Page 18 of Final Approach (Lake City Heroes #4)

Andrew rolled his eyes and slipped out of the bathroom.

Maybe all that stubbornness would get the man through the next few painful minutes.

His throbbing arm reminded him he needed the first aid kit too.

But he’d let Hank do what he needed. In the meantime, he forced himself to walk into the master bedroom.

It felt like such an invasion of his friends’ privacy, but he knew if they were aware of the situation, they’d insist he do exactly what he was doing.

First, he used the master bath to examine his wound.

Surprisingly, it didn’t look too bad. Stung like nobody’s business, but a couple of Band-Aids and he’d be fine.

It took him three minutes to find two pairs of sweatpants, T-shirts, socks, a Panthers sweatshirt, and a hoodie.

Clothes for both of them. He carried Hank’s set back to the bathroom and knocked.

“Found some clothes. Give me yours and I’ll toss them in the dryer. ”

The door opened and a hand appeared with wet clothes dangling from it. Andrew took them. “You need any help?” he asked.

“No.”

Well, all right then. He gave the dry items to Hank, then said, “Help yourself to the first aid kit.”

“Will do. Then I’ll bring it out to you.”

“Thanks. I also have my backpack with supplies if you need them.”

A hand appeared and he put the pack into it. The door shut once more.

Andrew put the wet clothes in the dryer, then stepped into the kitchen as Kristine entered, a towel wrapped around her saturated head. “Are there any more towels?” he asked.

“Yeah. Several. In the guest bathroom. Want me to take a look at that shoulder?”

“It’s just a graze.”

“Nevertheless, bet it hurts like crazy.”

“A bit.”

She studied him a moment, then motioned down the hall. “Help yourself to the guest bathroom while I borrow some of Lainie’s clothes. She’s so little, I’m not sure if hers will fit me, but I’m going to look. Anything’s better than wearing this stuff.”

“Agreed. Did you call James or Lainie? Local law enforcement? An ambulance for Hank?”

“No to all of the above. I can’t find the satellite phone.”

He blinked. “No way.”

“Yep. They always have it on the counter and it’s not here. They take it when they go camping or hiking or whatever, so they probably have it with them.” She sighed. “Did anyone mention them going anywhere? They may have decided to take a little trip since we couldn’t go to the Keys.”

“Not to me.”

“Me either.” She pulled at her wet shirt and grimaced. “I’m going to change while I think about the next step.”

“I’ll be thinking too.”

Kristine disappeared down the hall and into the bedroom he’d just come from. Seconds later, Hank came out of the hall bath, walked into the den, and eased onto the sofa, favoring his left side. He had a bandage on his head and his face was pale.

Andrew sat across from him in the recliner. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was in a car wreck.”

“Cute.”

“But a little more human now that I’m warmed up.

I hope your friends don’t mind, but I took a shower and found the Motrin.

Waiting for it to kick in shortly.” He pressed a hand to his eyes, then dropped it to look at Andrew.

“Sorry I brought this to you. Seems like trouble has found a way to track me no matter where I wind up.” His eyes flickered. “I never should have come here.”

“Stop. Don’t do that. I’m glad you came if you’re in trouble.”

“Oh, I’m in trouble all right. We both probably are now that we’ve reconnected.”

“I know. I’m sorry, man. This is on me.” Again.

Guilt surged and he pressed his palms to his eyes.

How did he deal with this? Hopefully better than the last time he’d been the cause of someone’s pain.

Someone’s death. He’d been proven not to be responsible for an innocent man’s death, but it didn’t help when he felt responsible.

Andrew walked to the window to look out.

The rain still fell, but it was more of a drizzle at this point.

He went from window to window, checking for any sign the shooter had managed to follow them, but all was still at the moment.

He turned back to Hank. “What did you mean, you might be responsible for Glenn’s and your dad’s deaths? ”

Hank’s features darkened, then he sighed.

“After Glenn went to prison, I got involved in the SN trying to figure out how things went so wrong, why Glenn would cop to a crime he didn’t commit.

