Page 10 of Final Approach

A bit of cheesecake clung to her bottom lip and Andrew cleared his throat, forcing himself not to imagine what it might be like to have the right to kiss that away.

All righty then. He snagged a napkin and passed it to her. “You’ve got ... right here.” He pointed to his lip.

She met his gaze and took the napkin, then swiped her lips. He looked away. What was it about her that wanted to smash throughevery romantic defense mechanism he’d built over the last couple of years?

Nathan laughed. “So, let me guess, the salad cancels out the calories in the cheesecake?”

“Exactly,” she said and took another bite.

“Are you going to eat that whole thing?” Andrew asked.

“Why? You want a bite?”

“More than just about anything.”

Nathan laughed and Kristine snickered while she pushed the plate in front of him. He swiped a large bite, and the sugary cocoa explosion was definitely something to be savored. “Wow. That never gets old.”

“Right?”

Nathan’s phone buzzed and then Andrew’s.

They both got the same message. Erik Leary was at the jail awaiting interrogation. He passed the word to Kristine.

All joking aside, they finished their meals in record time, paid, and headed out the door.

THREE

Kristine was tired. The day had started early with an adrenaline rush of excitement about the trip and ten days of sun and sand. Then there’d been the adrenaline spike triggered by taking down a hijacker. As for the motive behind the attempt, Kristine wasn’t sure. Yes, Marcus’s motive was crystal clear. But if he was telling the truth about the person who hired him—and she thought he was—then that was murky.

Terrorist plot or weird gang thing or...?

And why the tattoo?

She didn’t know, but they’d figure it out eventually.

She pulled into the detention center once again, parked, and walked inside. Andrew and Nathan were waiting just inside the glass doors.

“What’s the background on this guy?” she asked. “You get that information yet?”

Andrew nodded. “Married, father of three, deacon in his church, volunteers with his wife at the homeless shelter once a month. And more. But absolutely no obvious connection to the hijacker and nothing to indicate he’s involved in this.”

She frowned. “And yet ...this.”

“Yes.”

Nathan shook his head. “Something is very wonky. Nothing about this is adding up.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope. He’s waiting on us. Ready?”

“Ready.” Once again, she followed them back to an interrogation room where Erik Leary sat. He had his hands loosely clasped on the table, but one leg jiggled. His green eyes bounced among the three of them much like Marcus Brown’s had.

“What is this? No one would tell me anything.” He paused and gasped. “Wait a minute. I know you three. You were all on the plane today. What’s going on?”

Andrew took the lead and sat in the chair opposite Mr. Leary. “Do you know a man by the name of Marcus Brown?”

“No.”