The delivery of Tammy's and Patrick's twins took a while longer than they or their living children expected. Tammy was in the greatest delivery pains of her life even with several doses of an epidural. But finally, at about eleven thirty in the evening, she gave birth to her daughter, Dawn Elizabeth, and just two minutes later her son, Torrance Alexander, who she immediately nicknamed "Chip". Tammy's and Patrick's kiss was long and enduring, and when they finally let go, they sobbed tears of joy - as did their other children who had been in the bedroom style suite and witnessed the miracle of birth from their mother's left side. (Patrick had finally adopted his step-children the week before, after an unforeseen delay of nearly four months, and was now officially their Dad.)

Outside, Hope and Ruthie were walking the floor. When they got the good news a few minutes after both babies were born, they jumped for joy like they were little girls.

"I can't wait to see to see our niece and nephew!" said Hope happily. "We're aunts, Ruthie. Aunts!"

"I can't count the number of times I've become an aunt," said Ruthie. "But to have one connected to my spouse - you - instead of my siblings, that's a huge deal for me. And it gets better!"

"What do you mean?"

Ruthie sat her wife down.

"Just as Tammy was giving birth to Elizabeth, God spoke to me," she said.

"About what?" asked Hope.

"You know I asked Jimmy Moon to be my sperm donor, and he said yes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I sent him some vials, along with some pretty raunchy lesbian sex films, to tickle his fancy, so to speak. He must have come big time ... he filled five of the vials, and promptly sent them back via the medial courier I told him to use. As soon as they arrived, I went in for attempt number one. That was a few days ago! I don't believe this ... it's not my time of the month yet, but God told me I'm having a girl! And you're having a boy!"

"Ruthie darling ... already? You're pregnant, too? And a girl?" Hope was on the edge of absolute joy. "And I'm having a boy?"

"Yes, Hope! We're going to be mommies together, and to each of our children!"

"Are you going to let Jimmy know?"

"I have. I texted him as soon as God told me, while you were in the little girls' room. Jimmy's happy for both of us, and he can't wait for our daughter. Or to hold her! And the best part is, when I'm ready for the next one, Jimmy's seed will already be in storage so I don't have to ask him again."

The women kissed for nearly a minute. It was finally interrupted by two officers from the Saint Louis Police Department.

"I'm sorry, Reverend Anderson," said the woman cop, whose name was Loretta. Her partner, a man whose parents defected from Eastern Europe during the Cold War, was named Tibor. Neither knew that Hope had changed her name to Camden, but Hope wasn't going to press that.

"May I help you?" she said.

"Can you fetch your brother, Patrick? We need to speak to both of you, alone. It's kind of urgent."

"Okay," Hope said nervously. "One moment."

The first thing Hope did in the delivery suite was to kiss her brother on the cheek, then Tammy, and she congratulated them. She also hugged her nieces and nephew. Then Hope took her brother aside. Patrick was not happy he was being asked to be apart from his wife at their moment of triumph. But his sister's nervous look told him something was wrong. So he kissed Tammy and promised her he would be right back. He told the kids they could take turns holding Dawn and Chip, but to be careful.

"Duh!" the siblings said, and laughed.

Loretta and Tibor let the siblings to a conference room about halfway across the sprawling hospital. Once Hope and Patrick were seated, Tibor opened up a laptop, connected to the Wi-Fi, and hooked up the computer to a wire that connected to an overhead projector. He then put a data card in.

"May I ask what this is about?" asked Patrick.

"I understand the two of you are counter-cult experts, especially when it comes to Word of Faith televangelists," said Tibor. "Especially since your parents were head on into the movement, and both of you defected from it last a year and a half ago."

"Yeah, 'movement'." Patrick snorted. "But you're talking about me. Hope rejected WOF years ago. She only defected from our parents. Besides, my sis and I are part of the revolution. I think you both know the difference, officer. "

"Yes, we do," said Loretta. "That's why we need your help."

