For half a second.
Then JD kept going.
“Third, Cabo becomes a shield, not the whole defense.”
Hacker frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means we do not rely on a lie we can’t support.” JD looked at Regan. “You did not fly because Destiny hates flying.”
Regan blinked. “She does.”
“Good. That part is true. You drove east. Houston. Maybe you planned to cruise, maybe private travel from there. Keep it messy enough to be human but clean enough to track if needed.”
Edge’s eyes narrowed. “She hasn’t gone anywhere.”
“Not yet,” JD said. “That’s the problem. The lie only works if part of it becomes true before anyone asks the right questions.”
Callum understood first. “Move her for real.”
JD nodded. “Once Doc clears her enough, she goes. Cabo, beach, private place, no public airport circus. We get real photos after the fact. Sun, ocean, Regan fussing over her, Destiny looking tired because she’s ‘been sick from travel.’”
Regan’s mouth tightened. “You’re asking me to take my injured daughter out of the country.”
“I’m asking you to keep your daughter from becoming the only face attached to that fire.”
Regan flinched.
JD looked like he hated himself for saying it.
But he didn’t take it back.
“That said,” he continued, turning toward Hacker, “nobody manufactures anything we may have to hand to a court. No fake evidence submitted. No forged documents in legal channels. You want social noise? Fine. You want plausible private receipts? We discuss it with counsel first. But the minute you hand fake records to a lawyer, an insurer, or a judge, you’re not helping Destiny. You’re building a second felony on top of the first.”
Hacker nodded, chastened for once.
I respected JD then.
Not because he was clean.
No man in this room was clean.
But because he understood the line between dirty survival and stupid self-destruction.
Edge looked up the stairs again. “And if her face is already on video?”
“Then we change what the video means,” JD said.
Tris lifted her head.
JD turned toward her, Jake, and Nyla.
“That’s where you three matter.”
Jake stiffened.
JD’s voice gentled by a fraction. “I need everything. Screenshots. Group chats. Names. Dates. Who said what. Who printed the articles. Who taped money to her locker. Who called her a stripper. Who asked about her father. Who had drugs tonight. Who handed her the blunt. Who laughed when she was already gone.”
Tris’s eyes filled again.
