The Bet: Repercussions YES

I missed it but Gordon said she'd reacted. It meant she was coming round, well I hoped so.

I returned to the office and shortly after the receptionist called saying there was a Mr Tolbert at the front desk asking to speak with me. I said I would be down. I called Iain who was already aware. Tolbert was alone but there were three in the car outside.

I took Tolbert into one of the side rooms we use for callers for privacy. Bart was right, he shouldn't play poker. The interview was being recorded. This is the cut down version.

"Mr Bryson, I wish to apologise and offer my sympathies to the hurt the players have caused to your family. (lie) I want to try and stop any further escalation of this highly regrettable incident. I can understand your anger. I have reassigned the two stewards who assaulted you. (lie) I wasn't aware of what had been going on. (lie)

"I know we are looking at this from different perspectives. I'm trying to protect the football club as the fallout if we lose those players would be relegation at best. (lie) You are looking out for your family.

"Is there any way we can find some common ground?"

"Mr Tolbert, my wife may die because some thugs decided to beat me up instead of allowing me to take my drugged wife away from a complete arsehole who was intent on raping her. When her friend intervened, they kicked them both unconscious. The injuries are such, the doctor didn't think a human could inflict on another. It would have been a bunch of hippos with all their power.

"I was a strong supporter of the team but I cannot support a team which condones what they did that night and other nights. If you want to restore the reputation of the club, you need to frogmarch them to the Police and have them confess everything and plead guilty at the first opportunity which will, unfortunately, reduce their sentences. The club will have limited the damage. It will cause problems short term but they are surmountable.

"I won't stop pressing for a prosecution until they are in court. Every woman they raped deserves nothing less."

Tolbert paled. "You won't reconsider. A court case will take up a lot of time for your family. I'll make sure they never ply any more women with drugs."

"You can't unless you can lock them up. They feed on the adrenaline. They may stay quiet for a few weeks but when they feel safe, they will do it again. The only place for them is in jail."

He countered, "There are some fans who will see what you are doing and look to stop you. They could hurt your family."

My eyes never wavered, "That would be the worst thing they could do. If anyone goes after my family, those preventing me harming those bastards will be unable to stop me. Any who harm or threaten my family or aid them in any way will be painting a target on their backs.

"I think we're done. Take them to the Police!"

He left. He was not happy.

Trevor came back to the office and indicated the secure room.

"Gordon, I spoke with Jock the editor. He'll attempt to publish but the owner is a friend of Tolbert. Jock may publish despite this. He would be sacked. We've spoken about an inhouse paper for our staff, we may have a good editor and some staff available soon."

I smiled, "Jock sounds interesting."

Trevor laughed, "That's the least you can say about him. He's a maverick. He believes papers exist to inform, educate and in this case embarrass the establishment into doing the right thing. My feeling is he will publish and be damned."

"Well, we can revisit our own paper if needed. What did he say about the article?"

"He will spread it over four to five pages. He will have Tolbert's adverts on these pages, so the readers have a clue as to the venues to avoid. He's going to do an editorial about the lack of Police involvement in such a serious crime and what this says about Policing in this country. The Police won't like his conclusions. He'll do a follow-up next week on how the Police are doing. He'll fight if he's sacked, they must give him notice or pay him. His boss is mean so! Marion's looking at his contract and will tell him what to do if necessary."

I laughed, "Seems if I give him a job, he'll make mine interesting! If he's sacked, I'll take my business away from the paper."

I headed off to the hospital to check on Kirsty. The good news was that she had come round but was still heavily drugged. She slept mostly but when awake her eyes searched everyone. The fear in her was clear.

I told her I loved her and we would get through this. Her recovery would take time but she was beginning to mend. I could only lightly kiss her brow. She held my hand like glue. The kids told her all their news. Sarah had received confirmation of her acceptance on her university course so wanted her mum to help her find accommodation and so on.

The next few days were slow. I spent time at the hospital, time at work and at the gym. The punchbag was really getting a pounding. I used the two thugs who'd assaulted me as inspiration. Mark and David had shown me how to look after myself not long after they had joined my staff almost seven years ago.