"How, and why?" asked Hope.

"Well, a few hours ago, someone was arrested in New York City for a couple of rapes. Practically caught in the act. This person also's committed some other crimes ... or so said suspect claims was committed. Some sex offenses but there are others. We need you to go through some pictures the NYPD found on the suspect's camera upon booking, and see if you can identify the suspect."

"Roll them."

For the next two minutes, Patrick and Hope saw a slide presentation of an incredibly sexy woman with an hourglass figure, in various poses. In some she wore pants and a blouse with varying necklines, in others a skirt and halter top, and still others a one-piece dress. In some, the woman was scowling, in others there was a huge smile.

"So ... um, but, uh, we don't recognize her," said Patrick finally. "Sorry."

"Um ..." said Loretta. "We'll show one of her in a blouse and skirt. Take your time."

The cop went to slide seven, the most provocative pose of all. For nearly a minute, the siblings examined the photo. Finally, Hope spotted it.

"Got it!" she said.

"What, sis?" asked Patrick.

"You don't see it, bro?"

"No."

"Look up and down her body. Very carefully."

Patrick did what his sister said. It took him another minute.

"I'm sorry," said Patrick. "I don't get it."

"Look where her crotch is, or should be, under the skirt."

Patrick stared. At last, he saw it. There was a slight bulge just below the hip line.

"Either she's wearing a potato in her panties, or ... Oh my God! He's a MAN!" he screamed. He took a glass of water, drank it, then calmly continued, "And his blouse ... a slight sweetheart neckline so the bosom shows, except his bosom is just slightly off-color from the rest of his skin. He's wearing a mastectomy bra! C cup, I believe. Um, 38C. Make that ... D, like you Hope."

"Hey, God blessed me with these assets," said Hope. "I've used them to my advantage as my way of thanking Him ... Her. Especially with Ruthie!"

Patrick snickered.

"You are sexy, sis! Maybe it's wrong of me to say that as your brother, but you really are," he said. "But what about his waist? That's definitely a twenty-two, and his hips are thirty-five." Patrick was able to guess the measurements from all the girlie magazines he read before he fell in love with Tamara. When she found out he had a stash, she told him to stop reading them and dispose of them as well, if they were going to continue their relationship. Knowing he had finally found Ms Right and that he couldn't afford to lose her, he agreed, and burned the pile right in her backyard to prove it. As a reward that he had proven his fidelity to her, she let him make love to her for the first time later that day.

"It's a corset pulling his waist in," said Hope. "Just like Ruthie and I wore when we got married. You helped me get into my dress that night. Remember that?"

"Of course I do, Hope. You and Ruthie getting married was the proudest day of my whole life." Patrick hugged Hope sideways. "Until my marriage, and tonight of course! I hope I didn't hurt you when I helped you into the corset. You probably didn't even need one. But it was worth it, as well as helping you put on the dress. You're the second most beautiful woman I know - and I'd say that even I didn't see you at your most vulnerable. Thanks for the privilege of that - dressing you, and seeing you as you naturally are."

"Thanks, bro - and you're welcome!" Hope kissed her brother right next to his lips. "And no, you didn't hurt me at all. It was a bit uncomfortable, but I only had to wear it for about five hours, from the time you helped with the dress, until Ruthie and I consummated our marriage. But remember, my wife and I got our dresses on consignment and the waist was predetermined, so actually we didn't have much choice but to get corsets so we could fit into the dresses. Even so, we only tucked in four inches each. This guy, at least twelve inches or more! That's gotta hurt! Do that enough times, Pat, your 'temporary' hourglass figure becomes permanent, and you'll WANT a sex change. Starting with hormones so you get a nice, rich bosom - like this dude has, but for real!"

Hope laughed, as did Patrick, apologized to the cops for getting a bit too personal, then she waived at the screen. "So we now know he's a cross-dresser, too. A very convincing one if he remembered to put on that undergarment."

