The Ties That Bind

by T. Starnes

  We ate a quick lunch and then headed over to Vicki's. They had just made it home, and Vicki repeated the welcome that Zoe had given me the day before.

  "So, how was the ski trip?" I asked once we were all in Zoe's car.

  "It was so much fun, although Dad gave me a lot of strange looks. Mom never goes out on the slopes, but every year I go out with Dad. I am pretty sure he noticed that I have gotten a lot better since last year.”

  "Really?" Zoe asked.

  "Yeah. Maybe I'm not a better skier but the increased reflexes and muscle strength show up a lot when doing something that physical. I actually wiped out a few times on purpose, just so he would stop looking at me so weird.”

  "We have to swing by the mall real quick before we go get Tami," I said switching subjects.

  "Why?" Zoe asked.

  "You know why," I replied.

  It took a moment before she said, "Ohh.”

  Our errand finished we headed for Tami's. For this, Zoe parked down the block, and she and Vicki walked down to Tami's house. Considering how Tami's family felt about dating, we all thought it best if I just stayed in the car.

  About ten minutes later, they came back down the street. I noticed a scowl on Tami's face and the other two girls were looking pretty worried. I started to say something but Zoe waved me off with a small shake of her head. We all rode back home in silence.

  Once back home and in our room, I pulled Tami down onto my lap.

  "What's wrong?”

  "It's my parents! They are the most bigoted, backward, kowtowing pieces of shit.”

  "I take it something happened at your church thing.”

  "You bet your ass, it did. I am so tired of that fucking cult, and my parents for giving in to it.”

  "What happened?”

  "This is the event every year when Pastor Joseph names his new 'Chosen Girls', meaning the young girls he is giving himself the right to have sex with for the coming year … the fucking pervert.”

  My heart stopped for a moment, "And you were chosen?”

  "No. I am considered too wild and untamed. Even though my parents keep me on the qt, I have voiced my dissent to church 'doctrine' too many times in front of too many people. I am considered something of an embarrassment, and the only reason I haven't been kicked out is because I am still a minor.”

  "Then…”

  "He chose Judy. She's terrified. She has experienced enough life outside the church to realize how sick it is, and what is going to happen.”

  "And your parents are going along with it?" Zoe asked.

  "Going along with it? They are thrilled. Having a daughter 'chosen' is considered a big deal. They will get all kinds of rank and status with Joseph and his sheep. I have to figure out how to get her out of this.”

  "You're not alone, Tami," I said reaching back to hold her hand. "We will help you figure out something. Just don't do anything rash that could get you into serious trouble.”

  "Ok, but in three months they will have what is essentially a wedding ceremony, at which point he will feel free to start raping these girls. Not that many of them protest, they are well into being brainwashed by this point. If nothing is fixed, by then, I swear to God I am going to kill him. I will not let him touch Judy.”

  "I promise it won't get that far.”

  Our reunion had lost a lot of its joy with Tami's news, and no one was in the mood to do anything but cuddle. I had an idea for a course of action, but it would take time. Hopefully, not too much time, because I agreed with Tami. I would kill him before I let him go after Judy. Judy was a good kid, and did not deserve having her childhood ripped from her.

  Chapter 16

  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 ha
ve 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.

  I opened the door only to have Amanda push by me suddenly, already talking a mile a minute.

  "Oh My God, Cas! Why didn't you tell us? This is so amazing." She stopped babbling for a moment to hug Zoe, and then continued, "And you, too. I can't believe this is happening. It's so incredible.”

  I shut the door and wondered what she was worked up about. Looking at Zoe I could tell she was pretty confused. Maybe she heard about the tests and our big contract. Or maybe something about Emily?

  I grabbed her by the shoulders to try to get her to stop bouncing around, "Amanda, what's incredible? Wh
at are you talking about?”

  "About you guys. You know, your superpowers or whatever.”

  I closed my eyes, and pinched the bridge of my nose. Fucking Josh. I don't know why I trusted him to stay quiet about this, I mean, I knew he was unreliable. I'd thought that just this one time he might get what I was trying to tell him about staying quiet.

  "What did Josh tell you?" I asked. I saw the light go on for Zoe as soon as I said that.

  "God damn it Josh!" Zoe said.

  Amanda turned to look at Zoe, "What?”

  I pulled her back to look at me, "Amanda, what did Josh tell you?

  "He said you guys were like, extra strong and fast and stuff. It explained so much. I mean, I've seen you guys work out, and then what you did at the marathon. Why are you mad at Josh?”

  This last part was directed back at Zoe.

  "Because," I said, "I specifically asked Josh not to say anything. I tried to point out how dangerous things could get for me and everyone close to me if this got out.”

  "Ohh," she said looking at me thoughtfully. "I can see that. I'm sorry, I didn't know”

  I maneuvered her and Zoe into the living room so we could talk. Now we were at this point there wasn't much to do but bring Amanda inside, or at least as much as we had Josh.

  "It's not your fault. It was Josh's responsibility to keep our secrets. Of course, now that you know, it is important for you to keep our secret as well. You can't tell anyone. Not your parents and not your friends. And please don't talk about this with Josh in public places or anywhere someone can hear you.”

  "He tried to explain it to me, but it didn't all make sense. What is your thing exactly? He said something about you being a genetic freak or something and getting super-powers. And then you gave them to Zoe and the other girls.”