It was now Saturday morning, five days left before the deadline to stop Prudence in her tracks. Ruthie's e-mail was busy with messages from all her siblings offering help. Lucy, in particular, was worried for her baby sister.
"These are powerful people, sis," wrote Lucy. "I'll find what I can, as will Kevin and Billie, but short of a smoking gun I may be not much help."
"Every little bit does, Luce," replied Ruthie. "Even if it's insignificant, we need to know about it. Please and thank you."
"Sure thing, Ruthie. I love you."
"I love you too."
Ruthie and Hope then had a quickie, followed by a late breakfast, the wives only wearing nightgowns. As they finished, Hope told Ruthie she wanted to tell her something.
"What is it, sweetie?" Ruthie asked.
"Well darling," said Hope, "it's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but it sped up in my mind as soon as we got engaged. Truth is, I've been hoping and praying that one or both of my parents would offer a true confession for everything they've done. Hearing Mom is going the Alford route, and seeing Dad only doubling down, has convinced me they're never going to truly confess. Which means no chance of reconciliation. I already told you I want nothing to do with them, but this week was the final straw.
"So here goes: I want our babies to have your name. In fact, I want your name. Soon as court opens up on Monday, I'm taking our marriage certificate to court and the DMV so I can officially become - Hope Camden."
Ruthie was shocked. After a pause she said, "I'm honored you want our kids to have my name. But this - this is a huge step for you. Are you sure that's what you want?"
"I do, Ruthie. I love you so much that I want to really start over. My new life began the first time we made love back during the winter. I want to make a total break from my past, that I am my own woman and it's largely because of you." Hope smiled. "Besides which, Patrick is doing the same. He's changing his name to Wilkinson, his wife's name. Or more accurately, the name she took when she married her first husband. As far as we're both concerned, our parents are truly dead, even if they do have cancer."
"This, other than my children, is the most beautiful gift I could ever have," said Ruthie, sobbing. "I love you too, Hope, and I always will! But what about your ministry? All your followers know you as -"
"I will be sending them a mass e-mail later today, explaining the whole story. How my parents double-crossed both my brother and me, the physical abuse he suffered, the emotional abuse I endured ... everything. I've already registered a new web domain, and the address with my old name is automatically being directed to my new name."
"Now I really want to make love to you. But it's Saturday, and you know what that means!"
"Yes, Ruthie, me too. I'm helping Tammy with her sermon tomorrow. She needs some verses to amplify what she is saying." Hope took pride in that she was asked to help her sister-in-law.
"As long as you don't ghostwrite it," warned Ruthie. "When Heather gave her sermon a few months ago, Peter and Felicity and I all made sure it was her words and no one else."
"With someone as Spirit filled as Tammy," said Hope, "she doesn't need a hidden hand."
The women kissed, headed to their bedroom, got dressed into business suits (while feeling each other up, as they always did), grabbed jackets, kissed again, and headed to the church.
In Los Angeles, Harrison was having a meeting with his lawyer. He was furious that Prudence had cut a deal and did not think that it was fair she get away with only telling part of the story.
"What do you mean, Harry?" asked the lawyer, whose first name was Doug.
"I was under the impression when you cut a plea agreement - whether it's a plea of guilty, no contest or and Alford - you have to allocute to everything you've done, even stuff for which you are not under indictment or suspicion."
"That is correct," said Doug.
"Well, I want to get a few things absolutely clear before I say what I have to say. Yes, I think white people are the chosen people. No, I don't think it was wrong to have a swanky lifestyle, even if my parishioners were paying for it. Yes, I made the wrong kinds of friends along the way.
"That said, there are some difficult truths that need to be said. I know you said when you hired me, that you would never ask me if I was guilty or not. But the right to effective counsel also carries the responsibility to assist counsel in his or her job. So here's the facts.
"First: All those allegations against me, we need them cleared up. I did not molest a hundred young people, and Prudence didn't harm fifty. The truth is, she molested all those kids and made the majority file complaints against me, not her. In total, she had her way with a hundred and forty eight. The double count is because she and I both harmed our son, Patrick, as well as Carrie Parkinson. Those were the only two I raped - no one else. I am ashamed I did that, and I will never forgive myself. But that is the truth, Doug."
"Two or one hundred, Harry," said Doug, "you're still a child molester."
"I know," said Harry. A tear came down the right side of his face.
"And you threatened to kill her if she came forward, didn't you? Even though she was running money for you?"
"Yes, I did threaten her. But it was not for me, but for Prudence. As you will find out, Hope is partly wrong about how the church operated. The numbers are right, but not the personalities. Prudence ran the show, not me. I was just the preaching front."