I made it clear I wasn’t happy with his choices, and I guess I made some enemies.

Someone in the gang, someone new—I don’t know where he came from—alluded to that just before I had to take off.

He said something kind of cryptic like ‘When you ignore subtle messages, sometimes you have to be slapped in the face to get your attention.’ I think he meant someone took out Glenn and Dad as a way to send me a message. ”

“Wow.”

“I’ll be looking into that after this mess is all over. Wherever I am.”

“What do you mean wherever you are?”

He shrugged. “Just thinking out loud. All that aside, I did some more investigating into the hijacking. Asked a few questions and all that.”

“Is that what tipped them off?”

“No, I don’t think so. But can’t say for sure. We had it playing on the news. I couldn’t ask about the tat since that isn’t public knowledge, but everyone else seemed to be as surprised as I was about the incident.”

“Hmm.” Andrew rubbed his chin. “Did you find anything else out?”

“Nothing concrete. But I have to say, I don’t think your guy was a member of the SN. No one had heard of him.”

Andrew frowned. “That’s so weird. I don’t get it. Why would the person who hired him force him to get that tattoo?”

“To throw shade on the gang? Maybe it’s someone who has a beef with the gang? Or a beef with Brown?”

“Any of the above is possible.”

A lull fell between them, and Andrew thought Hank might be drifting back off. But the man roused and eyed him. “How have you been since ... you know.”

Andrew suppressed a flinch. Yeah, he knew. “I’ve been fi—” No, he wouldn’t lie. “It’s been hard. I dream about it sometimes. Not every night, but enough that I can’t seem to move on.”

“You shut me out. Even after the civil suit and everything.”

The mild accusation stung, but he couldn’t refute it. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t do it on purpose, I just had to deal with that in my own way.” He looked down at his hands. “You were a great partner and a phenomenal friend. I regret how I pushed you away and I’ve wanted the chance to apologize.”

“No need for all that. You were grieving.”

“True, but that was the time I needed my friends and family most, and I should have leaned into that instead of running away from it.”

“Why did you?”

Andrew swallowed hard. “I suppose because I was ... am ... ashamed.”

Hank raised his right brow. “Ashamed of what?”

“An innocent man died partly because of me, and I still don’t know how to wrap my head around it. I wake up a lot of nights in a cold sweat because I’m trying to save him and he’s ... just gone. He literally disappears in my dreams. As though to mock me and my failure.”

“Come on, man, you weren’t to blame.”

“That civil suit was rough. I honestly wasn’t sure it was going to go the way it did. A man died while in our custody. I was there and I—”

“—was not responsible.”

“I know, but his family was devastated. I still see his mother’s eyes glaring at me, blaming me. His brother too.”

“You know as well as I do that when something like that happens, people need to place blame. Whether it’s deserved or not.”

He did know that, but it didn’t help much.

Kristine chose that moment to join them, and Andrew snapped his lips shut on the response he’d been about to make.

He was to blame and no one would convince him otherwise.

And someone like Kristine deserved so much better than him.

He swallowed and tried to ignore her loveliness but found it impossible.

She’d dried her hair and pulled it back into her signature ponytail.

She’d also found a pair of plaid sleep pants that stopped mid-calf and an oversized sweatshirt.

She carried her wet clothes into the laundry room off the kitchen.

Andrew grabbed his and tossed them in with Kristine’s. “You feeling okay?” he asked her.

“Yep. Just concerned about your friend.”

“I am too.”

“How’s your shoulder?”

“Fine. Just gouged the skin a bit.”

“Want me to stitch you up?”

“No need for stitches. It’s okay. I’ll be right back. Gonna check on Hank.”

Andrew moved to the open area of the kitchen to see Hank sleeping.

“Andrew?”

Kristine’s tense voice returned him to her side. “What?”

She pointed out the kitchen window. “That.”

A car was coming down the road, slow and intentional. Looking for them?