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Tugging her hand free, she sat back in the seat. Once they reached the city, they’d have more options. All they needed was a café with free internet access.
The outskirts of the city loomed before them. The SUV slowed as they approached the East Town Mall.
She sighed in relief when she caught sight of a rental car sign. The SUV slowed even further, rolling to a stop a half mile from the facility.
“We’re walking from here,” Creed announced. “Nina, grab the laptop, okay?”
“Got it.” She clasped the device to her chest. “I can’t believe we made it.”
Jackson’s expression relaxed into a grin. “I told you we’d be okay.”
She forced a smile. Trusting Jackson with her life was easy. It was her heart she needed to protect. He was too handsome, too attractive for her peace of mind. She’d learned her lesson not to mix work with pleasure. Jackson was off-limits no matter what.
As they walked away from the useless car, she spied a coffee shop. She reached out to grab Jackson’s arm. “Wait. We need to obtain a clean vehicle, one not associated with the Rangers.”
He tipped his head to the side. “And how are we going to do that?”
“I have an idea.” She nodded toward the coffee shop. “But I need internet access to make it work.”
“Okay.” Jackson glanced at Creed, who shrugged as if to say it was his call. Jackson quickly veered off the road toward the café. Once they were inside, he asked, “Creed, do you mind buying some coffee?”
“Not a problem.” Creed brushed past her to stand in line. She headed toward a four-top table and settled in.
Once she was logged into the coffee shop’s internet, she rerouted the IP address to provide another level of anonymity. From there it didn’t take too long to obtain a rental car under a fake company name that was not obviously associated with the Texas Rangers, or the state government. It was one she’d used before, but it was better than nothing. She still had to list Jackson and Creed as drivers, but the actual rental lease would be hidden under the fake company name.
“Let’s just get one car for now,” Jackson said. “Better to stick together until we have more to go on.”
“Okay.” She quickly went back to work.
Creed returned with three coffees. She asked for their driver’s license information, which they readily provided.
She sipped her coffee as she waited for the reservation to go through. The internet was a little slower here, as there were other people using it, but finally the swirling icon stopped spinning.
“We’re set.” She closed the laptop with a click and took another sip of her coffee. “An SUV will be waiting for us when we get there.”
“How did you keep us anonymous?” Jackson asked.
“Magic,” she teased. Then sobered. “I rented the car through a fake company I created and used a few times this year. It’s not perfect, because you and Creed are listed as drivers. The only way to avoid that is to get fake IDs. But this should cover us for the time being.”
“That’s amazing.” Creed tipped his coffee cup toward her. “You’re good, Nina.”
“Thanks.” Creed’s acknowledgement was nice, but she couldn’t tear her gaze from Jackson’s. After a moment, Creed stood.
“I’ll get the car. You guys wait here. It will be less noticeable than the three of us showing up at the same time.”
“Good idea,” Jackson agreed.
Nina opened the laptop after Creed left. “I need to download a copy of the subpoena now that you and Creed ditched your phones.”
Jackson grimaced. “I hadn’t thought of that. It seemed more important to cut any potential ties to the gunmen who have been hot on our trail.”
“That is a priority.” After taking precautions, she logged into the Texas Rangers’ email system. “What’s your password?”
He rattled it off. She accessed his email and found the document.
“We have the subpoena.” She eyed Jackson. “We’ll need to take a picture of this once we obtain our replacement phones.”
“That works.” There was a hint of admiration in his tone. “Thanks for doing that.”
