Eleven #2
“What did you find?” He leaned close.
“Colin Tillman. Age twenty-eight.” She turned the screen so he could see it.
“He looks just like his father, doesn’t he?
And we have the same eyes, widow’s peak and earlobes.
” She sighed at his incredulous expression.
“I know it sounds goofy, but earlobes and widow’s peak are definitively an inherited trait.
I did some DNA research in college. Douglas and Colin and I have the same eye color, earlobes and hairline.
Based on that and what Ellen Carter told us about Douglas’s relationship with my mother, I believe Colin Tillman is my half brother. ”
“Believing isn’t proof,” Creed protested. “No matter what we think, we still need DNA from Douglas Tillman to prove paternity.”
“I know, but I’m convinced that Douglas is my father.
” She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from the image of Colin Tillman’s photograph on the screen.
The few physical similarities she shared with him were bad enough.
But what struck her the hardest was that Colin had been born three months after she was.
Now she understood why her mother had been murdered. Douglas Tillman had eliminated Anna because he didn’t want anything to get in the way of his new family.
* * *
Jackson silently admitted the resemblance between Nina and Colin Tillman seemed to indicate shared DNA. Getting a sample from Douglas was a good idea, but he didn’t want to take the risk of heading back into Dallas.
For now, the DNA itself could wait. “Let’s try to figure out how Douglas Tillman is getting these guys to come after us. I mean, he can’t possibly know goons for hire on a first-name basis, right?”
“Maybe they’re oil workers,” Nina suggested.
“Could be,” Creed agreed. “If we could arrest one of these guys, we’d know for sure who hired them.”
“At least we know why they’re operating under a seemingly endless stream of money,” Jackson muttered.
“Maybe we should head back into town,” Nina said after a long moment. “Our being there could draw them out.”
“No.” He was not on board with using Nina as bait.
Besides, the dark clouds overhead indicated a storm was on the way.
As he glanced toward the window, he heard the rumble of thunder.
“It’s going to rain soon. We don’t have a generator out here, so you should use the time we have to find names of the employees who work for Tillman. ”
She frowned. “Yes, I can find the employees who work for Tillman Oil, but what does that give us? We haven’t gotten a good enough look at them to match a face with a name.”
He thought about the two men they’d glimpsed outside Mark Lange’s cabin. “I might be able to recognize one of them. Enough for the local police to bring him in for questioning.”
Creed stood and stretched. “Whatever you think is best. Since there is a storm on the way, I’m going to throw a couple of pizzas in for dinner. We should eat while we have the chance.”
“Good idea.” Jackson turned to Nina, who was already working the laptop. “Let me know when you have some of the employees identified.”
“I will. But I want to go through Douglas’s high school yearbook, too.” She didn’t look at him, and he wondered if she still regretted their kiss. He swallowed against a lump of guilt. She may have initiated the kiss, but he was the one who’d taken things beyond the friendship level.
He had thought she’d responded to his embrace. But maybe he’d gotten his signals crossed. She didn’t date rangers. That stung but shouldn’t have been a surprise. He stood and went over to peer outside at their surroundings.
The dark storm clouds were directly overhead now.
As he watched, fat drops of rain fell from the sky.
Months ago, when he’d been in a similar rental house hiding from danger, they’d used trail cameras to keep an eye out for anyone approaching the property.
He wished he’d considered getting them here, too.
At least they’d taken other precautions, like altering the license plate of their rental car. Nina’s ability to reroute their ISP address to hide their tracks was also something they hadn’t had before.
Still, Jackson knew he wouldn’t get much sleep that night. He crossed over to join Creed where he stood near the oven. “Do you want to take the first watch? Or the second?”
Creed shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. You think these guys will eventually find us here?”
“I don’t see how they can track us, but I’m not willing to take any chances.” He sighed. “We may need to call in additional resources to watch over Nina, if we don’t find something solid to go on, soon. I mentioned that to Owens, but he hasn’t offered anyone else to assist.”
“Yeah, well we are two rangers who should be able to keep one woman safe.” Creed glanced over to where Nina was hunched over the laptop. “And you won’t want to hand her over to someone else, either. You’ve been taking this case personally.”
“The same way I would if you, one of the other rangers or any of our colleagues was a target.” He inwardly winced at the defensiveness in his tone. “Nina doesn’t have the same training we do. She needs protection.”
“I agree.” Creed lightly punched his shoulder. “And you want to be the one protecting her.”
Since that was the truth, he saw no point in arguing. Instead, he peered into the oven. “Looks like they’ll be ready soon.”
“Yeah.” Creed crossed over to pull plates from a cupboard. The lights flickered, but didn’t go out. “We’d better eat fast.”
“I’ll find some flashlights.” Jackson opened drawers until he found what he was looking for. They had their phones, too. A jagged bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed by a sharp crack of thunder.
Nina looked up. “I found Douglas’s yearbook. He was the valedictorian of his class. And he was named prom king. Mr. Rich and Popular.” Nina reluctantly closed the laptop when Creed set the pizzas on the table. “It’s going to take longer than I thought to access their employee list.”
“If anyone can do it, you can.” Jackson smiled reassuringly. “Worst-case scenario we try to get a subpoena for the records.”
“I’m afraid that will tip our hand,” Nina scowled. “I’ll keep searching. I allowed the yearbook photos to distract me. There are sites that I can use for information.”