Thursday morning as I headed to the hospital, the local shops had the marketing for the paper openly displayed. Tolbert wouldn't like the headline, "Team condones drug rape of dozens of women!"

As I got out of my car, my favourite thug approached me, "You couldn't let it go. It was just a bit of sex. Your life would be the same."

I smiled, "What a heap of shit! If it was your partner, would you just shrug your shoulders. No, you'd be fucking mad and looking for vengeance. Tell Tolbert to hand them and the evidence in. This is just the start. He won't like what will happen next."

The thug smiled, "I thought that would be your answer. This is mine."

He swung at me. I blocked his arm and hit him in the solar plexus using my hips to drive the punch through. As he gasped for breath, I pummelled more punches there and his ribs feeling some break before I moved behind where I drove his knee down into the concrete. I could hear something break, probably kneecap and hopefully femur. (Foot behind the joint drive downwards). I moved away allowing me space to wind up a kick which gave him extra tonsils. Okay, several kicks. As he fell forward, I kicked him repeatedly about the ribs, stomping on the kidney area.

I was about to start on his face when Mark pulled me away. "He's not worth it, boss. Come on, go see Kirsty."

He took me to the toilets to wash myself. I hadn't realised Thug 1 had been bleeding over me. I must have hit his face a few times after all. I felt better. Mark took my knuckledusters away for safekeeping in case the Police came looking for them. Mark's first words of advice when he taught me, "don't give them any opportunity, no such thing as fairness." I was glad I'd taken his advice.

Kirsty looked a bit better or at least I told her so. The bruising on her face was green/black. She wasn't as sedated so when she moved slightly you could see the pain affect her. I held her hand until Dave and Angela arrived. Angela gave me a big hug.

Dave's hand was in a sling. My look had them laugh. Angela began, "Kirsty, you don't want to listen to this." Kirsty and Dee looked on, "oh yes they did" they just couldn't say so!

Angela began, "We had read the paper before we left home. The main story was some scoop for a small paper." She looked at me. "We saw you arrive and the thug approach you. Dave wanted to help you but saw you didn't need any. That kick to his balls was a thing of pure beauty. I thought I heard his balls explode! A second thug started towards you to help his friend. Dave's years of boxing came in handy. He floored him with an uppercut Ali would have been proud off. He had never taken notice of Dave till his lights went out. His jaw is probably broken. Dave has broken three bones in his hand so they plastered it."

Angela kissed Dave who blushed.

Pete had arrived. He laughed at Dave. "It's okay you two, I'll give you mates rates. Don't say anything to the Police until I arrive if they come for you. Mark said they were the two who had assaulted you, so I'll spin it they were trying to finish the job. The jury will believe me."

Despite her sedation Kirsty understood what had happened. She started to cry. I held her but it seemed to make her worse. Angela took over. I waited until she was calmed.

"Kirsty, it wasn't your fault. We'll get through this." I kissed her lightly as I left.

When I entered the office, it was obvious the newspaper article had reached many. If I could have distilled the feelings, I felt coming from the staff Tolbert and Co would be burning in hell for evermore or more likely deposited onto the sun so they could be really roasted.

Marion called to say she'd received word from Tolbert's solicitors that he wanted a retraction or he would sue. They didn't enjoy her non-lady like response. I laughed.

I didn't have much to do, everything was working smoothly. I saw Diane, Cody and Roslyn in the secure room but when I took a few steps towards it, Lorraine told me to walk on by. As I opened my mouth she said, "Don't ask!"

With nothing to do, I returned to the hospital, Kathryn and Sarah were with her. Dee was just back from x-ray. She looked happy.

Sarah explained, "They were checking to see if they could remove the wires holding the bite in place. If they can, Pete's going to suffer!"

Dee was laughing quietly at that. Her ribs still hurt.

Kirsty had been up walking under the supervision of a physio. She was shattered and she only took about twenty steps. The doctor came in and explained they wanted to operate again on Saturday morning. He explained what they were going to do to reset her facial fractures and ribs. It was brutal. If he'd told me before thug 1 and I tangled, Mark wouldn't have stopped me repaying the compliment. They would x-ray her tomorrow. He hoped they could remove the wires keeping her jaw shut but it was helping maintain the position of her mouth and cheek bones meantime.

