More Story
Making Plans
A few days after the confrontation with Darren, everyone went to do some investigations on their own with the information he had given them...
When Pippi and Misery thought they had the right town located from his dim memory of where it was (he had run away at an early age), they brought him in and gone through the list of churches with him.
They knew they'd hit on the right one when he suddenly turned pale and became violently ill at the mention and sight of a picture of it on the internet they had located.
Pippi and Misery looked at each other. This could get rough.
Once again, Pippi had to rummage in her purse for a remedy, this time, to calm Darren's stomach.
They gave Darren several minutes to settle, then resumed.
"Well, we know the name of that...establishment, now." said Pippi. "I'm almost afraid to ask you for specific names of its members.
"It would be easier on you if you knew of any other victims," said Misery, "But for now, we'll have to run background checks on each member that's attended during the time - it happened."
"We might have to trace its history right from the beginning, Misery. This could've been going on before..."
Misery nodded.
"I might remember some other victims later," he said, clearing his throat. "sometimes details come back...images I can only recall what happened to me personally right now."
"It'll take time, but if you do remember anything, please let us know." said Misery. "You can call me in the middle of the night if you need to."
He took her card and looked at it. Misery also gave him her card with the KWHO station direct line to her desk. "Thank you," he said, looking up after a moment. "I don't think I can repay you for doing this."
"You can" she replied, "It'll be payment enough to see you come out stronger and free of torment as you can be, all things considered." She smiled softly.
"I think that'll be a relief for NT as well, and all of us." said Pippi. "But it'll take a lot of time and working through."
He didn't say much in reply, not wanting to promise them he would get better, or how he would react to any sort of justice being done. It just didn't seem possible yet.
They ended the meeting and planned to get together at Pippi's the next night after work.
The following evening, Misery showed up at Pippi's for the meeting just after Ariel drove off to bring NT home from the hospital.
Capri was sitting in the living room, watching TV, but she turned it off once she saw Misery drive up. "Pippi, she's here!" she called.
Pippi grinned. "Good, I've got the tea and coffee nearly made." she answered the door, and let Misery in.
"Hi there," Misery greeted, handing her some sodas to put in the 'fridge. "brought my own drinks."
"Thank you," Pippi said, and took the sodas, "I'll get one later."
Misery looked over at the couch. "Hey, Capri."
"Hey yerself.{" Capri grinned.
"Want a soda, Capri?" Pippi asked.
"No, thanks, I'll have somethin warm."
Pippi went back to the kitchen. She came back with a soda for Misery, and a cup of tea for Capri.
"Thanks," Misery replied, sitting down next to Capri. She looked around. "So, who else is coming to our little party? I thought Indy...?"
"She's supposed to be here," Pippi said, puzzling.
"Probably got caught in traffic. There's a bad accident on one of the roads between here an' 'er house," Capri put in.
"Well then, let's wait a while, see what happens." Pippi suggested.
Five minutes later, a car pulled up. A door was heard shutting, and someone was seen and heard running up the front steps.
The doorbell rang, and a familiar voice called, "Anybody home in there!?"
Pippi chuckled. "Indy..."
"Nobody 'ere but us chickens," Capri shouted. Misery laughed.
Pippi burst out laughing.
"Bock bock bock!" Indy shouted back, and was heard disolving into a giggle behind the door.
Misery chortled.
"You nuts!" Pippi laughed. "Come in, Indy." she said when she opened the door.
"Sorry I'm late. There was a traffic tie-up on the way. Some kind of accident,."
"See?" Capri said to Misery. Grinning back at Indy, "told you nuthin' but chickens."
Misery giggled some more
Indy laughed. "Funny lookin, too."
"Indy," Pippi said, still laughing, "Do you want soda, juice, water, milk, or coffee or tea?"
"Coffee is fine. and it smells great!"
"All right then, I'll be right back." and Pippi went to get it for Indy.
Another car pulled up, but drove into the garage. Ariel had come home with NT.
"Oh, okay, it's going to be a full house," Misery observed.
She looked at Capri. "Think Ariel needs any help getting NT in the door?"
"She might, if NT thinks she can manage it on 'er own an' can't." Capri stood up to go greet them.
Just then the door opened and Ariel came in for a second. "I'll go help NT out of the car."
