Eleven
The moment Nina kissed Jackson, her world turned upside down. His embrace was everything she’d ever wanted, and more. His strong arms held her close, his kiss setting off tiny, firework-like explosions in the back of her mind. But despite her intense reaction, reality struck hard.
What was she doing? This would never work!
She’d learned her lesson! Nina broke off from their embrace, taking a shaky step back and gazing over Jackson’s shoulder to the lake beyond.
Dark storm clouds threatened on the horizon, bringing the possibility of rain.
Swallowing hard, she desperately tried to come up with something to say.
“I—uh, sorry about that. I shouldn’t have…
” She couldn’t find the words to finish.
She cleared her throat, looking everywhere but at him.
“I need to get back to work.” She turned away, her cheeks growing warm with embarrassment.
She’d kissed him, not the other way around.
And that wasn’t something she’d ever done before.
“Nina…” Jackson’s husky voice sent shivers down her spine. “I’m not sorry.”
The desire to turn and throw herself into his arms was strong. She fought against the urge.
“We work together.” She finally glanced at him over her shoulder. “I don’t date rangers.”
His wounded expression made her feel like she’d kicked a puppy.
She wanted to tell him her no-dating rule was nothing personal, just something she’d decided after a bad experience in the past, but what was the point?
They were too different for anything to work out between them.
He risked his life every day while she hunkered down behind a computer screen.
He seemed at home in the outdoors while she’d rather stay inside to read a book when she wasn’t working.
Even if she did set aside her rule. Which she had no intention of doing.
Without waiting for him to say anything more, she hurried back up to the rental house. Work would be her salvation. She’d gotten a good start so far. Discovering her biological father was likely the rich oil baron Douglas Tillman had convinced her the guy was guilty of murdering her mother.
And he’d probably sent the gunmen after her, too. Although the reasons for his doing that were murky. Was he worried she’d expose his old secret? That she’d try to sue him for back child support? Was that even a possibility? Make a claim against his company?
No, that was ridiculous. The real reason she was in danger was because Douglas was concerned she’d uncover his role in her mother’s death.
There was, after all, no statute of limitations on murder.
She entered the rental house, turning to seek refuge in the restroom. After splashing cold water on her face, she took several deep breaths.
Kissing Jackson wasn’t the end of the world. She would figure out a way to forget what it felt like to be held in his arms. His kiss had been more potent than Sean’s by a mile, but that didn’t change the fact it was a bad idea.
Jackson’s reputation indicated he wasn’t the sort of guy to take relationships seriously. Even if they didn’t work together, she wouldn’t take the risk. The last thing she needed was more heartbreak.
Enough. Nina squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.
Giving her reflection a nod, she silently confirmed she was fine on her own.
She didn’t need a man in her life. Especially someone who was known to play the field.
She wanted a man like her father. Eric, her real father, despite the lack of shared DNA between them.
He’d loved her mother until the day they’d died.
Besides, uncovering the truth about her mother’s cold case murder was all that mattered. And her best chance to do that was to continue following leads with Jackson and Creed. They were professionals working together.
End of story.
Feeling stronger and more determined than ever to keep things light moving forward, Nina returned to the main living room. Finding Jackson and Creed huddled in front of a computer, she arched a brow. “You guys look serious. What caught your attention?”
“The Tillman oil fields have been in the family for three generations. Looks like Doug Tillman took over as CEO fifteen years ago, after his father suffered a massive heart attack. The old man stepped down, putting his son in charge.” Jackson held her gaze.
“Makes me wonder how far they would go to protect their investment.”
“I don’t want their money.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t sound like Douglas was running the company back when he’d met my mother.”
“No, but Anna was a threat to him just the same. His reason for killing her could be twofold. To avoid paying child support and because he didn’t want his fiancée to know he’d been unfaithful to her.
” Jackson shrugged. “I’m not sure why your life was spared.
I mean, if the goal was to avoid paying child support or hiding your existence. ”
“Yeah, I know.” That had bothered her when she’d first learned of her mother’s murder. “Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to murder an innocent baby.”
