Chapter 10: Moment of Truth
Alex, Clover, Sam and Jerry were each successfully bringing in the thief that had stolen $25 million, but they also got some insight into the motives of the four.
After arriving at WOOHP, they meet with Dr. Quincy.
"Excellent work, as always! The four miscreants apprehended and all of the money recovered! Now we can turn these four in, and clear your names!" said Dr. Quincy.
"Wait just a minute, Quincy!" said Jerry. "I would like to recommend clemency for Doctor Sonor. After talking to her on the way to the hospital and then here, I realized that she actually was overzealous is her research, and that's why she initially kidnapped test subjects. She then thought Sam, Clover, Alex and I wanted to prevent her from helping mankind, and that's why she tried to frame us. I believe she has already learned her lesson!"
"I agree with Jerry," added Alex. "Brandy let easy money get in the way of what she really wanted to do – medical research! She knows she was wrong, but I don't think we'll have to worry about her doing anything illegal again."
"Nor will Maggie!" chimed in Sam. "She witnessed the dark side of the criminal world firsthand, and almost perished by it! She'll not do anything like this again!"
"I don't think Debbie will, either!" said Clover. "I had to ride back with her, and I got to get some insight into her motives. She really wants to work in medicine. The lure of fast bucks blinded her to her real goal. She will not do anything criminal again!"
"That's all very nice!" said Dr. Quincy, "But they still must be charged with the theft at the California Federal Reserve Bank! If not, you four will be, by the DA!"
"I have a plan, old friend, and I think we can cover all of our bases," said Jerry, as the four plus Dr. Quincy huddle.
Dr. Quincy, Jerry, the spies and Dr. Sonor and her assistants are at the DA' s office.
"Surrendering the guilty, I see, Dr. Quincy!" said the DA sarcastically.
"Yes , and no!" replied Dr. Quincy. "First I want you to drop all charges against Jerry, Sam, Clover and Alex! I have a report here that proves that they committed the robbery while under a mind control substance!" and Dr. Quincy hands the report to the DA.
The DA scowls. "Humph! Another fabrication of WOOHP? Well it won't work THIS time!"
"Look closer! You'll see that the results of the report have been verified and attested to by the FBI and the CIA. Certainly, you aren't going to accuse THEM of covering up, are you?"
The DA scowls again. He can't go against both the FBI and CIA! It would be professional suicide! He'll have to drop the charges against the four WOOHP suspects, unless all of the money hadn't been recovered.
"First, we count the money to make sure that all of it has been returned!" and the DA signals for the police to take Jerry, Sam, Clover, and Alex into custody.
But Dr. Quincy intervenes. "No! You'll find the large steamer trunk sealed by the California Federal Reserve Bank. Ed Pecunia has signed this notarized statement verifying that all of the money is present and accounted for, in that trunk!"
Now the DA was REALLY getting annoyed! Not only can't he look forward to sending those four WOOHP thieves to prison, now he can't even hold them in jail!
"What other surprises do you have in your bag of tricks, Doctor?" the DA sneered.
Dr. Quincy could not suppress a small smile. "This! The person responsible for the mind control, Dr. Sonor has signed this confession, along with her assistants. However, they cooperated completely with us on the recovery of the money, and we will recommend clemency in front of any sentencing judge!"
The DA replied, "So, you tricked this Doctor and her assistants into admitting guilt! I don't believe it! I may have to let the four WOOHP suspects go, but I refuse to be part of any action to charge these four women with a crime!"
Quincy replied, "Then you are releasing the four women as well?"
"Darn right!" the DA declared. "I won't put innocent people in jail, for WOOHP crimes!"
"Careful, Mr. DA! WOOHP has not committed any crimes! If they have, take your evidence to court, and we'll see what the outcome will be!" replied Dr. Quincy, in a self-satisfying way.
"Alright! I retract my statement!" the DA said, in exasperation.
"And you are releasing Dr. Sonor and her assistants, along with Jerry, Sam, Clover , and Alex?" asked Dr. Quincy, as he showed a 'cat that ate the canary' look on his face.
"Yes! Now get out of here! All of you!" yelled the DA, and was about to go into his office, when Dr. Quincy stopped him.
"You'll also need to print a retraction of your 'wanted poster' in the newspaper within 24 hours as well," Quincy said.
