brought Jacob by, didn’t he?”

“No. I haven’t seen him.”

Rats.

Tabitha frowned harder. “Was he going to?”

“He said he was.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket.

“I’ll check on him and see where he is. His name is Billy Freeman and he seemed like a decent man.

Was very concerned about Jacob.” Especially when the bullets were flying, but since Tabitha hadn’t brought that up, she didn’t see the need to add that to her worries.

That would come soon enough. “The social worker promised to bring him here to see you.”

Alarm widened the woman’s eyes. “You don’t think something’s happened, do you?”

Kristine rose. “Excuse me while I find out.” No more texting. She dialed Nathan’s number and he answered on the second ring.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Kristine filled him in.

“I’m sorry, what? He never took him?”

“No.”

“Aw man. I thought he was one of the good ones.”

“Can you check and see where Jacob is and what happened?”

“Of course. Give me a few minutes. I’ll get back to you shortly.”

“Thanks.” She hung up and walked back into the room. “Agent Carlisle is checking.”

Tabitha pulled at the tape on her IV. “I can’t believe this. I’ve got to get out of here, get my kids, and get home. They’re only keeping me here because that psychiatrist was coming by, but I can talk to him another time.”

“But your oxygen levels ... you may not be stable yet.”

“I had some kind of weird reaction to the medicine. Yes, my oxygen kept going up and down, but I’ve been fine for the past few hours.

My kids ... they don’t even know their father is dead and I don’t want them to see it on the news.

” Sobs once more shook her thin frame and she dropped her chin to her chest.

Kristine crossed the room and placed a hand over hers.

“Don’t. Please. Let’s find out what’s going on before you leave against medical advice.

You’re right, your kids need you. And they need you healthy.

In the meantime, you can call the friends that have your kids and ask them to make sure they don’t see the news.

” It would give the woman something to do that would feel proactive for her.

Tabitha sucked in a breath and struggled to control her crying.

It took her a minute, but she finally swiped the last tear.

“Yes. Okay. That’s a good idea. I can do that.

” She sent a beseeching look to Kristine.

“But Jacob ... in custody of CPS? I swore my kids would never know what it was like to be...” She shook her head, pressed her fingers to her eyes.

“No, I don’t want to leave them any longer with the people keeping them.

I need to be with my children. I have to tell them their father is gone.

I have to be the one to hold them when they cry. ”

Kristine slid an arm around Tabitha’s shoulders.

“I know. I understand. Just call one of them and have her call the others. Please. Give Agent Carlisle a few more minutes to find out about Jacob and I’ll make sure you see him before you go to sleep tonight if at all possible.

Then, as long as your friends check out, it’s very possible Jacob can stay with one of them instead of going to an emergency foster placement. ”

“You think?”

“I mean, I can’t promise, but I think it’s a definite possibility. We can only find out if we ask.”

Tabitha nodded, her eyes drooping. “I’m so tired, but one call. I can do that.”

“Good.”

She did, then dropped the phone beside her on the bed like it had taken every ounce of energy she had left.

“Rest,” Kristine said. “I’ll wake you when I know something.”

“Okay.” The woman was asleep as soon as her eyes shut.

Two minutes later, Kristine’s phone rang. Andrew. She swiped the screen. “Hey.”

“Nathan checked on Jacob and found out he ran away.”

Kristine slipped out of the room, letting the door shut quietly behind her. “Details please?”

“I talked to Freeman and he said when he stopped at a red light, the kid took off. Apparently, when he got in the back seat, Jacob flipped off the child lock switch on the door and Freeman didn’t see him do it. He’s filed a report. Now it’s a matter of hoping Jacob will show up.”

“Why would Jacob do that when he was so desperate to see his mother?”

“Beats me. Maybe he didn’t believe the social worker would take him to the hospital. He’s not at the house. The crime scene people were still there, but officers went by to check anyway. No one has seen him.”

“And as far as I can tell,” Kristine said, “he’s not here at the hospital. Tabitha told me she and Marcus grew up in the system. If Jacob’s heard not-so-great stories about those years, he might be terrified to find himself in custody of the state.”

“Yeah.” Andrew’s sigh reached her through the line, and she wished she could see his face, his kind eyes, feel his gentle hand on her shoulder as he offered comfort or a wise word...

“Okay, Tabitha’s asleep for the moment,” she said. “I’ll fill her in, but she’s going to insist on leaving. She’ll want to look for Jacob herself. And honestly, I don’t blame her. If it was my kid, I’d do the very same thing.”

“I know. I get it. Try to dissuade her from that, though, if you can.”

“Of course. She’s so exhausted, she wouldn’t get far anyway.”

“Like I said, FBI and CSU are still at the house, but they’re almost done.

It’s been searched up one side and down the other.

Any and all papers, files, everything has been confiscated, so hopefully, there will be something in there to give us a clue who’s behind the hijacking.

