Page 20 of Final Approach

Still, she didn’t stir, but at least she was breathing easier. Theparamedics arrived and Kristine showed them the bottle. “Percocet 2.5mg/325mg. One to two tablets every six hours. Filled yesterday.” The prescription came with ten tablets. There were four left. But how many were in there before the woman swallowed her dose? “She could have taken up to six pills,” she said. “One dose of Narcan administered. You may need to do another.”

“Got it.”

“Dad took a couple of the pills,” Jacob said from the door. Kristine hadn’t seen him. “I know because I got him two before he left yesterday. He has migraines and sometimes that’s the only thing that will help him.”

“That’s helpful, thank you.” Kristine turned toward the paramedics as they started working on the woman, giving her more drugs to counteract the overdose. “Could be up to four.”

“Got it.”

The second dose did the trick. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Brown to gasp. Her eyes opened and for a moment, she simply lay there. Blinked, then frowned. “What’s ... what?” She lifted a hand, then dropped it.

The nearest paramedic leaned in. “Mrs. Brown, how are you feeling?”

“Um ... I don’t know. Weird.”

“How many Percocet pills did you take?”

She stared at him and the man repeated himself. “Three. I think. Maybe four? I needed to sleep so bad. I got the kids taken care of and...” Her eyes teared up. “I just wanted to escape for a little bit,” she whispered.

An alarm went off and a paramedic moved in. “Her oxygen is dropping. We need to get her to the hospital.”

They swept out the door and Andrew joined her. “CPS is here.”

“Already? That was fast.”

“The social worker, Billy Freeman, was close by doing a home visit with another family. Dropped everything and came right over.”

“I’m not leaving her!” Jacob’s shout carried right to them.

Kristine and Andrew made their way outside to find the teen gripping the gurney that held his mother, preventing the paramedics from lifting her into the ambulance.

Billy placed a hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure you’re updated every step of the way.”

“No, I’m going with her. I can’t leave her.”

Kristine stepped forward. “Jacob, let her go. She needs to get help now. You don’t want to keep her from getting that. We’ll work out the details of you going to be with her while the doctors are with her.”

He locked his gaze on hers. “Promise?”

“Yeah.”

He let his hand fall away, and the woman was immediately loaded up and headed toward the hospital.

Seconds after the ambulance disappeared, a sharp crack sounded and the dirt in front of her spit in all directions.

AT THE FIRST SHOT,Andrew grabbed Jacob and yanked him behind the nearest Bucar. The kid shook, trembling from head to toe, but didn’t make a sound. Two more bullets followed the first and then it was quiet. “Stay here,” he said. “You got it?”

Jacob nodded, eyes wide with fear and bewilderment. “Yeah. I’ll stay here. Where are you going?”

“To see if I can find the shooter.”

“Be careful,” the kid whispered.

With a light squeeze to the teen’s shoulder, Andrew rose to look around. Kristine stood next to the other Bucar, and Nathan was just hauling himself up off the ground. The social worker rose and positioned himself slightly behind Kristine, his eyes bouncing from one person to the next. His gaze landed on Jacob and relief filled his features.

As Andrew passed them all, he motioned for Nathan to followhim, then aimed himself in the direction the bullets had come from. Nathan fell into step beside him. They crossed the road and hurried through the trailer park’s main entrance. The homes were lined up one after the other. About twenty on one side and twenty on the other. A dirt road ran between the rows.

“I’ll take this side,” he said to Nathan.