The news hit the council house like a shock wave. No one could absorb the notion that a preacher would not only take the cowardly way out, but also take so many innocent human lives with her.

But with no one did it hit harder than with Shelby Connor, because during a tour of duty in Afghanistan, she had witnessed a suicide bombing in Kandahar City, and was powerless to stop it. And the bomber was a teenage girl, fifteen years old.

In one of the city's markets, Shelby was on patrol with the local police, exchanging notes on the day's potential trouble spots. Out of nowhere, a young woman appeared in the middle of the square. She looked around then yelled, "Allahu Akbar" - God is the Greatest.

Instinctively, Shelby grabbed her service revolver, aimed at the girl and fired. The standing order in such a scenario not to take any chances, just shoot to kill. But it came a split second too late. The girl had already pressed the button for the fuse. The bomb went off. Seventy-two people, including sixteen children, were dead. Among them, four of Shelby's fellow Marines. Nearly two hundred more were maimed.

For weeks, Shelby was wracked with guilt. Why hadn't she been paying more attention? Why did she wait even a split second to get the gun out? Why did this have to happen?

As commandos she and Rod had been trained extensively to deal with urban warfare, a new dynamic in the so-called War on Terror. But there was no rulebook for confronting a lone wolf. No instructions on how to stop someone bent on killing him or herself. Just fire, and hope for the best.

Why would a fifteen year old feel it her duty to engage in jihad? Did she feel she had nothing left to live for, or was she answering a higher calling? And what reward was waiting for her in Paradise? Males got their seventy-two virgins. What about women? Much later, Shelby learned the answer to this one: It would be the husbands of those who the female virgins had been promised.

Shelby was fighting back her tears when she remembered this. But finally she couldn't bear it anymore.

"This is insanity!" she finally screamed, not realizing the phone line was still open.

"I agree, ma'am," said the executive assistant on the other end of the line. Her name was Sherri. "All I know it, just as she lit the fuse, she pointed at a whole section of the female side of the choir, pointed at a few rows, and yelled, 'You're a bunch of lesbians!' Then, boom. Sister, it's a mess here. A total war zone. And because this was indoors, the explosion was contained within and the shock waves too. I'm just scanning the hall. Hundreds may have been wounded too, maybe thousands! And I know for a fact many of the choir members singled out are straight. I don't understand it. Why would she do this?"

Ed thought for a minute. Then it struck him.

"Penny had a miscarriage. They're all gone," he sobbed.

"No, Ed. She aborted them," Sherri replied. "All had Down's Syndrome. She had the procedure done late last night. I think she was besides herself with guilt, which is ... that has to be it. And truth is, she told me she didn't know whose they were. Yours, or Alan's."

"But why not just overdose on pills? Why go out like that?"

The ministers and their families were holding on to each other in comfort, but none more so than Ruthie and Hope. Lisa and Brigitte were in each other's arms, sobbing.

'Ed, it's crazy here," said Sherri. "It's a good thing we're near the 82nd Airborne's base at Fort Bragg here, they can send their medical unit because the local paramedics will just be swamped! I'll keep in touch."

The call dropped.

"Now we're in a real fine pickle," said William, Lucy's son. "The star witness for Harry and Pru's defense is dead. Along with hundreds of innocent people. How did we ever get ourselves into this?"

"That would be Rod and me," replied Shelby. "We asked Ruthie to help us move things along. But we can't blame ourselves. If Ruthie hadn't agreed - "

"Then Shel would have asked someone else," interrupted Ruthie. "But I never would have found my darling wife, Hope. May God have mercy on Penny Flynn's soul. Wretched and twisted as she was, she deserves to be in peace too. Along with everyone else who's dead."

"Amen, sweetheart," said Hope. She hugged her wife, and started crying.

The debriefing of the ministers overnight took hours. Hope and Felicity, in particular, gave detailed accounts of their personal interactions with Flynn and several other high-profile preachers. They had no clue, however, that Flynn had a history of mental illness and that her chance meeting with a legend of the business set her on her path. As the night wore on, it became obviously to everyone that Penny had been totally delusional.

Then Brigitte had something to say that took the group by surprise.

"Révérend Flynn, my parents followed her for nearly twenty years," she said in her unique accent yet perfect English. "They were nominally Catholic, but they were big contributors to her. One day, my father learned he had Stage Three cancer. He kept delaying treatment, saying God would heal him. He went to one of Flynn's crusades, she 'healed' him. For one week, he was sprightly and we thought something had happened that was good. Then he regressed and went to Stage Four. He was dead in a month.

