07

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Unhappily Ever After

is a long, novel-length story that relates the story of a veteran who returns to civilian life and pursues a career path begun before joining the Australian Defence Force. He is forced to resurrect his 'stay alive' skills when he is betrayed by his wife, whose lover puts a hit order out on him.

---oooBJSooo---

As with many of my stories, this one started out as an idea for a short story. Unfortunately, the characters took control, and it became my version of War and Peace. In an attempt to encourage those with an aversion to long stories to read it, I have broken it up into two books. This submission is Book One.

Book Two has been written and is currently in the editing stage. Each book tells its own story, but I'd recommend reading Book One first to get a handle on some of the characters.

Hopefully, those who didn't like the absence of gratuitous retribution in my previous submission,

Happenstance

, will find

Unhappily Ever After

more explicit. Doncha hate it when you've got to work things out for yourself?

Be warned, however. If you start this journey, be prepared for a long ride. Book One contains ten chapters, which will be submitted in seven parts. All seven parts have been submitted simultaneously, with a request to the moderator that they be published on consecutive days.

I trust you will enjoy my offering, but I will be happy to receive your comments either way. It should be noted, however, that I have blocked anonymous comments. I know that might inconvenience a few of you, but my philosophy is that 'better one commenter be inconvenienced than ten trolls be allowed to spew their vitriol'.

Please Note:

The right of Black Jack Steele to be identified as the author of this work - Unhappily Ever After - Book One - is asserted under worldwide copyright laws. All rights are reserved.

UNHAPPILY EVER AFTER

BOOK ONE

Copyright © Black Jack Steele 2022

CHAPTER SIX

Thursday, December 21, 2017 - Saturday, December 23, 2017

Everyone Has A Plan...

"Put someone on Brad," I instructed Tommy. We'd poured a coffee and were sitting back in a couple of comfortable leather wing-backed chairs in his office shortly after I'd arrived at his compound. He called them his thinking chairs.

"It needs to be someone with teeth," I continued. "Not a PI. And tell whoever you send that they should pack for an extended stay. I've sent him and my sister up to my hinterland cottage with instruction to stay until this is over."

"It's already arranged," Tommy replied. "There'll be a two-man team on them until you tell me to pull them off."

"Thank you," I said. "I don't have so many friends that I can afford to lose a single one."

"You have more friends than you know," Tommy responded. "People are coming out of the woodwork to offer you whatever assistance they can; some of them, men and women you don't even know. But they're all people you have helped over the years. Most of them are ex-military, but a few civilians are among them.

"You'd be surprised how much paying forward you've done during your life."

"But you're not here to hear about your adoring public. You want to know about tonight's little interlude."

He stopped to gather his thoughts before proceeding.

"You were dead right about both the ambush and the intended target," he said. "They were after your friend. And for the reasons you thought. When you refused to go down on Charlie's cum-filled pussy, you rejected Manyweather's dominance of you.

"The final straw came, however, when you threw her off your property in the same way you'd done with Sam. In his eyes, that meant you'd disrespected him exactly as you'd thumbed your nose at Kingston.

"Unlike Kingston - who's a pragmatist and was happy to simply take you out of the equation with a hit order - this bloke, as you correctly pointed out, is a psychopath. He wanted you to suffer. I have no doubt that, after Brad, he would have gone after your sister, followed by your brother and mother and anyone else who is close to you.

"Oh, just as an aside, I've got people watching your mother and brother and have also put someone of Shirly and her family, so you don't need to worry about any of them.

"Through Charlie, he will know about me, and the lads out on your property. But he'll be in for a few surprises if he tries anything. We've already added to our defences, so we're ready for any attack he might attempt; either on my compound or yours."

"Any frontal attack he might make will only be a diversion," I said after spending a few minutes discussing his preparations. "Don't forget he is a Defence Force Academy graduate. He's been trained in tactical warfare. Admittedly, he's had very little actual combat experience, but he still knows the theory. So we shouldn't underestimate him.

"Added to that, he also has Charlie, who has been inside both our camps.

"While we need to be prepared to defend against his attacks, the only way we're going to beat him is by turning the tables on him; just as we're doing with Kingston.

"How's that progressing, by the way?"

"Stage one was successful," Tommy answered. "Ten suspects - including you - were pulled in. Nine of them were found to have drugs in their possession and have been charged. Each of those who were arrested called their significant others to come to their aid.

"While everyone was running around like headless chickens, the stage was being set for Act Two. By the time everyone heads home, the props will be in place for the major raids to commence. Those raids will happen tomorrow... well, today, actually.

"As a result of information obtained during the interviews that have already been conducted, magistrates and JPs have been pulled from their beds and warrants are being issued to conduct searches on the homes, offices and vehicles belonging to anyone with only the slightest connection to those arrested during the night.

