A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I really appreciate it. I apologize for the delay in updating. It's been hard to get back in the groove of this story, but I think I'm there. I hope everyone is safe and healthy. My state is taking it slow in opening up, and I'm good with that. I will tell you that I'm looking forward to getting my hair cut the beginning of June! Let's see. What else is going on with me? Oh, I found out about 2 weeks ago that our IT group is moving to another company. For about a day, I didn't know whether or not I would have a job. I'll tell you, that was a long-ass day. Fortunately, I've been deemed "critical" and will have a job. As of the beginning of August, I will be working for IBM. There is a lot of work to do before then. That's pretty much it for now. Again, I'm sorry for the delay and will try to do better. Thanks for staying with me! This chapter picks back up with the group back in Shamokin. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

Bianca stood and looked at her wife. "We need to go and meet up with the others. The ones not hungover will probably be wondering where we are."

"You're right. They will be. Although, I'm not sure how many won't be hungover or moving around yet for that matter." Marissa said in agreement. Pretty much the entire group had let loose the previous evening.

"Are you going to let them know what happened?" Nora asked.

"We are. I mean, we pretty much have to. Kendall and Greenlee already know some of what happened last night, and those two are like a dog with a bone when they know something is up."

"Yes, they are. I'm surprised they weren't at our room this morning trying to get details. I think the only reason they weren't is because they relaxed once Dave and Kevin pulled Ralph out of there last night." Bianca said.

"True. Things were more relaxed after that. As for the others, we'll let them know once we're on the road. Maybe when we stop for lunch. I really hate to do it. This weekend was for Jo and was going to be all about her."

Bianca nodded. "Yes, it was, but if you don't tell Jo and she finds out from someone else which is very likely to happen since this case is in the news, she will be furious with you as well as hurt."

"You're right. She will, and I don't want that. I really couldn't blame her either because I would feel the same way. Unfortunately, we're going to have to tell some other people back home too."

"Yes, we will. Jessica is not going to be happy about this at all, and neither is my Mom. Nora, it's probably a good idea to tell Ralph not to come back to Pine Valley for a long time. Trust me, it's safer for him. Plus, I don't want Mom or Jessica to get arrested. He's not worth it."

Nora chuckled. "Good idea. I'll do exactly that, but I only see a stay in Statesville in his immediate future. Enjoy the rest of your day as best as you can. I'll be in touch."

With that, the couple headed to Shamokin Joe's to meet up with the rest of the Pine Valley crew.

/

As soon as Bianca and Marissa left, Nora turned back to Sean and Dave. "Shall we get this over with, gentlemen?"

"I think that's a good idea. Dave, you want to go get Ralph?"

Dave nodded. "I'll be right back."

"Let me freshen up your coffee, Nora." Sean grabbed Nora's mug and filled it up again.

"Bless you. I'm going to need it dealing with this piece of work. I didn't thank you and your people yet, did I?"

"Why would you thank us?"

"For keeping Marissa and the rest of her group safe. Things could have really gone south if you hadn't."

"We were just doing our jobs. Thankfully, Marissa and her investigator, Mitch Reardon, gave us a heads up on her being followed. Mitch was even able to give us a photo of Ralph so we knew exactly who to look for. We were ready and waiting for him."

"Mitch is good. I'm going to thank you anyway though. Marissa and Bianca are good friends, and if something had gone wrong … You know, I don't even want to finish that thought."

"You're welcome, and I hear you on that." Before Sean could say anything else, Dave returned with Ralph.

"Have a seat, Ralph." Dave told the prisoner as he helped him, not so gently, into a chair.

Ralph eyed the coffee. "Could I get a cup of that?"

Sean nodded and filled a mug and place it in front of Ralph. "You remember Nora Buchanan from the video call last night?"

"Yeah, I do. Morning."

"Mr. Grismore, I've reviewed the statement you gave last night. Officer Corder had it transcribed. We need you to go over it and then sign it."

Ralph could tell the lawyer meant business and simply nodded and took the papers to read. When he was done, he signed it.

Nora reviewed the papers again to make sure the signature was correct as well as legible. She wanted everything perfect on this.

With the room quiet as the lawyer reviewed his statement, Ralph started to get antsy. He cleared his throat. "So, what's next? We're good, right? I can get out of here now, right?"

Sean and Dave said nothing and just continued to drink their coffee. This was Nora's show, and they were simply going to sit back and enjoy it.

Nora didn't say anything right away and simply continued to review the statement. When she was done, she gathered the papers neatly together, placed them back in the folder and finally into her briefcase. With all that done, Nora then looked at Ralph. Her voice calm but steely when she began to speak.

