Don't Underestimate Me! Ch. 05

The story continues in the aftermath of their retribution. Knowledge about what happened is exchanged. The group's origins come to light. The feeling of relief is evident.

Chapter 5 -- Explanations and Shocks

The mood was sombre. The silence deafening. Even from outside it was deathly quiet.

They watched as the Fusiliers bagged the bodies and carted them off.

As they ate, Cheryl said they were a number of rooms they could use to have some sleep, shower if they wished.

John told Cheryl, "You'll have a lot of redecorating to do."

Cheryl shook her head, "I can't afford this place. I'll have to leave. I'll lose my last connection to Ted but at least my daughters are safe."

Iain said, "Sleep for you is a good idea. I have a few things I need to finish. I'll make sure you are all back here for 3pm. I'll have your parents here as well, Joanna."

As everyone was exhausted there were no complaints.

Joanna and John made their way to her room. They showered and fell into bed, hugging each other. They fell asleep almost as their heads touch the pillows.

After pointing out rooms for the others as they passed Cheryl asked Mo if he would like to come to her room. He made her feel safe and she would love to have a hug and a cuddle if he wished to stay with her.

Aftermath

As they gathered together Joanna's parents arrived escorted by several Fusiliers. There were lots of tears as they hugged Joanna and John.

John tried to apologise for all the hurtful things he had said but Mum stopped him.

Mum told him, "You said you were going to rescue Joanna and to trust you. We could tell this wasn't bravado. We had to play our part. You played yours. Evans men were in our house listening to many of our calls. They saw our pain, our anguish. They never saw our hope.

"You did everything you said you would. You saved our daughters, our grandchild and us, even the town.

"We can never thank you and your friends enough. Words can't express our feelings."

She gave him a massive hug before moving to hug Mo and Junior.

Dad told her, "I'm not sure why you're hugging Junior. We'll have to redecorate because of him."

Junior looked shocked until he saw the smile.

Mum answered, "That's why, I've wanted to do that for years."

They all laughed.

Iain looked very tired. He spoke, "This meeting will update you on all that has happened. At the end, I'll have to speak with John, Andrew and Mo privately on stuff I can't say publicly.

Iain turned to Joanna's mum and dad.

"I have several documents for you. The first is in regard to your professional services. It appears that Mr Evans left a signed document stating you were to arrange the funerals of those killed here recently. Each funeral is costed at €25,000. Between the guards and the Police Officers, there were 96 deaths recorded. The sum of €2,400,000 has been transferred from his account to yours already. He didn't stipulate what arrangements you should make but those bodies have been placed in a communal grave containing all the dead from last night's operation. So that will take away quite some unwanted work, I imagine.

"Secondly, there is an offer on the land which caused this problem for your family. It includes making it a natural habitat for native species and an education resource for children. It undertakes that no development other than for community will take place. In addition, it includes a percentage of revenue should any gas be extracted in the future. That's for €25 million."

Iain laughed at the shocked look on Joanna's parents faces.

Joanna and John were smiling. Joanna was still not letting John out of her arms. She was kissing him repeatedly.

"Now Joanna, if you'll just put him down for a minute." She blushed.

"As regards last night's operations, this is where things stand.

"Thanks to Cheryl, we have access to all of Johnson's accounts. There is €3.75 trillion in various accounts offshore. I should say, Was! I transferred it to a safe bank. I have approval to spend some of it immediately.

"Everyone involved gets €2 million up front. The Fusiliers, the A10 guys, the Recons, Joanna, her parents, Cheryl and us.

"The women and men victims at the whorehouse will get €10 million each. Andrew, your neighbour's daughter was alive and like many getting medical care. Her parents have been advised.

"Cheryl, as you were treated like that you will get the €10 million, as well.

"From on high, John, in addition, all of us will get €10 million. When I say , all I mean all. Joanna, mum and dad, Cheryl as well as us.

"As we trace further victims or their families, we'll pay them as well.

"Five hitmen have perished since last night.

"The final count on the highway was 1723 killed. They are in the mass grave. The balance tipped in our favour when the A10's joined in. That buzzsaw sound was them.

