Page 76 of Final Approach

“I see.” Andrew’s heart went out to the teen. “You’re a good young man, Jacob. Your heart’s in the right place. I don’t ever want that to change, okay?”

Jacob’s shoulders relaxed a fraction and he gave a quick nod. Kristine’s approving gaze straightened Andrew’s spine. He liked that look from her aimed at him.

“Where’s the money?”

“Not far.”

They ordered breakfast and forty-five minutes later, Andrew and Kristine stood in Chey’s apartment bedroom behind the café. Jacob had stashed the money with Chey, who’d stuck it under her mattress. She shrugged at Andrew’s raised brow. “It’s a cliché for a reason. No one looks there anymore, right?”

“I will from now on,” he muttered.

His phone buzzed. Nathan.

Call me when you get a chance. Nothing urgent.

Once he and Kristine were back in the car, he called Nathan, who answered on the first ring. “What’s up?” Andrew asked.

“The team going through all of the hijacking cell phone footage from our flight found something interesting.”

“What?”

“The guy, Erik Leary? The passenger in 29C? The one we cleared? He had two phones.”

“Okay. Explain?”

“Some of the footage showed him talking on a phone while the hijacking was going on. No big deal. A lot of people were on their phones calling loved ones or 911 while everything was going down. But then he’s on a different phone a short time later.”

“But why?”

“Exactly. You up for a visit?”

“Absolutely. When?”

“Now?”

“I’m on the way.” He’d explain about Jacob and the money later. “Kristine’s with me.”

“Well, she’ll have to hang back on this one.”

Kristine nodded her understanding. “No problem.” He hung up and aimed the Bucar toward Mr. Leary’s home.

He pulled to the curb about the same time Nathan did. Andrew scoped the area with interest ... and dread. “It’s empty,” he said.

“Yep.” Nathan ran a hand over his head. “Looks like it.”

“Unbelievable. He was clean. Squeaky clean. What did we miss?”

“Could be something else. He could have a very valid reason for having two phones. You have two. I have two.”

“Right. True.”

“But why not mention it?” Nathan asked. “We specifically asked him about multiple devices. He said he had a laptop, an iPad, and a phone. Singular.”

“Yeah.” Andrew sighed. “I’ll write up the affidavit for the search warrant and call in a favor to get a rush on it. Then we can get the crime scene unit down here and let them go through it, but I’m guessing they won’t find anything.”

“One can hope.” Nathan shook his head. “I’ll work on the passports. Make sure they’re flagged and see if they’ve been used recently.” He grabbed his phone, and Kristine shoved her hands into her pockets, then leaned back against the car.

Andrew made the call and looked at Kristine. “You want me to take you to the hospital so you can be with Emily? This is going to take me a while.”