Chapter 44

I woke up well before anyone else in the house. My brain was still working on what Tami had told us the night before. I had some ideas on how we could intercede and help Judy, but I didn't want to go off half-cocked. I had already gone into the situation with Emily's dad ill prepared, and there was a chance my choice of actions could blow back in my face. I didn't want to set up any more time bombs for myself.

I spent a longer amount of time than normal for my morning run as I worked out some of the details. Everyone was up when I got back, and we had a fairly subdued breakfast. I know Mom was curious about everyone's mood, but she was kind enough to let it pass and let us eat in silence.

The girls had all arranged to go to Vicki's house for the day, and I encouraged them to check in on Emily and hopefully get her to join them. Of course, they needed no further prodding. I did make them promise to call me and let me know what they heard or saw there.

Before they left, I grabbed Tami and pulled her aside.

"Hey, hold up a sec."

"Yeah?" she said a little miffed. She had been in a bad mood all morning. Most likely, she had been working through the entire situation as well.

"I have the beginnings of a plan to help your sister and I am going to call around to some people and get some of this worked out. I need you to play it cool for just a little while. We don't want to make this worse for you or for Judy, and I think we need some good ammo on our side if we are going to make this work."

"I only need one kind of ammo."

"Tami, I don't want you talking like that. I know you're angry, and you would do anything to protect your sister, but this isn't who you are. Please trust me and give me a chance to try and figure this out."

"I do trust you and we will play it your way for now. But, I promise you if things get too close to her having to go through with this, I will step in. Consequences be damned!"

"I know, and I don't blame you for that. If it gets that far, I will be right there beside you. But that is a last resort, ok?"

"Yeah."

"Try and have some fun with our girlfriends today. Don't let that bastard control your life."

"I'll try."

I gave her a quick kiss and she ran out to join the others in Zoe's car. Once they pulled away, I sat down at the kitchen table and pulled the phone receiver off the wall.

"Hello?"

"Jonathan, it's Caspian Grey."

"Hey, Cas. Congratulations on closing the deal. I just got off the phone with Ted. The contract for the purchase of the initial test units is done. They are moving fast on this, which is unusual for anyone at the DOD as far as I can tell. The additional twenty units are going through he more traditional route, and the contracts are pretty convoluted, so they will take some time."

"Not to sound like I am questioning your abilities, but did you bring in some help?"

"Yes, I have. This is all pretty far outside my experience, and it isn't an area where we want to be making mistakes. I got some names from that Colonel of yours, and brought in a beltway guy. He's sharp, and with his contacts added to what we already have, things have been moving well. It will still be another couple of weeks on the larger order, though."

"I'm just happy to have the initial five in the works. We needed that cash flow, but that wasn't really why I was calling. I wanted to run something by you."

"Okay."

"I have a problem, and I need your help sorting it out. Tami's family is involved with some sort of religious, second coming cult. She is generally left out of most of it, but their leader has this thing about 'young brides.' He has worked it into their belief structure, so that he's acquiring a new set every so often."

"Is he going after Tami?"

"No, like I said, she's too independent and not brainwashed. She's actually considered kind of an outcast, the way she tells it. No, it's her sister Judy."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve"

"Mother fucker."

"That was almost my exact words. But the family has totally bought into this crap, and they're going along with it. I have very little information on these guys, basically just what I have gotten from Tami, and like I said, she is an outsider. I want to do something to help her sister, but I'm flying blind."

"It sounds like you have a plan."

"I do. I wanted to see what it would take to get a private investigator to look into them, and put together as much info as possible. My first thought was to use that information to go to the authorities, although they don't have the best track record with these guys."

"Yeah, I remember Waco."

"Exactly. My other thought was to use any incriminating info we can come up with as a threat to pull Judy out. Guys who run these things tend to be a pretty good at self-preservation. Thankfully, Judy has spent enough time with Tami and her friends at school that she hasn't totally bought in, but she's still young and I think her parents are putting her under a lot of pressure."

"I know some guys I can talk to. But, Cas, be careful. Groups like this can be very dangerous, and can react in very unpredictable ways."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't think what else to do. Tami is so pissed she is ready to do something ... anything ... about it, and damn the consequences. I got her to hold off, for now; but the closer we get to the beginning of summer and their twisted ceremony, the harder it'll be to keep her from doing something she can't come back from."

"I'll make some calls. Give me everything you have."

I walked Jonathan through all the information I had on the cult, on Judy and her parents, and on anything else I could think of. He said he would get someone on it right away, but not to expect any results for a few weeks, at a minimum.

