Laurie's Liberation

***Laurie's Liberation*** is the fifth book in the Free Spirits series. It focuses on a woman who has changed her identity and traveled to Stallbrook, finding new friends and a new love among the Free Spirits.

## Plot Synopsis

Laurie Franklin arrives in the city of Stallbrook after driving two days from Brownsville on the Texas-Mexico border. Staying at a room in the Allegheny Hotel, she makes final arrangements for her new job and apartment, then relaxes for the night. The next day, she meets CeeCee at a downtown location, obtaining a series of documents for confirming her new identity. She then goes to the Stallbrook Public Library for her appointment with Robert Ulrich of human resources to fill out paperwork beginning her new job heading the library's Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Next, she drives to Pattensville to the home of Rachel Martini and her partners Gabe Choi and Rajiv Nair; there she views the small apartment in the second floor of their house, and finalizes the rental agreement. After she leaves, the triad relaxes in their living room to watch a romantic movie, then moves to the bedroom to make love.

Laurie then moves into her apartment, and goes shopping for groceries. Outside the supermarket, members of the Free Spirit Connection have set up a table for outreach; having passed the meetinghouse of the downtown Local Gathering the day before, Laurie stops by and talks with Lila Jaworski, then takes some literature home. Back at the house, she finds out that Rachel and her partners are also members of the Connection, and talk at length with them about Free Spirit beliefs and practices. On Sunday, Laurie does some shopping and errands in the city. She discovers Chloe's Café, and does some further online research about Stallbrook and the Free Spirits.

Later on, Laurie runs into Ruth Adler, who works in Special Collections in the Library; Ruth invites her to come to Chloe's and meet her partner Tracey Bilodeau and their friend Liz Peterson. They talk about the upcoming race for District Attorney, the Free Spirits (Tracey and Ruth are members), and sexual ethics. Laurie even shares some background about her family, then slips a note to Tracey. A few days afterwards, Laurie is contacted by the hacker Charlie, who also assists Bridget Torjesen and other escorts in the area. Having received her inquiry into booking an escort, he suggests a man named Carlos, and she makes arrangements to meet him at his apartment. After arriving at his place at the appointed time, she discloses having been a Catholic religious sister, then leaving and becoming sexually and romantically involved with a few women, and now seeking to satisfy her curiosity about sex with a man; Carlos begins their physical encounter with a massage, getting feedback from her as they transition to sex, followed by some more discussion before she leaves satisfied.

Laurie's friendship with Ruth and Tracey grows, including meeting their friends at Chloe's to talk about a variety of topics, including the Free Spirits. She decides to attend a Sunday Celebration at the east metro Gathering in Pattensville, going there with Rachel's triad. At this Celebration, Tony Graham shares with the assemblage his journey towards becoming a member; after the service, Laurie is also introduced to Kelly Yoshimura, the chair of the Gathering's Council. Laurie is attracted to Tony, and when she meets him at a rummage sale at the meetinghouse, they have an interesting discussion where she learns he is the nephew of Stallbrook's police chief, and he provides her with his email so she can contact him about arranging a date.

While meeting friends at Chloe's, Laurie is hit on by a woman named Greta, who persists even when Laurie tells her she's not interested; this triggers memories of her ex-partner's possessive nature, but she is then comforted by Ruth. Laurie shares with her friends her interest in Tony, and they encourage her to act on her feelings. She makes arrangements to meet Tony at a Sunday Celebration, then go to a coffee shop to get better acquainted. They also talk about their sexual histories, and Laurie shares that she has a fantasy of doing a threesome which has occupied her thoughts more and more; Tony responds with the suggestion that she consider pursuing it before they become more committed.

Laurie now contacts Charlie again, explaining what she is looking for. This leads to her talking with Bridget, who happens to be trying to arrange a threesome date with a somewhat regular female client named Clara Thomas, then a call from that client, and arrangements made for Laurie to join them on a Saturday afternoon. She arrives at Clara's house early, Bridget joins them later, and they enjoy several hours of erotic frolicking and thoughtful conversation.

As time passes, Laurie acquires a new driver's license, a new cell phone to replace her prepaid one, and even registers to vote. After finishing these errands, she visits the meetinghouse of the downtown Gathering, where Celebrant Lateshia Williams and the area's Council chairs (Tracey, Kelly, and Peri Winger) have been meeting; Kelly suggests that Laurie join them for their informal chat at Chloe's, and the rest agree. During their talk, she shares her own story about how her feelings and mindset have evolved regarding sex and relationships.

Her relationship with Tony growing deeper, she decides to disclose something important to him: Her ex-partner Abbie Nolan had become abusive and obsessive, and the only way she could break away from her was to change her identity (with help from Charlie), alter her appearance, and move from San Antonio to Stallbrook. Tony understands and supports her, and they make love for the first time.

Meeting friends at Chloe's, Laurie is surprised to find Bridget joining them. Bridget assures her that she will keep their encounter confidential, and they talk about the pressures faced by sex workers in the country under increasing criminalization. They join the others for further conversation, and Laurie finds herself delighted to have Bridget now joining her circle of friends.

Laurie's relationship with Tony grows more comfortable, and the couple have dinner with his uncle Del shortly before Halloween. They discuss her work at the library, the policies and procedures he introduced in support of sex workers, and he shares a story about dealing with attempts by the leader of an anti-prostitution organization to reverse course. After their dinner, they help him make candy apples for trick-or-treaters.

