The Meek Shall Pt. 05

The next part of the plan required Carol to become a bit sexually frustrated. After a few days, if they made good progress otherwise, Carol would awake beside Frank. They would let her decide what that might lead to. While they had used Carol's religious beliefs to lure her into a place they could interact, they thought now they could use her love for Frank and her lust for his body to lure her into a more balanced view of the real world.

"You're home," Mom said when Frank entered the kitchen for breakfast. "Are you alone?"

"It's a long story," Frank said. "Where's Dad?"

"Where do you think? It's a nice fall day."

"Did he eat yet?"

Frank took his plate and his dad's breakfast to the front porch. Mom trailed with coffee for all. Frank detailed the events from El Paso to home last night, but he left out the graphic details.

"So, will she come around for you?" Dad asked.

"Laurie and Pat are optimistic." Frank said. "I'm scared."

Frank sobbed slightly, and Mom took his hand.

"You love her so much," Mom said.

"I don't know what more I can do. I'm afraid she'll demand to go back to El Paso and that cult will have her for good."

"How long can you give her? What about your business?" Dad waved an empty cup at Mom. Mom waved towards the kitchen. Frank laughed.

"How did you two old farts stick together so long?"

"Son," Dad said as he prepared to fetch the coffeepot. "Do you remember that old licence plate from Grandpa's Model T that hung on the gate post all your life?"

"Yah," Frank said, "It was just hanging on one nail."

"Well, son," Dad said, "I'm that old plate and your mom is that stubborn nail."

"I'm still sharp as a tack," Mom said, "and since you know your place, I'll get the coffee."

Mom went into the kitchen. Dad leaned closer to his son.

"Mom's worried, Frank. What will you do if you fail?"

"I don't know, Dad. I might still stay in El Paso, or I might wrap up that end and move back here. It would limit my business, but maybe I'd move in with Laurie and Pat. That might be good."

"I thought they were lesbians." Dad rubbed his chin.

"They are bisexual, Dad."

"Bugger me," Dad said, "but then switch-hitting is the most valuable thing on the team. A few of those new folks moving in are switch hitters or bat left. Not all the old-timers are as liberal as we two bad influences, but they are outnumbered now, thank God, and a few came out of the closet recently. When you get older, you give less of a damn about what others think and more about what you are."

"You and Mom are the best influences anyone could hope for."

Mom returned with the coffeepot and they spent the next half-hour discussing how the Jays did another playoff nose dive and that the Leafs would break their hearts again.

Trish called during the morning and events began that would ease one of Frank's fears.

"Frank, an Agent Cortez is here from the FBI." Trish sounded stressed.

"What does he want?"

"She, Frank, but they discovered you did all the security for the church and they want to discuss it with you. I said you are out of the country, but Cortez says they are on a tight schedule. What does that mean, Frank?"

"I think they are planning to raid the good ol' cult and soon. Put Cortez on the line."

Frank and agent Cortez discussed things for a few minutes. She made it plain that a warrant would be easy, but hoped he wouldn't insist. Frank thought cooperation might lead to some government work. He asked for Trish.

"Hey, beautiful, we will give them what they want. You know where I keep that drawer of external drives, go to..."

"I don't know about any drawer like that," Trish said.

"I know you know, it's the bottom one of the middle filing cabinet. You looked in there a month ago."

"Why do you think that?" Trish asked.

"Gorgeous, do you see the nail head holding up my parent's picture on the far wall?"

"Yes," she said and then gasped. "Frank, how could you?"

"I'm not spying on you, kid. That's for security if someone shows up for trouble. So is the one right above your head."

Trish gasped again.

"By the way, do up your top button. It's distracting me, and maybe Cortez."

Frank watched on the other screen as Trish grasped her blouse.

"You had better tell lover-boy Ted he needs some sexy underwear." Frank laughed. Trish's look was priceless. Ted had fucked her several times in the office. If he ever stayed in El Paso, Frank would use that screen shot of Trish's reaction for his computer wallpaper.

"In that drawer there's a stick marked 'EP-idiots'. It has all the passwords for the church systems and the encryption codes for their business system. They are all good. Make a copy and give the original to that hottie, Cortez."

"I heard that," a disembodied voice came from off screen. A laugh followed.

"Make sure you get her business card."