"I'm not sure what question to answer first. Are we good or can you get out of here? Maybe I'll start by asking my own first. Do you recall anything from our conversation last night? The agreement that we reached?"

Ralph started to squirm in his seat.

It was evident to Nora from Ralph's reaction that he did remember, but she decided to remind him. "Let me refresh your memory. We are not good. I'm good. Sheriff Bray and Officer Corder are good. You, however, are not good. The only place you are going to right now is back to the jail cell where you spent the night, and you will remain there until transportation to move you to Statesville is arranged. At which point, a judge will sentence you to the prison term which you agreed to last night and that was outlined in the plea agreement you just signed. That agreement also states that you were informed of your rights and waived them, most importantly among those rights that you waived is the one where you declined counsel." Any lawyer worth their salt would have advised you to not sign this agreement and would have fought for a better deal. That is what you get for representing yourself and proving the old adage of someone who does has a fool for a client. Nora thought to herself.

"There's something I'm really curious about. You have admitted that Terrance Angleton hired you to get dirt on Marissa Tasker, and he was perfectly fine with you doing so by any means necessary. Your words. This included drugging her. Here's my question. Do you know anything about her and the person who hired you? I'm thinking you don't, so allow me to enlighten you. Ms. Tasker is married and a mother of four. Her youngest child just celebrated his first birthday. She is a lawyer, a damn good lawyer. I know this firsthand because I'm working with her on a case involving over one hundred girls and young women who have been sexually abused and assaulted. You know, it doesn't seem like you quite get it. Girls as young as 10 years old were raped by Jerry Landry, who was a doctor employed by Llanview University. Terrace Angleton, the person who hired you, is that university's president. He knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it. I repeat, nothing. He stood by while little girls and young women were raped and had their childhoods torn from them, had their lives and dreams ripped apart. He allowed it to continue for years. Years! And when someone came along to help them, he hired someone to stop her by any means necessary. Angleton wanted to destroy her because she stood up to him and was in his way of sweeping this under the rug. Stopping Marissa would allow that abuse to go unpunished and possibly continue. Tell me, Ralph, did you think about any of that when you agreed to work for Angleton? When you agreed to try and destroy her life? How does it feel working for someone like Angleton, someone who protects a rapist? Because that is exactly what Angleton has done, and so have you because of what you attempted here."

Nora, Sean, and Dave observed Ralph as he paled when the enormity of Nora's words hit him. After a moment, Nora turned to Sean and Dave. "I need to get back. Someone from the State Police will be contacting you about transporting him."

Sean nodded and stood to shake Nora's hand. "We'll keep a close eye on him until they pick him up. Have a safe trip back home."

Nora shook Sean's hand. "Thank you. Nice work, gentlemen. Oh, congratulations, Sheriff. Shamokin is lucky to have you."

The Sheriff smiled. "Thank you. Nice work as well, Nora."

Nora turned to Dave and shook his hand as well. "You as well, Dave."

"Thank you, ma'am. I mean, Nora." Dave grinned as he corrected himself.

With a wave and chuckle, Nora left to head home. She felt the need for a shower after dealing with Ralph.

"I got this, Sheriff." Dave said to Sean before he looked at Ralph. He had been quiet for several minutes. It seemed that Nora had given him a great deal to think about. "Come on, Ralph. Let's get you back to your cell. Then, I'll grab you some breakfast."

/

When Bianca and Marissa entered Shamokin Joe's, they found they were the first ones to arrive from the Pine Crew. The couple exchanged a knowing look and laughed. Neither was really surprised.

Terri greeted them. "Good morning, ladies. Your tables are ready if you want to have a seat. As you can tell, you're the first ones here. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised to see you both here this early."

"Morning, Terri. We're not really surprised the others aren't here yet." Bianca chuckled as she took a seat.

Marissa took a seat next to her wife. "Morning, Terri. It would've been nice to sleep in, but we had to meet with your brother down at the station."

Terri paused as she poured the couple some coffee before it hit her. "Oh, that's right. Bob told me what happened when we opened. That was pretty scary. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're okay. If I knew what was going on and saw him, well, let's just say that he would've spent the night in the hospital and not in a jail cell."

Their friend's comments brought a smile to Marissa's face. "Thanks. I have no doubt about that. We wanted to keep things quiet though because we didn't want to ruin Sean's day or Jo's weekend or do anything to give anyone a heads up on what we know."

"Rissa's right. It gives her and Nora an advantage. What they don't know only helps our side. You should be proud of your brother. He and Dave did a great job."

"I am very proud of him. Who is Nora?"

"Oh, Nora Buchanan. She's the District Attorney in Llanview and has also been appointed a special prosecutor by the State Attorney General on this case. I've been working with her. Nora is very good. Her husband is also the Llanview Chief of Police, and her sister-in-law is the owner and publisher of 'The Banner'." Marissa added.

