Page 37 of Final Approach (Lake City Heroes #4)
A sob slipped out and Andrew wanted to smash the man’s face. Doing his best to keep his emotions in check, he said, “It’s okay, Mom. I’m here. I’ll take care of this. Are your cameras working?”
“Yes, of course, but all you can see is a person wearing a mask. We already looked.”
“That’s okay, I want a copy anyway.”
“Sure.” His father nodded, then rubbed his temples, careful not to touch the wounded place.
“Let me get you some Motrin for that headache.”
He ran up to their apartment and found the medicine and two water bottles.
Once he had them taken care of, he walked over to James, who’d arrived seconds after Andrew had walked through the door. “Thanks for taking this. There’s no one I’d rather have on this case than you and Cole.”
“We’ve got it covered, I promise.”
“I know. Thanks. Although I’ll admit I feel torn, because you guys should probably be with Hank.”
“He’s got so much coverage, he’s probably suffocating,” Cole said. “Kenzie will let us know if we’re needed. Right now, we’re here for you. Jesslyn is with Kristine.”
“Thanks. Good.” He glanced at his phone. “She texted me. I need to answer.” He tapped a reply that he appreciated her offer and he’d be in touch when he had more information.
“We’ll grab the security footage,” Cole said, “and see what the analyst can come up with.”
Andrew started to rejoin his parents when he noticed them deep in a whispered but fervent conversation.
Then his father stood to pace in front of the couch while his mother sat staring at her hands.
Andrew frowned and went to place a hand on his father’s bicep.
The man stopped but wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Dad? What is it?” he asked. “What are you not telling me?”
“Nothing, Son. It’s just...” He looked at his wife and sighed. “Nothing.”
“That’s not true,” his mother said. “It is something and I can’t ask you to keep it from Andrew.” She stood and pressed her fingers to her lips. “Corey came by today asking for money.”
“What? I thought you said he was coming Friday.”
“We thought so too, but he came today and said he was in debt to some bad people and needed the money today or they were going to kill him.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.” His father shook his head. “I refused.”
“What did he say? Was he angry?”
His mother laughed, a short sound without humor.
“No. I wouldn’t say he was angry. Desperate, but sad too.
He just shook his head and said we were his last hope.
” She lifted her chin. “But I agreed with your father. We couldn’t give him the money.
I told him to go to you and ask for your help.
We explained to him that the only way out of all his problems was to face them, not continue to pay the people who keep adding more and more to the total he owes them.
He’ll never be free of them at that rate. ”
“So,” Andrew said, “it’s possible he came back and did this.”
“No,” his mother said. “I don’t believe so. That’s why I didn’t want to even mention him. Corey would never do this. We got him a hotel room at the Lake City Inn for three nights until we can figure something out.”
“What about the man’s build? How tall would you say he was?”
His dad’s eyes slid away. Then he sighed and shook his head. “Maybe around six feet or so. Slender, not real bulky, but he was fast. I still don’t think it was Corey.”
But it was a description that could match him.
Andrew scrubbed a hand down his cheek. “All right. I need you to tell all of this to Cole and James. I’ll be back in a little while.”
“Where are you going?”
“To take care of something. But I’ll be back. Hopefully with some answers.”
“Andrew—”
His mother’s call didn’t stop him. He headed for his vehicle. It only took him ten minutes to reach his destination and another five to get the room number of his cousin. Room 206.
He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, found the room and pounded on the door. “Corey? It’s me, Andrew. Open up.”
Silence.
He banged again. “Corey! I said open up.”
The lock finally clicked and the door opened. Corey stood there, blinking and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was dressed in knit shorts and a T-shirt and was barefoot. “What in blazes are you doing, Andrew? I finally felt safe enough to fall asleep and you go waking me up. Thanks a ton.”
Andrew pushed inside the room. Corey backed up, his sleepy, bleary gaze on Andrew’s face. Andrew let his anger bubble to the surface. “Where were you three hours ago?”
“Right here. Asleep. Why?”
Could it be true? He let his gaze roam the room. King bed, desk, chair with a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt hanging on the back, closet. He walked to the closet and opened it.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
No clothes. None.
He walked to the dresser and opened the drawers. No clothes.
So, unless he ditched the ski mask, it wasn’t Corey who’d broken into his parents’ store. He turned. “I might owe you an apology, but I’m not sure yet.”
“Huh? Okay. What?” Corey blinked and ran a hand down his face. “Wanna tell me what this is all about?”
“Someone broke into Mom and Dad’s store and robbed it.”
His cousin’s eyes widened. “And you think it was me?” He snorted and sighed, then dropped to sit on the bed. “Of course you do.”
Andrew gestured to the closet and dresser. “You ran with the clothes on your back.”
“Yep. I had a visit from my bookie’s hurt men—”
“Who?”
“Sorry. My name for them. You know, like hit men, but hurt men. The guys who come to beat you up because they think that’s going to make you pay back the money you owe faster.”
“Enforcers.”
“Right. Enforcers. Hurt men.”
Yeah. That had never made sense to him either. “Corey...”
“They demanded money. I don’t have it. I gambled it all away instead of spending it on drugs.”
“Because that’s better?”
“No. I’m clean, though, Andrew. I had a good job.
Was doing really good. And then I got laid off.
I tried finding more work, but no one wants to hire an ex-con.
So, I was down to my last two hundred bucks with no sight of any more coming in.
I was going to work my last day and then come here, but I ran out of time.
” He shrugged. “I mean, if I hadn’t gambled it, I would have snorted it.
