Jenny's Peace

***Jenny's Peace*** is the thirteenth book in the Free Spirits series. The title character is a former cult member under witness protection with the US Marshals Service.

## Plot Synopsis

Deputy Marshal William Reeves arrives at Stallbrook International Airport to meet and escort someone in the Witness Protection Program; he is met and assisted by two officers from the Stallbrook Airport Police. At the boarding gate, he meets his colleague Denise Kwan and the witness, now going by the name Jenny Brooks, a former member of a Mormon fundamentalist cult who murdered their leader in retaliation for his raping her friend, and is now providing crucial information on the illegal activities of the cult under their new leader. Reeves and Kwan transport Jenny to a safe house in the city, where Doris Feldman and Bob Osgood will continue protecting her until she has found a job and a new place to live. After Reeves departs, Jenny goes to her bedroom, talking with Kwan about how things will transpire once Federal agents have found and arrested the cult's leadership. Kwan then retires for the night, and Jenny watches a porn video on her laptop of a couple having a threesome with a young woman they had met, Jenny masturbating as she imagines being the young woman in the video.

Weeks later, Jenny interviews for an administrative assistant position at a commercial real estate firm. She is first interviewed by the firm's HR officer, then with the partner she would be working for, Peri Winger, meeting the firm's founder along the way. During the interview, Peri mentions a neo-pagan group in the area and the Free Spirit Connection to which she belongs, as well as her partners Lila and Andrew whom Jenny might take calls from. The interview goes smoothly, and Jenny is set up to begin work that Monday.

On the way home, Jenny comes across the city's red-light district at Creston Street, and goes into the Blue Jewel emporium. After buying a vibrator, she enters a peep show booth and has a session with Luna, using the vibrator to masturbate. She enjoys the experience, and considers returning for another session eventually.

Over the next few weeks, Jenny learns more about Stallbrook's active alternative sexuality community, and the several groups which are a part of it: the Young Poly group, the Sweet Spot, and APEx. She also learns more about the Free Spirits, and goes to the Local Gathering nearest her residence to attend a Sunday Celebration. There she meets Marcie Tran and Tommy Raval, a couple who are cautiously open to having a third person join their relationship. Later, she joins an online discussion of the Young Polys for advice on how to proceed. The discussion helps her figure out how to proceed, and she talks to Marcie about exploring sexually with others before pursuing a possible relationship with them. Jenny later arranges and enjoys a threesome with Wanda and Tam from the Young Polys,

Later, Jenny is met by Denise Kwan, who expresses concern about her interactions within Stallbrook's alt-sex community. Jenny is indignant at the seeming invasion of her privacy, but Kwan reminds her that circumstances warrant her being more cautious. Kwan strongly suggests that Jenny sends her information on anyone with whom she may interact intimately, so they can be vetted for security purposes. Jenny grudgingly agrees, still upset that she needs to go through these precautions. Jenny later joins Amalia, Darla and Tula at the Montrose nightclub for an event with the all-women's Sweet Spot sex club. She hooks up with Solange and Marisol, and they have an intense threesome during the party.

Jenny then attends a Wayfinding class at the Free Spirits Local Gathering, co-led by Lila Jaworski, Consuela Goncalves and Shelby Robinson. The class starts with introductions: Claude Bordeau, Ari Salen, Jenny, Molly Vong, Kyle Davis, and Linc Peters, They discuss the history, beliefs and organizational structure of the Connection, including the process for dealing with allegations of misconduct by members, then visit the communion rooms to further discuss Free Spirit sexual ethics. Jenny is still hesitant about joining, but still open to the idea. Lila also refers her to Amalia to answer questions about BDSM.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Marshals Service Deputy Director Janet Gagnon is on a secure video conference call with William Reeves and Harmon Griffin. Reeves expresses concern that an operative of the Righteous Work (code-named "Zebra") has been allowed to infiltrate Federal law enforcement in order to garner more information; it turns out that Griffin has created a decoy operation for doing so, known only to the top echelons of Federal agencies; Gagnon, without revealing this, assures Reeves that everything is in hand, and reiterates what all parties are to do if and when the Work sends operatives to silence the protected witness. Reeves reluctantly accepts this, and when the video conference ends, Gagnon resumes her work.

Back in Stallbrook, jenny attends a dinner service put together by the female dominants' interest group of APEx. She is joined by Amaila, Tula, Sophie Giuliani and Daria Jackson; they are serviced respectively by Tor, Darla, Adrian, Justin and Moira. During the dinner, she talks with them about BDSM, Free Spirit attitudes towards sexuality, and sex workers' rights; after dessert is finished, they move to another room where the submissives orally pleasure the dommes. Jenny talks about a fantasy of being served in every way by one or two men, and Sophie offers to arrange to have it fulfilled with Justin and Tor. The next weekend, Jenny stays at Sophie's condominium and enjoys the services -- including sexual -- of Justin and Tor; at night, when she has a nightmare about the leaders of the Work coming after her, she is comforted by them.