Terri snapped her fingers in realization. "That's where I recognized the name. I've been following the series in 'The Banner'. It's really good, but it's also made me really angry and sad at the same time. Those girls …"

"Trust me, I know. The most important thing is getting them help. Bianca and her team at the Miranda Center are doing an amazing job with that, providing counseling as well as reinforcing the fact that they are not to blame for this and that they didn't do anything wrong."

"It will take some time. They have a long road ahead of them. I'm hopeful they'll get there though. A big step in their recovery will be to get them justice, and I know that Rissa and Nora will help them get exactly that." Bianca said confidently.

"We're definitely going to do our damnedest."

"Why are you talking so loud?" Greenlee asked as she slowly entered the restaurant wearing dark sunglasses.

"Please keep it down. What the hell time did the two of you get up anyway?" Kendall asked, moving just as gingerly as Greenlee and also wearing sunglasses.

Terri chuckled as she watched the two women stumble to sit down. "I'll be right back with some of the hangover cure and coffee."

"Bless you, Terri. You're my favorite person in the entire world."

Greenlee huffed. "I would be insulted if she wasn't my favorite person too."

Kendall turned her attention back to her sister and sister-in-law. "You didn't answer my question. What time did you get up?"

"A couple of hours ago. Rissa had an appointment with the sheriff, and I tagged along."

"Oh. About …"

Marissa nodded. "Yes. I had to give a statement. It turns out that I gave the statement to Nora."

Greenlee whipped her head up and immediately winced. "Dammit. I swear I'm never drinking again. Nora Buchanan?"

The others chuckled, not buying Greenlee's pledge for one second.

"Yeah, Nora drove in this morning and took my statement. She was getting ready to talk to Ralph when we left. They made a deal with him."

"Don't tell me that's just going to walk away with not even a slap on the wrist." Kendall was beginning to feel better already after a few sips of the hangover cure.

Marissa shook her head. "I don't know the particulars of the deal just yet, but Nora told me that it's going to be more than a slap on the wrist. He's going to do some time. I trust her."

"So do I. She was furious when she found about what Ralph did and not just because Rissa is a friend. And she happened to mentioned Ralph going to Statesville for now." Bianca added.

Greenlee nodded. She was starting to feel better as well. "I don't know her as well as the two of you, but from what I do know of her, she is not someone I would want to piss off."

"You're right about that."

"What's Greenlee right about?" Jo asked as she and the others, all wearing dark sunglasses, stumbled into Shamokin Joe's.

Terri smiled as she stood from the seat she had taken at the table. "I'll get more coffee and hangover cures for everyone. Just coffee for you, Bruce."

"Thanks, Terri." Bruce picked up a menu and began to browse it, content to be amused by the group and their interactions after a trip to Shamokin as always. They never failed to entertain. Bruce did nod in Bianca's and Marissa's direction. He was well aware of what had happened the evening before. He stayed sober so he would be ready to provide any needed backup.

"Bless you, Terri. Bless you." Lisa said as she fell into a chair with the rest of the group following suit.

Cory lowered her sunglasses and glanced at the couple. "How do the two of you look so awake and on the ball this morning?"

"She's right. You do. What gives?" Stef asked.

"I have to admit that I am curious as well. I know you drank. I saw you." Rafaela added.

Maura patted her girlfriend's arm. "I don't think that drank as much as the rest of us. What's this hangover cure that Terri mentioned?"

"It's a godsend. Trust me." Jan said.

Aya nodded. "It really is. I don't know what's in it because it's a secret recipe, but I don't really care."

Natalia agreed. "Same. It works, and that's really all that matters."

"I have to stop trying to keep up with Kendall and Greenlee on these trips." Madison groaned.

"True. It's an impossible task." Cory smirked. "I don't remember the last time I felt this bad. Oh wait, yes, I do. It was the last time I came here."

Gail chuckled and immediately winced. "Don't make me laugh, at least not yet."

"She's got a point." Randi agreed as she rubbed her temples.

Terri returned with the hangover cures first and quickly followed up with enough coffee for the late arrivals as well as enough to top off the ones who had arrived earlier. "I'll give you all time to let the cure kick in before I take your orders."

After a minute, Jo started to feel better. She looked at her friend. "You still haven't answered my question, Marissa. What's Greenlee right about? Does it have anything to do with Dave taking that guy away last night?"

Marissa sighed. Jo never missed a thing. "Can we table this discussion until after the hangovers are under control? I promise that I will tell you everything, or as much as I can, then. Deal?"

Jo nodded. "Deal."