Chapter Twelve
Marty Goldman slid into JJ’s view as Price disappeared from it.
JJ ran to the man she could see, stopping next to Marty with her hands flitting around the air above him in worry.
“Are you okay?” she yelled at him.
Marty looked the part. Sure, he was disheveled and seemed panicked, but there were no obvious signs of trauma or blood.
He confirmed with a nod.
“Yeah, I’m—”
JJ spun around on her heel and was charging after Price before he could finish his sentence.
The hallway wasn’t as long as the previous one. Instead, it branched off several times before coming to its end. JJ had already lost sight of Price by the time she skidded to a stop at the last option to turn. She listened for a few beats.
Then she heard a door slam somewhere in the distance.
JJ backtracked and followed the echo to what seemed to be the main hallway. There was an elevator at its end, another door for the stairwell next to it. JJ didn’t have to open it to know that’s where they had gone. She could hear the loud footfalls hitting what must have been metal and concrete.
JJ did some quick math.
They were probably ahead of her by one flight. If she ran in after them, not only would she be unable to catch up, she would be in danger of exposing herself as involved.
What would the man in the black suit do?
Would he get off at the first floor he could, or try to put more distance between Price and himself?
There was no time to sit and wonder.
So, she left it up to fate.
JJ smashed the up button for the elevator. If the doors opened in the next few seconds…
They opened immediately.
JJ tucked inside and decided to press the second floor. Her painted fingernail was backlit by the lit up Two but her mind was already in planning mode a floor above. If she was fast enough, maybe she could catch sight of them if they had left the stairwell. If not, she would go up another floor.
The sound of someone coming made her move her finger on reflex to the close-door button. However, the person was faster. He swept into the elevator and turned to face the doors in one fluid move.
JJ was about to stumble her way through, making an excuse that would get him to leave, when she realized who exactly he was.
JJ didn’t know why she even made plans.
Fate sure didn’t let her keep them.
Lawson Cole wore his black suit well. There was no doubt about it.
Up close, she could see that it was also, in fact, tailored specifically to him.
Like a second set of skin. It didn’t look like he was a man who had been asked to dress up and attend an event.
Instead, he looked like a man the event had been thrown for.
It was infuriating to see him doing so well.
It was terrifying to see him so close.
And it was worrying that Price didn’t come into view as the elevator doors closed in front of them.
JJ assessed the situation as fast as she could. Lawson wasn’t making any quick movements. He hadn’t grabbed her or said her name or even, it seemed, looked at her.
Had he not seen her running behind him and Price?
Maybe he thought she was just some partygoer who was exploring or a staff member on business?
JJ took a tentative step back.
The doors might have opened quickly, but she had severely misjudged the speed of the actual elevator. It hadn’t even started rising yet.
If Lawson hadn’t recognized her, would it be suspicious for a normal person to just stand there motionless without speaking?
Or this is the time, a thought said, skittering across her mind. You could confront him now and end this.
But it wouldn’t end this, would it?
Could it be that simple?
And where was Price?
She couldn’t simply expose herself, attack Lawson and expect the deputy to be okay with it all.
The elevator finally started to rise.
JJ decided to feign innocence.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Which floor did you want?” She didn’t turn her face toward him but instead motioned to the panel. “I have a phobia of elevators and kind of forget to be present when I’m in them.”
She did a little laugh. Polite, self-deprecating.
Lawson surprised her by doing more of the same.
“The second floor works for me too,” he replied with a laugh.
JJ assumed he hadn’t seen her running. She assumed he assumed that she hadn’t seen him running either. She could play this off until they parted ways.
Then she could follow him.
From there she could make a new plan.
From there she could—
“Elevatophobia.”
JJ inclined her head a little.
The rising had slowed. The doors still weren’t open though.
“Huh?”
“That’s the name for it,” Lawson said. “The phobia of elevators is elevatophobia.”
The hit that came next was brutal, and JJ couldn’t dodge even a fraction of its power.
One second they were facing the front of the elevator, and the next she was pressed against the back of it, a hand around her neck.
JJ’s own hands flew to Lawson’s in an attempt to cut off the contact. But Lawson’s grip was phenomenal. JJ coughed as he squeezed.