"Fine! Now get out!" the DA said as he angrily strode into his office and slammed the door.
Things had gone better than planned. Dr. Sonor and her assistants were saying their goodbyes to the WOOHP agents on the steps of the courthouse.
"Thank you, Jerry! Dr. Quincy! Ladies! We are free, and can start all over again with a clean slate!" remarked Dr. Sonor, as she hugged Sam, Clover and Alex. She shook Dr. Quincy and Jerry's hands.
Maggie, Brandy and Debbie did likewise. Dr. Sonor and her assistants happily walked down the courthouse steps, talking about what they would do next. But as they rounded the corner with the statue of Solon, they were LAMOS'd!
Soon they were face to face with Terry!
"Terrance is very disappointed in you!" said Terry to the four frightened ladies. "Your plan didn't work, Doctor, and now Jerry and WOOHP will look like heroes again! Terrance doesn't like failures!
But before the ladies can say a word, someone else is LAMOS'd. It's Jerry, Dr. Quincy, Sam, Clover, and Alex!
"Ahhh, my two faced brother and his minions!" says Terry, as he immediately douses the WOOHP agents with knockout gas, rendering them helpless!
The WOOHP agents find themselves shackled to a wall when they wake up. Terry is waiting for them, as are Dr. Sonor and her assistants.
"What's your game, Terry?" asked Jerry.
"My game is your destruction, my Janus like brother!" then turning toward Dr. Sonor, he says, "I am going to give you the opportunity to succeed now! Hit this red button, and this entire building will go up in an explosion, within ten minutes. Fair enough?"
"Fair enough!" says Dr. Sonor, as she approaches the control panel with the button! It looks like Dr. Sonor was pulling a double cross on WOOHP!
"Don't press it yet! Give me a ten minute head start, then start the countdown!" said Terry with an evil grim.
"As you wish!" replied Dr. Sonor, as Terry exited the room.
With Terry gone, Dr. Sonor says, "Brandy, Debbie! Check to see if Terry is gone!"
They do, and confirm that he is.
"Fine! Keep an eye on the corridor!" she says, as she hands something to Maggie, and she and Maggie approach the shackled WOOHP agents.
"What are you going to do?" asks Jerry.
Without answering, Maggie and Dr. Sonor release the five WOOHP agents from their shackles.
"I told him when I first met him, I will not kill or hurt anyone! And he agreed that I wouldn't have to! Now you five better leave out one of the other entrances. We have five minutes left before I hit the timer to start the explosive!" said Dr. Sonor.
Jerry says, "Why don't you come with us?"
Dr. Sonor replies, "My assistants can, but I'm no good to WOOHP! I'll have to see what I can do on my own!"
Brandy, Debbie, and Maggie readily go with WOOHP. Dr. Quincy, Sam, Clover, Alex and the former assistants hurry out the door. "Coming Jerry?" Sam asks.
"In a minute," he replies. The WOOHP group head toward a side exit, about eight minutes from their prison room.
"And what do you plan to do?" asks Jerry to Dr. Sonor.
"I'll press the button, and go out the front door! Terry undoubtedly will be waiting. When the building blows up, he'll be convinced that you all have been destroyed!"
"Come with us!" insisted Jerry.
"No, Jerry! If I don't go out that front door, Terry will assume I let you all go, and will destroy any of us on sight! If I go out the front door, at least my three assistants will be free of his treachery!"
"But when he finds out I am still alive, your life won't be worth a plugged nickel!"
"That's a risk I'll have to take! Now get going or you'll never make it out of this building on time!" and Dr. Sonor presses the button. As soon as she does, she starts to walk quickly for the front door. Jerry starts to go toward a side door. For a brief second they both glance back at one another. Jerry waves a goodbye, which Brianna returns. Then they are both off.
Dr. Sonor reaches the front door with about two minutes to spare! She is quickly whisked into a waiting car by Terry, who stops the car about one block away. He and Doctor Sonor get out to watch the building.
"Where are your assistants?" Terry asks.
"They tried to free those WOOHP agents, so I used some sleep gas on them and left them in the same room!" fibbed Dr. Sonor.
"Excellent, Doctor! I think you will make a fine addition to LAMOS!"
Just then the building blows up! Terry laughs evilly, "Goodbye and good riddance, brother!" he says happily. "Well, Doctor, shall we go?"
