Page 52 of Final Approach

Her eyes flickered and her jaw tightened. “I heard.”

“Can you tell me where you think he might have run to?”

“No.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t.” She frowned. “He was supposed to meet me here yesterday, but he never showed. After all his father did...” She shrugged. “I guess he just needed some space.”

“You’re here a lot?”

“All the time. I live here. Well, not here, but close by. I use the internet to do online school while Mom works, so it’s not reallyhomeschooling. I’m still enrolled in the public school. Mom just thinks saying she’s homeschooling me makes her sound like a better mother. She’s not.”

At least her answers were getting longer. “Does she ever hit you?”

Chey sighed and shook her head. “No, she doesn’t abuse me. She’s just ... her. Always controlling, never letting me do what I want to do.” She looked up at him through thick lashes. “I know I have it better than a lot of kids. I just give her a hard time.” A flicker of shame crossed her features before she looked away.

“Most kids your age do.”

She shrugged. “She lets me have a phone, so I guess she’s not all bad.”

“I’d say not.” He paused, and she studied him with her dark eyes. She was a pretty girl who’d probably turn into a beautiful woman. Her mother’s controlling was probably related to that fact more than anything. “Did you ever see Jacob’s dad?”

“Sure. All the time.”

“And did you ever see him meeting with anyone?”

She tilted her head. “Maybe. Why?”

“Because we don’t think Jacob’s dad wanted to hijack that plane. We think someone forced him to. So, if we could find that person, we could help clear some of that up and make Jacob feel a little better about his dad.”

“Oh.” She sat silent, looking at her hands. “I don’t think I can help you.”

Andrew wasn’t so sure. “Look, Chey, Jacob could be in trouble. Like big trouble. We just want to help him.” If Jacob had the money, it wouldn’t take long for the guy who wanted it back to start looking for him too.

“Jacob can take care of himself,” she said. “He’s really smart and he and his dad went camping a lot.”

“Out in the woods?”

“Maybe.”

“If you had to pick a place to go look for Jacob right now, where would you go?”

She sighed and twisted her mouth in thought. “He likes books. He might hang out in the library during the day. I don’t know about at night.”

“That’s helpful.”

She hesitated. “I ... might have something on my phone that could help you find the man Mr. Brown met with a few days ago.”

Andrew stilled. “Like what?”

“I was bored and was taking pictures. Even some video. Mr. Brown and that guy are in it. The angle’s probably not very good and I don’t know if it’ll help you find him or not, but if it helps Jacob or his dad, I’ll give it to you.”

ELEVEN

Kristine blinked and shifted on the chair. She’d managed to fall asleep and her phone said she’d been out for three hours. Wow. She needed it, sure, but hadn’t expected to basically pass out. She was surprised the nurse had let her stay. Then again, it wasn’t like she was tiring out the patient. She stood and stretched out the kinks, grabbed her half-full water bottle, and chugged the rest of the contents.

Then returned to her seat to pull out her phone and check messages.