Page 114 of Final Approach
Finally, the radio crackled. “N763Delta, this is Lake City Control. We’re here. Stay calm and we’ll get you on the ground safely. What’s your current altitude?”
Kristine glanced at the altimeter. “Five thousand feet. And falling. I’m going down too fast.”
“Glad you recognize that. We need to reduce your speed. Ease back on the stick.”
She obeyed and let out another breath of relief when the plane responded like it was supposed to. She glanced at Andrew, and he gave her a thumbs-up. He looked like she was getting ready to pull up to the nearest restaurant and let him out to get a table. Calm, cool, and completely confident that she could do this.
“Done.”
“Good. We’ve got you on the radar. You’re doing great. Nice and level. Line up with the runway you should be seeing in just a few seconds.”
The ground was close and getting closer, but she’d done this before. Not with this aircraft, but it was all the same. Her training finally kicked in and she spotted the runway.
The first raindrop hit the windshield and she tensed. “No, God, please.”
“You’re doing great,” the voice said. “You’re perfectly lined up with the runway. All you have to do is guide her in.”
Right. Easy peasy.
She squinted through the windshield and turned on the wipers. “Coming in,” she said. “Reducing altitude to two thousand feet, soon to be a thousand.”
“Perfect.”
A scuffling sound made her glance back, and she saw Andrew lifting the pilot. “I’m going to get this guy into a seat and buckled,” he said.
“Yeah. Do that.”
He did so and Kristine heard him say, “Hang in there. We’re real close to getting you help.”
The runway grew larger. She could do this. Three ambulances, firetrucks, and law enforcement were on the side of the strip, ready to bolt into action as soon as she brought the plane to a stop.
“You got this,” Andrew said. He slid into the seat beside her and buckled his seat belt.
Her father was still shackled and lay on the floor. If something happened, he would be safe enough.
“All right, at five hundred feet cut power and flare the plane.”
“Got it.”
The plane dipped lower, the runway rushing up to meet her. In her hyperalert state, she was aware of every sound, every vibration in the controls. Her world had shrunk to the strip of concrete in front of her.
“Five hundred feet,” she said. “Here we go.” She pulled back and the plane began to glide. The runway was right there. She kept her movements steady and sure.
“Flaring now,” she said. The rain came down harder, but she had this. Exhilaration flared too.
“Excellent. I was just getting ready to tell you to do that.”
She pulled back, the nose lifted, and the wheels touched the ground with a soft thud, bounced, then settled. She guided the plane down the runway while her pulse pounded and tears clouded her vision. The wipers cleared the way and she came to a gentle stop.
For a moment, everything was silent, then Andrew was there, unbuckling her and pulling her out of the seat. “You did it, Kristine. You really did it.”
She looked up and smiled. “I did. I really did.” She pulled the curtain of the cockpit closed, wanting complete and total privacy at the moment. She was so full of conflicting feelings. Gratitude they were alive. Utter grief at her father’s betrayal and the kind of man he was. But one thing she was sure of was Andrew, and she wanted more. “This may be a wildly inappropriate thing to ask right now, but I just—” She closed her eyes, opened them. “Can you kiss me now?” For some reason, she just needed him to. She needed the connection, the reassurance that everything was going to be all right. That she and her siblings would heal.
He narrowed his eyes, the tender expression saying he understood, and leaned over to cover her lips with his. The kiss lasted a full minute and still wasn’t long enough. She clung to him, a sweet warmth flooding her and hope blossoming in the vicinity of herheart. The banging on the side of the plane pulled them apart and she gazed up at him. “This is so counting as my first solo flight.”
IT TOOK THE NEXTSEVERAL HOURSto get everything sorted. The pilot was at the hospital. He’d lost a lot of blood, but at least he was alive.
Kristine was still talking with one of the special agents assigned to their case—she’d been kidnapped whether she wanted to admit it or not—and Andrew had filled in the other one. He now stood in the hallway of the local police station waiting for her to come out of the interrogation room. They’d been questioned separately, which was protocol. But now all he wanted was to wrap her in a tight hug and possibly kiss her again.
