Chapter Twenty-One
Life got fast. Real fast.
Deputy Little and Deputy Gavin came out to the house and then the former Sheriff Trouble, Liam’s wife, came too. It was one thing to bluff about having Winnie Collins. It was another to threaten her.
Price was at the helm of their meetings that took place in the dining room. JJ took part at first, but she had found herself in the bonus room, idly staring. It was only when Winnie came in after a while that JJ realized she had made a decision.
It wasn’t a want.
It wasn’t a need.
It was a must.
Still, JJ’s feet were slow about it.
Maybe it was that space in between again that Price had talked about. She was getting lost in it.
She couldn’t keep that going for too long though.
Seeing Winnie pretend to not be scared was a good reminder of that.
“Did you get kicked out too?” The teenager pointed down at the floor. The kitchen wasn’t far off from their spot above. “I tried to join, and Dad used his cop voice on me. I appreciate that he never lies to me, but it still feels like I’m missing out on some things I might need to know.”
Winnie came to a stop next to JJ. She was standing next to the crib of all things. Winnie peered over the edge and at the cow saltshaker collection that was resting inside. She didn’t seem to need JJ to respond. She went on, just like her father did.
“This isn’t the first time that he’s been nervous, but I think that’s when Dad really shines.
I know he can be lame and goofy and sometimes just won’t leave you alone, but he’s also really good at his job.
He’s really good at keeping people safe.
So, I wouldn’t worry too much. He’ll figure it all out. ”
JJ’s heart tore.
She looked over at the girl, who was light-years ahead of her age.
There she was, trying to comfort JJ when it was JJ’s fault she was the one being threatened.
A life for a life.
JJ had no doubt that it had been Lawson behind that message, using his father’s old adage and twisting it for revenge.
Because the man she had fought in the woods had died.
No matter which way JJ looked at the situation, she was the cause of the trouble now in Seven Roads.
She was the reason Price’s daughter—the person he loved most in the world—had gotten a death threat by the same people who had killed her father. Who had tried to kill her. Who now wanted to kill her brother.
JJ didn’t ball her hand into a fist because she didn’t want to damage what was resting on her palm. Instead, she looked at it for what felt like the hundredth time since Price had slyly given it to her without a second thought.
Winnie inclined her head to look.
“Oh, that’s pretty,” she said.
JJ smiled. It was one of the few she truly felt.
“Isn’t it? My mom actually made it for me all by herself.
” She laughed. “This was actually the third attempt. My mom was really, really not a crafty person. It was a rule in my house that me and Dad wrapped all the presents and made the birthday banners and did anything that included tape, glue or having to deal with a billion little pieces.”
JJ moved the earring closer so Winnie could see it better.
“So when she gave these to me for my tenth birthday, I really understood how special they were,” she continued. “Then, when my dad let me know that she had been trying to make the perfect pair for weeks, I decided right then and there that these were my favorite pair of earrings that I’d ever own.”
She ran a finger over the scratch mark that split the worn flower painted on the side.
“You see this scratch?” she asked. “Dad told me that she almost threw the whole thing away because she thought it ruined it. But Dad, knowing just how to make my mom feel better about anything, convinced her that this scratch is what makes these earrings so valuable. ‘It’s an Elle exclusive. The rarest of rare. No one else in the entire world will ever have this.’”
That smile started to slip away.
Winnie didn’t notice.
Instead, she was impressed.
“I can’t believe you still have them after all these years. Dad got me a pearl bracelet last Christmas and I still haven’t been able to find where I lost it in my room.”
JJ stopped rubbing the side of the earring.
Despite herself, despite her resolve, JJ told Winnie Collins something that no one else in the entire world knew. Not even her father.
“I actually did lose this,” she said. “I was wearing them when I was in a car accident when I was ten. The other one, I still wear when I’m missing my mom. It wasn’t until today that I got this one back.”
Winnie’s eyebrow rose.
“How?”
JJ’s smile was gone.
“My best guess is that Mom wanted it to find me again.”
JJ had been looking for a sign, for a lead, for anything that would lead her to the truth. To her family.
She thought it only fitting that, in the end, it was her mom who would lead her to her brother.
JJ took the other earring out of her ear. She pulled on one last smile and turned to Winnie.
“I’m really awful at keeping track of things. Do you think you could hold on to these for me until your dad has everything taken care of? It would help me feel less nervous knowing they’re somewhere safe.”
Thankfully, Winnie didn’t know the full extent of what was going on. She didn’t question the request. Instead, she looked suddenly determined.
“Don’t worry. I won’t lose them like the pearls. You can count on me.”
JJ ran her finger over the scratch one last time before handing both earrings over.
“I’m actually going to go lie down for a little bit,” JJ said once they were in Winnie’s hand. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. Do you think if your dad comes up here, you could tell him I’m sorry?”
Winnie snorted, eyes on the earrings.
“Sorry for what? Napping? Don’t worry. Dad has definitely taken his fair share of naps. Plus, if he’s not going to let us in on the talks downstairs, what else can we do?” She waved the concern off. “Go nap. I got you.”
JJ wavered right then and there.
She wanted to say more, but knew too much might make the girl suspicious.
