"Alright, we have to begin preparing for the trial. If Brad has people on his side with 100,000 dollars to post bail then it's likely that he will have a top-notch lawyer on his side," Ford said as he paced back in forth in the living room, while Stan and Mabel sat watching.

"They shouldn't have even set bail as an option. Blubs and Durland were here. They saw Mabel, they saw Brad, heck they even saw the freaking rope and knife!" Stan said still very angry.

"There's nothing we can do about that now, Stanley. We have to focus on making sure Brad is convicted." Ford was upset too, but he would be more upset if Brad wasn't brought to justice.

Mabel looked at both of them with fear in her brown eyes. "What if they don't believe my story? What if Brad walks free? What if he comes back?"

"They will believe you, Mabel, heck did you see all those people who came by yesterday? Everyone believes you. Even if Brad and his family have all the money in the world they can't buy their way out of this," said Stan. "And believe me, if the legal system doesn't make him pay…I will."

"Careful, Stanley, we don't need you getting into trouble for threatening the guy," Ford said trying to rational even though he would like nothing better than to get his six-fingered hands on that monster. "The best thing we can do is prepare Mabel for trial."

"Alright, Sixer, what do you suppose the game plan should be? After all, you are the smart one." Stan said with a little resentment knowing he was too dumb and emotional to be much help compared to Ford's logical mind.

"No offense, Stanley, but you are the family's resident jailbird, so I think your input will be valuable as well."

Stan smiled at his brother compliment until he heard the door to the shop open. For a split second, everyone panicked fearing Brad had come back to finish the job.

Everyone was able to breathe when they realized it was just Soos coming in for his shift.

"Hey, hambone, how are you feeling? Abuelita read me the newspaper article, I thought about coming over yesterday, but I figured you could use some space," Soos said as he entered the living room.

Mabel became slightly upset when Soos mentioned the article, but she took a deep breath before answering him. "I've been feeling better, Soos. Thanks."

Stan stood up. "Soos, I have a new job for you today,"

Soos's ears perked up, "Wow, really, Mr. Pines? You mean like a promotion?"

Stan put his hand behind his neck. "Um, sure, let's go with that! I want you to stand outside the shack and not let anyone in."

"Why not, Mr. Pines?"

Stan leaned in and whispered, "Because Brad was released on bail yesterday."

Soos' eyes widened before becoming grim with determination. "I won't let anyone come near her, Mr. Pines."

"I know you won't, Soos," Stan said with a proud smile.

Soos gave him a serious salute and headed outside to be the Pines' personal guard. A few minutes later they heard Soos' voice shouting loudly, "Oh! So you claim to be a 'pizza guy.' How do I know this pizza isn't poisoned or rigged to explode?"

"Look, man, I just deliver the pizzas. If you want to file a complaint, you'll have to do so with the company."

Stan sighed and shouted. "Soos! He's fine. We were expecting him." Stan said as he rose to get the pizza man his tip.

For the rest of the afternoon, the three of them worked to come up with a plan for the trial, while periodically nibbling on the pizza. They had lost a lot of their appetite after the phone call they had received.

They went over various questions the prosecution might ask, gave Mabel some coping techniques for when she inevitably would have to look at Brad, and discussed how long his sentence might be. They even made a few phone calls to see about trying to get Mabel a restraining order just in case things didn't go as planned.

At around 3:30, they heard Soos shout again. "Ah! So you claim to be 'Dipper' and you're 'coming home from school.'"

"Are you kidding me, Soos?" said Dipper. "You know me!"

"Do I? Do I really?" Soos said as he eyed the boy suspiciously.

"Soos, relax, it's just Dipper," said Ford. "Let him in."

Soos looked down at Dipper apologetically. "Sorry, dude, I been tasked to guard Mabel today. Can never be too careful."

Dipper smiled. He had no hard feelings about Soos doing his best to protect his sister. Even if it was in his own…Soos way.

Still, he was confused why this protection was necessary if Brad was already in jail. Dipper walked in carrying a small stack of books and asked his family, "Anyone want to explain to me why Soos is marching around the shack like some sort of security guard?"

The three of them looked at each other. At first, they didn't know if it would be wise to tell Dipper what had happened with Brad, remembering how angry he had gotten the other night. Dipper didn't need to end up in prison for killing Brad, but they also knew it wouldn't be fair to withhold this important information from him. After all, they were a team and Dipper was a very important part of the family. He had a right to know.

"Listen, kiddo, we got a call from Deputy Durland this afternoon, and…" Stan paused. "Brad's been released on a $100,000 bail until the trial."

"WHAT? YOU SAID HE WOULD STAY IN JAIL!" Dipper's eyes grew dark in the same way they had when he first found out what happened. "Where is he? When I get a hold of him he won't be able to make it to court."

"Listen, Dipper, going out for blood is not going to make this any better, we've been assured he is under strict surveillance. Right now we need to focus on this trial," Ford said trying to calm him. "We need to be here for Mabel."

Dipper was not happy about it, but he knew deep down that Ford was right. He forced himself to calm down. "Well just know now that I am gonna be there at the trial for my sister, perfect attendance be damned."

Mabel managed to smile at him. She still didn't feel good about Dipper losing his perfect attendance, but she had to admit she would feel better having Dipper in the courtroom with her.

Later that night the family was trying hard to relax (without much success) when all of a sudden, they heard a loud noise from outside. Mabel's eyes began to fill with panic as she cowered close to Ford. Soos had gone home for the evening, so even though the doors and windows were locked, there was no one outside to guard the shack.