"Uh, not quite," said Tibor. "He disguised himself as a woman to confuse witnesses, so he could commit armed robberies of banks. He says he put on the corset himself, with great difficulty but he did manage it. Not one of the banks ever noticed any of the things you two have pointed out. They didn't have enough time to make a positive ID or realize he was a man."

"So how do you expect us to identify him?"

Tibor went to the next series of slides. They were the same pictures, except they were focused entirely on the man's made-up face. Yet each face looked different, due to different levels of foundation. The siblings looked at each other. At least he was nimble with changing his appearance.

"We're stumped," Hope admitted.

"Let us help you," said Loretta. "We'll dump the most 'beautiful' face into Photo Shop, and we'll try to peel away the layers of makeup and foundation. We'll also remove the wig and replace it with a hairstyle men might select. Then we'll load in the mug shot, and put them side-by-side."

The program started. For the next five minutes, the microchip worked at a feverish pace as it very slowly worked its way from bottom to top. However the screen temporarily went to black to ensure Hope and Patrick did not draw any early conclusions. Finally the cops said they were ready.

"Okay." The siblings held hands.

The projector was turned back on. On the screen were green dots on the peeled back face, as well as on the mug shot. The program found nearly forty points of identification. The faces were indeed a match. The "woman" was the arrested suspect. And when the dots were removed, the siblings screamed.

"Argh! Arnold Thompson, Junior!" Hope and Patrick said together. They looked at each other in shock.

"The NYPD found the man who raped Lucy? If it is him?" said Hope. "I'm just guessing here."

"Yes, sadly, he admitted to raping her. And she's not the only one," said Loretta. "He's a serial rapist. As I said he raped two more tonight, when he was finally caught, as we said, pretty much in the act. They are two of your wife's friends - Cecilia Smith and Meredith Davies."

"Cecilia and Mer?" said Patrick. "Why? They've never harmed anyone. They're our friends, too!"

"Thompson's not giving the NYPD a reason for them or for Lucy, but he's confessed to a lot of sex crimes. Plus a ton of armed robberies. What do you two know about him?"

Hope filled in Loretta and Tibor on as much as she could, but said that her wife Ruthie, as well as Felicity, would be able to fill in the blanks since they had studied him more.

"Good. We'll talk to Ruthie now as soon as we're done here, and to Reverend Hunter in the morning. Here's the thing, though," said Tibor. "Junior wants to cooperate, but that means turning in his father. But to do that, we'll have to do something really unconventional."

"Well, 'Mister Big' won't work," said Patrick, "if that's what you have in mind. The elder Thompson knows every fraud in the book."

"Not necessarily, Pat," said his sister. "He doesn't know everything. I think I know who can reel him in. He won't even see it coming."

"Who?" asked Loretta.

Hope grabbed a yellow legal notepad, wrote down four names and very brief profiles of all of them, and handed the paper to Loretta.

"The first two, I understand," said Loretta, "but why the last two?"

"In and out," said Hope. "Two who know the numbers, two who can be live bait."

"Will they all agree? Especially the younger ones?"

"Yes. They've got something the bad guys aren't counting on. But you'll have to figure that out for yourselves, going forward. They probably won't tell you what they have in mind, but they'll never do anything illegal either. Between the four of them, they can set up the perfect trap."

"We'll run it by our boss, but we might be able to do this," said Tibor. "Thanks to you two. You may go. And congratulations to both of you!"

The siblings walked back down the hall, hand in hand and leaning on to each other. Not just because of the birth of Dawn and Chip. They thought the end of the nightmare for themselves and the others and their families might be at hand at last. But they had a few phone calls to make. One of them very close to home. Hope picked up the phone.

"Samantha," she said. "Sorry to wake you and David up. Oh, you were? I'm really sorry! Yes, it went just fine. They're perfect! Um, do you know if Sam and Ashleigh are up too? Good, please call them to your room, because I need to ask all of you guys a favor."