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When the Temple police officer arrived to relieve Jackson from his guard duty over Corrine, who’d stopped crying only to stare blindly up at the ceiling, he’d gone to the waiting room to check on Nina. Seeing her in deep conversation with her father, he’d headed outside to call Creed. To his surprise, the ranger answered. “Hey, Jackson.”
“Please tell me Zane Cartland is spilling his guts.” Jackson turned to look at the hospital waiting room. Nina had risen to her feet and was walking away from her father. He itched to go over to gather her into his arms.
“Yeah, he’s talking.” Creed sounded tired. “Claims Corrine had several drug cartel guys working for her on the quest to eliminate Nina. She has a computer whizz working for her. When she learned we were helping her, she offered an extra bonus to take us out of the picture along with Nina. If you ask me, Corrine intended to make her own client the fall guy.”
“Nothing surprises me about that woman,” Jackson muttered. Nina stood near the window now, staring at the horizon. “Did he give us anything we can use to prove Corrine’s involvement? I mean, let’s face it, the word of a guy with a record for having drugs isn’t going to stand up against the word of an attorney.”
“We’re working on that. He has text messages from a burner phone. The Temple cops recovered a burner phone from the car wreck, and they’re sending it to be processed. Lifting Corrine’s fingerprints from the burner would help. That and hopefully some way to prove the phone was hers.”
“That’s good work.” Jackson felt certain the phone alone would be more than enough to incriminate Corrine Kimbal. “Anything else?”
“One more interesting piece of information. It sounds as if Corrine had some big hold over Zane’s father, Robert Cartland. Something that happened years ago. Zane wasn’t sure what it was, but said his father was forced into helping Corrine in the past. And that secret was part of the reason Zane had caved under pressure to help her out again.”
Helping her out in the past? Like getting rid of Nina’s mother? “We need to know more about that. Especially if Cartland is the one who murdered Anna.”
“That was my thought exactly,” Creed agreed. “I have Robert being brought in for questioning now. Figured you may want to join that interview.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jackson smiled grimly. “I’ll head over soon. I need to talk to Nina first.”
“Sounds good. Oh, and Jackson? We need to let the Dallas DA know about Corrine’s arrest. It may help us in our case against Diego Sanchez.”
“I can do that. Nothing would make me happier than to have Diego Sanchez spend the rest of his life in jail.”
“I’m with you on that. Later.” Creed ended the call.
Rather than calling the DA’s office, Jackson strode inside toward Nina. She was so lost in thought she didn’t realize he was there, but then she suddenly turned to face him.
“I don’t know what to think about all this. I didn’t even consider the possibility my father was innocent. Well, mostly innocent,” she amended.
“I’m sure it’s a lot to process.” He took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Creed is getting good information from Zane Cartland. Turns out his father may be involved in what happened to your mother. We’ll know more when we question him.”
“Really?” She shook her head. “It just all seems so senseless. So much death and destruction over something that was never going to be a problem in the long run.”
“Maybe not, but it sounds to me like Corrine was desperate to marry Doug.” He probed her gaze. “Whatever happened back then is a tragedy. But none of it changes who you are, Nina. You’re still the smartest, sweetest and best technical analyst the Texas Rangers ever had. Your adopted parents loved you and soon we’ll be able to close the file on your mother’s cold case murder.”
“Yeah.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I guess that’s the good news. Even though her death, and my Uncle Mark’s murder shouldn’t have happened.”
“There are a lot of things in the world that don’t make any sense,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean we stop living our lives. It’s why we put our faith and trust in God. Our time on this earth is limited, but we will live forever when we accept Christ as our savior.”
“I have to admit, I never felt God’s presence the way I have over these past few days.” This time her smile appeared genuine. “Thanks to you, Jackson, I believe that. And I want to learn more, too.”
Her words warmed his heart. He quickly took her other hand in his, pulling her close. “Nina.” Jackson doubted this was the best time or place to profess his love for her, but he didn’t want to head to the police station for Robert Cartland’s interview without telling her how much he cared. “I would be honored to teach you whatever you’d like to know. And while you may not be ready to hear this, I want you to know I’ve fallen in love with you. Will you please agree to see me again once we get back to Austin?”
Her jaw went slack. “Oh, you can’t really mean that.”
“I do mean it. I love you.” He abruptly realized she must be thinking about his reputation. “Look, I know I used to date a new girl every week. But that was a long time ago. I was hurting after a bad breakup, and reacted badly. When Sam met Mari and learned about faith and God, he pretty much dragged me, Tucker and Marsh along with him. Once I started attending church and reading God’s word, I realized I needed to stop my indiscriminate dating. I haven’t been in a relationship for almost two years. Now I believe God brought me to this moment so that I could be here with you.”
Her green eyes filled with hope, but she still held back. “It’s awfully fast for you to decide you love me.”
“Not fast at all, I’ve been crushing on you for months.” He shot her an exasperated look. “If you don’t believe me, ask any of the guys. Even Creed, who I don’t know as well, but the others noticed how much I care about you.” He tipped his head to the side. “The only person oblivious to my feelings appears to be you.”
Nina shook her head. Then sighed. “Jackson, I care about you, too. But love is…” She lifted her chin toward her father, who still sat where she’d left him, staring with longing and anguish at the photograph of her mother. “Complicated.”
“No, it’s not. I love you, Nina. I have liked and admired you for months. I’ve wanted to ask you out, but was afraid you’d refuse because we work together.”
“That is a factor,” she admitted.
“It’s not, but if you think it’s a problem, I’ll quit. I’ll find another job in law enforcement. I don’t have to be a ranger. You are the only thing that matters.”