"The whorehouse. Again, we cleaned house. We found one man beating a woman with razor wire as he fucked her arse. Apparently razor wire is highly kinetic. He was thrown off the roof with the wire around his arms and legs and genitals. Took a little while as he bounced up and down but his balls and cock tore off just before he lost his arms. He didn't survive the fall. Official cause of death, smoking!

"We found blackmail tapes and various other documents which will prove enough to convict many people.

"We found seventy women and ten men working there. They showed us a large grave. We are arranging exhumation of the bodies and will try to identify them for their families.

"As suspected, his five thousand men headed to prevent the onslaught on the whorehouse. There were eighteen Apaches and the four rearmed A10's. In turns out there were over six thousand. They are now in another mass grave. Those A10's turned the battle. The Fusiliers didn't allow any to escape.

"Somehow, we didn't sustain any loses. We have quite a few injured, none too seriously."

John asked, "What about those running that whorehouse? Did they escape?"

Iain laughed, "The Recon teams kept them there until the Fusiliers arrived to search the building. Much like here, none of the women had a good word to say about any of them. They let the women explain the errors of their ways to them. None survived.

"Another positive is that other criminal kings are shitting themselves. The Government, as far as they are concerned finally hit back. They could be next.

"As we get further into all the documents, I'm sure we'll find others who stayed hidden but they will be dealt with.

"Now as you enjoy this wonderful coffee and cake, I'll do the confidential briefing."

Iain took them to the office suite.

"This is now controlled by us so we can gain access anytime.

"I found another €1.5 billion hidden away as well as €30 million cash in here. I propose we use this money for the community or indeed other communities to help rebuild the damage caused by Johnson. It will just disappear if we leave it to the government."

They all agreed. Iain said he would be here for weeks at least going through everything.

They returned.

Mo held John back. "John what do you think about Cheryl?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last night, at the beginning I thought Cheryl was with them. When she said what had happened I felt so sorry for her. This morning she asked me to go to bed with her. She said she felt safe with me. The only men in her bed since her husband's murder had been Johnson and his brother who liked to abuse her.

"She didn't know if she could ever wish to have sex with another man again but she would love a hug and cuddle with me as she felt I was amazing and caring.

"We only cuddled and fell asleep in each other's arms.

"I think she seems very nice; we could be good for each other but I don't want to head there if you still have issues with her."

"Mo, at the beginning I hated her. I learnt she was a victim but still hated her. When I saw what Sonia did to those women and her threats to Cheryl's two young girls, I could understand why she did what she did.

"She tried her best to protect Joanna, she kept her safe from the guards and Evans. She was at high risk for that.

"I'll build a new relationship with her. I think you'll be good for each other."

They sealed it with a hug.

On their return, Cheryl, Joanna and Joanna's mum were in deep discussion.

Cheryl asked Iain to clarify, "Was she really getting €22 million, Joanna €12 and her parents over €50 million?"

Iain nodded but said, "Joanna €22 million. She was classed as an abused victim as well."

Cheryl let out a scream of delight. "I'll be able to keep the house and redecorate."

Iain said, "The redecoration here as well as sorry, John's never introduced us, I'm Iain, this is Andrew. You met Mo and Junior last night. What are your names?"

Mum replied, "Robert and Alice."

"Robert and Alice, Joanna, Cheryl, the discretionary funding I have will pay for the remodelling of your homes."

John started, "But my home wasn't involved."

Iain shook his head, "Someone got in and bugged your house. We won't know the damage until we look at it. We may have bits to replace like the nursery."

"We don't have a nursery."

Iain looked to Joanna for help.

"John, I was planning to ask you tonight if I should come off the pill. I was ready when this all started but I couldn't have a child in that environment. We'll speak later. I hope you want a child," she said quietly.

John was stunned. He thought for a few minutes before heading to her and taking her in his arms and kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

Robert turned to Alice, "See what talking about decorating does!"

Alice kissed him equally as fervently as John and Joanna's.

Mo sat down beside Cheryl and gave her a hug. She never expected that. She had felt so safe when he slept with her. Her eyes filled with tears. She knew he loved John and Joanna so he couldn't care for her with what she had done.

Mo saw the eyes tear up, "It's okay, we'll take it slow and get to know each other. The real Cheryl and me. John's fine with us being together if that worries you."

