Eight
Nina stared blankly out the rear passenger window as Creed drove them out of the trailer park.
Her mother had named her Rose. Rose Lange.
As much as she adored the name her adopted parents had given her, especially since she didn’t feel much like a flower, she couldn’t stop rolling it around in her mind.
Maybe someday she could change her middle name to Rose.
As a tribute to her birth mother who’d fought so hard to protect her.
She honestly didn’t think her now-deceased adoptive mother would mind.
Nina had experienced nothing but love from Eric and Susan.
All they’d ever wanted was for her to be happy.
For now, she needed to focus on finding more about her mother’s friends. Someone, somewhere had to know who had fathered Anna’s baby.
Not that she knew for certain her biological father was connected to the gunmen. In fact, it seemed ludicrous to think that he would try to kill her all these years later. It wasn’t as if he would have to pay back child support now.
And why did her being here matter all these years later?
It occurred to her that maybe he was someone important. A state senator, or a congressman. Yet could he have been in a powerful position like that twenty-eight years ago? That hardly seemed likely. Maybe he was significantly older than her mother. She had to admit it was a possibility.
“Where to?” Creed asked, breaking into her troubled thoughts.
“I think we should grab lunch, then find a place to stay.” Jackson turned in his seat to look at her. “You still want to look through the high school yearbooks, right?”
“Right.” She thought about the location of where her mother had lived. “Based on her address, I can narrow the list to one high school.”
“Nina, how about finding us a rental property?” Creed suggested. “I’m sure you can hide our location by using the same company you did for the rental car.”
“Yes, I can do that.” Nina opened the laptop and used her new phone as a hot spot.
“Rather than wasting gas, you might want to pull over to the side of the road until Nina comes up with a location,” Jackson said.
“Will do.” Creed drove for another mile or so before finding a place to stop.
Nina worked the laptop, debating between renting a place in town and choosing one of the options closer to the lake. Since they were looking for anonymity, she thought the lake property was a better option. The only problem with that was weekends were fairly booked.
After searching for ten minutes, she found a home with three bedrooms, wincing a little at the price, but then used the same fake company name to book the place.
“Okay, we’re set.” She grimaced. “But we can’t check in until this afternoon. They didn’t give me the option of checking in early, so I assume it’s recently vacated and is being cleaned.”
“That’s fine.” Jackson flashed a smile. “We’ll grab food and use the time to look into the yearbook angle.”
“I’m surprised you were able to find anyone who knew your mother, Nina,” Creed said as he pulled back into traffic.
“Me, too.” Nina was still coming to grips with her mother being seventeen when getting pregnant and barely eighteen when she gave birth to Nina.
Then she frowned. “I should have asked what kind of car my mother had back then. She must have been in a car to have traveled all the way to Dallas where she ended up being murdered.”
“Maybe she got a ride?” Jackson suggested. “Either from a friend or even your biological father. He could be innocent in all of this. Especially if your Uncle Mark was involved in drug trafficking. For all we know, she was planning to move in with your biological father.”
“Maybe.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples, forcing herself to keep an open mind. “You’re right. Anything is possible. We’ll probably learn more once we find her classmates.”
“Agree.” Jackson flashed an encouraging smile. “You’re the best at digging up information online.”
“Thanks.” It was sweet that he was trying to make her feel better. Drawing a deep breath, she turned her attention back to the laptop. She searched for a copy of the high school yearbook for her mother’s junior year, in case Jackson was right about her not graduating.
By the time Creed found a restaurant that provided free internet services, she’d found a yearbook picture of her mother. In this photo, Anna Lange’s curly hair was pulled back from her face. Nina wondered if her mother had lamented the wild, out-of-control curls the way she did.
“What did you find?” Jackson asked, when she belatedly pushed out of the back seat. The guys stood waiting patiently as she held the laptop out.
“I found her junior year photo.” Turning the laptop, she pointed at the image.
“I’m going to try to find her senior year picture next.
My mother was born in late August, so she was one of the younger kids in her class.
Based on my birthday being early September, she may have finished her senior year. ”
“That’s good progress.” Jackson held the restaurant door open for her.
Moments later, they were seated at a large booth in the back. Nina scooted in first. Jackson plopped down beside her, leaving Creed the seat across from them. She did her best to ignore the tingle of awareness when Jackson’s arm brushed hers.
