Fifteen #2
He flushed again. “No. I was true to Corrine throughout our marriage. But if I’m being honest, I had always wondered if part of the reason Anna moved on to another man was because she was pregnant.” Guilt flashed in his eyes. “I should have gone to see her. Should have forced the issue.”
Yeah, he should have. She frowned. Was he telling the truth? She didn’t know. “Isn’t Corrine a hotshot defense attorney? Why does she care if your oil company has to be split between your son and another child?”
“Because she wants it all to go to Colin. And because she doesn’t want anyone to know that I was about to walk away from her twenty-eight years ago.
” His cheeks flushed with shame. “And the biggest reason of all was because I had an affair with a teenager. I thought your mother was eighteen. I couldn’t believe it when I learned she was only seventeen.
That’s not an excuse. I knew she was young, and innocent.
Now that I now Anna was pregnant with you, it all makes a sick kind of sense. ”
“If Corrine learned I was your child, I’m surprised she didn’t kill me at the same time she eliminated my mother.
” Nina wasn’t sure how she felt about this man who’d fathered her.
The letter that was supposedly written by Anna put some things in perspective, but she still felt like Doug had taken the easy way out.
He shook his head. “Corrine isn’t a saint, but I find it hard to believe she would shoot your mother.”
“My mother wasn’t just shot in the abdomen.
She was badly beaten, especially around the face.
” From what little Nina had heard about the shooting outside the rental property, Corrine likely hadn’t done the dirty work herself.
She’d hired it out. Maybe the goal had been to make her mother’s death appear to be an accident.
A robbery gone wrong. Which is why her mother’s ID had been taken.
“I swear I didn’t know.” Doug’s gaze beseeched her to believe him. “I would never have hurt Anna. Never!”
“But you did hurt her.” Nina wasn’t ready to let him off the hook.
She pulled her mother’s photograph from her pocket and shoved it at him.
“This is your fault. You shouldn’t have had an affair.
You should have broken off your engagement before you even started seeing Anna.
You shouldn’t have turned your back on her, based on a note. ”
“You’re right.” Doug’s low admission surprised her. He stroked a fingertip down the photo. “I didn’t hit her or pull the trigger, but my actions or, rather, inactions directly led to your mother’s death. And for that, I’ll never forgive myself.”
She jumped to her feet, suddenly desperate for some distance. Maybe her father wasn’t all bad, but she almost wished she hadn’t gone down this path of searching for the truth. To be fair, they may never know exactly who Corrine had hired to kill her mother. Twenty-eight years was a long time.
Maybe her father would find a way to convince his wife to cooperate with the investigation.
And really, if not for her father’s ill-fated affair, Nina wouldn’t be standing here right now. Maybe God worked in mysterious ways.
Nina walked toward the window overlooking the hospital parking lot. The sun had risen, casting a warm glow over the landscape.
Her father’s love for her mother seemed genuine. Yet it was that same love that had caused so much heartache. Not just lost love, but stolen lives. Especially her mother’s and her Uncle Mark’s.
Which brought her back to her current situation. And to Jackson. Despite her efforts to the contrary, she’d fallen in love with him.
Loving a ranger wasn’t something she’d wanted.
She’d thought she’d loved Sean, only to realize he wasn’t committed to their relationship.
She should know better than to love Jackson.
Yet much like the love that had grown between her biological parents, logic didn’t matter.
What should or shouldn’t be didn’t make any difference.
She tried to accept the way her father had at least intended to do the right thing. Despite failing miserably.
Yet she could see how it had happened. Her mother’s letter on the heels of learning of Corrine’s pregnancy. She’d wanted her father to fight for her mother. Instead, he’d left her alone.
Alone. The way she felt right now. Nina rested her forehead against the glass window. Even after she walked away from Jackson, he’d always have her heart.
* * *
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.