We didn't discuss cost, but I told him this was important and I was willing to pay. Thankfully, some of the income from the upfront order was coming to me, so I had money to work with again. Now I just had to wait, which is probably the thing I am worst at. Not that there was an instant need to do anything, since nothing was set to happen until the start of summer. I knew, though, that Tami would be on edge until this was resolved. Besides, I hated seeing her so angry. She's always been so calm and reassuring that it is a bit jarring to see this other side of her.

The rest of the week seemed to drag on. School was back and the new semester had started, so there was that to take up most of the days, but the lunch table was subdued every day, as people seemed to be picking up on Tami's mood.

It wasn't much better at home. She stayed overnight twice that week and while she didn't start raving about her parents or their church again, she was still in a pretty dark place.

Thankfully, on Friday, Jonathan stopped by with man I didn't recognize. Mom was at work, and Vicki had something she needed to do with her parents; but Tami and Zoe were home, with me. I ushered them into the kitchen, and we all sat at the table.

"Cas, this is Carter Talmon, the private investigator I mentioned."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Talmon," I said extending my hand.

He shook it warily, "Nice to meet you, too."

"Let me guess, I am not what you were picturing?"

"Honestly, no," he said with a wry laugh. "Jonathan filled me in on some work he needed for a client, but didn't go into any details. I was expecting someone much older."

"I get that a lot. I would understand if you decided not to take the job, if you feel that uncomfortable."

"Hey, as long as your check clears, I don't care if you're a purple elephant, you know."

"A pragmatist, huh?"

"Nope, just a bit greedy."

I am not sure if he was what I expected either. He was a big, stocky man in his late 40s, a little balding on the top. I couldn't place his accent, it was kind of nondescript. I also found that my initial impression was that I liked the guy.

"So, Jonathan filled you in?"

"Yep. I pulled some background information on this group. The guy who runs it had a group up in Montana about twenty-five years ago and he ran into some similar problems with some of the church's ... younger members."

"But he didn't go to jail."

"No. They couldn't get a reliable witness on him. The families of the girls put a lot of pressure on them to keep quiet. This is one of those things that it's hard to get enough proof to do anything about."

"And they couldn't set up surveillance?"

"I'm sure they could have, but there are limits to what they can do with that, and keep it admissible in court."

"So, what do you think about our situation."

"Of your two plans, the 'turn him into the cops' option has problems. We can run surveillance, but since we are not official, most of what we produce would be inadmissible."

"But can't we..." Tami started to interject. I placed my hand on hers hoping she give me just a few more moments before she started to panic.

"I was afraid of that. And the other option."

"Depends on how you plan on doing it."

"Well, if he isn't thrown by a threat of police intervention, then I'll threaten to go widespread with the information. Get it in the hands of as many members of the community, here and elsewhere, as I can. I might not be able to get the cops, but with enough ammo, I can certainly get a mob. If nothing else, I can scare him into packing up and going somewhere else"

"That's a little cold blooded."

"Yes, but does it seem like there are any other options?"

"Short of actually intervening physically, no."

"Do you think it could work?"

"Maybe, if you get enough on him."

"Can you get enough on him?"

"Yes. It won't all be legal and the vast majority of it would never be able to be used in the court, but I can get it."

"Do it."

He looked over at Jonathan who held up his hands and said, "Don't look at me. Caspian is calling the shots on this one."

Carter stuck out his hand and I shook it firmly.

"It's going to take some time to get what we need. I will get as much as I can on him, but it will take a month or two to get enough, I think. From what I was told, that is within your window."

"Yeah, we have until the start of summer. If we are going to act, we need to do it before then."

We said our goodbyes, and I showed the two men to the door. As soon as it was closed, Tami was all over me.

"Is this going to work?"

"I think so. If we bring enough heat on him, I think he will, at the very least, keep away from Judy. Hopefully, we can get him to pack up all together; but, one way or another, we will make sure Judy is safe."

When I hugged her, she was trembling so much it seemed like she might actually hurt herself.

"Baby, calm down. We will make this work."

"I hope so, I really do."

"We just have to give it time to happen. One way or another, we can make sure she's safe."

"Good. I have been so worried. I'm glad we are doing something."

I took her upstairs and tucked her into bed. It was early but she had been sleeping badly. I knew she was exhausted. Zoe and I held her tight and whispered reassuring words into her ear until her muscles slowly relaxed and she drifted into sleep. Quietly I eased out of the room and closed the door.

"Do you really think this will work?" Zoe asked as we went back downstairs.

"I do, actually. These guys operate on the fringes. You put a big enough target on them and they'll run for cover, just like the cockroaches they are."

We had just made it downstairs when there was a knock on the door.

"Now what?" I asked to no one in particular.