But when she turned back, she saw that the girl had managed to get herself out of the car and was carefully, determinedly, making her way up the steps.
Ariel turned back and met her on the stairs, taking hold of her to help steady her and help her along.
"Looks like you got things in hand." Capri said, smiling, "Come in an' join us in the livin room."
"Okay." Ariel called back, "I'll shut the door when we're both in."
She and NT moved carefully up the steps, and into the house.
They set her down on the couch, arranging pillows so she would the most comfortable, even with her injuries. Ariel got her some water and sat down and they were ready to begin.
"So, what'd you gals come up w' on these dirtbags?" Capri began.
*hehehehehehe!*
*She's a card!*
"Well, we found the...church - they were part of," Misery replied.
"Yes," Pippi agreed. "Darren didn't recognize it at first but when he did, his reaction confirmed it."
"They have a website - it's pretty, uh, how shall I put this, Pippi?" Misery said, looking at her friend.
"Extreme? Racist? Radical?" Capri offered.
"All of the above." Pippi confirmed.
"Hypocritical and stupid as well." NT chimed in, rolling her eyes in disgust.
Capri nodded. "Figures."
NT growled.
"Yeah, like sheesh! Stupid people!" Indy agreed.
"Down tigers," Capri grinned at NT and Indy. "You'll get your chance."
"Hehe." said Indy.
"They are just clever enough with their website propaganda," Pippi cleared her throat enough to make the point that she was very disgusted with that brainwashing and hateful propaganda. "that the law cannot use it against them unless they have live victims or witnesses to their - activities." Another cough.
"And we are sure all the names on it are false - or screen names," Misery went on. She got up and passed a list out detailing the website url and the names. They consisted of "godsmessenger@whoville.com", etc.
"Oh, please!" Indy tcked.
"The nerve!" said NT with a scowl to go with the comment.
"Geez, look at this one," Capri snorted. "angelofretribution@freemail.com" Cowards gotta pick a free, untraceable service to hide behind!"
"And it's more like demon of torture." NT said.
"And 'angelfoodforbrains'" Indy snarked.
That set the others laughing, grateful for a little comic relief once in a while. It gave them a break from gritting their teeth too much.
"They're just like the extremists Indy talks about, those Animal Liberation Front people," said Ariel, "Calling themselves compassionate etc. But we know they're anything but."
"Yeah! But even the ALF uses their own domain." said Indy. Looking at Ariel, "You're right, though.
"It's anyone's guess how many free services they've already been kicked off before using their current ones." said Pippi.
"At least eight others," Misery said. "oh, I didn't tell you...I did a newsgroup search before we left the office. They aren't very bright...they would keep the angelofretribution and godsmessenger prefixes but the host name kept changing right up until they got their own domain finally."
"They didn't fool anyone, though. They would get kicked off a group, change domains and come back, but everyone knew who they were," Misery shrugged.
"I know, that's idiots for you." said NT.
"Yeah." Indy snorted.
"You can't hide fer too long when you got extremist views like that," Capri harumphed.
"That's for sure." NT agreed. "And I can smell 'em a mile away. Pheeewww!"
"Yes, there's no way to hide such ugliness for long." said Ariel. "It's too bad they managed to mess up a poor child with their poison and abuse."
"And he still associates 'Christian' with 'sadist' even after all I tried to tell him." said NT. "There might even be people out there who still believe I did all that stuff even though my name got cleared." She looked pained.
"He's just making a generalization, NT," Misery pointed out gently. "I am sure he doesn't still hold to that idea now that he knows you a little better."
"He probably had no idea what a terrible impact that kind of generalization could have on you, or anyone." Pippi said. "People are sometimes so wrapped up in themselves that they don't see what they're doing to others."
"Yeah," Capri scowled. "So, anythin' else?"
"A location," Misery replied.
"Their program schedule - services, sunday school, events, etc.," Pippi added.
"No phone number, just an email address, but I'm not surprised," Misery chimed in.
Capri's face hardened. "What about the railroad tracks...any idea where those are?"
NT shuddered.
"Yes," Pippi said just as emotionlessly, trying to hide her stress. "they are fairly near the church."
"There'll be solid evidence hidden somewhere, once you've managed to locate that church and all its members." said NT.
