Page 32 of Final Approach
“Amen to that.” Another chuckle escaped her and he cleared his throat. “So, you want to drop your car at the station? It’s on the way.”
“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.”
Fifteen minutes later, her car was stashed at the station and she was buckled into his front seat. The rain was still holding off, but the thunder and lightning were still putting on quite the show. He shuddered and grimaced. Storms were not his favorite. It had been storming the night—
No. Don’t go there.
“Tell me about your friend,” she said once they were climbing the mountain toward Lake City Lake.
He didn’t necessarily want to go there either—conversation-wise—but having her come along was his bright idea, so he probably owed her a response, not the vague brush-off he was considering. “Hank and I were partners for a little over a year. He and I were what you might call the golden boys of UC.” He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and found her watching him. Intently. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I was under for about three years, then got out about eighteen months ago. Hank stayed in.”
“He’s been undercover for over four years?”
Her shock echoed. He understood it. People had done it for longer, but it was still a long time. “Yeah. But that’s his thing. He’s divorced, no kids, and on a desperate mission to bring down gangs.”
“Wow. So what happened in his past to spark that passion?”
He almost smiled. Of course she would link that to an incident in Hank’s past. “Hank’s younger brother, Glenn, got involved in a gang as a teen. He ended up a scapegoat and went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“But he took the rap.”
“Yep. Hank’s parents are pretty wealthy, so they were able to provide Glenn with a good lawyer. Then they got a private investigator involved, and in the end, eight months into the sentence, Glenn was finally cleared. His dad was there to pick him up the day he wasreleased and the two of them were killed before Glenn even got in the car. Drive-by shooting by members of the Serpentine Network. Prison cameras caught the whole thing except it didn’t reveal any faces. They had ski masks on.”
She sucked in an audible breath. “Oh my. How awful. Were they ever caught?”
“No. The car was stolen, and in all the time he’s been under, he can’t find who ordered the hit—or who carried it out. It’s possible those people are dead at this point. Gang members don’t exactly have a long lifespan. But he stays to make a difference. To try and stop as much killing as possible. And if he finds who killed his dad and brother, then that would be icing on the cake.”
“Wow. That’s seriously tragic. And not to have any clues after all this time is terrible.”
“Hank was gutted. Dropped out of law school and went to the police academy. That’s where we met. Our paths crossed again at the FBI Academy. And one step at a time led us to going undercover together. The goal was for one of us to make it inside the Serpentine Network, but we both managed to get in.”
“But you got out.”
“I did.” His turn came up before he had to try and figure out how to end the conversation, and he swung the SUV through a section of the trees, then followed a gravel path to a small parking area near the boat dock that was just ahead, waves lapping hard against the shore. He backed in, tires crunching, then stopped and cut the lights while leaving the engine running. No need for them to freeze while waiting. The moon shone bright in the sky. He handed her a pair of binoculars. “I don’t know how well you can see in the dark, but keep an eye out, will you?”
“Sure.”
He frowned. “Hank said he’d be in an older model black Buick Rendezvous.” There weren’t any other cars in sight. Not many people came to this part of the lake. One of the reasons he’d chosen it.
“Maybe he got held up.”
“Yeah. We’ll give him a few minutes.” He glanced at his phone. “No text to cancel.”
They fell silent and she made no move to talk. Instead, she had a distant look in her eyes, like she was thinking.
“You okay?”
She blinked and looked at him. “Yes. I’m fine.”
“What’s wrong?”
A laugh slipped from her. “Just...” She shrugged. “I was thinking about something Tabitha said at the hospital. We talked a little about how life can really throw you a curveball, but you just have to find the strength to keep going.” She bit her lip.
“What’s your curveball?”
“I’ve been suspended for the moment. The family of the woman who was stabbed on the plane is making accusations that the air marshal was negligent.”
He gaped, then shut his mouth. “When did you find that out?”
