Page 43 of Texas Cold Case Murder

A full hour passed as he kept watch over their surroundings. He tensed when he saw another pair of headlights on the road. That vehicle went by, too, but to his eye, it seemed to be moving slowly.

Too slowly.

He stood at the window overlooking the street for several long minutes. He debated waking Creed so they could watch the front and back of the house at the same time.

As he turned away, he froze. Leaning forward, he stared at the road. A dark shadow moved slowly from one set of trees to the next. Then he saw a second shadow. Two men, flanking the house.

He whirled from the window and bolted down the hallway. “Creed. Nina! Get up. Someone’s outside.”

Creed opened his door an instant later. “Where?”

“Out front.” When Nina didn’t emerge, he rapped sharply at her door. “Nina, hurry. Please.”

A long second later, her door opened. She was fully dressed, down to her shoes. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re going out back.” He took her hand. “Creed, there are two perps out front. Can you buy us some time?”

“Absolutely.” Creed pulled his weapon. “Go.”

Jackson tugged Nina through the house, heading out the patio doors. He had them open and was stepping through as Creed disappeared out the front.

“What are we going to do?” Nina whispered.

“We’ll take the canoe across the lake.” He glanced at her. “Do you know how to paddle?”

“I don’t think we should leave Creed to face them alone.” Her brow furrowed. “Maybe we should stay and—” A loud crack of gunfire cut her off.

Jackson didn’t like leaving Creed, either, but these guys were after Nina. He sprinted to the rocky shore and flipped the canoe. When Nina followed, he handed her a paddle. She hesitated for a moment, before climbing into the canoe. The narrow boat rocked from side to side until she sat in the center of the vessel.

Jackson gave the boat a push, then jumped in to join her, desperate to get Nina out of there, before one of the gunmen found them.

TWELVE

Nina didn’t want to leave Creed to face off with two gunmen, but Jackson had pulled her toward the canoe. It looked smaller than she anticipated, but she had gamely scrambled inside, grabbing the edge when the boat rocked back and forth precariously.

When Jackson shoved the boat into the water and then handed her a paddle she dimly realized he expected her to use it to propel them forward.

She didn’t have a clue!

The boat continued to rock from side to side as Jackson plopped down on the seat behind her.

“Paddle, Nina.” When she turned to look at him, he dipped his paddle into the water. “Like this. Drag the fat end of the paddle in through the water.”

With a jerky nod she did so. To her surprise, the canoe glided forward. Not very fast, though, which made her anxious to repeat the paddling motion.

“Good job,” Jackson whispered. “Keep going.”

Determined to do her part in this, she continued to paddle. A light rain continued to fall, making her worry the canoe might fill with water.

What if they capsized? She wasn’t a strong swimmer. Swallowing past the lump of fear in her throat, she paddled with all her strength.

The canoe glided soundlessly across the water. Just when she thought this would work, that they would escape unscathed, she heard a muffled shout.

Followed by several more rounds of gunfire.

When she turned to look back toward the rental house, fearing for Creed’s safety, Jackson shook his head. “Don’t, Nina. We can’t go back. Creed can handle himself. Keep paddling.”

Her arms were already growing tired, but she did her best to ignore her aching muscles. Thankfully, Jackson’s paddling was strong enough to continue propelling them forward, even as her strokes slowed.