"If they're still..." Pippi cleared her throat, "That's very likely. The ticklish part of this will be securing it before they can figure out what's going on."
"We need someone to go in and pretend to be interested in their little congregation," she added.
"I'll do it," Misery volunteered.
"Great, go for it!" said NT.
"Uh uh," Pippi disagreed. "you're too soft, Mis. They'd see through you the first time they asked you to prove you think like them."
"Killjoy, but yeah, you're probably right," Misery agreed.
"I say Capri should do it," Indy spoke up. "She can be a hardass."
"On the otherhand, you could pretend to be a vulnerable, lost soul, they'd buy it." said NT.
"You'd be a heck of a lot better at lying your way in there than me, that's for sure."
"Me?" Capri laughed. "You're no slouch yourself, Indy. But yeah, I can act if I really hafta." she grinned.
"Indy would blow a fuse in there," Pippi argued. "if they brought out a "sacrificial lamb", so to speak, she'd jump the gun before we got a picture of them trying something."
Indy laughed. "I wouldn't even get in the door if they recognized me anyway. They'd think I was there to get a story."
Ariel laughed.
"You WOULD be there to get a story - you just want to stop the maiming first, as do we all," Capri grunted. "Okay, I'm up for it." She looked at Pippi. "You gonna wire me up with listenin' bugs and cameras, then?"
"Yes. I'll have to get them from the police station, but I'm sure they'll be willing to help once we tell them what we're doing," Pippi replied.
Misery made a face at the thought. "Oh yeah...we'll have to tell the Mountainville police what we're doing."
She remembered her experience with Brianne getting hauled off and wasn't particularly fond of that town or it's police force.
"Oh shoot...There goes that plan." Capri mumbled.
"No, we won't, we can get all the help we need from the police here in Whoville." said Pippi. "I don't intend to get - that town's police force involved. Some of them might be members of the church, it's too risky."
Indy blew out a breath.
"At any rate, I'll be lucky if I can even get my foot in the door o' that place." said Capri. "If they're a white supremist outfit, I won't be welcome." she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Indy agreed. "Hadn't thought of that!"
"In that case we'll find someone else," Pippi said. "Alaina at the station looks 'white' enough to pass as one of them. She might be up to do it."
Misery sighed quietly in relief that they wouldn't be going to Mountainville's police in the preliminary investigations.
"We don't know her well enough to trust her." said Indy.
"She's the only one who can, Indy," said Pippi, "With you and Misery working at the KWHO, and me at the police station, I don't see who else we can ask."
Misery frowned. "Indy, she's a police officer...why wouldn't you trust her?"
Indy tcked. "Nevermind." she growled.
"I might be able to do it," Pippi finally said, "Things have slowed down at the station a lot, I have to talk to Officer Wholihan anyway before we can do anything."
"Agreed," said Misery, looking away from Indy. She was still curious as to why Indy didn't like Alaina, but kept the question to herself for now.
"And I'll get some off from KWHO to help with the survelliance to make sure Capri stays safe. Do you want me there when you talk to Officer Wholihan, Pippi?" Misery asked.
"If it's convenient, definitely. I don't want to haul you out in the middle of a report. But the more people working together on this the better."
Misery nodded. "I would feel better about Capri's safety if we were BOTH watching her."
NT smiled at Misery, the first big, bright smile she'd ever given her yet.
"Thanks, I appreciate that." said Capri, with her own smile.
Pippi nodded. "Agreed." She looked pleased.
Indy relaxed and, appeared relieved.
"Okay, so pick me up at the station tomorrow?" Misery replied. "then we'll go over and talk to Wholihan?"
"Yes, that'll work just fine." Pippi said.
With everyone in agreement, the meeting wrapped up. The girls chitchatted and snacked a while, and eventually went home and/or turned in for the night.
Going High Tech
It was the end of another work day at KWHO for Indianna Who and Misery Chastain. Pippi had arrived a little early and was waiting on the landing for them to come out to meet her.
"There you are," she greeted with a smile when Misery came out, and Indy not far behind.
"Hi, Pippi, our work is never done, is it?" Misery quipped with a grin.
"Nope, someone always needs a saving," she agreed.
"Or a butt-kicking," Indy grinned.