A left hand entered the image, and a card dropped in front of Trish. The hardware on the ring finger said it all.

By that afternoon, Frank had lost all access to the El Paso church network and manse video. It didn't matter any longer, and it saved him the need to make that anonymous tip.

"Hello, gorgeous," Frank said. He slipped into the kitchen of Carol's temporary home. The three women sat at the table over lunch. Frank did not know if the word "gorgeous" had a plural, but he looked at Carol. She blushed and looked away. Frank grabbed a coffee and sat.

"I have a confession to make," Carol said and looked into Frank's eyes. "I love you and have treated you like dirt."

"You sure have, baby." Frank said and resisted saying slut. Over the past few months, he had focused on Carol's problems, but now he realized he needed to work on his anger. If he expected love from Carol, he had to give the same. Somehow, ever since the day he discovered Carol at the Hilton with Peckeros Pete, he had grown hard and numb. He did not like that version of Frank Connor and had suppressed it. Now, in her one simple statement, Carol had ripped the bandage off and he need to heal his wound.

The ever astute Pat noticed his pained eyes. She would consider Frank's pain later, but she nodded to Laurie. They had some news.

"Frank," Laurie said, "Carol has decided."

"With your wonderful guidance with the Lord," Carol said. It was the first time in over two years that Frank had seen that warm, unguarded smile.

"Carol has been working on a new idea of sin and her relationship to God," Laurie said.

"Oh, Frank, I know the pastor misled me for his selfish pleasure. I hope I can get to the place where I can accept your love. I'm not there yet. Maybe I don't deserve that love and with you a non-believer, perhaps you can't have that unconditional love for me, but I want that if possible. I prayed all morning for that gift."

Frank looked at Laurie. It still seemed that Carol had a distorted idea of reality. Laurie silently mouthed the word, 'patience".

"I love you, Carol, with all my heart and unconditionally. It is here for you always. I hope you can find it in your heart to accept it and give me yours."

Carol burst into tears that would not stop. Laurie hugged her and gently escorted her to her room. Frank sat stunned. Pat came to sit beside him.

"I know that was hard for both of you," Pat said. "I also know that what you said and how you feel is not yet united. Reach a place where you don't even think that you have to say the right thing. You will feel its truth."

Frank shed tears through a smile.

"It scared me," Frank said. "I was afraid I'd say the wrong thing. What happened this morning? It seems you made progress, but she isn't there yet."

"You aren't there yet either, Frank, and have genuine hurt and anger that has to be healed, but I have never seen a man who would not have dumped Carol long ago. You are teaching us about love, and we will try to teach you how to get well."

"You can blame Mom and Dad," Frank said. "They taught by example that life gives you sucker punches and you absorb them like a marshmallow and carry on. I watched them experience hardship, struggle and setbacks on the farm, and they always smiled and held strong. The lesson they gave my sister and to me was that we can deal with most things without easy surrender. Dad always says that if you give up too soon, you lose it all. They never made much money, but they paid 10,000 for the whole place from Grandpa and then they sold it for 20,000 an acre about five years ago. I guess I'm a stubborn cuss, just like him."

"Your parents are fine people," Pat said. "They seem to have adopted Laurie as a daughter and got me as a bonus."

She laughed. "I'm not sure they know about us or could accept that we are bi."

"My folks are liberal," Frank said. "They had Laurie pegged as a switch hitter just after she came to town. They know all about you. Are you planning to marry Laurie?" Frank asked. It somehow amused him he could startle the ever cool, professional Pat.

"We aren't sure, but why do you ask?"

"Dad and Mom told me that if you ever do, they want to hold the reception. Also, if you don't have anyone, they want to walk you down the aisle together. You get to pick which one escorts whom."

Pat sat stunned.

"I have spent my professional career trying to restore people, and here is an old farm couple who should have been red-necks wanting to have our backs."

"I..."

"It's not all altruistic," Frank said. "They are sick of some of their bigoted acquaintances and want to do some passive-aggressive sparing. Believe me, they will laugh inside about it all, but never forget, they will love you too."

"Mom always said that they knew lots of idiots, but they say hello and smile when they see them because there's no use having fights that no one wins. She also said that it didn't mean you couldn't step on some toes while dancing. There won't be any idiots at the reception, but gossip is big around here."