"During the winter break last year, Lisa and I were on vacation in Saint Martin - the French side. We were staying at a mid-priced hotel, not far from the really deluxe places. We take a walk on the beach. And guess who's tanning herself to a crisp?"

"Flynn," said Ruthie.

"Right. Lisa and I walked right up to her and asked her the one basic question, which is why she didn't encourage my father to get the help he really needed, when there was still a chance. She just laughed and said, 'Sister, if I told that to everyone who came to one of my crusades, I would have to had declare bankruptcy ages ago! Pragmatism doesn't drive crusades. Faith does. Misplaced or otherwise. Oh, and ... uh .. yes, I remember your father. I know because he was holding your picture. And I see you're a lesbian. I wish I knew that when your father came. I should have told him to disown you. Now leave me alone. I don't have time for gays. I don't have time to heal their relatives, either.' And she just lay back down on her terry towel."

"Did your father know ..."

"Of course he knew, and he was proud of me when I came out," said Brigitte, fighting back tears. "Maman too. I'm an only child. She kept calling Lisa the daughter he never had and was so happy she was in my life. And that's the crazy part. Flynn slept with women, too, and she kept saying it was a sin. Then to go on stage ... and claim hell fire for people like me? What a tabernac hypocrite!" She had used the French Canadian word for fuck.

"That's when Brigitte proposed to me," said Lisa. "Not just because she loves me. Not just because we were making a political statement as lesbians, which we were in part. We also agreed to get married as our way of getting back at Penny Flynn. And we vowed we would do everything we could, use our intelligence sources, to prove she was bisexual. We finally did, last year, about the time Ruthie and I got together in Budapest. And we got in contact with Penny's lawyers and told them what we had found. She had sex with a female preacher in Paris, three years ago. The affair lasted on and off for about six months. And we promised we would keep quiet about it if she paid up."

"My God, Lisa! You're not one to do blackmail," said Lucy in surprise.

"It was not for us. It was to defend my father's honor," said Brigitte.

"How much did you ask for?"

"One million euros."

"Did she pay up?"

"Of course not," scoffed Lisa. "She thought we were bluffing."

"But you weren't," said Rhiannon.

"No."

"What you did, or tried to do, is illegal."

"In Europe, that's a very gray area," said Brigitte.

"Were you going to go public with it?" asked Kevin.

"No, Officer Kinkirk. Not unless she was directly asked by a reporter if she was LGBT and denied it. Incredibly, all the journalists were doing a chronicle of her spending habits and deluxe lifestyle, but none never asked about her choice of lifestyle? Penny Flynn Ministries would have ended if they had, a long time ago."

"Well she admitted it tonight, but she's dead, so that's kind of a moot point."

"The honesty is appreciated, but it's too late," agreed Brigitte.

"It could be the truth was catching up with her on a lot of fronts," mused James.

"Plus, she was going to have to testify in a trial where she would take the Fifth so many times that it would make her look even worse than she already did," added Heather. "But that still doesn't explain, why not just kill herself? Why a suicide bombing? That's crazy!"

"Not unless this was her backup plan," said Sarah. Being Jewish, she knew about attacks in Israel happening nearly ever day that had similar motives. "Your main terrorist plot is thwarted, you go to Plan B. She must have felt provoked when Ed told her Enlightened Dawn was a bust. She knew it was a possibility, and she was prepared for it."

"So she was going to kill herself anyway, either tonight or on Monday," said Matt.

"Right, honey."

"Doesn't make it right though. If she wanted to off herself, fine, but this was unnecessary."

"Did Penny have cancer or another disease?" wondered Felicity.

Everyone turned to Ed.

"Damned if I know," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised."

A pause.

"Ladies," Jennifer said to Lisa and Brigitte, "I'm sorry, so sorry, your wedding was marred by this. But the fact is, you're married. That's what matters."

"That's exactly what matters, Chief," agreed Tom. "These women, our children, Brian - all of us, are a family now. A real family. We always have been, but it has an imprimatur and a certificate to prove it. And we're so proud of you, Brigitte and Lisa. And we know we'll be a family forever!"

