Sky just started getting light. Lawson opened his eyes.
Pulled arm out from under Sofia's neck, peeled octopus-like Sofia off him, and got ready to dress and leave.
After helping each other out last night, Lawson explained exactly what she needed to do next.
Once he finished, Lawson originally planned to leave, but Sofia begged him to stay. She felt completely unsafe and couldn't sleep alone.
Having Lawson next to her was only way she felt secure.
Couldn't be helped. Lawson was naturally helpful guy, so he stayed to act as human body pillow.
It was massive challenge. Everyone knows Italian bombshell's figure is...
Ahem! Anyway, Lawson relied entirely on pure Zen focus and counting sheep just to catch few hours of sleep. Minute sun came up, he was wide awake and ready to bounce.
Sofia absolutely couldn't afford to be caught with another man right now. Even just being in same bedroom was massive risk.
"Lawson, is it morning?"
"Yeah, I have to go now. I'll come back later. Get some sleep, and don't forget what we agreed on."
"Mm."
Sofia closed her eyes, breathing in Lawson's lingering scent, and drifted back to sleep.
Lawson climbed out window and quietly slipped away from estate.
Since it was incredibly early, estate staff wasn't up yet, so nobody spotted him.
Still, sneaking in and out like this was highly risky. Never know when someone might see him. He definitely needed official cover identity to enter Bonanno estate.
Back in his car, Lawson pulled out phone to check job status.
[Job: In the Name of the Father - Completed. Finalizing...]
[Bonus Objective 1: Ensure Megan Kelly and Franklin Clinton survive until job completion (Completed)]
[Bonus Objective 2: Publicly expose truth behind Little Martin Bonanno's murder right in front of Francis Ricci (Completed)]
[Bonus Objective 3: Complete job before Old Martin Bonanno dies (Completed)]
[Final Rating: S. Reward: 13 Underworld Reputation Points, 5 Card Draws.]
In the Name of the Father drained massive amounts of time and energy. It was his first 3-star job, after all.
Hoped to pull some high-tier gear.
[Reward: Remington 870!]
[Reward: $50,000!]
[Reward: Grappling Hook!]
[Reward: $70,000!]
[Reward: Trump Card 'Two-Face'!]
Finally hit jackpot! 6th Trump Card!
[Remington 870: Highest-selling pump-action shotgun worldwide. Unmatched close-quarters stopping power! No manual reloading required. Automatically chambers one shell per second. Selectable ammo types.]
Auto-reload function was similar to his G18, except G18 instantly refilled one second after emptying mag.
This Remington 870 loaded one shell per second.
Basically same thing. Racking pump-action takes about second anyway, making it practically infinite ammo.
Selectable ammo feature was highly interesting.
Shotguns have massive variety of shells. Beyond standard buckshot and slugs, there's dragon's breath, flechette, even rubber bullets.
Being able to instantly swap ammo types gave Lawson massive tactical flexibility.
[Grappling Hook: Easily pulls up to half-ton of weight. Use it to reposition yourself or pull targets/objects. Because I'm Batman!]
Reading grappling hook description, Lawson's expression got highly weird. He just scored Arkham Asylum Warden Trump Card, and now he gets Gotham billionaire's gadget.
Oh right, and Two-Face Trump Card. He definitely had massive connection to Gotham City!
(Grappling Hook)
[Two-Face: Everyone has multiple faces. Now you can turn your other face into completely independent person. Only fair thing left in this world is this coin.]
Lawson didn't get it at first. But when he activated Two-Face ability, holographic projection popped up in front of him. Looked exactly like character creation screen in video game.
Could freely adjust height, wingspan, facial features, blood type, even size of his little brother.
He could literally create guy with supermodel waist...
Obviously, Lawson wasn't that bored. He just made minor tweaks based on his own build.
Dropped height by four inches, adjusted wingspan and facial structure, creating highly distinct Caucasian face.
Once done, he had to assign name to finalize.
Lawson thought for second, named this white guy "Jack Cole."
Second he confirmed, Lawson felt his body physically shift, actually shrinking slightly.
He quickly checked rearview mirror. Sure enough, his reflection perfectly matched Caucasian guy he just created.
This Trump Card was absolute magic! Meant Lawson now possessed two completely separate identities. Could easily offload highly sketchy jobs to "Jack Cole."
Nobody would ever connect two guys with completely different heights, faces, and blood types.
Thinking about it, Lawson flashed highly evil grin at mirror.
Still needed to prep some dedicated gear and habits specifically for Jack Cole, to ensure they were two entirely separate people.
After thinking it over, Lawson used Two-Face to revert to original self.
Yeah, his own face definitely looked better. Wearing Jack Cole's face felt highly weird.
"About time I go give Megan and Mia good news."
Franklin: Was I forgotten again?
Lawson quickly drove back to safehouse and dropped good news.
"Wait, so we're completely free?"
Megan stared at him, massive surprise on her face.
"Yeah. Every Bonanno member knows exactly what Francis did. He's locked up. You guys are completely safe."
"Oh my god!"
Overjoyed, Megan instantly jumped onto Lawson, aggressively kissing his face.
This made Mia highly unhappy, but she knew she didn't have right to control his private life yet, so she just stood there looking incredibly sour.
Luckily, Megan quickly realized how wildly inappropriate she was acting. She jumped down, face bright red.
"Sorry Lawson, I'm just way too excited."
"I get it, I get it!"
What else could Lawson say?
This time, Mia finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Lawson, what about my brother?"
"FBI dropped warrants. Bonanno family isn't hunting them anymore. You can call them back. Oh right, just had massive idea!"
FBI Field Office, holding cell.
Johnny Tran sat on floor, looking completely dead inside. In few days, FBI would officially indict him on multiple charges, including first-degree murder.