But Doctor Sonor says, "I….I've never killed anyone before! I'd like to take a walk, alone!"
"Certainly, Doctor! Don't worry! I'll find you when the time is right!" and Terry drives off.
Doctor Sonor hopes that everyone got out of the building alright, as she walks down by the lake in the park. Now, what is she going to do? Terry will find out soon enough that she tricked him. How can she escape him? She walks a little farther, when she gets LAMOS'd by a garbage can.
Well, this is it! Terry knows I tricked him, already! It's all over for me now! I may as well just close my eyes and wait for the end!
Doctor Sonor falls on a cushion, but doesn't hear anything. She slowly opens her eyes. But instead of seeing Terry looking at her, she sees Jerry!
"Are you alright, Brianna?" asks Jerry with concern, as he helps her to her feet.
"Yes. Where am I?"
"You are at WOOHP! I know Terry will try to destroy you, when he finds out you failed him again. Won't you reconsider joining WOOHP? We can protect you, and we can use your medical knowledge in our medical lab, for research!"
"You can protect me? And you want ME to do medical research for you?"
"Certainly! You are an experienced medical researcher! You can join our labs, under Dr. Quincy, just like your three former assistants have!"
"Why….why of course I will! I can devote my life to helping people again!" Dr. Sonor was overjoyed. But then a sad thought crossed her mind, "But what will Dr. Quincy think?"
"He thinks you'll make a fine addition to the medical lab!" says Dr. Quincy, as he walks in. "Will you join us?"
"I will! I can start my new life now! And I'll be helping people again! Oh, thank you Jerry and Dr. Quincy!" and the exuberant Brianna hugs both around the neck and plants a kiss on their cheeks. "When can I start?"
"Well, first we need to set up living quarters for you in our WOOHP dormitory. Then you can start in the labs tomorrow!" says Jerry.
A very happy Doctor Sonor walks with both Jerry and Dr. Quincy. She can help people again! It's all she has ever wanted to do with her life, and now she'll be able to do it once more!
About four weeks later, Sam, Clover and Alex stop by Jerry's office to see how the transition is going for Doctor Sonor and her assistants.
"Hi, Jerry!" says Clover. "We just stopped by to say 'hello' and see how Doctor Sonor, Maggie, Brandy, and Debbie are doing!"
The foursome start to walk toward the WOOHP labs, as Jerry fills the gals in.
"Well, ladies, they have transitioned quite well! Maggie has a knack for disease research, and has already contributed to some medications. Brandy is very good at deciphering the human genome. She has solved some problems already. Debbie is outstanding as a microscopist. She has noted details in some bacterium that had been overlooked before!"
"And Dr. Sonor?" asked Alex.
"She has been outstanding in the WOOHP hospital, helping wounded WOOHP agents, as well as in the medical lab! All four have made quite an impact already!"
"And," added Dr. Quincy, as he walked up to the group, "all four are real TERRORS on a chessboard! It's been a while since I got beaten!"
"Actually," smiled Jerry, " you got skunked pretty badly, Quincy!"
Dr. Quincy smiled, " I figured I'd take it easy on them! Shoot! They checkmated me in 25 moves or less!"
"This promises to make for a very spirited Holiday Chess Tournament!" said Jerry.
Just then, the gang runs into Dr. Sonor.
"Hello, all!" she says, as she hugs the three girls. "How nice to see you again!"
"I understand you enjoy a good game of chess!" said Sam.
"Why yes, I do! As a matter of fact, I'm trying to scare up a game for lunchtime, so I can get into practice for the Tournament!"
"I LOVE chess! How about a game?" asked Sam.
"Of course, Sam! We can eat and play at the same time! Come on!" and Dr. Sonor and Sam head toward the cafeteria for lunch, and a spirited chess match.
Clover smiles wistfully, and says, "Can you beat that?"
Jerry, Dr. Quincy, and Alex look at her quizzically.
"Just a little while ago, one was trying to pin a robbery rap on the other. Now they are friends!"
"Yes, Clover," responded Jerry. "Once we were able to point out the error in her ways, Dr. Sonor turned over a new leaf, as did her assistants! Some people really deserve a second chance, and they are all making the best of it!
"Now, what say we hit the cafeteria for lunch! I'm buying!"
"In that case, I'll skip the salad and get the filet mignon!" said Alex, playfully, as they all headed to the cafeteria for lunch.