Page 21 of Final Approach
“I got this one.”
They scanned each row one by one, looking for anything that might indicate a shooter had just fired three bullets from that area.
They arrived at the end without seeing a single person. No doubt they’d all hunkered down at the sound of the gunshots. Nathan holstered his weapon and planted his hands on his hips. “He’s either hiding out in one of the homes or he’s long gone.”
“My guess is gone, but we need reinforcements to knock on doors.” He put in the call for backup with the local PD. Once they arrived, Nathan and Andrew headed back to the scene to find local officers there along with the crime scene unit.
Kristine was speaking with Garrett Harder, the CSU lead on this scene. Everything was under control at the moment. Except ... where was Jacob?
He scanned the area once more and saw the social worker had the kid in the back of his car. Andrew loped over to it and knocked on the window. The glass slid down. “You taking him to the hospital?”
“Yes. I promised I would.”
“Okay, good. Thank you.” The man nodded and Andrew gave Jacob a small wave, said a quick prayer for his protection and his mother’s recovery, then checked his phone. He needed to talk to Hank. Had someone discovered Hank had talked to Andrew and sent a gang member to take him out? He wasn’t quite sold on that idea, simply because he was still alive. The Serpentine Network shooters didn’t miss.
Then again ... who knew? Only Hank would be able to answer that question.
He walked back to find Kristine and Nathan in conversationabout the next steps to take. They arranged protection for the family. Mrs. Brown would have it in the hospital. After Kristine got the information from her, a police officer would be dispatched to each home where the kids were staying. Andrew didn’t think it was completely necessary, but it’s what would be done for the next couple of days. They’d revisit the threat after that.
They still needed to talk to the TSA agent, who was now sitting in an interrogation room. Mrs. Brown—who might very well be unquestionable for the next several hours—was the one who could wait. He sighed. “Let’s talk to Colleen Pearson,” he said.
Kristine nodded. “I’ll meet you there.”
A short time later, they once again found themselves in the detention center headed down the hallway toward the interrogation room. Kristine pointed to the room with the one-way mirror and Andrew nodded. As she’d pointed out, she wasn’t an official investigator for this case. Her part was done. She’d protected the plane and the passengers. But she had the time to give feedback on the investigation, and frankly, he was glad to have her perspective. He might have to request that she be a consultant for the FBI specifically for this case so she could continue to be involved. Air marshals did not investigate, but her instincts were good and she had a lot to offer. He sent a text to his SAC with a request to make that happen. He received a thumbs-up in response.
Colleen Pearson was scared. That was Andrew’s first impression when he sat down across from her. Well, who wouldn’t be? A fine tremor ran through her clasped hands, and her pulse fluttered visibly in her throat.
Nathan leaned against the wall near the door and nodded for Andrew to take the lead. After Andrew ran through the preliminaries, he leaned forward. “Ms. Pearson, you’ve declined to have your lawyer present. I recommend that you reconsider.”
“I don’t need to. I’m guilty. I’ll own it.”
“Guilty of what?”
“Letting that man through my security line at the airport. MarcusBrown.” She ran a hand over her lips and swallowed hard. “I had no idea he was going to hijack the plane. I thought it was drugs.”
“Care to start at the beginning?”
She sighed. “Right. The beginning. Which beginning? The beginning of the day my life fell apart when my husband announced he was having an affair and wanted a divorce? Or...” She shrugged. “The beginning of my stupid spiral four weeks ago when the divorce was final and I made the very bad decision to toast the occasion by getting drunk and then getting behind the wheel?”
“We know about all of that. And truly, we’re sorry for it.” He paused. “You know, we all make the occasional bad decision. Unfortunately, some of those have terrible consequences. Yours affected you and no one else. Thankfully no one died because of it.”
She nodded. “But they could have.”
“Yeah. They could have.” He refused to let his mind go back to that day almost two years ago when his decision had cost an innocent man’s life. He cleared his throat. “So, Marcus Brown.”
“A man contacted me—”
“How?”
“He called my cell phone. Said he knew all about my DUI, my financial hardships.”
“Did you see him? Meet him in person?” Nathan asked.
“No, it was just that phone call. He told me to go out to my mailbox. There was an envelope with ten thousand dollars in it as well as a picture of a man. He said if I wasn’t willing to follow through with his request, then to leave the money where I found it and walk away. If I took it and tried to steal from him, he’d kill me.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. “I took the money and did what he asked.”
“Which was?”
She sighed and dropped her hand back to the table. “Let Marcus Brown through security without question.” She frowned. “I was looking for drugs. I didn’t see any, so I felt relief more than anything else.”