"If the police do their jobs properly, evidence relating to prostitution, bribery and corruption will be discovered as a by-product of their drug distribution enquiry. As I understand it, the drug squad will be operating under the Ethical Standards Command's watchful eye.

"Of course, information leaked to the investigative television show, Focus, and the journalist you told me about, will guarantee that nothing is swept under the carpet. That journalist and Focus have also received anonymous tip-offs about the SCC investigation into the police use of lawyers as confidential informants.

"Both groups have also been provided with snippets of film footage from the retreats and cruises, showing the orgiastic activities and clearly identifying the participants. Among the lawyers, judges, politicians and senior policemen, four people stand out.

"One of them - a male - is the head of the drug squad, which might give the investigators a clue to the source of the drugs seized in last night's raids. Another male is a member of the state's Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee. The third male is a senior politician, a close friend of the PCCC member. The fourth is a woman who just happens to be a member of the State Crime Commission. Coincidentally, she's on the task force conducting the police CI inquiry.

"Assuming it's ever allowed to see the light of day, this whole thing has the potential of eclipsing the Fitzgerald Police Corruption Inquiry of the late nineteen-eighties."

I sat back, thinking it was good that I'd been too busy to watch the video recording of my wife's activities. The fact that I

know

what she's been getting up to is enough for the moment. I might take the time to look at some of the footage when this whole thing is over.

"It sounds like it is rolling along nicely," I said. "I think we can let it run along at its own pace for a while, maybe giving it a nudge if it starts to slow down. Still, I believe you've outdone yourself, Prancer, my tin-legged friend.

"Someone suggested last night that I should write a book. But I think your achievement trumps anything I might have to write about. After this is over, it should be you who sits down to put together a full-blown exposé. You could call it "Fuck You! - Or, How to Destroy the Man Who Stole My Mate's Wife in Less Than a Week".

"But let's not start counting our chickens yet. As my dear sainted mother often says, 'There's many a slip 'tween cup and lip'.

"Now, what about this morning's little operation?"

During the next thirty minutes, Tommy filled me in on what had gone down in the two-block section of the street between the pub and Brad's office. It turned out my assumptions had been correct; not the least of which being that both the shooter and driver were members of my own security unit. They were both ex-military.

While they had both been infantrymen, neither had ever served overseas. This would be their first kill. That probably contributed to Brad's survival. They had both been nervous and unsure of themselves. Donk and Spearman were convinced that neither man knew why the hit had been ordered.

They did give up the location of their training camp, however, and the interrogators came away from the interviews with a list of those members of the group known to the would-be assassins. When Tommy showed me that list, I recognised all but a few of the people named.

Of the people I recognised, those who weren't security unit members were employees who worked in my company's stores area. That explained the smirks I had received when I'd gone down to retrieve my truck the previous afternoon. It would be interesting to see how many of those on the list turned up for work that morning.

Amongst the other information gleaned from the wannabe Nazi stormtroopers was their platoon-strength cell's hierarchy and structure. Apparently, either Donk or Spearman had inferred that the one who talked the loudest would live the longest. They lied, of course. But it achieved the desired result.

"I'm afraid I had to break into your personnel records to obtain the addresses of those members of this coven who work for you," Tommy said. "I hope you don't mind. But I needed to know where they live so I could put trackers on their vehicles."

"I would have been surprised if you hadn't," I responded.

"By the way," Tommy added. "Did you know you have someone digging around in your financial records?"

I explained to him about my arrangement with Manny.

"In addition to finding out who the unidentified people are," I said, "the two people I'm most interested in are Manyweather and his right-hand man, former military police warrant officer, Helmut Kroenig.

"Kroenig has been with Manyweather since his time in Iraq and is the closest thing to a 'friend' he has; that's assuming psychopaths have friends. Given his planned assassination of

my

closest friend, Kroenig will be my first target.

"Just one other thing before we break," I continued, "well, two things, really. First, I need you to lock Manyweather out of my servers while still allowing Manny to conduct his audit. Second, I need you to block access to the surveillance cameras he has installed to everyone but you and me. I don't want him or any of his crew to know what's going on. And I want to be able to turn the internal surveillance off with the flick of a switch.

"Of course, all the external surveillance cameras will have to continue to operate so the new security team can do its job.

"And speaking of Manny, I want someone watching his back. He's not only a good accountant, but he's also a Jew. Manyweather has been targeting him for quite a while. I wouldn't put it past the little Führer to pay him some special attention."

With that, we headed off to bed. I needed to get an hour of shuteye before heading off to work. Someone needed to be there to open up the compound so the work crews could get themselves organised. It would be interesting to see who turned up and who didn't. My HR manager and her team were going to have a big day ahead of them working out the severance packages for all those who didn't clock on this morning; and even one or two who did.

---oooBJSooo---

On my way to my company's compound the next morning, I received a text from Tommy telling me that I would be met at the gate by my new head of security and his day shift unit. They shouldn't be under too much pressure. All work would stop, and the whole operation would shut down for the Christmas break at mid-day on Friday. No one would be on any of the job sites or in the compound after the traditional break-up party.

