Ruthie returned to the vault, but first asked Jack if he could step aside so she could discuss a confidential matter that she and Lucy had talked about.

"How long?" asked Jack.

"Five minutes," said Ruthie. "Then you can spend all the time you need telling us what you know about Harry and Prudence."

Jack stepped outside, and Ruthie closed the vault and reactivated the perimeter.

"Guys, I'll just say this flat out so we're not wasting time," she said. "I don't want to sleep with men anymore. I am a lesbian, full-stop. Even before Hope and I became lovers, I probably already was."

To her shock, everyone else in the room - with the exception of the infants - rushed her and gave her a huge group hug.

"What," she said after letting go from the swarm, "you're okay with this?"

"Ruthie, we all love you. We kind of figured you were a lesbian since before you slept with me," said Hope. "Well, the fact you were on a high for weeks after your affair with Lisa was the tip-off."

"It was the happiest you've been since you gave birth to Jim and Heather," added Shelby. "In all the time we've spent together here at the church, you've never had more self-esteem since from a year ago when you returned from Stockholm. And we're so proud of you now. Not just because you know who you are. It's because you'll now be an example for our parishioners. Of someone who's openly gay and still loves and serves her Master with all her heart and soul. Better yet, you've just given us another ten thousand new followers. Families here in Saint Louis who have been excluded from other congregations or have never felt safe to go to a church. In just a few months, we'll be the tenth largest mega-church in America! Praise Jesus, we'll be rolling in the cash and never have to worry about paying our bills, ever!"

The children who could talk stepped forward, and offered a high five to Ruthie. She replied in kind, and hugged all of them.

"Anything else, Mom?" asked Heather.

"Aunt Lucy will be celebrating Lisa's and Brigitte's wedding with me; and all of your aunts and uncles will be there! Mom and Dad won't and you know why, but they have e-mailed the girls and have offered them the very best."

Heather and James beamed at this news about their aunts and uncles, but couldn't understand why their grandparents were so stubborn.

There followed a minute of quiet. The posse then decided it was time to talk business. They let Jack back in. This time, Rod put four on layers of anti-snooping. He was not going to take any chances.

"Jack," said Maighread, "you told us that there's been a breakdown in the relationship between you, and Hope's and Patrick's parents. Can you tell us what the history is that you've had and what has led you to here?"

"Margaret -" Jack replied. He knew the Parkers were Scottish, but preferred to use the English version of her name. "- I'm going to start by asking Hope a question. Hope, you're the same age as Dr Chandler Hampton - thirty-seven? And Patrick's thirty-five?"

"I'm not sure what our ages have to do with anything," said a perplexed Hope.

"Well, your parents had you fairly late in life. I think Prudence was forty-three when she bore you, and Harry forty-one. Which means they're now seventy-nine and -eight."

"Mom was a fucking idiot the night I was born. She had eclampsia big time and was told repeatedly she needed a C-section, especially because of her age, but she insisted on a vaginal birth. Her blood pressure soared so high - two forty over one ten - that she passed out and had a heart attack while unconscious. The coma lasted three months. I was crowning at just that moment and the OBGYN had to use forceps to get me out of the tunnel of her hate. I went into the ICU because I was totally blue and it took a full twenty four hours to stabilize me. Then I was in an incubator for seven weeks. Followed by a year of foster care while Mom and Dad fought furiously to get me back. When they had Patrick a year after that, the local child protection authorities got a court order demanding she get a C-section. She complied and there were no complications with him - thank God!"

"Well, when they were in their thirties, about ten years before, they were major players in the Church of God movement - in fact many saw them as Walter Abramson's protégés."

"Wait a minute," said Patrick. "Did you say our Mom and Dad were BIs?"

"They still are," said Jack. "Always have been. One can be a BI without being in the Churches of God. Most are in fact. Believe it or not, a lot of Catholics support the principle. A lot of Protestants do as well, even if they don't know what it's called. Your parents were enthusiastic about working with Walter. In fact, they were the executive producers of his radio and television products, skills they later used when they founded the Grace is Yours Network in 1972, a year after they were 'born again', or claimed to be, and they resigned from Walter's church saying they could no longer support what they called 'Biblical legalism'."

"They told your boss that they now believed in sola fide - by faith alone are we saved, not by our works," said Heather.

"Yeah," Jack said. "But in 1967, the year Israel took over the West Bank and Gaza, Harry and Prudence were in overdrive. They saw the occupation - illegal or not - as a sign of the times that the end was nigh. Most in the church did too. But Heather, they took it way too far. Their theory was, the end could not come until the path was made clear. Meaning, the Temple Mount had to be cleansed of the infidel and all signs demolished. This is a theory they and the other ministries they broadcast subscribe to."

"Get rid of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque."

"Right. The televangelists you are all against can't understand why the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem would forbid Jews from stepping on the Mount, while it's okay for Christians to do so. Let alone, that Muslims worship there. So to solve the 'problem', just destroy them. Hence the incident of 1969. Our church claimed at the time we had nothing to do with it. Technically that was true - we had no prior knowledge of the attack. But just a year later, during a private conversation, Harry admitted to me that he and Prudence paid an Australian member of the Church fifty thousand dollars to orchestrate the attack. Money that came from part of Prudence's life insurance policy. They paid me twenty-five thousand to shut up. I still have the cancelled check to prove it."