In the meantime, I’m going by my parents’ place, then I plan to meet my guy with the Serpentine Network connection.

He might have some answers. I’ll keep you updated. ”

“Good deal. I’m going to check on Tabitha and see if she knows where Jacob might go. She also wants me to go by the house to get some items for her.” She hesitated. “She seemed to think the money would be at the house. That search warrant is still good for you, right?”

“Yes.”

“And it includes the money, right?”

“Of course.”

“Want to meet me there after your meeting? I mean, technically, I’m not allowed to do the search, but no reason I can’t watch.”

“I can do that. I’ll text when I’m on the way, but it could be a couple of hours.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for your text, then see you when you get there.”

“Talk soon.”

They hung up, and Kristine took a deep breath and reentered the room to tell a woman who desperately didn’t need more bad news that her son had disappeared.

ANDREW HUNG UP from the call to Kristine and made his way to his parents’ bookstore, Pages & Prose. He hated that Jacob had run away, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Officers were looking for him.

He had to focus on what he could do. And right now, that was talking to his parents about their decision to let Corey come live with them.

Temporarily. Because he just needed a place to stay, not money.

Right. Andrew hated to be so skeptical about a relative, but ten times bitten and all that...

He pulled into a parking space in front of the store and stepped out of the car. Movement to his left caught his attention, and he noticed a man in a hoodie standing on the curb across the street, hands in his pockets, watching him. Andrew couldn’t make out his face, but he could feel his gaze.

Or was the guy debating about crossing the street to visit the bookstore? Or waiting on someone to join him?

Andrew stood a moment longer, just watching. A woman walked between them and the man turned to fall into step beside her. She said something to him and he laughed.

Andrew shook off the moment, twisted the knob, and pushed the door open.

The little bell announced his arrival. He shut the door and sucked in a slow, deep breath.

No matter how often they opened a new place in a new city, it always smelled the same.

The smell he grew up on. And he had to admit, he never tired of it.

The store was quiet, only a few customers browsed the aisles.

Andrew found his father sitting on a stool behind the counter, reading a book.

He looked up and smiled. “Andrew. You should have called and let me know you were coming. I would have put a fresh pot of coffee on.”

“That’s what the Keurig is for.”

His father grimaced. “Coffee in a plastic pod. I don’t understand your generation.” He walked around to give Andrew a hug.

“Instant gratification at its finest.” Andrew patted his dad on the back, then nodded toward the stairs. “Mom upstairs?”

“She is. She wanted to throw a load of clothes in the washer and make the bed in the room Corey will be using. What’s up?”

Corey. Ugh. “I had a few minutes before I have to meet someone and was hoping to catch you alone and talk to you about something.”

A frown creased his father’s forehead. “About what, Son?”

“You already mentioned him. Corey.”

“Ah. Yes. I thought you might have more to say about the idea of him staying here.”

They fixed their coffee and moved to the table behind the counter, where his father could keep an eye on the register but sit across from each other to chat.

“What are your thoughts on that, Dad? What do you really think, because you and I both know Corey, and there’s no way you can think this is a good idea. ”

“Well, I understand your concerns, of course, but I also understand your mother’s need to help him.”

Andrew nodded. “She explained. But his track record isn’t the best. In fact, it’s really bad.”

“I know that.”

Of course he did, but still... “And if he steals you blind?”

His father cocked his head at him. “You really think I’m not going to take precautions?”

Huh. Okay. “Like what?”

The man winked at him. “I’ll sleep with my laptop under the mattress.”

“Dad—”

“Son, let it go. This is a choice we’re making in the hope of helping a young man who needs it.” The door chimed and his father stood. “Now, let me get back to work and we’ll chat when you come to dinner on Friday.”

Friday. Right. Andrew stood. “All right. But just think about this? Promise me?”

“Of course.” His dad hugged him and then Andrew found himself out on the sidewalk.

He shook his head and headed for his car.

Okay , God , here we are again. Back to this thorn in my side.

How can Corey coming here be a good thing ?

I’m all for helping someone out , but if he takes advantage of Mom and Dad , you and I are going to have a lot to work on .

He paused. Okay , a lot more than what we’re already working on .

He sighed. I know you’ve got this. Just help me feel it. Please?

Again the sensation of being watched crept over him and he stopped to look around. Nothing seemed out of place or—

The guy in the hoodie was back. And looking in his direction.

Andrew debated for a fraction of a second before heading across the street.

He’d just ask him if he could help him with something.

But the guy turned and walked away, vanishing before Andrew could reach him.

For the next ten minutes, he looked for him, checking stores and restaurants.

Finally, he gave up but was tempted to get some security footage to see if he could get a look at the guy’s face.

He checked his phone and found a message from Hank. He deciphered it and came up with “Time changed to 10:00 PM to be safe. See u soon.”