Page 47 of Final Approach (Lake City Heroes #4)

TWENTY-FIVE

Kristine nodded, her face white. “That’s already occurred to me, but you’re going to have to get me loose first.”

He paused. “I could shoot it off, but I don’t want to risk another bullet. There’s an axe on board somewhere. Where do I find it?”

“Cockpit. Look for the toolbox.” She moved next to her glaring father, who’d regained his breath, and started checking his pockets. He fought her with his free hand and she punched him in the temple.

He flinched back and went still, his shock evident.

She stared at him. “Move again and no one will blame me if I go find a knife and slit your throat.” She wouldn’t do that, of course, but wanted him to believe she would.

He stayed still, jaw tight, bruise forming where her fist had connected.

Her hand throbbed and she honestly didn’t care.

Her left hand closed around his key ring. “Never mind. Found the key.”

In seconds, she was loose and had the ankle cuff around her father’s leg.

No sense in taking any chances. Then she went to the cockpit and slid into the pilot’s seat.

She put the headphones on and connected with the control tower.

Nausea swirled once more in her empty stomach.

She looked back at Andrew. “And this is why you always have two pilots on board.”

“This plane doesn’t require it.”

“I know.”

“And besides, there are two pilots. You and the wounded guy. We need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.”

“If he would wake up, that would be a lot easier.”

“You can do this.”

Kristine pulled in a steadying breath and nodded.

“Right.” Her heart pounded and she gripped the control stick.

“Right. And I’ll have someone talking me down too.

Okay, here we go.” The hum of the engine was steady.

That was good, but the sky pressed down on her.

At least the gray clouds hadn’t released their bounty. “Please, God, don’t let it rain.”

“Amen,” Andrew whispered.

She turned her attention to the mic while Andrew checked on the pilot and her suspiciously silent father. Ignore them . Andrew’s got them covered.

She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and returned her hands to the stick.

The altimeter was spinning too fast and the horizon seemed a little bouncy, but they were still in the air.

Her mind flashed to her lessons. Her instructor’s voice in her ear.

“Keep your wings level. Trust your instruments and stay calm.” Right. Stay calm. No problem.

She spoke into the headset. “Control, this is N763Delta. Pilot has been shot and is unconscious. Two other passengers on board in addition to myself. I do have some training but am going to need help landing this craft.”

The silence that followed was an eternity, with her heart still pounding out a frantic rhythm in her ears.

Finally, the radio crackled. “N763Delta, this is Lake City Control. We’re here. Stay calm and we’ll get you on the ground safely. What’s your current altitude?”

Kristine glanced at the altimeter. “Five thousand feet. And falling. I’m going down too fast.”

“Glad you recognize that. We need to reduce your speed. Ease back on the stick.”

She obeyed and let out another breath of relief when the plane responded like it was supposed to.

She glanced at Andrew, and he gave her a thumbs-up.

He looked like she was getting ready to pull up to the nearest restaurant and let him out to get a table.

Calm, cool, and completely confident that she could do this.

“Done.”

“Good. We’ve got you on the radar. You’re doing great. Nice and level. Line up with the runway you should be seeing in just a few seconds.”

The ground was close and getting closer, but she’d done this before. Not with this aircraft, but it was all the same. Her training finally kicked in and she spotted the runway.

The first raindrop hit the windshield and she tensed. “No, God, please.”

“You’re doing great,” the voice said. “You’re perfectly lined up with the runway. All you have to do is guide her in.”

Right. Easy peasy.

She squinted through the windshield and turned on the wipers. “Coming in,” she said. “Reducing altitude to two thousand feet, soon to be a thousand.”

“Perfect.”

A scuffling sound made her glance back, and she saw Andrew lifting the pilot. “I’m going to get this guy into a seat and buckled,” he said.

“Yeah. Do that.”

He did so and Kristine heard him say, “Hang in there. We’re real close to getting you help.”

The runway grew larger. She could do this. Three ambulances, firetrucks, and law enforcement were on the side of the strip, ready to bolt into action as soon as she brought the plane to a stop.

“You got this,” Andrew said. He slid into the seat beside her and buckled his seat belt.

Her father was still shackled and lay on the floor. If something happened, he would be safe enough.

