Lawson really had had no clue that JJ was involved.
No more snake smile.
“But, I have to say, you got one thing wrong about this entire thing,” she added before he could cut in. JJ touched her chest. “Your father not only kept it a secret, he keptmea secret. I’m the daughter you’re looking for. Able and Elle Ortiz never produced a son.”
His eyes widened.
“Their daughter died in the car accident,” he said. “The mother survived with an unborn child.”
“That’s what you’veheard, but have you ever seen proof? Or do you think it was something your father said to try and cover for me one last time before he died?”
That’s when JJ finally knew what she suspected all this time to be true.
Lawson Cole truly had no proof that her mother had survived and had a child. It had been a rumor, a rumor that had been the truth, but nothing he could have verified.
So JJ’s plan was going to work.
She could cover up the existence of Josiah once and for all right here. She leaned into it to make sure the job was done well.
“I came back here to live a nice life in a place my mother used to love and then, one day, I see you bouncing around here and suddenly men who would have been the same age as that unborn child—with adoption stories to boot—start getting into trouble.” She shook her head. “I guess I’m like my dad. I couldn’t just let that sit. I thought I could finish what he started.”
She sighed. It wasn’t an act.
“But then you put me in a tough spot and went for an innocent girl. I realized that I wasn’t willing to bet her life on the fact that I could win against you. If only for the logistics.”
Lawson’s voice was tight.
“Logistics?” he repeated.
JJ nodded.
“You have more people than me. Plain and simple. So, I’m here to take the loss instead of dragging anyone else through this mess. So, let’s end this now.”
To his credit, Lawson seemed to be taking the news in stride.
He recovered faster than she thought he would.
“If all of this is true, what kind of deal are you offering? Your life for the deputy’s daughter’s?”
This was the part that would lead to her end.
If there was more time, if she had been more sure of his numbers and what information he did and didn’t have, JJ might not have given in as easily.
But she believed she had finally hit a dead end she couldn’t come back from.
JJ thought about her mother, all alone before she died. She thought about her father, dedicating his entire life to helping others. She thought about Riker, giving up his everything to keep her safe and loved and happy. She thought of Josiah, happy that their family would live on no matter what happened to her. She thought of Winnie, holding her mother’s earrings.
She thought of Price, holding her hand in the middle of bubbles.
JJ smiled.
Lawson leaned in just a little more. He was all ears.
Which was good. She needed him to really believe her. So she told her last lies, her last truths and the last deal she would ever make.
“I am the evidence against your group. I am the only one in existence that knows enough about you to destroy you. So, once you deal with me, there’s no reason for you to ever come back here again. There’s no reason for you to hurt or harass anyone else here, because all it will end up doing is putting a brand-new target on your back. And, if you really want to be the new boss calling all the shots, getting all that new attention would only make your cousin seem all the stronger. Dealing with me? That will cement your spot against him. And isn’t that what you really want?”
That was it.