"Thanks, mon cher," said Brigitte to her ex-husband. They kissed on the lips for a final time. Lisa did the same with Brian.

"Well, I think it's time to have a family portrait, shall we?" said Ruthie.

The entire wedding party stood for a formal picture. The group then made the drive back to Saint Louis. Brigitte and Lisa and their family were in the convoy, having been invited to spend the weekend at the church. Meanwhile, Ed was taken to the FBI station in Jefferson City where he went into exhaustive detail about Penny, and himself.

The next morning, with the gang back in Saint Louis, Hope's cell phone rang. It was Annie.

"Hope, I'm so sorry for being a bitch about this," she said. "You and Ruthie have my heartiest best wishes and congratulations. And I hope you have a baby real soon - and you have a fine choice in father. I know him well."

"Thanks, Annie," said Hope.

"And what about this horror?" Annie was crying. "Did you ever imagine - "

"No, I didn't. The cops are searching Penny's hotel room and her home to see if she left a suicide note behind. I can't Penny Flynn would do this without a motive. I think Felicity is in more shock than me, honest to God. She was her worst enemy and it still hit her real hard."

"May I speak with her please?"

"She's meeting with the federal DA here. But I'll make sure Felicity calls you, she wants to talk to you. Apparently she and Penny confronted each other about five years ago and it wasn't pleasant."

"Did they wind up have sex, Hope?"

"Wouldn't surprise me, Annie. I'll let her tell you that. But I know for a fact Penny and Pru did it several times. I confronted Mom about it and she denied it."

"So why didn't you go public?"

"Annie, don't you remember I was on the take, too? All the money I stole? You confronted me about that last year! If I had said as much, I would have had to admit about me and the stuff I did."

"Did you ever have sex with Penny?"

"God no! It wasn't that she was ugly. It's that she was a married woman. That's one line I vowed I never cross. She did proposition me. I told her to back off or I'd tell Alan. She did."

Annie paused.

"Hope, I really envy you. You know that?"

"Envy me? Annie, I'm a crook!"

"You're a televangelist. One of the good ones, but you have to live in the limelight everyday. Eric and Lucy don't have to."

"They're good people. I should be admiring them, following their example."

"You have got so much on your plate. And you've had this to deal with in the last year. I don't know how you do it. Disowning your parents must have been the hardest thing you could have done."

"It was unbearable, but Patrick and I had no choice. Betraying our trust like that." Hope sighed. "It's like Eric once told Matt, Annie, leading by example is how I've always want to live my life. It's not my job description. I'm not perfect. But I've found my path. I'm happy with God. I serve Him with all my heart and soul. All the more so since we've made our break. I'm happy with Ruthie and Peter and Felicity and all their kids. I'm happy with Patrick, and Tammy and their kids. I'm happy with Rod and Shelby and their kids. And this time next year, when I have my own little blessing or blessings, my joy will be complete. And I'm glad to have you as my mother-in-law. I couldn't ask for anyone better than you or Eric. And to have so many in-laws with their heads on straight!"

"Hope, I love you. Know that. I always will. And if you need anything, call me. Anytime, day or night." Annie smiled. "And I'm sorry about last night. Tell Brigitte and Lisa I wish them the best, too. We all do."

"You can tell them yourselves. They came to Saint Louis with us for the weekend. Their whole family.'

Hope passed the phone to Lisa. She and Annie talked for nearly twenty minutes about her and Brigitte's plans for the future.

The following morning was the weekly service. Hope and Ruthie walked in to the sanctuary, hand in hand. They were joined by the three other church's couples, and were followed by Brigitte and Lisa. All the families followed in hand. The group got a standing ovation.

"Thank you!" said Ruthie. "We all, and especially Hope and I, thank you for your vote of confidence. And we have these lovely women here with us today. My sister and I Lucy married them on a reservation Friday night, but we both agreed they were entitled to a church blessing before they go home to Luxembourg. What do you say to that?"

Cheers and applause.

"All right, great! But before we do that, which will be our first item of business today, and before we begin, may we all remain standing for a moment in silence, in respect of the dead in North Carolina."

It became very quiet. Felicity was fighting back tears. Before the service, she admitted to the groups that she and Penny had briefly been lovers, in a blackmail attempt by the latter. For this one moment, as much as she loved Peter, she longed for Penny's gentle touch, one that had been softer and more poignant than that Hope had once offered to her once before.