"Jack," said Shelby with fury, "that means you were an accessory after the fact to a terrorist act. This means big jail time. In courts martial, even with a plea bargain, you're looking at ten to twenty years. At your age, that's a life sentence. There is no way any prosecutor in the country - let alone a DA - will agree to less than that! Forget immunity, too."

"I know ... but to cut a long story short, Shelby," Jack said, "four years ago, Harry and I agreed to a ten year broadcasting contract. Well, five plus an option for another five. For keeping their secret for so long, they gave my new church a big discount for airtime. It was supposed to be the same amount each week for the whole ten years. But four weeks ago, Harry said that I either admit to the payoff - without revealing who it was, of course - or the fees would quadruple for the final five years of the contract. I said forget it, I'd rather pull the show off of his network. And I did so immediately. I had to pay a penalty for one year, but it was the right thing to do."

"Good for you!" said Rhiannon.

"Unfortunately, Rhiannon, I made the mistake of telling Harry I'd rat on him and Prudence on an upcoming broadcast. That the world needed to know the truth, that they almost started World War III. Twenty-four hours later, I got an e-mail saying they would blow up the entire compound in Moore, Oklahoma - and that they didn't care if there was any 'collateral damage'. Meaning if minors outside the fence got killed by the shockwaves. And it gets worse."

"What do you mean?" asked Ruthie.

"You mean the police haven't told you?"

"What?"

"Last night, Ruthie, Ed Sanderson invaded the home of your brother, Simon and his wife, Deena Stewart. He knocked out Simon sideways with a Glock. While he was unconscious, Ed raped Deena and your niece Annie."

Ruthie screamed in horror at the top of her lungs and became hysterical with her tears. She had to leave the vault so she could calm down. After twenty minutes, she reentered, pale but her face still flaming with fury. All the others in the room were furious and crying too. Especially the children.

In a shaking voice, she asked Jack, "How do they know it's Ed? And are the girls okay?"

"The condo complex they live in has security cameras in the parking lot and the lobby, as well as on the elevators. The local police logged into NCIC and it took just five minutes for the facial recognition program to match with Ed. And Simon - he woke up soon after the attack, called 911, and at the hospital picked Ed out from a photo lineup. The FBI named him public enemy one just one hour ago. And Ruthie, Deena and Annie are fine. They got the morning after pill the moment after they got the rape kits done, but Annie bled really hard from it and she had to get three pints of blood. But she'll be fine ... physically at least. But I know they'll have nightmares for the rest of their lives. My daughter Cynthia certainly has, and she was an adult when she was violated. And I have a reward out for Ed - ten million alive, twenty million dead. Far as I'm concerned, preferably dead."

"Who told you?"

"I've been cooperating with the FBI for quite some time, Ruthie. I know pretty much what your posse knows, and I know that Ed is part of the conspiracy and what he's done. Hope, I'm sorry about how he took advantage of you, too. The bounty also covers you and Chandler and Roxanne's daughters. And Lisa Lumby."

Ruthie, surprised he knew about Lisa, said, "Jack ... you do know what Lisa and her girlfriend are planning?"

"You all know how I feel about homosexuality, period ... but since we all have bigger fish to fry, I'll look the other way this one time. Shelby, please ... my church is prepared to give all the details of the derivatives and bond hacking. Who and when. And it's ninety-eight percent Hope's parents. The other two are members of my church I disfellowed. We have our own in-house intelligence team that follows this kind of stuff. It will verify what you already have. The more independent sources the DA has, the better."

"But the fact is, Jack, you're still a terrorist by proxy," Patrick pointed out. "The DA will be back in her office on Monday, and we'll do what we can. Frankly, the least we see you getting, providing everything checks out, is five years. If that's what you get, take it. But we can't make any promises."

"I guess that means that Cynthia will have to replace me on TV, as a lay preacher," said Jack in resignation. "But she is devoted to the Church so I can't see any problems."

"Won't your son be pissed off?"

"Let him be. His sister has sex appeal. That always helps in any ministry. You four nice ladies, for example."

"Thanks, Jack!" said Ruthie, Felicity, Hope and Shelby. It was the first time they smiled since the meeting began.

"Jack," said Jim, "won't you join us for services tomorrow? You don't have to believe what we do because you don't of course. But your presence will send a strong signal we're all tired of the Anderson parents' crap. We'll finally break our silence and tell them what's been going on all this time. And you can tell our congregation what you know and how we can finally put the holier-than-thous out of their misery. The more soldiers we have, the better. United we stand!"

"I'll be there with bells on ... so to speak!" Everyone laughed.

"There's an extra room in the guest house where Patrick and I live," said Hope. "You can have that room. And we promise we'll cook a kosher supper and breakfast for you!"