Cheryl gave Mo the first passionate kiss she had given since her husband's death. Tears were streaming down her face.

Iain asked her, "What do you plan to do with the house?"

Cheryl dried her eyes, held Mo's hand and said, "Ted and I planned to have a creche and a nursery. I am a trained nursery nurse. The ballroom is where the nursery would have been and the dungeon the creche. We had an idea for a big room, bigger than the dining room, so we could host parties for our friends. Proper enjoyable parties with actual friends and those with children could bring them if they wished. We would have staff to look after the little ones. I'll have to see what can be done or how much remodelling is required. I'll need help to envisage it.

"The basement floor never existed so I'm open to any suggestions other than their present use."

As it approached dinner time, Cheryl asked if they wanted to head to the kitchen. There should be plenty of food unless Mo had found it earlier.

Mo smiled.

There was plenty for everyone.

Afterwards Robert asked what they could do to say thank you for everything they had done for their family, the community.

Joanna piped up. "Don't ask John. I don't know how he ever managed to speak to me."

Andrew choked as he laughed as he swallowed. Iain and Mo joined in. John looked bemused.

Andrew spread his hands and pointed at Mo, "He's to blame for your misery Joanna!"

Mo raised his eyebrows, "Why does the big guy always get the blame? John was always tongue tied around Joanna. We laughed at him. When she wasn't looking, he would stare at her, especially her beautiful bum. Okay we did as well! When alone he spoke about her all the time. We, not ME, WE decided to help him. Andrew said it was my turn for the beers. I stood up and bumped into John, - who I didn't know was behind me. He spilled his beer all over Joanna as well as knocking her drink out of her hand.

"It was an accident, really!

"John, being a gentleman apologised and replaced her drink and his. She mouthed, "Thank you" to me. The rest as they say is history."

Joanna laughed, "I had been waiting for weeks for this gentle man to ask me out. It took a friendly bump to do it. So don't ask John unless you want someone killed, then he'll act quickly."

Alice said, "Robert's a wizard extraordinary at barbeques. Why don't we host one for you all?"

Robert shook his head, "I can cater for six, eight at a push but there's fourteen/fifteen. Otherwise, I would be more than happy too."

Cheryl smiled, took Mo and Robert's hands and excused them.

She took them to a beautiful spot towards the rear of the property. There was a massive entertainment area with a full-sized dining kitchen including multiple barbeques. "Would this work?"

Robert was in awe. This was his dream. Maybe as the late Mr Johnson was paying he could have one when they redecorated.

"Oh! Hell! Yes!" he exclaimed.

Cheryl was in a dreamworld as Mo held her to him. He gave her a gentle kiss. "A barbeque would be great for all of them. More than enough thanks."

When they returned it was soon all settled.

By now they were tired. It was almost 8pm. Cheryl told them to use the rooms again. Stay there as long as they wished.

Robert and Alice said they would head home. Robert would knock his butcher up tomorrow for the steaks, ribs and everything else needed even if it was a Sunday. They would make sure everyone knew they were now safe from Johnson and his crew.

Andrew asked, "Beer, Spirits, Wine?"

Cheryl nodded, "Basement floor , two rooms full of booze. No one will mind if you empty them!"

Joanna asked John, "Do you want to stay here with your buddies or shall we go home and come back in the morning?"

John was conflicted, "I would like to spend time with the best friends anyone could ask for but I don't have clothes for tomorrow especially underwear. Crawling in and other exercises means what I have stink almost as bad as me."

Mo and the others started talking about their clothing problems.

Joanna quietened them all down, "Plan A, John, you could wear some of my panties tomorrow, the others can pick from the guards clothing unless you want some ladies stuff as well. I'm sure Cheryl would be pleased to help."

John blushed as the others laughed.

"Plan B, we all head home or to your base, grab clean clothes for the next few days and come back. We'll all be back in an hour and a half or so at most. Okay!

It was agreed. Plan B it was.

Robert and Alice said goodnight. They would call in the morning for anything else needed.

Alice had a quick word with Joanna. She left with her hand over her mouth, eyes wide open.

Joanna and John headed home. The drive was quiet as both were reflecting on the recent events. It was hard to put into words how they felt.