She closed the laptop as their server, a pretty young woman with long blond hair, came over to fill their water glasses. “Hello, my name is Ashley. Would you like anything else to drink?”
“Sweet tea for me.” Nina managed a smile. “Thanks.”
“I’ll have the same,” Creed added.
“Make it three.” Jackson grinned and Nina mentally rolled her eyes when Ashley eyed him with appreciation. He had that effect on women. Surprisingly, Jackson didn’t appear to notice. The moment Ashley left, he turned to her. “Let’s see what Anna’s senior year photograph looks like.”
She opened the laptop and quickly found the next yearbook. As much as she wanted to see all the candid photographs throughout the volume, she went straight to the list of senior classmates.
Her mother’s photograph seemed to jump out at her. Unlike her previous picture, in this one her mother wore her hair down, copper-red curls framing her face. Nina looked so much like her mother, her breath caught in her throat.
“Wow,” Jackson murmured. “You could be twins.”
“Yeah.” She couldn’t tear her gaze away. “She looks happy. As if she can’t wait to see what the world has in store for her.”
“Don’t torture yourself over the past.” Jackson slipped his arm around her shoulders, giving her a hug. “None of us knows what God’s plan is for us. All we can do is to embrace life every day.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. “It’s hard to imagine why God’s plan was that my mother wouldn’t live long enough to raise her daughter.”
“I know.” Jackson kept his arm around her shoulders. Across the table, Creed intently studied the menu as if there would be a test. “Take heart, Nina. Your mother is in a better place now.”
She wanted to ask more, but Ashley returned at that moment with their sweet tea. Nina took a sip, reminding herself why she couldn’t lean on Jackson’s strength the way she wanted to.
“Are you ready to order?” Ashley asked.
Nina hadn’t even looked at the menu. She forced herself to close the laptop. When Jackson removed his arm, she immediately missed his warmth. “Ah, do you have a grilled chicken sandwich?” When Ashley nodded, she said, “Great. I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich with fries.”
The guys both ordered barbecued ribs. When Ashley left, she opened the laptop again, then glanced at Jackson and Creed. “You don’t mind if I work, do you?”
“Have at it,” Creed drawled. He drank deeply from his sweet tea. “How long did you book the rental for, anyway?”
“Just the weekend.” She shrugged. “You guys have to be back in Dallas for the trial starting Monday, right?”
“Maybe not until Tuesday,” Jackson said. “The DA said it may take all day to pick a jury.”
“I can see if we can extend our stay another day if needed.” She turned her attention back to the screen.
A quick glance at the rental property confirmed it was open the following week.
Not that she expected they’d need it for that long.
There may not be much more to learn in Temple, unless she was able to find a former classmate who knew her mother.
A big if. It was more likely many of her former classmates had moved on, either for college or a job. Temple wasn’t that small, but it also wasn’t nearly as large as Dallas, Houston or Austin.
“I think we need to look at possible connections between Diego Sanchez and Mark Lange,” Creed said. “I know it’s been almost three decades, but there could be some overlap there.”
“You’re right. We should start with Lange’s arrest report.” Jackson glanced at her. “Maybe when you’re finished with the yearbooks, you can get that for us?”
“Of course.” Nina reluctantly minimized the yearbook screen to get to the police database. Looking into her uncle’s murder was more important than walking down memory lane to find her mother’s friends.
No matter how much she wanted to know more about the woman who’d only been a Jane Doe for the past twenty-eight years.
* * *
Jackson could feel the tension radiating off Nina as she went to work. He exchanged a concerned gaze with Creed, who simply shrugged. Jackson knew he was letting his personal feelings for Nina get in the way of the investigation.
“Maybe we should pick up a second laptop,” he suggested. “I’m not an expert but I can manage a simple search.”
“Sure, that’s fine.” Creed eyed him over the rim of his glass. “Whatever you think is best.”
Jackson knew Creed suspected he was getting tangled in knots over Nina. Her uncle’s murder should take priority. Violent crimes not solved within forty-eight hours tended to go cold really fast.
Which was probably what happened twenty-eight years ago. Without an ID on Nina’s mother, the detectives on the case would have had no idea where to start.