Read Online Final Approach by Rachel Brady - Free Book Online

bear to. And now my hands shook the same way they did the day I clutched Annette’s dress in my office.
    I rolled onto my side and pulled a pillow into my chest. Another episode of the
If Onlys
was coming on. If only I’d believed the threats. If only we’d stayed home that weekend. If only I’d been with them.
    I closed my eyes and remembered Annette’s small face, her chestnut eyes, and the feel of her wispy, straw-colored hair sliding through my fingers. The way her smile matched Jack’s, the way both of them could grin their way back into my good graces. Their dimples matched. Thinking back, it was their dimples that got me every time.
    I fell asleep then, and dreamed of my family, of my reunion with them. This time it was in a supermarket. They were walking through the produce section as if nothing ever happened. No time had passed; Annette was as petite as ever. She asked Jack if she could have some blueberries. It wasn’t odd that she could talk. What confused me was their casual mannerisms, their easy-going banter, their peace. I was astonished to find them alive and asked what had happened? Where had they been? Why hadn’t they told me? They looked at each other and shrugged as if the answers were things they’d simply forgotten to tell me, and then they both turned their attention to the leafy greens, casual as you please. Like they’d honestly meant to tell me they weren’t dead, but they hadn’t gotten around to it yet, and did I feel like having a salad with dinner? Then the things that happened afterward flashed through my mind—the pills, Dr. Raleigh, my loneliness in our empty house—and I realized that if Jack and Annette were still alive, then I must have dreamed those other things too. So, everything was okay. It was all a bad dream.

Chapter Eleven
    Thursday the weather relented but landing fields were damp. Humidity closed tight around me like wet clothes, and the whole place smelled like earthworms. There would be soggy landings, but nobody cared.
    The place was absolutely packed. Skydivers from greater Houston and western Louisiana had swarmed the drop zone, getting ready for the big weekend. Finally, I’d get a chance to meet Rick’s client base. I’d brought the disposable camera. At the end of the day, there’d be pictures to show Karen Lyons.
    “Why work hard on the ground for something that’s free in the air?” Scud’s lines were flung over his shoulder as he sorted the cells of his Batwing. He’d sneaked another kiss pass, this time with Linda.
    “Consider yourself lucky,” Marie told Linda, with a little pout. “When you’ve been married twenty years, any kiss’ll do.”
    We were in the hangar, packing after our second jump. Scud laid down his gear and wrapped Marie in a conciliatory hug; he even managed to cop a feel on her ass.
    “I’m so hungry!” I said. I caught myself separating my canopy cells a bit violently.
    Scud looked up. “Easy, baby. Plenty of Scud to go around.”
    Marie laughed.
    Craig Clement passed us without comment and went out the back door toward the landing field. He took a quick look around and peeled to the left, toward an overflow parking area beyond the side of the building. I said I was going to watch the last load fly down, and followed Craig outside.
    He disappeared behind the far side of the hangar. I peeked around its corner and watched him go to a mud-splattered pick-up with a beautiful Yellow Lab tied up in back. The day before, when I’d come in the rain, there’d been no trucks in the lot, so I doubted it was his.
    He pulled a small pouch from his pocket and unfolded it. It was a napkin. For a moment, he stood by the dog and let it eat whatever was inside. I felt stupid tailing a guy feeding a dog. But when the morsels were gone, Craig stepped toward the cab and glanced around the lot. I ducked behind the enormous aluminum wall and waited out of sight.
    When I checked again, he was in the passenger seat, one leg dangling out