Once home, Joanna said, "Let's shower. I want to shower with you but if you don't want to that's okay. I know we'll need to have a number of long serious discussions about all this.

"At least we won't stink up the new clothes. My bikinis are already there. You'll need your shorts."

John looked sad, "Joanna, I want to shower with you but I could have missed some shit last night and I don't want to gross you out."

Joanna laughed, "You need my services then sir, cleaner to all heroes!"

They stripped off and stepped into the shower. Joanna's arse stung where Sonia had whacked her with the belt. John tried to apologise for not having prevented that. She held him and said he did more than anyone could have expected. He saved her, her whole family and many others.

She took the scrubber and worked it all over his body, searching for any debris from the night before. He did, likewise, making especially sure, her tender bum was clean. He dried her carefully and put some soothing lotion on her injured bum. If he could, he would have tortured Sonia all over again for that injury alone.

They had a long, naked cuddle before collecting their clothing. John texted Andrew to remember stuff for the pool. He didn't remember seeing one previously.

Before they left, Joanna shouted, "Johnson, Sonia, SCU, Police, Evans all dead. We're free!"

She told John, "Our bugs will get that round the town. People will relax. They were probably fearing him coming after them."

They were the first back.

Cheryl gave them a hug. "John, I want to say sorry for what I put you through but words can't express how I feel. You have every right to be more than mad at me.

"I like Mo and he says you are happy for us to try and be together. I promise you Mo will never regret any time spent with me. I will be the person I was before. He gives me hope for a future. I never had one until today. Thank you."

John took her hand, "Cheryl, you tried to help Joanna. You put yourself at risk. For that I'll always be grateful. Let's start again. We'll talk more about everything as we need to do that to get it out of our system. I learned that before. Bottling it all up just builds walls. Mo will listen. Tell him. He's a great guy even if a bit clumsy!"

Joanna laughed at that.

"Can I help with the beer?"

Cheryl led them down the stairs to the lower ground floor.

In one room, there must have been three hundred cases of beer. He picked up two. There was wine and spirits left out from last night's party upstairs.

They returned and waited for the others to arrive. When they did, it appeared all had managed a shower.

Mo went to Cheryl. "You smell nice," she told him.

"Yeah, even though I showered when we got up, my clothes smelled rotten. I feel almost human."

"I understand that. After all being supermen must have a downside after an event like yesterday but I'm glad you feel this human is worth spending some time with."

Mo looked at Cheryl and saw a wry smile.

Junior shouted, "Oh No."

Cheryl had just caught on she was in trouble when Mo grabbed her and lifted her up to face him. She thought he was going to kiss her but he didn't. He began tickling her. He had her in hysterics. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't escape.

After five minutes he relented, "For a human, you giggle good!"

Cheryl was going to respond but caught Junior shaking his head. She realised she had much to learn about Mo. She was going to have the last act though, so grabbed his head and kissed him till she felt his toes curl off the floor.

Mo realised he had a lot to learn about Cheryl.

Both looked very happy.

As they sat drinking quietly, Andrew noticed Joanna seemed to have a question she wanted to ask but kept backing away. Definitely not like her.

"Joanna, what's wrong?"

"I don't know if this is appropriate just now but I would like to know what happened at my parents before they come over tomorrow," her tone questioning but hopeful.

Andrew said, "Mo, Junior you up for that?"

Junior said, "Before seeing you in the rec room I would have whitewashed a lot of what happened. By telling you everything, you will be able to help your parents get over what they saw. We did try to avoid them seeing anything but circumstances changed quickly.

"We went in slowly checking the area for spotters. We found and eliminated three. We didn't know another one was already in the house. The Fusiliers formed a hidden, protective bubble.

"We were told two cars, six were on route.

"Mo and I did our best Christian door knockers impressions. Alice opened the door. I was the one facing her. Mo was using the door to cover himself. Alice tried to get me to leave as she had something on the stove. I began my spiel. The goon saw my baby face and decided to try and rearrange it. That's not very nice.

"He missed as I moved to the side. He just saw Mo and hesitated. I pulled him back inside as Mo pushed him in. I had my knife at his throat, he tried to struggle so I slit it, almost cutting his head off. There was a lot of blood.