Misery giggled.
"By guys!" Jennah called after them.
"See ya Jennah!" Indy called back.
Rick Frick came out next. He smiled at Indy as he passed by. "Bye Indy...see you next week."
"See ya, Rick, have a good one." Indy grinned back.
Pippi watched him go. "He seems happier these days then I've ever seen him."
"It's the environment," Misery grinned, "No more of Marilee's oppression."
"Yeah, it's done him a world of good, Mr. Whomason letting her go." said Indy.
"He's been so much happier since then." she added.
"Yes," said Pippi, "But especially nowadays. I wonder why that is." she added in a mysterious tone. The gleam in her eye gave away the fact that Pippi had come up with one of her theories.
"Uh-oh, I know that look, Pippi," said Indy, "What are you thinking?"
"That's for me to know now, and you to find out later, *if* I'm right." Pippi grinned back at her curious friend.
"Well, I guess we'll find out eventually," Misery said, watching him leave while pretending not to be all that curious. She turned back to the girls. "So, to the station?"
"Yes, let's head out." Pippi smiled, and she and her friends went down the elevator, out to the lot and piled into Pippi's car, where Capri was already waiting.
They talked and giggled and shared the day's events during the trip, which was short.
Pippi soon parked the car again once they arrived at the police station, and together, they went in.
They asked for the officer at the desk and were escorted back to his office.
"Hello ladies," Wholihan greeted them. "Please, sit down. What can I do for you?"
"Hello Officer," Pippi greeted, taking a seat.
The others followed suit.
"We're here because of something that was brought to our attention that may require your help." Pippi said.
"Anything I can do, Pippi, you know you have our facilities at your service," he offered.
"I'm grateful for that." Pippi replied.
Then, the explanations began, with each woman chipping in part of the story.
Wholihan shook his head at parts of the story, clearly he was disgusted.
"What we're preparing to do is shut down this depraved operation and bring those involved in these crimes to justice. But I don't need to tell you why we're not going to the police in Mountainville for help." said Misery.
He nodded minutely. "They do have problems," he said reluctantly. "We are actually working on that, but that's an issue for another time." He sobered. "What do you need from us?"
"Surveillance, wires an' such." Capri said. ""For catchin anythin when infiltratin that place."
"Okay," he agreed. "anything else? Do you need an undercover team to keep tabs on you?"
Misery looked at Pippi. "I think we have that area covered, sir. We don't want to take away from your patrols."
Pippi nodded. "But thanks for the offer. If something happens and we need backup, I'll give you as much advance notice as I can."
He picked up the phone and ordered the equipment.
A moment later Alaina came in with the devices in hand. "Hey boss."
"Good, Alaina, can you please show Capri how this gear works?" he asked her.
"And that'd be me," Capri turned in her chair to look at Alaina. She was looking forward to working with this equipment.
"Left something in the car." Indy said quietly to excuse herself from the room for a moment.
"Great, it's pretty simple," the 'net hacker smiled at Capri.
"Yeah, probably easier than I think." said Capri.
"And I checked it all out...it's in perfect working order," Alaina told her.
She showed Capri how to wear the earpiece so it would not show, and how to conceal the wiring so it would not show even when she bent over or moved a lot.
"Nifty." said Capri. "It's jus' too bad I need it fer such a grim mission."
Alaina nodded. "You can use them for fun later - if no one discovers them, that is," she grinned.
Capri laughed. "That's tempting."
The policewoman laughed.
"Going to catch me on tape playing with NT's chinchilla, are you?" Pippi grinned at Capri.
"I might." Capri said, grinning back. "Well, I'm expecting some fireworks the moment I set foot in that nasty so-called church, so it'll pick up somethin we can use against 'em right off."
"Or it might take a while," Alaina interjected. "they might be gun shy around you because you're new. Take my advice, play it low key at first, then slowly let your 'prejudicial viewpoints' come out. It'll look more natural that way and won't seem phoney."
"Hmmmh." said Capri. "Yeah, they might want to appear tolerant at first, that makes sense."
The door opened and in came Indy. She hesitated in the entrance, then slowly made her way back to her seat.
"That's sound advice," Misery agreed. "they wouldn't want to take the chance you were a reporter trying to get a story on them, or some extremist nutcase who would go further than they would and attract attention to yourself."