Later, Jenny attends a meeting of a support group called Embracing Eros, for ex-members of conservative religious groups who are rediscovering their sexuality; the group is co-led by ex-Baptist Keira Duval and ex-Catholic Steve Warren. Jenny participates in the discussion, even talking about her recent nightmare, and finds considerable support from the other members of the group, much like a previous support group she participated in before entering witness protection.

Later at work, Jenny has brought her overnight bag in preparation for spending the weekend with Marcie and Tommy. She also asks Peri for advice on how to communicate in the context of a polyamorous triad, and Peri shares what she can offer. Leaving work and arriving at the couple's home, she helps them prepare for dinner, then chatting and making love before falling asleep. The next morning, Jenny goes to the kitchen for breakfast, followed by Tommy, and the two have sex before watching a movie; Marcie then comes downstairs, and the three have more sex together, After Marcie takes a phone call and the three have a light supper, they go upstairs for more passionate lovemaking, and on Sunday attend the Celebration service at the Free Spirit meetinghouse. The service is followed by a talk on outreach given by Lila, explaining their philosophy of informing people about the Connection without pressuring anyone to join. Soon after the service, Jenny gets a text message from Denise Kwan - she will need to go back to the safe house as a precaution.

At a ranch in Montana, four Federal agents (Tara Biehl, Thomas Bray, Dane Levy and Amanda Simms) are alerted that half a dozen men from the Righteous Work were on their way to silence a protected witness. The agents - three of whom are deaf, Biehl the computer specialist partially paralyzed and proficient in American Sign Language - prepare to meet the men who have been decoyed towards them, with Amanda taking three trained German Shepherds with her. The agents quickly overpower and arrest the intruders, and wait until law enforcement and paramedics arrive to take the would-be assassins away. Meanwhile, Harmon Griffin reports that a joint U.S.-Mexican team had raided the cult's compound in northern Mexico, while other agents arrested the would-be infiltrator "Zebra" in another successful operation for his task force. Jenny (code-named "Skylark") would still remain at the safe house in Stallbrook as a precaution.

Back at Stallbrook, however, Jenny is chafing on these restrictions, wondering why she can't return to the life she's created for herself, including her friends and loved ones. Denise Kwan and BATF Special Agent Felipe Rodriguez explain that they want to make sure that the Righteous Work did not send another group to find and kill her. Rodriguez even offers to contact her employer and others to explain that she is assisting them in an investigation. Jenny is still upset, and discloses with Kwan that she is still feeling emotional turmoil over having killed Joshua Brenton, and not being able to talk to anyone about it. Kwan, who understands as she's had to shoot two people in the line of duty, promises to find her a counselor that she can talk to. When Jenny later returns to the outside world, she still feels an overwhelming need to share what she is going through with someone, and winds up back at the Blue Jewel to unburden herself to a sympathetic Luna.

While waiting for an appointment with a counselor approved by the Witness Protection Program, Jenny observes two Mormon missionaries being confronted by a tough skeptic about why he would never join their church. When the missionaries leave, an African-American woman then approaches the skeptic about how his approach may only have served to alienate them instead of helping them think, because he didn't take the reality of their experiences into account. Jenny then talks to the woman, who turns out to be Lateshia Williams, the counselor and Free Spirit Celebrant she is supposed to meet. They go into the downtown meetinghouse and begin to talk.

Jenny is spending time with Marcie and Tommy, talking about her involvement in the investigation, then some physical intimacy. She mentions the idea of making love in a communion room, as she's come to recognize the spiritual element of their relationship.

In another session with Lateshia, Jenny talks about the uneasiness of hiding things from her friends due to witness protection. This leads to a discussion on what honesty really means, and how "respecting truth" also means respecting promises and commitments made to various people, and how some sharing certain facts may actually be harmful.

In a meeting with Kwan, Jenny learns that Gabriel Brenton did try to target her and other witnesses for execution, but that the list was intercepted before it could reach the intended people. Kwan is optimistic that Brenton will agree to a plea bargain, ending the case, but Jenny notes that because he believes he's a prophet of God, he will refuse to compromise in any way. Kwan thanks her for the insight, and says they'll see what happens.

In another session with Lateshia, Jenny is sharing some of the positive changes that have occurred in her life. One is how she deals with people evangelizing for various religious groups, as this can be a trigger for her. She talks about how she might respond to them, in terms of an open-ended question to call them to confront their own beliefs. Lateshia is highly supportive of this aspect of her personal growth.

Jenny then learns that Gabriel Brenton had died in Federal custody, apparently from anaphylactic shock triggered by an unknown food allergy. With other leaders of the Righteous Work considering cutting deals with Federal prosecutors, and the unlikelihood of a successor being appointed, the cult had effectively collapsed. Jenny is concerned about the women in the group, and what support they may or may not be getting. She texts Kwan that she would like to help, if possible, and feels a sense of relief that she actually did something, however small, instead of sitting helplessly. Sure enough, she learns that the Road to Freedom group which had helped her before would be working in partnership with the Feds to assist the women and children from the Work.

Jenny then participates in the joining ceremony one Sunday at the Free Spirit meetinghouse, and after the service she and her partners go up to a communion room to make love. After cleaning up and deciding to go to a nearby coffee shop, Jenny reflects on how blessed she now feels.