With that many charges, American justice system would easily hand him few consecutive life sentences. Johnny Tran knew he'd be picking up soap in federal prison for rest of his life.
Even Saul Goodman couldn't save him.
Even though Alberto promised to pull strings and get him out, Johnny Tran already lost all trust in him.
"You three go in. Don't start any fights."
Suddenly, cell door clicked open. Three guys walked in: bald guy, tall guy, short guy.
Johnny Tran looked up. His face instantly froze in absolute horror.
"T-Toretto?"
"Tran. Surprised to see us?"
Dominic flashed highly savage smile.
Yeah, it was Toretto crew. Getting inside FBI holding cell was entirely thanks to Lawson.
Lawson figured Johnny Tran was getting indicted and shipped off soon. Worried Dominic might miss him, Lawson called Neal.
Normally, Neal wouldn't authorize something like this. But Lawson's video helped Neal completely embarrass Saul Goodman.
It made Neal look like absolute legend at FBI LA Field Office. He was in incredibly good mood, so he approved Lawson's request.
And that's how Toretto crew magically appeared inside Johnny Tran's cell, ready to thoroughly catch up.
Look at it this way: Johnny Tran was facing legal justice, but he hadn't faced street justice from Dominic yet.
Tran kidnapped Mia and nearly framed crew for mass murder. Dominic absolutely wanted him dead.
Unfortunately, Tran was headed straight to federal pen. Unless Dominic caught same sentence, they'd never cross paths again.
Finding out Lawson arranged this reunion made Dominic insanely hyped.
"Toretto, it's massive misunderstanding! Francis Ricci and Alberto Bruno orchestrated whole thing!"
Too bad Dominic had zero interest in Tran's excuses. He just wanted to physically vent days of intense rage.
Next few minutes are highly unsuitable for detailed description. Let's just say it involved massive amounts of brute force, extreme physical trauma, and highly aggressive no-holds-barred three-on-one beatdown.
Absolutely brutal. Highly terrifying. Viewers under 80 require parental supervision.
Bottom line: when Johnny Tran finally appeared in court, judge literally couldn't recognize him. Trial had to be postponed.
As for Dominic, Vince, and Jesse, they walked right out same day. Lawson was waiting outside FBI building to pick them up.
"Dom, how was it?"
Dominic bumped fists with Lawson, massive smile permanently plastered on his face.
"Absolutely incredible! Lawson, how hell did you get us locked in same cell as Tran?"
"Nothing major. Just happen to have friend inside FBI."
That instantly made Vince highly suspicious.
"You got FBI connections?"
"Is that problem? More friends you have on street, more money you make."
Dominic slapped Vince hard on shoulder.
"Hey, Vince! Drop paranoid bullshit. If it wasn't for Lawson, we'd never have walked out of FBI custody."
Vince's suspicion instantly vanished.
True. Without Lawson, they'd be ones rotting in holding cells instead of Tran.
"Alright, we're all brothers here. No need to stress it. Let's bounce."
"Damn straight! Lawson, from now on, you're my brother. We are family!"
Captain Family delivered his closing statement, and three of them piled into Lawson's car.
Just as Lawson put car in gear, he spotted highly familiar guy walking out of FBI building looking incredibly pissed off.
It was Black Sonny.
Black Sonny was indeed massively frustrated. He originally grabbed Phil and Dennis to bait Lawson out, but ended up getting busted by FBI instead.
FBI hit him with illegal firearm possession, kidnapping, and string of other charges. He only just made bail thanks to Bonanno family lawyers.
Minute he walked out, muscle picking him up updated him on family chaos. Sonny's frustration vanished instantly.
Yeah, getting bagged by FBI actually saved his life. Otherwise, Black Sonny would have likely been eating lead with those dead capos.
Plus, sitting in holding cell kept him completely out of Bonanno family civil war. Now, dust was settling, and final showdown was approaching.
"Rafferty, you're saying Mrs. Bonanno completely changed?"
"Yeah. It was like she became completely different person last night. Never seen her look like that!"
Black Sonny licked his lips, gears turning rapidly in his head.
He used to be Old Martin's direct muscle. He was tight with Luca, but his relationship with other two underbosses was strictly average.
Luca clearly had zero interest in taking over and was completely MIA lately, so Black Sonny urgently needed to pick new side.
Antonio and Felice already had their own trusted inner circles. Even if Sonny joined them, he wouldn't get bigger piece of pie. He might even have to bleed profits just to buy their trust.
Yeah, Mafia doesn't exactly hand out massive signing bonuses.
But Rafferty's intel gave Sonny highly solid idea.
If Sofia genuinely woke up and took charge, backing her was incredibly smart play.
Legally, she was Old Martin's wife. Working for her was 100% justifiable by Mafia rules.
Plus, Sofia currently had zero real muscle backing her. If Sonny pledged loyalty now, he'd be instantly elevated to her top enforcer.
Antonio and Felice couldn't match that offer.
Obviously, this entirely hinged on whether Sofia actually transformed like Rafferty claimed.
"Rafferty, drop me at home first so I can shower. Sitting in holding cell for days makes me feel like I'm literally growing mold!"
Black Sonny couldn't wait to check out version 2.0 of Sofia, but he needed to handle hygiene first.
"No problem."
"Give me exact rundown of everything that happened. Every detail!"
"I... I wasn't there for most of it. I only saw what went down at St. Lucy's Church last night."
"Then give me play-by-play of church sit-down!"
So, Rafferty drove while giving detailed recap of last night's events.
When Rafferty mentioned guy in purple suit wearing Joker mask, Black Sonny's expression instantly warped.
"Hold on. You're saying guy wore Joker mask?"
"Yeah. Guy was completely psychotic!"