Jackson and Creed exchanged a glance. “Maybe,” Creed agreed. “Although the way these guys are coming after you makes me wonder why now? Why are you a threat now versus twenty-eight years ago? Or even ten years ago?”
“No clue.” She sank into the closest empty chair. “I suspect that finding my uncle changed things.”
“Tillman may have had someone keeping an eye on Mark,” Jackson said thoughtfully. “Once they learned he was meeting with you, they took him out of the equation.”
None of this was new information, but it helped to talk things out. She abruptly leaned forward to grab the laptop. “We need to establish a timeline.”
“Okay.” Jackson moved over to look at the screen over her shoulder. “I know you mentioned finding the DNA match. How long ago did you contact Mark?”
“Three weeks.” She added the date of the DNA match and the fact that she’d contacted him via email first, then followed up with the phone call.
“We exchanged emails, before he agreed to share his phone number. Even then, he didn’t answer when I called.
I left a message, and he called me back the following day.
” She glanced at Jackson. “He admitted that he put his DNA in the system to try to find me. And it worked.”
Jackson nodded. “What happened then?”
“As I mentioned earlier, Mark was paranoid about being found. He mentioned moving to his current location about a year ago. He wouldn’t discuss our past over the phone.
We had to connect twice before he would agree to a face-to-face meeting.
” She grimaced. “Based his murder, he had a good reason to be paranoid.”
Jackson turned to Creed. “If you were a gunman determined to eliminate Mark and Nina, why not wait to take them both out at the same time? Why set up Mark’s death to look like a suicide?”
Creed shook his head. “Don’t know. That part doesn’t make sense.
Unless for some reason the bad guys didn’t realize Nina was going to meet with him that night.
Maybe they thought she would call to talk to him.
His phone was missing, right?” When she nodded, he continued.
“So they knew they’d been in communication.
They killed him, thinking Nina would try to call him again.
And when she couldn’t reach him, she’d notify the police.
But when she showed up shortly after they’d done the deed, they needed to adjust their plan accordingly. ”
Remembering those terrifying moments when she’d seen someone lurking outside her uncle’s home made her shiver.
“That would explain why there was a slight delay before they showed up to shoot at me. I was also twenty minutes late. Maybe they were on the road when I passed them. That’s when they turned around to follow me back to the cabin. ”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Jackson frowned. “I guess they figured killing Nina now would be extra reassurance the truth wouldn’t come to light.”
“I’m not sure that theory holds up,” Creed argued. “We know the truth, and so does our boss. Even if Nina was out of the picture, the facts we’ve uncovered so far, and would continue to piece together, are enough to make Tillman the prime suspect.”
“Yeah, there’s that.” Jackson sighed. “We need a few more pieces of the puzzle.”
“We could start by getting a sample of Tillman’s DNA,” Creed suggested. “We can use that to prove Nina is his biological daughter.”
“That will take too long,” Jackson protested. “We have a trial starting on Monday, remember?”
“It’s just the first step.” Creed stared up at the ceiling for a moment.
“We talked about getting a second SUV anyway, right? You guys should drop me off in town to get another rental car. I can track Tillman to get a sample without his knowing, like from something he touches, while you continue searching for other leads.”
Nina wasn’t sure leaving the rental property was a good idea. So far, this was the only place they’d been safe. And they hadn’t even been there very long.
Yet she was anxious to know if Tillman was her biological father. Creed was right, they needed proof. If Douglas wasn’t her father, they were heading down the wrong path.
“Maybe we can verify DNA another way.” She already knew she looked mostly like her mother.
Using the laptop, she searched the Tillman Oil Company website.
He was clearly the CEO. She turned her attention to the other employees at the company.
It seemed logical that Tillman would have kids. Maybe one of them worked for him.
Bingo! She drew in a sharp breath when she saw a picture of their marketing director. Colin Tillman.
His son? Colin shared Doug’s green eyes, identical to hers. They had the same earlobes, too. And the same widow’s peak. Colin looked young, so she quickly pulled him up in the DMV database.
His picture looked even more like a mini version of his father’s. “Jackson? I’m not sure we need that DNA sample.”