Epilogue
It was four days later when Jeff and Ally escaped, without fanfare or commotion, from Wilton Crossing. During the days following their shattering experience with the "club" at the high school principal's home, they had continued to work at their respective jobs without any outward sign of complaint or dissatisfaction, but had returned home each evening to spend several hours packing clothes and their various belongings. In these four days, their marriage crystalized and they grew closer than ever before, Jeff realizing that, despite the fact that Ally was only a woman, she was delightfully intelligent as well as a competent partner in conceiving and acting out their secret plans. More important, as far as he was concerned, she had begun to become adept in the joys and rewards of uninhibited sex with the one man she truly loved.
Knowing that mmbers of the "syndicate" might well be anyone in town, they were cautious to keep their plan an absolute secret, remembering that Angus Cardwell had threatened to use the pornographic pictures Ally had found to send her to jail. They knew it had not been an idle threat-not in a town where the mayor and even the chief of police were both involved in a scandalous sex organization.
Thus, early in the morning, before dawn, the Carsons slipped silently from the house and transferred their belongings to the car. By the time the sun was up that Saturday, they were already fifty miles from Wilton Crossing, laughing in relief as they drove down the New York Thruway. They were not exactly certain of their destination, but that was not all-important. All that mattered, really, was that they were truly together and free of the "syndicate's" damning hold on their lives.
Now, as they sped south, only one matter was left to be taken care of ... one last blow to break the "club's" back and destroy its power over other innocents like themselves.
It was just after ten that morning, and the sun was burning brightly down on the lush countryside, when Jeff and Ally walked timorously into a roadside headquarters of the New York State Police. The uniformed officer behind the desk looked up and smiled at the approaching couple.
"Well, folks," he beamed, "what can we do for you?"
"Jeff, you tell him," Ally said.
The tall handsome teacher inhaled deeply and said, "We'd like you to listen to a long story. We think you'll be interested."