Page 54 of Final Approach

Headed to see if we can track down the missing Jacob at the Lake City Library—the South Main branch. He likes to read according to his young friend here. How’s Emily?

She woke up briefly. Long enough to say the brakes failed on the car.

Uh oh. So sorry. She’s going to be okay, tho, right?

Looks like it, but they’re watching her closely. Keep me updated on if you find Jacob. I can’t believe he’s managed to stay hidden this long.

I’m starting to wonder if someone’s helping him. Trying not to imagine the worst.

Notimagining the worst was almost impossible. She sent him a heart emoji and then froze. What? Wait! Why had she sentthat? No, no, no. Now he would think ... what?

She let out an audible groan and lowered her head to her palm. Great. Why was she so awkward when it came to that kind of thing? Should she say she didn’t mean the heart emoji, that she’d hit the wrong one trying to send the thumbs-up?

No. Absolutely not. She certainly wasn’t going to stoop tolying. She’d just let it be and pray he ignored it too. No sense in bringing attention to it. Right?

Naomi popped back in and checked Emily’s vitals and IV bag. “Anything you need, Ms. Duncan?”

“Kristine, please. You’re going to be seeing a lot of me until Em’s moved out of here.”

The pretty woman smiled. “Kristine. Sorry it has to be under these circumstances, but I’m pleased to meet you. You know your time here is up, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Okay then. She’s going to be sleeping for a while with the extra meds. Why don’t you go home, freshen up, and get some food? I’ll keep an eye on her and let you know if anything changes.”

Kristine nodded, then rose to write her and her father’s phone numbers on the whiteboard. “Just send a text to me first and I’ll get here as fast as I can. My dad and Em don’t get along very well, so I’m not sure...” She shrugged.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Naomi.”

“Of course.”

She slipped out and Kristine blew out a low breath. The nurse was right. She should go home and take a shower, change clothes, and grab some food.

And then check in with Andrew and Nathan again.

The elevator door opened and her father stepped out, met her gaze, then looked away. “How is she?”

“She’s sleeping. You should go home and get some sleep. Or go to my place and crash for a while. Use the key with my permission.”

“I should stay.”

“No, you really shouldn’t. Naomi’s keeping an eye on her. She just got some fresh meds, so Emily’s not waking up anytime soon. Go home.”

His eyes flashed, but he nodded. “Fine. You know, if she had justlistened to me when I told her not to go, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Dad, please. Just stop. Emily is a grown woman. You’ve got to stop smothering her and trying to control her.”

He waved a hand, dismissing the topic. Because he didn’t want to hear it. She sighed. Why did she even try?

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Ethan’ll be here soon. I’ll be back when he gets here or Emily wakes up. For now, I’m heading home to take care of me so I can help take care of her.”

“We still need to talk about you joining my company, Kristine. I need you.”

She blinked. And stared. “I honestly don’t even know what to say to you right now. I’ll be back.” She walked past the elevator and headed for the stairs, her mind whirling at her father’s behavior. Emily was in the ICU and he was pressuring her to join his PI firm? Was he that clueless or was it some kind of coping mechanism? She hoped it was the latter, because it was bizarre and she didn’t have time to figure it out right now.