At this point, Harry pulled out his laptop and started a slide presentation. As the slides automatically changed, Harry provided details that showed that the principal officer of the ministry was Prudence, and through an elaborate shell game made it look like Harry had stashed away most of the money. In fact, it was her.
"So she's worth a lot more than ten billion."
"She's worth four hundred of the five hundred billion," said Harry. "I am worth seventy-five, and Ed the rest. Yes, he got to keep his money even after Hope fired him - or the alias he was using."
"Presuming what you've told me checks out, you're going to be forfeiting nearly all of your money to the IRS. You'll be lucky to keep one million. And you won't be able to spend it in jail. The commissary only lets you keep three hundred bucks at a time. But I have some other questions."
"Shoot."
"Did you pay a hundred and twenty million to -"
"For Ed to rape Rita and Cathy Hampton? No. Nor did I pay any money for Lisa Lumby to be raped, or anyone else. That was Prudence. She hated Chandler. I didn't. I actually thought he and Hope were a cute couple and deserved to be together. I was sad when she broke off the relationship."
"The bond trading?"
"I have a data stick showing how she pulled off all the transactions, with the help of more than a few BI churches."
"The attack on the al-Aqsa mosque in '69?"
"I believe the Bible when it says only God can determine when the world will end. That was Prudence, naturally."
Doug thought of any other questions he thought the DA might want to know as well. Then it came to him.
"You're gay, and Prudence is lesbian. How did you hide that fact for so long? And if you hated each other, why did you ever agree to have children with her?"
"It's easy to stay in the closet, especially in my circles," said Harry. "I only had sex with her to satisfy her ego. Truth is, we never wanted either Hope or Patrick. The condom broke both times. And in the evangelical movement, abortion was out of the question."
"Then why did you induce abortions on Prudence, when she got pregnant with your son's children?"
"That too is a lie. It was Ed and another televangelist, now deceased."
"Even if what you're saying can be proven," said Doug, "you're looking at twenty years, which for you is a life sentence. The DA will not be lenient with you, especially given your lifestyle, and the fact you did commit mail fraud."
"Well, the terrorism charge carries two hundred forty, and it's not true. Mail fraud ... well, the data stick covers that too. I just want the truth to be told."
The word got back to Saint Louis. Hope and Patrick were ebullient. They would never forgive their father, especially since he had finally come clean about molesting his son. But if even half of what he said was true, then the plea bargains for both Prudence and Ed would be off the table. Tamara, for her part, smiled in glee when she thought of the prospect of their being forced to be hostile witnesses against each other.
But she was in for a quick reality check from Roxanne, who after finding out who really paid for her daughters' rapes, called Tamara later that night.
"Tammy, don't get your hopes up too high. Your parents-in-law are really crafty people, as is Ed," the cop said. "The situation has become he said, she said, he said. A jury is going to have a hard time believing any of those three. They'll think each is still hiding something."
"But if Pat's Dad - uh, his father - calls his mother out on her lies, then her arrangement ends and she's going up the river too, isn't she?" asked Tamara.
"Sure she will," agreed Roxanne, "but don't forget they still have a lot of contacts in the underground. Until this trial is over, all of you at the church are in danger. Especially you, Hope and Felicity since you're all expecting. My recommendation, take mat leave early. Your boss at work can find another administrative assistant through a temp agency until all of this blows over."
"I can't see how my life is in danger, even if Patrick is my husband. Who wants to knock off a music director?"
"Remember the sister of Penny Flynn's first assistant?" reminded Roxanne.
"Okay, I get it. I'll call the local police and see if they can step up patrols around the houses here."
"Make sure you have someone at the hospital when you give birth to your twins next month, too. Send the gang my best."
"Thanks Roxanne. And give my regards to Chandler, and your children - all three of them." She referred to the fact that Roxanne had given birth to a son, Earl, the long-awaited brother to Catherine and Rita.
"Good night, and good luck."
Tamara turned to her husband.
"Patrick? You, Hope and me need to talk."
"About what?"
"You and your sister want to set up that home for unwed mothers on the West Coast. Maybe I'd like to come along and be a third hand. Maybe all our families should relocate too. I don't think we're safe here anymore."
"What makes you think that?"
"The company you kept."
Patrick nodded, but then said, "Can't this wait until our son and daughter are born?"
"We may not have that luxury, if what Roxanne was driving at comes true."
Patrick picked up the phone. He asked Hope and Ruthie to come over. The women didn't have to be told why.