"Much obliged, Hope." Jack was given a temporary touch card so he could settle into the sibling's residence.

The ministers and the children went to their duties, somewhat behind schedule. But the children managed to finish up their course materials and the ministers their slate of phone calls.

After this each one took time to do what they did twice a week, meditating for one hour and trying to become one with God during that time. Ruthie, having had to hear the horrid news, had a very hard time doing this. Instead, she went on a ranting prayer, asking her Master to make sense out of everything.

When the appointed hour ended, the ministers and children headed for their laptops answering questions from the parishioners. About ten minutes into this, Ruthie felt she had to deal with something that had been burning inside of her. She opened her instant messenger and poked Hope. The doors to the offices were soundproofed, and the conversations encrypted, so there was no way the others could follow along. After what happened the night before, the posse agreed that this was a prudent measure for all text and video calls.

Ruthie: "Hope, can I ask you something?"

Hope: "What's up, sis?"

Ruthie: "Do you regret our making love six months ago?"

Hope: "Not at all! It was fantastic! And I still love making love with you!"

Ruthie: "Lucy said you e-mailed her about finding a suitable man for her."

Hope: "I actually told her to forget about it, about three weeks ago."

Ruthie: "Why?"

Hope: "Because after what happened in February, I realized that I can't be with a man anymore, either. I like the sex and all ... but I prefer the touch of a woman. I'm lesbian, too! For sure!"

Ruthie: "Does Patrick know?"

Hope: "Sure he does. And that secret has brought us even closer together. It's given us another reason to hate our parents who still deny they are gay. And I hate them because they've had opposite sex rapes with minors, which only perpetuates the myth that only gays do that. This will show them up, once and for all, especially when I tell the congregation tomorrow everything they've done in bed too. Far as this goes, I'm willing to come out to our congregation, tomorrow, if you are going to."

Ruthie: "Then we'll do it together! By the way Hope ... is there anyone else here, or in the congregation, that you fancy? You can tell me the truth, honey."

Hope: "No one else, Ruthie. You're the only one for me."

Ruthie: "Seriously?"

Hope: "You bet! I want us to live common-law, the sooner the better. I also see you as my future wife, but that's going to have to wait another two or three years, at least. In the meantime, I want to have a baby. Another boyfriend I had for a while, whom I'm still friends with, has offered to be a sperm donor. He also wants to be part of the raising of my son or daughter. But I'll need a full time hand. You're a fantastic mother, so who better than you?"

Ruthie: "Well, we'll take it one step at a time. But what about Patrick? That will leave him as the only minister here without children! What do we do with him?"

Hope: "I know one of our members. She's a widow, in her thirties, with three children. Patrick would be perfect as a stepfather and husband to her."

Ruthie: "All right, we set them up on a blind date and see what happens with them. If it doesn't work, we'll try again."

Hope: "Deal. Now sister ... how do you feel about you and I making love ... tonight?"

Ruthie: "You realize Jack will be right next door to you ... us?"

Hope: "I'll cook up a lie, that I'm doing the overnight shift for the hospital's chaplaincy service. I really won't be doing that until next weekend, but it will give me an excuse to get out of the house. We'll rent a hotel room, order pizza and roast chicken with all the trimmings ... and we'll do home cooking, all night long! We'll get back to the church in the morning. Your family and the Parkers don't get up until eight on Sundays, so we'll sneak in to the guest houses about sevenish. They don't need to know we spent the night until we get back."

Ruthie: "Wonderful! Let's sneak out about six. Then I'm all yours tonight!"

Hope: "And I you. Ruthie? I love you. I know I've said that before, but I really do."

Ruthie: "I love you too, Hope ... with all my heart!"

She logged off. Ten minutes later, Hope came into her office.

"I told the guys we're both doing the night shift," said Hope. "They bought it!"

"Let's go," said Ruthie.

The women walked with caution to Hope's car. The moment they were inside, they had a French kiss that lasted five minutes.

"Let's rock, Ruthie!" said Hope. She put the hammer down and the women headed downtown. They found a luxury hotel that was offering a last minute discount as the hotel was booked for a convention but had two spare suites. They paid ninety-nine dollars for a room that normally cost three-fifty. When they got to the room, Hope swept Ruthie off her feet and carried her over the threshold.

"Hope, what's with you?" laughed Ruthie.

"Like I said, Ruthie, I love you ... maybe now you know for sure! Ready to fuck?" said Hope, once they were inside and the door closed.

"Oh yeah!" replied Ruthie.

They kissed for another ten minutes, nonstop, feeling each other up, especially on the opposite's bosoms, and reaching below the skirts and through the panties to the other's sweetnesses until they both became moist. They then ordered the meal, and packed it down until both burped loudly.

"Now are you ready?" asked Hope.

"Now that I know you love me, I truly am happy," said Ruthie. "And I love you, Hope, so much! I want this to last forever! Will you marry me?"

"YES!" screamed Hope. "I would be so proud to be your wife!"

They kissed again, fiercely, and walked slowly towards the bed hands clasped tightly. The fiancées were going to make this a night to remember.