I tried to chat away but all I could say was that when she was better, we would need a proper holiday. A month in Madeira or Croatia. I was being shown I wasn't needed anyway. Kirsty tried to smile.

I did a few little things to keep busy when others wished to be with Kirsty and Dee.

I asked Iain why there had been no further response from the Police. He was baffled. Pete was happy but wouldn't tell me why. My response was not to warn him about Dee.

I checked out the weekend's events. Apart from the nightclubs being open Thursday through Sunday, Thursday being a slow evening. On the Saturday afternoon, the football team had a preseason friendly against a well-known team from England doing a Scottish preseason tour instead of a European one due to the travel problems. I had been looking forward to seeing that.

When we were all leaving at the close of visiting hours, Pete suggested a drive by Tolbert's nightclubs. It was amazing. Despite it still being light, Pete's friend the light magician had managed to make displays which stood out near any access route to the nightclubs. "Take your partner here to be drug raped!"

There were not many people about the clubs.

Friday night we did the same. Pay weekend so it's normally extremely busy. The nightclubs were very quiet.

Saturday's preseason match had very few spectators as well. The English team's supporters saw the signs and there were local newspapers at the restaurants and bars they were using. Very few went to the game.

I only had that information second hand from Iain as I spent it with my family awaiting news on Kirsty's operation. It took over four hours but both surgeons were happy they had everything done so she wouldn't need any further operations. It would be four or five days before she could be allowed home. When we visited, she looked grey, almost deathly grey. The nurse said that's the effect of the anaesthetic which will wear off soon. They had her on a high dose of painkillers due to what the surgeons had had to do. Now all she had to do was heal.

Even I could see she was breathing easier. We took it in turns to sit with her. Dee was very supportive. She talked almost non-stop. I could see Pete's preference.

When the kids left us alone, Dee said, "Gordon when Kirsty is home and able to be involved, I want to tell Pete and you everything which happened in the nightclub. She seems to remember hurting you but as we couldn't speak, I don't know for sure. I can tell Kirsty is afraid of what may happen between you. They removed the wiring so she will be able to speak when she wakes up. Don't worry we don't need to concoct a story for you, the truth will suffice. She loves you. From what Pete said about the dosage used, that love made her fight like hell. Don't focus on the words she used. Focus on the love you have for each other."

I told her, "I am. The words still hurt but I know they weren't her words. I'm lost now. I want to do certain things but I'm being stopped. I'm not involved in anything. The phrase, "Don't ask!" is used a lot around me.

"Dee, I can't thank you enough for what you did, for Kirsty and the others. Those bastards may not appear in a court of law but they will never drug rape anyone again." I kissed her goodnight as I left.

On Sunday, Kirsty looked a lot better colour wise, if you ignored the bruising. She was still on powerful painkillers. The physios came in and had her walk about, being mobile reduces the risk of clots was the excuse they used to have her drag herself around. She was very tired when they relented.

I caught her a few times looking at me with a worried expression. I leaned in after one and said, "Kirsty, I love you. What you did was the result of drugs. Nothing happened sexually with Smith. Dee stopped that. We'll talk when you are home. It's too open here. Just remember I love you and this wasn't your fault."

I think she was a bit relieved but it was hard to tell through the bruising. When the kids were around you could see her smile. She didn't talk much but was showing signs of being better within herself.

On Monday, I went in early. She was sitting in a chair beside the bed. I gave her a gentle hug and a kiss. Dee was very happy. She was being released as they had put a care package in place for her. There were a couple of nursing students who would keep her company and deal with her needs. As her arms were in plaster, I didn't ask further. Pete came in to see her. She would be released after a further examination probably between 10 and 11 if everything was okay.

Pete came to my office for the meeting. The tone was quite different from the previous week. Then it was anger now it was about retribution.

Pete updated us on legal matters. "Shona is being stonewalled. She is not happy. The Superintendent and the Chief Constable are being evasive.