And I didn’t want to go back there. I’ve done a lot of lousy things in my life, but I didn’t break into the store. I’d never do that.”
Andrew pulled on every ounce of patience he could muster. “If it wasn’t you, then it was probably the guys after you, and you led them straight to my parents!” He jabbed a finger in Corey’s chest.
His cousin winced and jumped off the bed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do or where to go!” He paced to the window.
Thankfully, he’d had the sense to close the curtains, but Andrew said, “You might want to stay away from the window.”
Corey moved to the corner of the room. Then he raked a hand over his head. “They didn’t follow me to the bookstore. I was careful. Paranoid. Looking over my shoulder every minute. No, it wasn’t me.”
“So, it’s just a coincidence?”
“It has to be.”
Andrew scoffed and shook his head, then stomped to the door and grabbed the handle. “Stay away from my parents until you get this mess cleaned up.”
“How?” Corey asked. “How do I clean it up when I can’t pay them off?”
His cousin sounded so lost and so miserable that Andrew stopped and dropped his chin to his chest. Don’t do it , don’t do it. Don’ t you dare.
“Who do you owe money to?”
Corey bit his lip and shrugged. Mumbled something.
“What?”
“Bobby Bigfoot!”
Andrew wanted to bang his head on the door attached to the handle he should have pushed ten seconds ago. “Dude...”
“I know. I’m an idiot.”
“To put it mildly.” Bobby Bigfoot was one of the most feared organized crime bosses on the planet.
He was ruthless, evil even. A man no one wanted to cross.
Including a lot of those in law enforcement.
You sure didn’t want him knowing your name.
Andrew sent up prayers for patience and wisdom.
And this time paused to listen. It was a short pause, but something shifted inside him.
Compassion. Thank you , God. He sighed and turned back to Corey.
“Fine. I’ll help you. On one condition.”
“What?”
“You have to be a CI.”
Corey huffed out a harsh laugh. “You mean be a snitch.”
“Yeah. It’s the only way.”
“But how? He doesn’t trust me. He wants to kill me.”
“We can fix that. When you show up with double what you owe him, he’ll want to know where you got the money.”
“I want to know where I got the money.”
“You’re going to kill someone to get it.”
Corey’s eyes bugged and Andrew almost smiled.
“Not really, but we can make it look like you did. Then you’re going to convince him you’re the master of mansion home invasions and he wants you on his team.
That you’ve learned your lesson and you’re going to make it up to him if he’ll give you the chance. ”
“But what if he doesn’t? What if he decides to shoot me right there on the spot? I saw him do it to another dude and I don’t want him feeding me the next bullet.”
Andrew stilled. “You saw him shoot someone?”
“Yeah. Right between the eyes. It was awful.” He shuddered. “One minute he was begging for his life and the next, his brains were scattered on the back wall. Truly the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I have nightmares about it.”
“Okay, new plan.”
“What kind of new plan?”
“I need to make some phone calls.”
For the next two hours, he worked on the plan, got everything set up, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to his cousin, who’d been stretched out on the bed watching game shows. “Listen up.”
Corey muted the television and sat up. “What?”
“Here’s the deal. The FBI is going to protect you for now. They have to be sure they have a solid case. You’ll need to tell them everything, help them build this case so they can establish that the person you saw murdered disappeared without a trace. You understand what I’m telling you?”
“Yes,” Corey muttered. “And after that?”
“Well, not so much after that, but while they’re establishing all of that, they’ll also be questioning you about Bobby Bigfoot and his associates, any other crimes like gambling, extortion, burglaries, truck hijackings, and so on, along with any other potential witnesses to those crimes.”
“Um ... that sounds like a lot.”
“It is. You can cooperate or die. It’s pretty much your choice.” He really wanted the man to cooperate.
Corey held his hands up in surrender. “I’m in, Andrew, because in spite of what you think, I don’t have a choice. I want to live, and if this is what I have to do to make that happen, then I’m in.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes and studied him.
Yes, he was all in. Andrew relaxed a fraction.
This might work out well for all of them.
“Okay, perfect. Also, during all of that, the application will be filed for WITSEC, and US Marshals will review it and determine your suitability for the program and that you understand and agree to all the terms that will be outlined and explained to you.”
He rubbed his jaw. “So, they could deny it? The application?”
“They could, but honestly, if you give them everything you have and are forthcoming with all the information, then I don’t think they will. Bobby Bigfoot is a bad dude and they know it.”
“Right.”
“So you’re good with this?”
“Yeah.”
Andrew hesitated, then pulled Corey in for a hug. “I want this to work for you, man.”
Corey stepped back, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry for everything, Andrew. But I appreciate you helping me.” He hesitated. “Why are you?”
“Because God told me to.”
“Oh.”
“And you better put forth some effort to get to know him because you need him.”
“Maybe I’ll find a church wherever I land.”
“You do that.” And he’d stay in touch too. There were ways even in WITSEC that he could communicate with his cousin. It would help him not feel so cut off.
Once the two FBI agents arrived, Andrew greeted them and turned his cousin over to them. Then he walked out of Corey’s hotel room, exhausted, but satisfied with the plan they had in place.
Andrew reached his car, heard a footfall behind him, and spun.
Scented liquid hit him in the face and he gasped. Breathed in the distinct smell of chloroform and stumbled to lean against the car. Darkness closed in and he let himself sink to the ground, not wanting to fall and risk hitting his head.
A man leaned in. “Now, the fun begins.”