Page 14 of Texas Cold Case Murder

“How dare you?” Green thundered. “How dare you insinuate…”

“Hey, I had to ask,” Jackson interrupted calmly.

Green scowled and turned away. She heard him using his radio to inform the techs there was a second crime scene that needed to be processed. Sewell glared at Jackson, then moved over to stand beside Green. The two deputies were clearly upset with Jackson.

When they were out of earshot, she asked, “Do you really think they’re involved?”

“No, but I plan to keep an open mind moving forward.” Jackson’s gaze lingered on the two deputies before turning to her. “From this point on, we only trust Creed and our boss. Nobody else.”

She nodded in understanding, feeling oddly humbled as she remembered his words to their boss. She is one of our own…

Whatever was going on here, she wasn’t alone. Jackson and Creed would stick close until the gunmen were arrested and thrown behind bars.

* * *

Waiting for Creed to arrive tested Jackson’s patience. He swept his gaze up and down the highway, half expecting the black truck to return.

Yet he had to admit that watching the truck take off when the sirens could be heard was a good indication the deputies were not involved. The two gunmen had taken off earlier upon hearing sirens, too.

Still, he wasn’t about to take any chances. Not when Nina’s life was on the line.

“Jackson?” Nina’s low voice had him turning toward her. “There’s something you need to see.”

“What’s that?” He frowned when she pulled a small photograph from her pocket. The image of a woman with the same mass of curly red hair as Nina, holding a newborn baby, gave him pause. “Wait a minute, is that you and your mother?”

“I believe so.” She bit her lower lip. “I found this tucked beneath my uncle’s leg back at the cabin.”

He stared at her. “You took evidence from the crime scene?”

“Shh.” She glanced nervously over to where the deputies were moving around the parking lot, placing markers near empty shell casings. Jackson belatedly noticed there were dozens of them, a testament to how many rounds the gunmen had fired. “Yes. If you look at the back, you’ll see the name Anna.”

Jackson took the photo, turned it over and saw the name. He gave her a look of reproach. “You shouldn’t have taken this.”

“It’s the only thing I have of my mother. Until today I didn’t even know her name.” Her beseeching gaze held his. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to know your mother was murdered but the case was never solved? Even worse to know she never had a name?”

Jackson winced. He didn’t know how that felt, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there was more information here that Nina was holding back from him. Not that he wanted to get into a big discussion here, with the deputies nearby.

“We’ll need to talk about this,” he said after a moment. “If there’s anything else we should know, you’d better come clean, Nina. As you can see, these gunmen are not messing around.”

“I know. And I promise I want this mystery solved as much as you do.” Nina tugged the picture from his fingers. “I realize I shouldn’t have taken it. And if you insist on sending it to the lab, that’s fine. I guess I can take a picture of the picture.” Her gaze was full of longing as she stared down at her mother. “It’s just that I’ve waited years for this.” She looked up at him. “Years, Jackson.”

“I understand.” He blew out a breath, his anger fading. How could he blame her for wanting a picture of her mother? His parents were alive and well, semiretired in Florida. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to be an adopted baby, without ever knowing your parents. “Okay, hold on to it for now. We should have it processed in the lab, although I doubt if the bad guys saw it, much less touched it.”

“Thank you.” Her wan smile made him feel bad for doubting her. He’d always admired Nina’s expertise when it came to assisting the Rangers.

It burned to know how close she’d come to being killed.

Headlights in the distance had him going tense. Grabbing Nina’s arm, he pulled her through the motel room door, shoving her behind him. His phone rang, and he relaxed when he saw Creed’s number.

“I’m approaching the motel,” Creed said without preamble. “Didn’t want you to worry the bad guys had returned.”

“Thanks.” He glanced over his shoulder at Nina. “See you in a few minutes.”

“Yep. Soon.” Creed ended the call.

“Where will we go from here?” Nina asked.

It was a fair question. Jackson hadn’t thought that far ahead. Seeing the resemblance between Nina and her mother had been jarring, but now they needed to strategize their next move. “I’m thinking Dallas, but we’ll see if Creed has any recommendations.”