"So, what happened with Carol?" Frank asked.

"Laurie and I spent the night with her in bed after she was asleep. The first thing Carol said before she opened her eyes was, 'Frank....' Laurie and I think she is making significant progress. Not challenging her faith, but trying to get her to believe a new idea of sin and God's grace are the right path."

"Is it time, then, for me to be in her bed when she wakes in the morning?"

"Laurie is going to explore that with her today, but..." Pat paused as if unsure of what to say next.

"What..." Frank asked.

"You know she is now bi. You have the orgy videos." Pat said. "She has developed a strong attachment to both Laurie and me. Frankly, sorry," Pat laughed at the accidental pun but it did not help, "we have feelings for her too. Accidentally, and please believe me, we never planned this or did it on purpose. Your effort to rescue Carol from the cult has become complicated for us."

Frank turned a shade of red that made Pat think she might have to call 911. He folded his hands, then unfolded them, ran his fingers through his hair. His colour settled, but he stared at his hands that now rested on the table. He stood and silently walked out the door.

None of this particularly surprised Frank. He had observed the women's intimacy since the Gila. Until this moment, he had ignored it. Pat had torn the curtain away and Frank had to confront a reality he had feared. He did not know what to do or think.

"I really believed it wasn't about sex," he thought as he wandered along the street. The newly fallen leaves created a carpet of red and gold, and the sunlit translucent leaves were still on the trees. Frank walked in his internal gloom.

"I would never share her with those assholes in the cult. Can I share her with two people I also love as sisters, friends...lovers? Does the fact that I have fucked both and they have both fucked her change it?"

Frank had looked at the orgies on video from El Paso with disgust. He hated them, but would not condemn Carol for her eager participation. She was not a virgin when they met, and that had never bothered him. The past was the past, and he could throw the orgies onto that pile of history, but now a future loomed that he had not considered. Worse, he had no one to talk with about it. Laurie and Pat had proposed a future he had not thought of, and for the first time he could remember, he had a problem he could not discuss with Mom and Dad.

Trish called and distracted Frank from his dilemma, but it solved part of the original problem.

"Hi, boss, I have good news, I think. The hammer dropped on the church here this morning. I'll send you the link to the TV news coverage. It's wall to wall here."

Frank laughed out loud. His pent-up emotions released in hysteria.

"I didn't think it was that funny, Frank." Trish had a complicated heart and felt empathy for the innocents caught up in the church's deceit. Frank felt badly for most of the congregation who knew nothing of the leadership's amorality. These honest believers might soon have no church home.

"Did they do a perp walk?" Frank asked.

"No, they did it in the night. So far, they seem to be interested in the finances and money laundering. The sex stuff hasn't even surfaced yet. They got the head pastor and his assistant, and the church secretary."

Frank had a sudden inspiration. He had to destroy the rest of the leadership to keep Carol safe, and he knew how to do it.

"Trish, go into that same drawer and find the thumb drive with the label, 'EP-idiot BD'. Make a copy and courier that to me here overnight. I need it by Saturday."

Frank knew the FBI would have taken the network servers and at least the secretary's PC. The sanctuary system, including the surveillance cameras, ran through a stand-alone PC. Frank hoped the FBI had left that and the Wi-Fi router and internet connection. That PC controlled everything in the sanctuary, from the lights to the sound system, and most importantly, the projector that played the worship songs and other AV effects on a large screen above the altar.

"At least," he thought, "this takes my mind off the problem with Carol."

"How's it going with Carol, Frank?" Trish yanked him back to reality.

"It's going well, and it isn't. You have never met her. If things work out, we'll be back before Thanksgiving. Keep me up to date. Bye, kid."

Frank referred to American Thanksgiving. His strange little band of bi women and dear old Frank were about to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving at Mom Connor's table. First, they had to make sure that Carol knew where she was and wanted to stay.

Frank spent the morning editing a video. He wanted the biggest shock up front, but figured it would take them a few minutes to kill the power of the projector. After lunch, he wandered to the church, looking for his women.

"God," he thought, "it was simpler when I only had one woman to consider."

Frank found Pat weeding the flowers in front of the church.

"What's up, doc?" Frank asked.

"I'm looking for a waskely wabbit who fucks like a bunny," Pat said.

