Page 5 of Texas Cold Case Murder

Nina couldn’t relax, even after the truck and gunmen roared away.

“Stay quiet and follow me.” Jackson’s murmur was low in her ear. She gave a jerky nod, unsure if he could even see her in the darkness. Getting far away from there sounded good to her. Taking several deep breaths, she willed herself to stop trembling. This was no time to fall apart. The gunmen were gone, but she wasn’t sure who they were or why they’d come in the first place.

None of this made sense.

The only good news was that she wasn’t alone. The woods were still dark and scary, but having the tall, muscular ranger with the intelligent, assessing dark brown eyes at her side was an immense relief. He might have the reputation of a playboy more concerned with having fun than settling down, but she trusted his expertise.

And knew, without being told, that he would guard her with his life.

Jackson moved through the woods with a stealth she tried to emulate. It wasn’t as easy as he made it look. Her feet seemed to find every stray twig scattered on the ground. When she peered down at her feet to make sure she was stepping where he had, a branch slapped her in the face. Tears pricked her eyes but she willed them away.

They continued going deeper into the woods, the darkness enveloping them like a cloak. Yet she knew the sense of safety was an illusion. The gunman who’d fired at her in the woods could still be out there.

Unless he’d managed to meet up with the pickup truck? How many gunmen were there?

Jackson kept moving without hesitation, seeming to know exactly where he was going. She wanted to ask if he had a particular destination in mind. She supported all the rangers when they needed technical expertise, and knew they traveled the entire state. Thankfully, Jackson was familiar with this area.

Then she remembered her car was still at her uncle’s cabin. The key fob was in her pocket, and they could easily jump in to escape. Unless the gunmen had used it for target practice, shooting it up the way they’d attacked Jackson’s SUV.

Yet she didn’t think that was the case. She’d have heard bullets striking her car, wouldn’t she? In her attempt to elude the shooter after her she’d learned that despite the towering trees surrounding her, sound traveled far. Hearing the gunman’s progress through the woods had made her determined to keep going.

Her breath hitched in her throat, a cramp in her side slowing her down. She’d run through the woods for what had seemed like an eternity.

And there was no end in sight.

The scratches on her arms and face stung a bit as she and Jackson pushed deeper into the woods. She strained to listen, but it wasn’t easy to hear anything above the frantic beat of her heart. The buzzing insects had returned, though, and she swatted at them half-heartedly. After what seemed like forever, but was probably only ten to fifteen minutes, Jackson stopped near a couple of lean trees and pulled her close.

“Are you okay?” His low, husky voice had a calming effect, and her trembling faded away.

“Yes.” She kept her voice as quiet as possible. “I think we need to get back to my uncle’s cabin. I left my car there and—” she patted her jeans pocket “—I have the key fob.”

His dark eyes were hard to read. “Do you know where it is in relation to our current position?”

She bit her lip. “Not really. The cell service isn’t great. But the distance you drove down Banyon Road is in the right direction.” At least she thought so, but again, she wasn’t a nature girl. She didn’t want to admit that the trees surrounding them all looked the same. They could be anywhere, from what she could tell.

“Okay, if you’re right about Banyon Road, that helps.” Jackson caught her hand, squeezed it and then turned to scan their surroundings. She was reassured when he glanced up at the starry sky, then pointed up ahead. “That’s north and the cabin is likely a little to the northwest of our current location.”

“Okay.” She was in no position to argue. Despite her tech skills, she didn’t know this area, and without actual working tech, she was truly lost.

“We need to be quiet, though, because I don’t know if that gunman is still in the forest. We left him a few miles back. He’s either with the guy—or guys—in the truck or he’s still out there.”

“I understand.” She shivered at the thought of the killer lying in wait to take them down. She shot a furtive glance over her shoulder, hoping he had met up with the truck. “Maybe we should call the police.”

“Oh, yeah, we will. Let’s get to the cabin first, maybe the cell service will be stronger there.”

She suddenly remembered that Jackson wasn’t aware of her uncle’s dead body. She’d been so focused on not getting killed that she’d entirely forgotten to tell him. She grabbed his arm, tugging him closer. “I need to tell you that when I showed up at the cabin, I found my uncle dead at the kitchen table. I believe his death was staged to look like a suicide.”

“Staged as a suicide?” His dark eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss. That must have been awful for you.”

“Yes.” Now that the worst was over, tears welled in her eyes. Jackson pulled her in for a quick hug. She reveled in the brief embrace, gaining strength to face whatever stretched before them. “The gunman showed up shortly after I found him. I barely made it out of the house before he came after me.”

“That’s interesting.” He frowned, then added, “I’m sure the police will investigate, proving that his death wasn’t a suicide.”

“I hope you’re right.” She decided this wasn’t the best time to get into the entire story of how she found him via a DNA match. Once they were safe, there would be time later to go through the events in more detail.

For now, Nina was glad to have a destination and possible escape plan in mind. She desperately hoped the gunman hadn’t damaged her vehicle.

As she fell into step behind Jackson, she tried to understand why the assassins had opened fire on their SUV. Considering how they’d set up her Uncle Mark’s death to look like a suicide, it seemed odd that they’d come after her in the first place and then blatantly shoot the SUV to smithereens.