Page 26 of Final Approach
“Of course. Give me a few minutes. I’ll get back to you shortly.”
“Thanks.” She hung up and walked back into the room. “Agent Carlisle is checking.”
Tabitha pulled at the tape on her IV. “I can’t believe this. I’ve got to get out of here, get my kids, and get home. They’re only keepingme here because that psychiatrist was coming by, but I can talk to him another time.”
“But your oxygen levels ... you may not be stable yet.”
“I had some kind of weird reaction to the medicine. Yes, my oxygen kept going up and down, but I’ve been fine for the past few hours. My kids ... they don’t even know their father is dead and I don’t want them to see it on the news.” Sobs once more shook her thin frame and she dropped her chin to her chest.
Kristine crossed the room and placed a hand over hers. “Don’t. Please. Let’s find out what’s going on before you leave against medical advice. You’re right, your kids need you. And they need you healthy. In the meantime, you can call the friends that have your kids and ask them to make sure they don’t see the news.” It would give the woman something to do that would feel proactive for her.
Tabitha sucked in a breath and struggled to control her crying. It took her a minute, but she finally swiped the last tear. “Yes. Okay. That’s a good idea. I can do that.” She sent a beseeching look to Kristine. “But Jacob ... in custody of CPS? I swore my kids would never know what it was like to be...” She shook her head, pressed her fingers to her eyes. “No, I don’t want to leave them any longer with the people keeping them. I need to be with my children. I have to tell them their father is gone. I have to be the one to hold them when they cry.”
Kristine slid an arm around Tabitha’s shoulders. “I know. I understand. Just call one of them and have her call the others. Please. Give Agent Carlisle a few more minutes to find out about Jacob and I’ll make sure you see him before you go to sleep tonight if at all possible. Then, as long as your friends check out, it’s very possible Jacob can stay with one of them instead of going to an emergency foster placement.”
“You think?”
“I mean, I can’t promise, but I think it’s a definite possibility. We can only find out if we ask.”
Tabitha nodded, her eyes drooping. “I’m so tired, but one call. I can do that.”
“Good.”
She did, then dropped the phone beside her on the bed like it had taken every ounce of energy she had left.
“Rest,” Kristine said. “I’ll wake you when I know something.”
“Okay.” The woman was asleep as soon as her eyes shut.
Two minutes later, Kristine’s phone rang. Andrew. She swiped the screen. “Hey.”
“Nathan checked on Jacob and found out he ran away.”
Kristine slipped out of the room, letting the door shut quietly behind her. “Details please?”
“I talked to Freeman and he said when he stopped at a red light, the kid took off. Apparently, when he got in the back seat, Jacob flipped off the child lock switch on the door and Freeman didn’t see him do it. He’s filed a report. Now it’s a matter of hoping Jacob will show up.”
“Why would Jacob do that when he was so desperate to see his mother?”
“Beats me. Maybe he didn’t believe the social worker would take him to the hospital. He’s not at the house. The crime scene people were still there, but officers went by to check anyway. No one has seen him.”
“And as far as I can tell,” Kristine said, “he’s not here at the hospital. Tabitha told me she and Marcus grew up in the system. If Jacob’s heard not-so-great stories about those years, he might be terrified to find himself in custody of the state.”
“Yeah.” Andrew’s sigh reached her through the line, and she wished she could see his face, his kind eyes, feel his gentle hand on her shoulder as he offered comfort or a wise word...
“Okay, Tabitha’s asleep for the moment,” she said. “I’ll fill her in, but she’s going to insist on leaving. She’ll want to look for Jacob herself. And honestly, I don’t blame her. If it was my kid, I’d do the very same thing.”
“I know. I get it. Try to dissuade her from that, though, if you can.”
“Of course. She’s so exhausted, she wouldn’t get far anyway.”
“Like I said, FBI and CSU are still at the house, but they’re almost done. It’s been searched up one side and down the other. Any and all papers, files, everything has been confiscated, so hopefully, there will be something in there to give us a clue who’s behind the hijacking. In the meantime, I’m going by my parents’ place, then I plan to meet my guy with the Serpentine Network connection. He might have some answers. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Good deal. I’m going to check on Tabitha and see if she knows where Jacob might go. She also wants me to go by the house to get some items for her.” She hesitated. “She seemed to think the money would be at the house. That search warrant is still good for you, right?”
“Yes.”
“And it includes the money, right?”
