Upon learning Francis was making a final desperate play, Lawson started formulating a plan.
Biggest issue right now was severe lack of manpower on Lawson's end. Even counting Franklin and Toretto crew, he only had four guys.
Since Francis was using fringe associates as backup, their numbers definitely wouldn't be small. Lawson was highly concerned about losing control of situation.
And this time, it was highly inconvenient to leverage LAPD or FBI.
While he was deep in thought, Svafa returned.
Lawson was currently crashing at Svafa's Beverly Hills apartment.
As for his Caltech apartment, Ray knew about it. Lawson wasn't sure if Ray had him under surveillance, so he avoided it completely.
"What's wrong? Why the long face?"
Svafa had been insanely busy with bar business lately. She hadn't seen Lawson in days, so seeing him look so stressed was weird.
"Got a highly complicated situation. I don't know how to pull off a flawless fix."
Svafa kicked her flats aside. She stood six foot one, so she rarely wore heels.
She crossed room in a few strides, collapsed onto sofa, rested her head on Lawson's lap, and took a deep sniff of his scent.
Svafa absolutely loved Lawson's scent. It made her feel completely safe.
"What kind of situation? Want to talk about it?"
"I need to deal with a guy. He's got massive amounts of muscle, and I'm highly short on manpower."
"Short on manpower? I have massive experience with that! Throughout my career, I've spent most of my time fighting groups completely solo. Fixing this problem is actually incredibly simple. You just need perfect timing to strike straight at the heart—"
"Control leader, and everything else becomes simple. If you're worried about extraction, I can be your getaway, but..."
Svafa looked up at Lawson, her hand taking control, eyes turning glassy with heat.
Lawson usually hated it when people got handsy while talking, but Svafa's words genuinely cracked his perspective wide open, so he decided to give her a pass.
"How exactly are you going to help me?"
"Obviously by..."
Svafa gripped him tight, pulled herself up, and whispered directly into his ear.
Lawson's eyes instantly lit up.
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"100%, but it's a paid service!"
Svafa licked her lips, her hand working relentlessly, gradually waking sleeping lion.
Lawson squeezed her hard.
"This kind of paid service?"
"Ah!"
Svafa bit her lip hard, face twisting in a mix of pain and intense desire. Expression was absolutely gorgeous, instantly getting Lawson fully geared up.
But Lawson deliberately held back, just smirking down at her.
This drove stunning bar owner completely crazy. A solo run was absolutely nothing compared to two-way action.
"Lawson, what the hell are you waiting for?"
"Negotiating price, obviously. What if you suddenly back out later?"
Svafa knew Lawson was just teasing her, but she was intensely into it. She actively grabbed his hand.
"Exactly this kind of payment. Now hurry up!"
Having not seen Lawson in days, Svafa was already losing control. Getting teased like this completely pushed her over edge.
"Alright then, guess I have no choice but to oblige!"
Lawson unleashed true power of his Iron Man Trump Card, making Svafa's eyes roll back and completely knocking wind out of her.
"Ah! Yes, exactly like that!"
After massive effort, Lawson once again thoroughly conquered Svafa.
Stunning owner lay sprawled on sofa, whimpering softly. She was still conscious, but completely wrecked and oblivious to world around her.
"Lindsey, I need to head out and prep. I'll call you when it's time."
"Mm."
Svafa just mumbled a response. Lawson had absolutely zero idea if she actually processed his words.
Over next two days, Lawson focused entirely on prep, waiting for intel from Sofia.
Sofia's intel hadn't arrived yet, but 'Family' job officially wrapped up first.
Saul Goodman ultimately failed to pull off a miracle for Johnny Tran. Evidence was simply way too solid.
FBI officially decided to indict Johnny Tran and completely dropped arrest warrants for Dominic's crew.
Francis had no choice but to send word to Johnny Tran, ordering him to take full fall for case.
Johnny Tran definitely didn't want to, but he was highly terrified of Francis ordering a hit on him inside prison, so he kept his mouth shut.
Even though Francis couldn't touch Johnny Tran inside FBI holding cells, once Tran hit general population, it was a totally different game.
American prisons were absolute chaos. Anything could happen inside.
Just like Jeffrey Epstein "committing suicide" in his cell in 2019, right when security cameras magically malfunctioned.
Absolute classic textbook play!
[Job: Family - Completed. Finalizing...]
[Bonus Objective 1: Complete job with zero participant casualties or arrests (Failed)]
[Bonus Objective 2: Ensure Johnny Tran faces appropriate punishment (Completed)]
[Final Rating: A. Reward: 3 Underworld Reputation Points, 4 Card Draws.]
Because one bonus objective failed, Lawson only scored an A rating.
Pulling a Trump Card was definitely out of question. Lawson just hoped he'd draw something highly useful right now.
[Reward: $20,000!]
[Reward: $10,000!]
[Reward: C4 Explosives!]
[Reward: $10,000!]
Lawson's eyes lit up. Those C4 explosives dropped at incredibly perfect time!
[C4 Explosives: Safe and highly reliable plastic explosive. Primary component is RDX. Maximum capacity: 5 charges. Inventory replenishes automatically every day at midnight. Bomb has been planted!]
With C4 in his arsenal, Lawson felt his plan was absolutely bulletproof.
On third day, Sofia finally called.
"Lawson, I got exact time and location for sit-down."
"Where?"
"St. Lucy's Church in East LA. Meeting goes down tomorrow night at exactly 8:00 PM."
"Tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, St. Lucy's Church... Got it!"
"Lawson, can we... can we actually pull this off?"
"Trust me, there will be absolutely zero issues. You just need to be at St. Lucy's Church tomorrow at 8:00 PM, sit back, and watch me work."
"Understood."
Sofia hung up, sitting by window and staring out into distance. She let out a massive sigh.
Over past two days, Sofia could physically feel Francis growing increasingly psychotic, to point where she was absolutely terrified to even leave her room.
"Will I actually get true freedom?"
Nobody could answer Sofia. Even Sofia herself had zero clue.
Only thing this woman could do was pray silently to God.
But for some weird reason, whenever Sofia prayed, Lawson's face kept popping into her head.