"It isn't possible to go any further than they have." Indy growled.
"I think Alaina's right, Capri. It would seem suspicious if you went in there all upfront at first." Pippi said thoughtfully.
"Well, it wouldn't make much sense fer me to agree with their prejudices against non-whites anyway, but it'll be interesting to find out if they'll wanna toss me out or convert me anyway...even if I don't fit their ideal." she smiled.
"Oh, in case you do get caught with the wire," Alaina said. "Show them - this." She pulled the battery box out from where it was concealed on Capri. "It is disguised as a hearing aid. There is a well-known aid manufacturer's name and info on the case."
She shrugged. "Some criminals are dumb enough to believe everything they see, so they might buy it."
Capri literally guffawed with laughter. Even Indy couldn't help laughing at that idea.
"Good idea. With any luck, if that happens, they'll forget I wasn't deaf a second before." said Capri.
"Oh, you can get around that suspicion easily." said Indy. "Tell them it's a good model but the battery is starting to die."
"You can always pretend you're hard of hearing, or mention it as a side thing, just to cover your butt," suggested Misery.
"All good ideas," Mallery agreed.
"Yep, can't argue with any of 'em." said Capri.
"Hey, boss, it might be a good idea if I monitor any types of online chats this church holds, too," the 'net hacker suggested. "in case they voice some suspicion about Capri, or do a private chat concerning her."
He nodded. "Good idea, you coordinate it with Capri, then. In fact, I would feel better if you kept in close touch with all of these characters," he added. "just so I can sleep better at night," he joked.
Misery giggled. Indy and Pippi grinned.
"Sounds good." Capri agreed, smiling bemusedly.
Indy agreed with all these ideas, but inwardly couldn't reconcile a friend of Brianne's with this Alaina, who was now helping Capri. What was going on here?
There was a little more discussion, and once plans and backup plans were worked out, the meeting came to an end.
On the way back home...
"So, Indy..." pippi said in the car as they were driving along. She had noticed Indy's unusual quietness, and she knew the reporter long enough to know that this type of silence from her was not usually a good sign. "What do you think of our plans?"
"Let's hope they work." Indy replied doubtfully.
"I'll be careful," Capri assured her.
"Alaina gave us a pretty good explanation of the equipment, so it'll be up to us now," Misery added.
Indy said nothing to this.
"It'll be fine, Indy." Pippi assured her.
Misery and Capri exchanged glances. Was there something they were missing or was Indy just worried about the mission?
"And the police always make sure their equipment is in top condition before it's put to use." said Pippi.
"I hope you're right." Indy replied.
"You can't be worried about that, Indy," Capri frowned. "we tested the equipment. You saw it's working."
"Yeah, Indy, you know Capri can take care of herself...what's wrong?" Misery asked.
"Nothin - forget it." Indy muttered, uncomfortable with all this attention.
They dropped the topic since there was still some time before they set out for Mountainville. If it was something they were overlooking that would affect the mission, they were sure Indy would tell them before then.
Indy had no idea that her sudden quietnesses always screamed for attention, so it tended to unnerve her even more when the more she thought she was trying not to be noticed, the more she got noticed.
Pippi knew her well enough to know she could never figure that out and that made her smile in quiet amusement. When Indy was ready, she would tell them.
Warmer, warmer, Jackpot!
Capri went ahead and emailed The Church of the Saved on the day they were prepared.
It was a couple of days before she called Pippi and Misery and told them they had emailed back, arranging a chat room meeting that evening.
Pippi and Misery said they were both free to participate in the conference as possible "newcomers" as Capri had told the site admin that she was eager to spread the word of 'enlightenment' to some friends who were looking for a church to go to.
So, the women took some time to figure out what handles they wanted to use for the chat.
Surprisingly, NT provided some comic relief, adding her two cents into the suggestions. 'Angel of Idiocy' or 'Moron2Save' and while she knew there was no way those ideas could be used, she ended up grinning at the giggles that resulted all around.
Misery too, smiled that she could find some levity in such a grim task.
In the end, pippi decided on "angel4Righteousness" Misery chose "GloryInRapture" Capri logged on as "TrueLight"
They all new no one would suspect them with names like that.