"I went through all our evidence with her. It took three hours. She has seen the CCTV of the various incidents and the statements from witnesses A -- ZZ. She was blown away by the lab result on Kirsty. While I was there, she called the Area Senior Fiscal and ran through the evidence with him. She never revealed where it came from. His response seemed to be the evidence was not admissible as the Police hadn't ownership of it. They argued and I can tell you Shona won the argument but probably not the war.

"I think she shot him when she said Bryson has the funds to privately prosecute this. How will we look if he does so? His wife's health is improving so he will have more time to pursue an outcome.

"Shona is not letting up. She told me areas to check and how to close the gaps in the evidence. Iain and I have been working on these."

Iain took over, "We have statements from all the staff who witnessed the assault. Statements from all the staff who have been present when the players brought the drugged women back to the hotel. We have statements from a lot of the nightclub staff. These have confirmed all we suspected.

"We have a contingency plan as I suspect that apart from the assaults on Kirsty and Dee, nothing further will happen. Even that I feel doubtful about.

"Gordon, I'm going to ask you to trust us. I need you to speak with Frances and ask her to be creative in making a sum of money disappear."

I looked at him, "I'd rather take on the two thugs again. Frances will have my hide."

She was our accountant and she managed every penny, not in a mean way, but for the benefit of the company. She's lovely but don't ask her to do something underhand if you value living. I can go into any HMRC meeting knowing our finances are perfect.

Everyone was laughing at my expense. Friends!

Roslyn took centre stage. She positively glowed. Her voice carried that satisfaction across.

"Gordon, I found all the evidence you need to destroy those bastards. I have set it all up on a secure website linked only to them. It will go live if there is no prosecution. With Iain, Diane, Pete and Cody, I've identified quite a few of the women raped.

"Don't ask what the contingency plan is. You are needed by your family. I gave Lorraine some bills which I need you to get Frances to pay very discreetly."

I looked at Pete, "Did Kirsty ask you to get me killed?"

Everyone laughed.

Trevor said, "It would be quite a headline in our new inhouse paper.

"Tolbert's businesses were badly hurt by the revelations. The nightclubs, restaurants and bars were almost empty. It appeared to be mainly his workers who frequented them. The football cost him a packet as he guaranteed the other team's expenses. I haven't seen anyone at his car dealerships either."

I said, "If any of the staff who helped us lose their jobs make sure we find them something."

The meeting broke up. Diane, Cody and Roslyn were speaking. Iain and Pete were speaking. Trevor headed to another meeting.

I couldn't put it off. I went to my secretary and asked her to find out when Frances was free to see me. Unfortunately, Frances was free so we met in the secure room.

Frances looked at me. "You've not been looking after yourself with all that has been going on. I hear Kirsty is improving so take some time for yourself.

"What is it you need me to do?"

I was shocked. Not at her telling me to look after myself, she always did that but asking so directly such a question.

I decided to just grab the bull by the horns and level with her. I'd seen how the pain meds had helped Kirsty so hoped they would do the same for me.

"Frances, I need you to massage away some bills so that they can never be found but our accounts look pristine even with a deep check."

She looked at me. I thought she was about to kill me when she floored me, "Is this to do with getting those bastards who hurt Kirsty and Dee and raped those poor women?"

I nodded. I was in shock; that was the first time I had ever heard her swear.

Frances looked at me and smiled, "Consider it done. Have whoever needs anything regarding this "fuck the bastards" account to just come and see me. If best we speak here, that will be fine."

As we finished up, she said, "tell Kirsty I was asking about her. If you need any help when she comes home let me know and I'll help all I can."

I returned to my office in a state of shock. Iain saw me and didn't believe I was still alive. I didn't either.

From everything that was happening I was truly seeing how loved Kirsty was by so many. She spent much of her time helping staff through problems and supporting events to enhance their lives. But this support was overwhelming.

The rest of the week flew by. Kirsty was allowed home on the Friday. There were nursing services for her as she needed help with a lot of everyday things. She refused having either me or the kids wipe her arse. Toni, one of the trainers from our works gym came over every day to have her do some exercises to increase her mobility. Her stamina improved over weeks.