“If you didn’t like elevators, you shouldn’t have gotten into this one.” It came out as an almost-purr. To match, his grin became catlike. “You’re here to help the deputy, and now you’re going to help me instead.”
JJ could move her body fine but the force he had on her neck had her completely at his mercy with no plan to counterattack.
She curled her fingernails into his skin, but Lawson looked as if he’d already lost interest in her. He turned his head to look behind him.
“I thought he might be around here.”
He moved enough that JJ was able to see that the elevator doors had finally opened. A small open area gave way to a hallway that looked to run between several rooms. Half of the lights were turned off.
Movement came out of one of those areas, heading straight for them at a slow but even clip.
JJ met Price’s eye.
The sound of a grin was still in Lawson’s words.
“Stop or I’ll break her,” he said.
To show he meant it, he tightened his grip. JJ couldn’t help but let out a strangling cough.
Price stopped dead in his tracks.
He wasn’t grinning but his words were just as sinister.
“Let her go or I’ll break you.”
Lawson must have believed him. His grip didn’t detract but it did loosen.
“Prove to your date that you can breathe,” he ordered. “Say something.”
Your date.
Lawson was referring to her as Price’s date.
Not as Lydia Ortiz.
He didn’t recognize her.
He didn’t know her.
That meant he couldn’t really use her.
Every fear, every hesitation that JJ had fallen prey to since the reappearance of Lawson Cole felt like it dripped down from his hand and melted into a puddle on the floor.
If he didn’t know her, then he’d already underestimated her.
JJ’s face must have given away her change in mindset. Price’s brow drew in together.
She complied with Lawson’s order and spoke to him.
It just wasn’t what either man had apparently been expecting.
“I’m actually really good at fighting.”
Price’s eyebrow rose and Lawson started to turn to face her.
JJ was already moving.
* * *
The woman dropped her body weight out of nowhere.
Lawson caught a glimpse of her smile before he had to release his hold on her neck. That glimpse lasted as long as a blink. There was no time to do anything but defend after that.
Now in a low crouch, she threw an elbow that buried deep within his side. It was a biting, sharp pain that made him stagger back into the corner of the elevator. His hand hit the panel to try and steady himself. He only had a split second to decide to use the misstep to his advantage.
He pressed one of the upper floor’s numbers along with the close-door button.
Then the woman was back on him.
He caught a punch she was throwing only to take a kick in its place. It went into his hip but not his groin. That would have spelled disaster. Especially with the deputy on the outskirts.
Lawson needed to at least keep him away from the fray.
He took the woman’s hand still in his grip and slung her against the opposite wall. It gave him a small window to deal with the approaching brawn of the deputy.
In a hit that felt movie-worthy, he connected a powerful blow against Deputy Collins’s chest. If it had connected with his head, it would have been a knockout. Instead, all it could do was literally knock the man back.
He tried to catch himself, but he hit the floor hard.
The doors started to close. He wasn’t going to make it.
But his date?
She was an absolute nuisance.
“Fifth floor,” she yelled out.
Then the doors closed.
Lawson managed to move as the woman used the wall to push herself at him like a spring. She ducked as he swung out and got him again in the side. Before he could recover, she swept out with one leg and nearly pulled one of his along with it.
But they were in a small area, and he was a tall man.
He used the walls to his advantage to keep himself upright.
The momentary win let him switch to offense.
When the woman came at him again, he returned the side jab with one of his own.
It landed.
She let out a yell of pain and stopped her onslaught, trying to backpedal.
He wasn’t going to let her.
Lawson struck out again, this time aiming to get her in a chokehold where he would certainly apply more pressure than before.
Yet, the woman surprised him once more.
Instead of the attack landing or her avoiding it all together, she used it.
Catching his wrist with one hand, she used the other to send a hit to the outside of his elbow.
The pressure applied the wrong way to the bend of his arm was shockingly painful.
Lawson forgot his earlier plan of attack and yelled as his reflexes had him trying to get more to his right to ease the pain.
The move created a perfect opening for the woman.
He heard her heel connect with the metal of the elevator wall while she jumped up and moved around and onto his back. Her hold went from a hand on his wrist to her arm around his neck.