After a light dinner - no one wanted to eat heavily because they were all tense about the upcoming chat - they logged into the room a few minutes ahead of time. No one was in yet.
They waited.
Misery decided to make it look as if they weren't waiting for anybody. She entered a "Hello, anybody here?"
Capri replied with a simple "Yess, how are you?"
Pippi wrote "Cool, I'm here too." and this caused Misery and Capri to snicker. They were used to Indy saying things like 'cool' not Pippi.
They chatted by themselves for a while, and then some people from the church entered. It was then that the women really had to put on acts.
As they pretended to be floundering in their faith and searching for a new church, or totally obsessed with strict religious dogma, or whatever the case was, it was a good thing it was only chat and not video and voice conferencing. Because as they played their rolles,
None of them could keep from laughing at the totally out of character comments from their friends.
Capri was getting particular satisfaction at completely snowing the gullible fanatics.
She could keep this up online, but figured she'd have to come up with a wopper of a tale when the time came for them to meet her in person, when they would discover she was a Native American.
But NT said that they were buying into the act so far, and if they were foolish enough to believe in committing cruelty, they were stupid enough to believe absolutely anything.
This caused Capri to laugh. "Good point. Wow, you're full of fight tonight."
A chatter calling itself 'Destined4Holiness' entered, saying "Hey uhm I'm new here can u read me? *wavies*"
That was a signal to the girls, who giggled, chortled, and made comments of amusement.
"Leave it to Indy to come up with a handle like that." Pippi laughed.
"Yeah, mockin an' foolin 'em all at once." Capri agreed.
Another chatter answered Indy.
Then, another person came on who was marked as one of the group's owners. His handle was "horseman of the apocalypse".
Misery spluttered at first at the absurdity of the ego of the person.
"With a name like that, this one is probably the mastermind behind the abuses," Pippi said grimly.
It sobered Misery's brief giggle fit. She cleared her throat in embarrassment.
NT's reaction was to roll her eyes. "That guy...*growl*
"Paydirt," Pippi said after a moment of watching the other chatters suddenly showing respect to the "horseman". "he must be their leader. See how they all suddenly are watching what they're saying?"
Capri nodded, typing away.
"Yeah, sickening." NT hissed.
Pippi leaned over Capri's shoulder. "Okay, we've got to say the right things from now on," she advised her. "watch yourself."
"Right." said Capri.
Despite the sudden tension with Horseman's presence, Capri handled the conversation with finesse and soon she had his approval for a meeting at the church.
Horseman gave them the schedule of services and other church events, and directions to the church.
Pippi smiled. Good job." she said.
They logged out of the chat and breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, they made sure to log out gradually, each with a different excuse, so as not to arouse suspicion.
The first step was now taken. They had made contact and gained a tentative approval. Things would be trickier from now on now that the contacts would be made in person.
They travelled to Mountainville to meet at the church at the appointed time and date.
Capri was wired up and the transceiver equipment was in Pippi's car. They waited at a discreet distance, listening to the first, in-person meeting between their friend and the church leader and some subordinate church leaders.
Capri had been pondering what to do about her introduction, but decided just when they reached the outskirts of Mountainville what needed to be done.
While the friends had driven along, Capri bided her time, and waited until they were on a section of road where there were no other people at the time.
And then, the fairy changed her appearance.
Capri's friends couldn't help laughing nearly into a coma when they saw the person she had become.
And now, they kept watch using their equipment in their car, as a now blonde, high cheek-boned, perfectly figured, tall, white woman, entered the church to meet its leader.
The meeting went well, Capri even managed to lose her characteristic dialect and talk like a typical upper-class, almost snooty person from some rich part of the country.
So, with a lot of caution, and doing her best not to let on she wasn't always exactly like this, Capri managed to bluff her way through the meeting with flare.
When it was over, she came back with a progress report. The friends cheered and laughed as they drove off again. One more step forward in their mission had succeeded.
They knew now that the church would most likely check them out, so they laid low until they were contacted again. Because Capri didn't want anything about her real identity found out, or her friends to get in trouble or even danger from these fanatics, she didn't return home. Instead, she managed to rent an apartment for a month and couldn't risk making contact with home unless it was absolutely necessary..
Back at KWHO, Misery was at her desk when she received an instant message from Alaina.