On Election Day, Laurie votes early in Pattensville, then attends a special meeting at the library. There she learns from a coworker that the tech company in San Antonio where she used to work has discovered some $800,000 missing from its accounts, possibly embezzled. She become nervous that the investigation might reveal her identity change. She then goes to a party at Peri Winger's house in Cedar Hills, where she meets Peri's partners Lila and Andrew Hamady. Bridget is also there, and Laurie shares her concerns about the OrizaTech matter; Bridget then contacts Charlie, who agrees to look into the matter further. As election results come in, the partygoers celebrate the victory of their chosen candidate for District Attorney, and many pledge to work on selected issues brought up during the campaign.

Bridget and Charlie now come up with contingency plans for protecting Laurie's identity and dealing with the possibility that Abbie might locate her. They discuss this with Laurie and Tony, along with Charlie's friends CeeCee and Eight-Ball. The plan includes putting information online to misdirect Abbie or anyone else trying to link Laurie to her old identity.

Tony is later visited by his sister Zari, with whom he has a strained relationship; she is a political activist with a rather critical and acerbic streak, and they argue about how she interacts with others because of her beliefs. Tony tries to show her more positive ways of affecting chance, first with the policies he's implemented at his workplace, then meeting two police officers who share details of their department's community policing practices.

During a special event at the library, Laurie meets Chief Graham again, and they meet J.T. Thomas and his wife Clara - the same Clara with whom Laurie had a threesome with Bridget. Clara privately assures Laurie that there is no problem with J.T., when Laurie receives a text. The coded message indicates a development regarding OrizaTech, and Laurie leaves immediately for Tony's house. There they learn from CeeCee that Rolly Shaw, a private investigator from San Antonio, had contacted Bridget, who agrees to meet with him in two days. As they wait, Bridget meets Shaw at the Allegheny Hotel, where he discusses how he linked Laurie with her old identity of Vickie Burgess. He also reveals that the $800,000 discrepancy was *not* because of embezzlement, but an apparent typo by an OrizaTech employee - and that employee was acquainted with Abbie Nolan. Bridget then presents Shaw with material indicating that Vickie Burgess traveled to Belize, only to die in an accident. Shaw thanks her for the information and leaves.

Laurie feels a sense of grief over the irrevocable shedding of her old identity, and Tony supports her as best he can. They go to the Sunday Celebration, where the main part of the service is a humorous skit. The couple then go to one of the communion rooms in the meetinghouse, where they talk some more and make love.

In San Antonio, Rolly Shaw's assistant Hector Alvarado is accosted by a woman who gained entry posing as a cleaner. It is Abbie Nolan, who forces him to open files on Vickie Burgess and Laurie Franklin, then stabs him and leaves. Hector manages to dial 911 for help, then calls Shaw to warn him. Word gets to Stallbrook, and Bridget arranges for Laurie and Tony to stay with Eric and Sarah Chesterfield, a wealthy couple who are repeat clients of hers. Chief Graham and Detective Lieutenant Frankie MacMillan then propose a plan with the San Antonio police for apprehending Abbie with minimal risk. As everyone waits, Eric leaves to handle some business matters, while Tony comes down with a serious stomach bug; when Sarah considers hiring Bridget for an evening, Tony proposes that Laurie join them, and the three women agree to a night together.

When Abbie arrives in the Stallbrook area, law enforcement monitors her as she comes into the main branch of the library to find Laurie/Vickie. With a plainclothes officer posing as front desk library staff, and MacMillan as a library patron waiting nearby, Abbie is apprehended and taken into custody. When Abbie is told that Vickie is dead, she becomes despondent and resigned to her fate, extradited to Texas and sentenced for her assault of Hector Alvarado. Back in Stallbrook, Chief Graham asks to meet with his nephew and Laurie; she confirms his suspicions that she is in fact Vickie Burgess, and he concurs that her actions were necessary to save her own life, promising to keep the information to himself.

With the holiday season approaching, Laurie is now talking with friends at Chloe's about her formally joining the Free Spirits, and her own emotional journey. She leaves for home in good spirits, thinking about the future.

### The District Attorney election

A running thread in the story is the election for District Attorney of Duquesne County. Nick Saroyan, the longtime DA, chose not to run due to a series of scandals which also affected the Democratic primary, leaving Cherisa Cooke, a relatively inexperienced Deputy DA, as the party's candidate. Richard Connors, a right-wing populist and perennial candidate, won the Republican primary, while the Greens and Libertarians also fielded their own candidates, Kemal Hakim and Muriel Roth respectively.

Nate Teixeira, a transgender attorney and activist, decides to throw his hat into the ring as an independent. Initially he garners only nine percent in the polls, but quickly gains more support, especially after a series of candidate interviews on public television, followed by a televised debate, and a blunder by the Connors campaign. Teixeira is supportive of Chief Graham's policies, hoping to build and expand on them throughout the county. By Election Day, Teixeira and Cooke are neck-and-neck for the lead, with Connors a distant third. When the results are in, Teixeira wins with 35 percent of the vote over Cooke's 33 percent.

Many of the Free Spirits whom Laurie meets are early supporters of Teixeira's campaign, particularly Tracey Bilodeau. Laurie also comes to support his candidacy, especially his proposals for dealing with intimate partner violence. Bridget Torjesen encourages the sex worker community to back him, many volunteering for his campaign. The election party at Peri Winger's house shows that Teixeira has attracted broad support across ideological lines - from progressives to radical centrists to libertarians - all drawn to his practical proposals for assuring greater freedom and fairness.