“All right, at five hundred feet cut power and flare the plane.”

“Got it.”

The plane dipped lower, the runway rushing up to meet her. In her hyperalert state, she was aware of every sound, every vibration in the controls. Her world had shrunk to the strip of concrete in front of her.

“Five hundred feet,” she said. “Here we go.” She pulled back and the plane began to glide. The runway was right there. She kept her movements steady and sure.

“Flaring now,” she said. The rain came down harder, but she had this. Exhilaration flared too.

“Excellent. I was just getting ready to tell you to do that.”

She pulled back, the nose lifted, and the wheels touched the ground with a soft thud, bounced, then settled. She guided the plane down the runway while her pulse pounded and tears clouded her vision. The wipers cleared the way and she came to a gentle stop.

For a moment, everything was silent, then Andrew was there, unbuckling her and pulling her out of the seat. “You did it, Kristine. You really did it.”

She looked up and smiled. “I did. I really did.” She pulled the curtain of the cockpit closed, wanting complete and total privacy at the moment.

She was so full of conflicting feelings.

Gratitude they were alive. Utter grief at her father’s betrayal and the kind of man he was.

But one thing she was sure of was Andrew, and she wanted more.

“This may be a wildly inappropriate thing to ask right now, but I just—” She closed her eyes, opened them.

“Can you kiss me now?” For some reason, she just needed him to.

She needed the connection, the reassurance that everything was going to be all right. That she and her siblings would heal.

He narrowed his eyes, the tender expression saying he understood, and leaned over to cover her lips with his.

The kiss lasted a full minute and still wasn’t long enough.

She clung to him, a sweet warmth flooding her and hope blossoming in the vicinity of her heart.

The banging on the side of the plane pulled them apart and she gazed up at him.

“This is so counting as my first solo flight.”

IT TOOK THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS to get everything sorted. The pilot was at the hospital. He’d lost a lot of blood, but at least he was alive.

Kristine was still talking with one of the special agents assigned to their case—she’d been kidnapped whether she wanted to admit it or not—and Andrew had filled in the other one.

He now stood in the hallway of the local police station waiting for her to come out of the interrogation room.

They’d been questioned separately, which was protocol.

But now all he wanted was to wrap her in a tight hug and possibly kiss her again.

Make that definitely kiss her again. And hold her for a million years.

There was no denying his feelings at this point, even if he wasn’t quite sure how he got here after battling them for so long.

Battling and losing. Wishy-washy was the term for it.

He didn’t want to be wishy-washy any longer.

He wanted to leave the past where it belonged—in the past. He had a future, and it was time to look toward it instead of over his shoulder.

“Andrew?”

He lifted his head to see Nathan making his way toward him. Hank walked behind him.

Andrew straightened and went to hug his friends, who were more like brothers. “Dude,” Hank said, his voice gruff. “Thought you were a goner there for a while.”

“I never doubted all would work out well.” Okay, maybe there’d been a moment or two, but ... “Kristine is still telling her story. We can find a seat that allows me to watch for her.”

“At the end of the hallway,” Nathan said. “We can pull a table over. Gonna have to make more room for the rest of the crew on their way here.”

Once they were seated with Andrew facing the hallway, he looked at Hank. “Thought you were leaving.”

“I was, but I’m still on the group text and all these messages were coming in about all the drama going down, so I couldn’t just take off quite so fast.”

“Thanks, man,” Andrew said. “And you get to stay on the loop if you want.”

“I’d like that, but probably not a good idea.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll get another burner so we can stay in touch.”

“Perfect.”

Kenzie walked through the double glass doors on the other side of the security wall, followed by Jesslyn, Lainie, Tate, and Steph. Once they were cleared to enter the main area, they made their way to the table.

“Don’t think we’re all going to fit here,” Lainie said. Cole and James were still with Kristine’s father and would probably be tied up with him for a while. His lawyer had met them at the station.

The door opened and Kristine stepped out, spotted them at the end of the hallway, and headed toward them. She looked wiped out and Andrew looked at the others. “Rendezvous later?”

They took the hint, and even though some had just arrived, they gave Kristine their supportive hugs and disappeared, leaving Andrew to pull her close and breathe in the scent that was all her.

“I want a shower and a bed. And some food.”