After reading it a moment, she picked up the phone and called Pippi.
"Hello, this is pippi Longstocking," came the answer.
"Hi Pippi. It's Misery."
"Oh, hi Misery, what can I do for you?"
"Alaina just IM'd me...the Church tripped the warnings she placed in Capri's fake files around Whoville. They're checking her out," she told the investigator.
"She and I've been preparing for that. She hasn't been home since the meeting, and hasn't returned to...herself, either. We all thought it was better that way."
"That was a smart thing to do," agreed Misery. "and they must be taking Capri seriously if they're checking out her references. We should hear something any time now."
"Yes," Pippi agreed, "This is going to be pretty tense for a while, but she'll be careful."
"She can keep a cool head," Misery said. "she was the best choice for contacting them."
"She can be a lot more cunning than she has most people believe, including me at first." Pippi chuckled.
Misery laughed, remembering that.
"Well, I have to get back to work," she said, "can you give Capri the heads up on their snooping?"
"Yes. As soon as I can." she agreed.
"Thanks, contact us when you hear something from the Church. 'bye."
"Bye." Pippi said, and hit the off button. She already began making plans to call Capri, tnough not using her own phone or any at her work or home. It would have to be done at a public phone booth, and in code.
Pippi let Capri know the church leaders were going for the bait in her files and it wasn't long before they contacted Capri and arranged for another online chat meeting.
There they gave her an access code to boards where their directors were more "open" about their extremist viewpoints.
Capri quietly cut and copied the content of those posts to a disk, and hid it in a safe place as evidence to be used later.
They also took screen shots as proof they didn't falsify the chat texts.
Urls to the boards and posts were also taken down.
Soon would come the time to attend the next church meeting. They had a feeling that all was going well so far and it wouldn't be long before Capri was "invited" to some functions that would reveal their true intentions.
For those events, Capri was fitted by Alaina with a small lapel camera that would transmit pictures back to both Pippi and the Whoville police station.
They finally got their big break when a "crucifiction" was quietly announced to the more zealous members.
Finally, after two nerve-wracking, hand-wringing weeks of close contact with the "Church", Capri contacted Pippi saying they were planning one of their "sacrifices"
It was to be at the beginning of Lent...their weird justification being that depriving the Church of one of their young ones was the thing they were to give up for the 40 days.
Not planning to actually kill the child, but after the crucifiction, locking them up away from their parents for 40 days.
Pippi could tell from Capri's shuddering, growling tone that just having to speak out these details was making her as sick as it made Pippi to hear.
But then Capri snorted. "They even have the timeline screwed up. The crusifiction took place on Good Friday, but the main thing is that we get in there an' stop this one b'fore somebody gets hurt or worse."
Pippi was given all the details, the place, the time, and descriptions of the key participants.
Word got around to Misery, and to Wholihan. And Misery and NT let Darren know what was going on before leaving..
They knocked on the door and Darren answered.
"Hi Darren," said Misery, "Would you like to come out or may we come in?"
"Come in," he offered, seeing who it was and giving them room to come in.
Misery smiled, stepped in, and motioned NT to follow suit.
He lived in a small apartment that was sparsely furnished.
Offering them the couch, he asked them what they wanted to drink, saw to it and took a seat opposite. He appeared tired, but no longer had bags under his eyes.
He looked down. "So, what's up?"
NT flushed, how was she going to tell him, how would he react? He'd already picked up on the fact that something was going on, or wrong. He must've seen her anxiety, it was coursing through her and she didn't feel like she was able to hide it.
"Well, it's..." she hesitated, then looked at Misery.
Misery smiled back at her, then at Darren.
"I don't want to make you think about those scumbags and what they did to you." NT finally said dryly. "But I have good news - at least, I hope you think it's good...A pile of evidence including meetings they were planning have been collected. The next meeting, and those worthless piles of trash and their sorry excuse of a church will be shut down, busted, canned, finished! I hope everything goes smoothly." It all came out in a nervous, half-wispered rush.
Misery clapped NT on the shoulder, meaning to praise her, but only ended up startling her instead.
Darren sank back in the chair, closing his eyes. "Oh God...I mean, I can't - believe it." He opened his eyes. "Can you really do it?"
