Page 56 of Final Approach

For the next few hours, Nathan and Andrew worked on the case of the hijacking. He looked up other hijackings over the past twenty years and printed them out. There weren’t that many, but he was curious to know if any had been instigated by the Serpentine Network. He took a short break and checked in with Chief Badami, who said they’d found the spent shells at the scene of the accident, which were now with forensics. The shells not matching his or Kristine’s weapon were from a Glock 19 as they’d suspected.

Finally, the fatigue kicked in and he looked over at Nathan. “I’m going home.”

“It’s about time. This is your day off, remember?”

“Right. See you later.”

Andrew grabbed a couple of pizzas from the Brick Oven Pizza Factory on his way home—well, as home as an Airbnb could be. Buthe liked the house. It was something like what he’d buy if he was going to stay in Lake City.

The home was perched on a mountain slope and had a rustic elegance feel to it. The exterior, constructed of wood and stone, blended into the natural surroundings. His favorite part of the house was the large windows offering panoramic views. The back deck was perfect for enjoying an early morning cup of coffee or just watching the sunset after a long day of investigation and chasing bad guys.

And it was a perfect safe house for Hank.

When he got there, one of the Bureau vehicles was gone. He frowned and walked inside to find Tim and Hank playing cards at the kitchen table.

“Where’d Sherry go?” He set the pizzas on the counter.

“She had a little family emergency,” Tim said. “Her son fell and broke his wrist.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. But it’s been quiet. Hank had himself a good nap but said television hurt his head, so ... cards.”

Hank stood and walked to the refrigerator to grab a Coke. “Got some steaks for the grill. Corn on the cob and baked potatoes.”

“You went to the grocery store?” Andrew couldn’t help the slight note of disapproval in his voice. “You’re supposed to be hiding and healing, remember?”

His friend shrugged. “I can’t sit here all day doing nothing. I’ll go stir-crazy. Cooking steaks? Now that I can do. Besides, Tim and Sherry are great. We just looked like three friends shopping for dinner.”

Andrew refused to argue with him. The man had killers after him and pulled this kind of stunt. He sighed. He was a grown man who made his choices. He’d just have to live with any consequences. And pray for no collateral damage.

Hank frowned. “Seriously, man, we watched our six the whole time. No one was watching.”

Tim shook his head. “We dressed him up in a disguise. A really good one. We were fine.”

Hank’s frown deepened. “Honestly, I’m a little confused at how quiet it’s been. This isn’t like the SN.”

It wasn’t. But it also wasn’t wise to be out in public when someone was trying to kill you.

Andrew let it go. They were all professionals. If they were confident in that little outing, then fine. He ate two slices of pizza before shoving the leftovers into the fridge and decided to grab a few more hours of sleep. First, he checked in with Kristine.

How are you?

Tired. You?

The same.

Anything new?

No, Jacob wasn’t there and no one has seen him. I might go back and talk to his friend Chey and see if she has any other ideas.

That sounds good. My aunt Wendy just got here. She’s Mom’s sister. She’s going to be helping with Emily even though she and my dad can’t stand each other. That’s another thing Jess and I have in common. Her aunt couldn’t stand her father either.

Ouch. But still, that’ll help having her there, right?

Guess we’ll see. Probably. I came back to the hospital to wait for Wendy. There’s no sense in us both being here, so I think if I can spell Wendy every so often, I can still *not* help with the investigation. You know what I mean?

I got you. Let’s talk in the morning and make a plan for the day.