Now he was the one in a chokehold.
It was impressive, objectively speaking.
It might have worked had it been someone else.
But Lawson wasn’t afraid so there was no reason to panic.
He coughed as his air supply was cut off but kept the rest of his body in motion.
He reached back and grabbed the woman’s jacket.
Then he yanked her off and slung her away like a wet shirt.
Skills were nice but his size wasn’t something she could ignore.
The woman made a noise as she hit the floor.
He knew by that sound that it had hurt.
“I don’t think your guy is worth all of this,” he grunted out to her, rubbing at his neck.
Lawson had to give it to the woman. She had spirit.
She scrambled to her feet and hurried backward so she was opposite him, the corner behind her. Despite being in a dress that didn’t seem too comfortable and boots with a noticeable height, she fell into another fighting stance.
The elevator was slowing.
He had no doubt Deputy Collins would meet them when those doors opened.
Lawson couldn’t go another round with this woman or her date.
He needed to finish what he’d come to do. Seeing the deputy had already been a complication. He didn’t need any more than he already had.
So Lawson pulled out the knife that security had missed.
It was small, thin, but undeniably effective.
And the woman must have realized it. Her stance went from attack to defense, her forearms raising slightly so she could cover her face if she needed to quickly.
Something Lawson wasn’t keen on testing at the moment.
He spelled it all out for her.
“You might be able to get some hits in on me, but with this, no matter how good you are, I’ll be able to return the favor.” He shook the knife. “And this will hurt a whole lot more than fists.”
The woman didn’t say he was wrong.
She also didn’t test his theory. She stood there in silence as the elevator doors opened again.
“Good to see you again, Deputy,” Lawson said in greeting to the panting deputy outside of the doors.
He eyed the weapon and then glanced at his date.
Lawson didn’t want to waste any more time. He pointed to the woman.
“Get out,” he growled. “Or I’ll shred both of you.”
If looks could kill, Lawson believed his time would have come to an end right then and there. Yet, the woman didn’t have the power. Instead, she shared a look with the deputy.
He nodded.
Only then did she slowly move along the wall and out of the elevator. Not one moment of that did she break eye contact with Lawson.
He had to hand it to her. She had been an interesting opponent.
Lawson turned the knife out and stood just inside of the elevator doors. The deputy moved but only to put himself in front of his date.
His stare was just as unrelenting as Lawson pressed the button for the first floor and then the close-door one next to it.
Lawson was glad to see that the deputy had enough sense to keep his position as the doors slowly started to close, but there was obviously something he wanted to say.
It just wasn’t at all what Lawson had expected.
“Marty Goldman was born from an affair. His parents lied. He isn’t adopted.”
Lawson’s head tilted in question just as the doors closed.
The ride to the first floor was faster than it had been on the way up.
Lawson made quick work of exiting it, and the building, without any issues.
It wasn’t until he was being driven away that he let himself sit with his thoughts.
After a few minutes he turned to the man sitting beside him in the back seat.
“Marty Goldman might not be adopted. It might have been a lie his parents told to cover up an affair.”
“Is that why you didn’t grab him?” the man asked.
Lawson didn’t want to go into detail.
“Find out if it’s true.”
The man nodded. He wasn’t in a position to ask too many questions. It was his fault Lawson had gone into public in the first place after his botched attempt to get Josiah Teller.
Lawson ran a hand through his hair.
He spied a rip in his suit jacket’s sleeve.
He’d already not been a fan of Deputy Collins since his involvement in their Jamie Bell search. And now? Now he was around Marty Goldman?
It looked like the deputy had caught on to their common thread.
Not that he was too surprised. It wasn’t like there were that many men from Seven Roads of the same age and adopted.
Still, the deputy sure had become surprisingly annoying.
Not to mention his woman.
Lawson noted the various pains she had inflicted on him.
He decided then and there that before this was over, he would teach them both a lesson.
And his mantra?
Ladies first.
Lawson pulled the name tag that had fallen off inside of the elevator out of his pocket and handed it to the man next to him.
“I also want you to find out everything you can on JJ Shaw.”