"Yes." NT replied, unable to keep a grin from beginning to form on her face. "And once the police arrest them, if I'm there to see it, I'll give them apiece of my mind."
"I think we'll take you and Indy along for that one, only stay put until everything's been secured." said Misery.
NT nodded. "If they need anyone to help put the cuffs on 'em..."
Misery laughed.
Darren didn't laugh, but at least he didn't have the violent shakes and pounding headache this time.
"We're not asking you to come, but thought we should just let you know what's going on." Misery told him.
He thought of something that did make his eyes flicker in fear. "Will they want me to - to testify?" he asked, a slight tremor in his voice.
"No," NT replied, trying to reassure him.
"I doubt it, and if they did, it would be set up so you wouldn't have to face or be in the room with these defendants." Misery explained.
"They have evidence without any need of you testifying." said NT.
"If I could I would," he said, anguish starting to creep into his voice. "maybe - by the time they come to trial, but I couldn't guarantee that."
"Then that'll be something you and the court may need to work out when the time comes." replied Misery.
He nodded tiredly. "Yeah," he replied.
"Just thought you had a right to know," NT said, standing, and getting ready to head for the door, "Won't keep you."
"Yes," Misery said, "We should let you get some rest."
Darren stood. "I don't know what to say," he offered helplessly. "I just wish you had been around - back then."
"So do I." NT turned back to gaze at him. "If I could erase all that crap from happening, I would."
"Yes, it's so often that the right people aren't around yet when terrible things happen." Misery agreed.
NT nodded.
Misery opened the door and let NT and herself out.
Darren sat back down after locking the door - listening to their car start up and leave. He sat listening to nothing after they left - the sounds of birds outside, the sound of people and cars passing by as people went about their lives. After a while, he got up, finished his water, downed another glass then went to the bedroom.
He curled up on the bed, grasping a pillow and sobbed, his body heaving with each convulsive cry. Finally, mercifully, after a time when he was too tired to cry anymore, he fell asleep.
As soon as Misery came back to Pippi's with NT, they all got ready to go.
Indy was with them, the station manager let her devote the day to helping her friends, and to hopefully get a good story.
The drive to the destination was one of the most nerve-wracking any of them had ever known.
This was the day NT had been waiting for. But she did have terrible butterflies about this. What if they got there too late and the torture had already begun or had even been completed? Or what if there was something to delay the progress of the police and others planning to stop it before it took place?
She kept fidgeting, and asking if they were almost there, or if they would get there in plenty of time.
The sting at the site of the scheduled impalement was rather more crowded than they were anticipating. Pippi and Wholihan looked across the way to see several of Mountainville's police had shown up as well!
They nodded silently to each other in acknowledgment of their presences, but did nothing to endanger the operation or blow their covers.
Misery put a hand on NT's shoulder to make both of them feel calmer.
Indy looked on, doing her best to be part of the woodwork so to speak.
At a predetermined time, right before they were to do the deed, Capri yelled, "NOW!" and Pippi and the police came swarming onto the scene.
They lunged for the "leader" who looked like he intended to carry out the act before anyone could restrain him.
Indy's camera caught it all, including her own shriek as well as those of NT and Misery behind her.
Misery felt NT shaking next to her. Indy looked back at them and saw that Misery's eyes were also red with alarm.
The police weren't the ones to stop him, but the parents who leapt on the crazy man first.
The child was screaming, frightened out of his mind. A fight broke out between a police officer and one of the church members.
Indy froze, wide-eyed, unable to process it all or think of anything to say. She would work out the report itself later.
While the crazed leader and the parents were fighting, Capri snatched the child out of the way and began to console him.
All the police were needed to pull apart the leader, several over-zealous members and the parents.
Pippi helped the police in their efforts.
The police finally ended up spraying pepper spray on the zealots, which quickly ended the fighting.
They were all thrown into a paddy wagon while the two town's police worked out the logistics of where they were going to take them.
NT shrieked and applauded as the perpetrators were being piled in to be carted off to jail.
Indy joined in. Misery took a deep breath and wiped her forehead.
The tools of the gruesome rite were gathered as evidence. And Capri returned the frightened child back to his parents.
Once they had all calmed down enough, they followed the police and their charges back to the jail so they could file their statements.