Frank made a show of looking over his shoulder and up and down the empty street.

"Sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart. I'm the only one here."

"You'll do," Pat said and hugged him.

"What will my other wives say?"

"You only have one wife, lover boy, and she's busy." Pat winked.

"Are you sure you're a real psychologist, or do you just pretend so you can fuck innocent men and women?"

"I only use that therapeutic technique for special clients who aren't too innocent." She kissed Frank on the mouth.

He held her at arm's length and frowned.

"Pat, I'm struggling with all this. I'm not sure I'm into swinging, or polyamory, or whatever this is called."

"Let's call it a bigger love. Love is involved here, Frank. No matter if we include sex or not, Laurie and I love each other and we both love you and Carol. That means we only wish the best for you and won't hurt that. Laurie has a sign on the pulpit in the sanctuary," Pat said. "It reads, 'Love Grows'. It means filial love as the Bible asks, but it also means carnal love, if that is desired. Love enhances sex. Sex is unnecessary to enrich love, but it can help.

"Frank, let's increase our love," Pat said and then kissed again. Her tongue found Frank's as she backed towards the church door.

Pat and Frank walked sideways down an aisle to the front of the sanctuary. That they were lip-locked and had their hands on each other's asses dictated the clownish journey.

"Frank," Pat said, "do you know that the first time a church member had fucked Carol was in the sanctuary on the platform in front of the altar?"

"How did you know that?" Frank asked.

"Carol told Laurie way back in the Gila, the first time she and Laurie fucked."

The news hit Frank, not the news about the sanctuary, but that Laurie and Carol had screwed almost from when they met. He would later discover that it had not happened until Carol had decided that Laurie was a holy woman.

"So we will be revenge fucking." Frank said, but frowned.

"Well, not really," Pat said. "That first time was with the assistant pastor's wife and Carol's first lesbian experience. Carol had never fucked a woman before, and I know that's surprising, considering her wanton ways before you claimed her love.

"She had been horny because of a big client job she had gotten that day, and she wanted to go home and fuck your brains out, but the conflict between her new religiosity and your sinful nature had driven her crazy. Carol went to the sanctuary to pray, but in some sort of religious frenzy, she got horny and masturbated at the altar. That woman took advantage of her, and afterwards Carol realized she loved the sex. She even said, as she discovered later, that the wife was a better fuck than the assistant pastor. So fuck me Frank, just for us."

Frank laid Pat down on the carpeted platform. Only then did their lips part and Frank straddled her with his hard cock, rubbing against her clit, separated by a few layers of cloth. Frank looked in into her eyes and hoped he returned her look of lust and care. He undid her blouse, one button at a time, and after each, cupped her breasts and massaged the protruding nipple with the palm of his hands. He inserted his fingers in the bottom of her bra and lifted it up and above her fine breasts. His lips wrapped around each nipple, gently sucking and pulling them out. The tip of his tongue played with each.

Frank licked her breasts, avoiding her nipples and kissing each tit. He kissed up to her neck, around each side and to her ears, sucking the lobes, and then his lips wandered across a cheek and found her mouth. He sucked her lips and teased each between his, and the tip of his tongue massaged them. She desperately tried to push her tongue into his mouth, but he grabbed that with his lips, pulled gently and played with the tip with his own.

Pat had grabbed his hard cock through his jeans and rubbed furiously. She tried to undo the fly, but he lifted his hips away.

"Please, Frank, fuck me," she cried.

Frank wasn't sure they were christening, consecrating, or desecrating the chancel.

"Oh, God," Pat gasped, "you are a horny tease, oh fuck."

"You are the sluttiest bit of woman, Pat."

"Frank, you are so slutty I bet you fuck your pillow," Pat giggled.

Their lips melded and sucked them together. Frank pawed at Pat's clothes and she at his. They broke briefly to strip and their naked bodies entwined. Frank's cock rubbed Pat's pussy, spreading the lips, feeling her wet heat, and slid up onto her clit. One hand found her left tit and squeezed the nipple. In one thrust, his cock dove into her cunt, balls deep.

"Fuck me, Frank, fuck me deep."

Frank laughed and shouted, "Let my shaft of righteousness enter the valley of milk and honey."

Watching Carol's videos and the sounds through that hotel door had inspired.