So, JJ went to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
* * *
A manhunt turned Seven Roads upside down. Still, as it became afternoon, no one could find Lawson Cole. It was frustrating. It was enraging.
It finally made Price feel like he had done enough for the moment to deserve a break to check on JJ. Since giving her the news that the man she had fought had died, he’d seen a change in her so drastic that he had done the only thing he could in a time like that.
He had given her space.
Now he wanted that space to disappear. He wanted to check on her, he wanted to be near her. He wanted to sit next to her, hold her hand and talk out the situation. Then he wanted to make her and Winnie something good to eat. After that? They could figure out their next steps.
He told his friends downstairs that he would be right back and went to Winnie’s room first. She had her door open and was sprawled out on her bed, reading a book.
Price paused to take in the sight. He remembered when she was half that size, begging him to read her favorite kids’ book about learning numbers by counting sheep.
Price was about to say just that when he noticed something lying next to the book.
“Are those JJ’s earrings?” he asked instead.
Winnie jumped in surprise but recovered with a scowl on her face. She scooped the earrings up and dramatically placed them against her chest.
“They are and, before you say anything, I already promised to keep them safe. And that this isn’t the same as the pearl situation so before you say anything—”
“Keep them safe?” he interrupted. “She asked you to keep them safe?”
Winnie nodded.
“Her mom made them for her and, well, she didn’t say it, but I think her mom is gone so they mean a lot.
” She held one out to him and pointed to something across its surface.
“She said her mom handmade them for her, but she lost one in an accident. Then she found this one today. Now she’s worried in all of this going on that she might lose them again. ”
Price had been about to take the one held out to him.
He paused the move midair.
“What?” was all he could manage.
Winnie saw the change in him. Her answer was slower but still she didn’t understand.
“I think she gave them to me because she’s trying to keep me distracted,” she admitted. “She didn’t really seem that stressed when we talked earlier. Maybe she thought I was.”
Price started to backtrack through the door. He stared down the hall.
JJ’s bedroom door was closed.
Adrenaline poured through him as he took each step closer to it.
He heard Winnie follow him. She whisper-yelled out.
“Don’t wake her up! She said she was going to nap.”
Price shook his head.
He already knew what he would find once he opened the door.
Or, rather, who he wouldn’t.
Still, he held out some hope.
That hope didn’t last.
Once the door was open, it was easy to see the room was empty.
Winnie bumped into him.
“What else did she say?” he asked, striding across the room to the bathroom, just in case.
It was also empty.
Winnie looked confused.
“Nothing. She said she was going to take a nap and that she was sorry.”
Price turned at that.
“She was sorry?”
Winnie nodded.
“She told me to tell you she was sorry…” Winnie’s confusion started to turn to realization that she had missed something important. “I—I thought she meant she was sorry that she was going to take a nap.”
Price cussed low and checked the room for anything that might tell him that he was wrong. When he couldn’t find anything, he pulled out his phone and started to call JJ.
“Dad!”
Price hurried to the bathroom. Winnie pointed into the trash can as the call went to voicemail immediately.
He didn’t have to wonder why.
In the trash can was JJ’s phone.
Smashed to pieces.
That was the last nail in the coffin.
Price didn’t stay still after that.
He ran down the stairs, Winnie right behind him.
Once he got everyone’s attention in the dining room, he whirled around and looked his daughter right in the eye.
“I love you, but I have to go and help JJ right now,” he told her.
Fear etched itself into Winnie’s expression. Price hated it.
He knocked her forehead twice with a gentle rap.
“I wouldn’t leave you if I thought you were in danger. But, JJ is. And, like you said, she and I are a really good team. When I’m in trouble, she saves me. When she’s in trouble, I save her. Those are the rules. Okay?”
Before she could say anything, he turned to Liam’s wife, Blake. She stood between Deputy Gavin and Rose.
“I don’t think Lawson will come after us anymore, but just in case, can you please keep my daughter safe?”
Blake, mother to three and fierce protector to any and all of those in need, nodded on reflex.
“Update Liam in the car,” she ordered instead of questioning him. “We’re good here.”
He nodded, grateful.
He turned back to Winnie.
Price would never forget the first time he ever saw his daughter. She was impossibly small, and he was incredibly afraid. Now, she was almost an adult. Still, that fear always stayed.
In that moment, though, his daughter gave him something else. Something that he realized he needed from her before he could go.
She gave him permission to leave her.
“Go save the day, Dad.”
He didn’t need anything more. Price was in his truck and flying down the road in what felt like one fluid movement. He put the sheriff on speaker just as he was tearing out of the neighborhood.
“Lawson Cole doesn’t need to use Winnie anymore.”
The sheriff didn’t make him repeat it.
“Why?” he asked instead. “What happened?”
Price thought of the earrings. The blue one with a scratch.
He thought of her telling Winnie she was sorry to him.
He slammed his hands on the steering wheel as he answered.
“Because JJ is making a mighty move and turning herself in to him.”
The sheriff was all alarm. It had nothing on the storm of emotions raging within Price.
“Why would she do that?” Liam asked.
Price cussed low.
“Because she finally found her brother,” he said. “It’s Josiah Teller.”
He had no doubt that now JJ knew, she was going to sacrifice herself to keep Josiah safe.
And Price couldn’t—wouldn’t—let that happen.