That triggered a thought. I pulled over and called my one-legged friend.

"Please arrange for the security team to bring in an explosives sniffer dog," I said as soon as he answered. "Manyweather knows that all my staff, their families and many of my clients and suppliers will be gathered together in the compound for our Christmas party on Friday afternoon. It would be an ideal opportunity for him to make a statement.

"It would also be a good idea to have the construction sites sniffed. I wouldn't put it past the bastard to blow up the partially completed buildings just to put a bit of extra icing on his cake.

"If possible, retrieve any explosives found on the work sites. Anything found at the compound should be reported to the police via your friend's friend. I'd like to find an alternative location for our break-up party, but it's probably too late for that. The whole thing might have to be cancelled if anything is found."

Tommy agreed to arrange for the dog.

---oooBJSooo---

It was just gone five-thirty when I arrived at my company's base of operations. The place was as quiet as a graveyard. The fact that there was no security at the gate - which would usually be open at this time - told me that my guess about Manyweather's departure had been correct.

As I was unlocking the gate to let myself into my compound, however, a crew-cab truck pulled in behind mine, and four men alighted, all of them of military bearing. One of them carried himself as only an officer could. He introduced himself as Frank O'Reilly. After introducing his three companions and explaining that they were part of my new security team, I opened the wide double gates and invited them in.

Once our vehicles were inside the compound, I closed and locked the gate behind me, and we drove around to the rear of the large building.

Using my grand master key, I opened up the rear entrance and led them through to the security suite. It was a grouping of rooms that Manyweather had set up to maintain distance between his people and mine. It contained his office, a meeting room and a lunchroom. It even had its own change room, which contained personal lockers and a cluster of individual shower cubicles. Along one wall was a bank of secure gun lockers.

While my master key could open every standard lock anywhere in the building, its one limitation was that it couldn't open the personal lockers or the gun safes as they had been fitted with digital combination locks.

The personal lockers weren't critical, but I needed to get into those gun safes to confirm that the weapons had been stolen. They shouldn't leave the premises unless the person issued with the weapon was on duty.

Before worrying about that, however, I printed off two lists containing the names of all my employees and, with their leader's nod, instructed two of the relieving security people to head out to the gate and check the names of everyone entering the place off against the names on the lists. I was pleased to see that Matt White's name had already been added to the list.

I went with them to unlock the gate and open up the office section of the building.

One of the jobs on my 'To-Do' list for today was to change the locks. That had now been given top priority. It was going to be an expensive exercise. The leader instructed his people to stow their gear on the benches until the lockers could be opened. He dropped his own duffle bag in Manyweather's office.

As soon as I got a free moment, I called the locksmith who had installed the original lock system. He promised to come around as soon as he had sent his people off to their jobs.

By the time my crews left the yard, I had a fair idea of who were members of Manyweather's gang. All but a couple of the absentees were named on the assassin's list. In addition to a new security team, it appeared I would have to replace a couple of storemen, which I had already suspected would be the case.

A check with HR later in the morning cleared a couple of absent building crew members. They had applied for early leave to get a head start on their holiday journeys. I was pleased to see that, contrary to my earlier fears, none of my construction people appeared to be tied in with the black-shirts.

As was the case with most building firms, we would be closing our construction section for two weeks over the Christmas-New Year break. That would make things easier for the temporary security crew. The administration and sales staff would be the only non-security people on-site during that two-week period as the office would only be closed from immediately after the Christmas party to the first week in January.

The locksmith arrived just after eight o'clock and opened the lockers and the gun safes. As expected, they were empty. A check of the locked ammunition storage magazine in Manyweather's office showed that it, too, was empty.

I immediately called Alan McGregor to advise him of the thefts. He thanked me for letting him know and advised me to go through normal channels. He assured me that he would keep an eye on things from his end to ensure that everything was done by the book.

I did as he had suggested, and we were soon inundated with detectives from the Criminal Investigation Branch and forensics specialists. While awaiting their arrival, I asked my HR manager to provide me with the personnel records for each of the absentees; excluding those on approved leave, of course.

With Tommy's assistance, I had provided the leader of the temporary security unit with a new laptop and had given him access to Manyweather's files on the company server. He was then able to download all the information relating to the missing firearms and to whom they had been issued. All this information was provided to the police when they arrived.

In the meantime, the sniffer dog had arrived and was doing his job. It took him a couple of hours, but he eventually found a large improvised explosive device tucked away under the old truck I had fitted with a cold room for use at company picnics and other functions, such as our annual Christmas party. Another bomb had been set under the thirteen-metre (forty-foot) mobile home I used as my accommodation unit when working on large remote projects.

The discovery of explosives on the premises resulted in the evacuation of the compound and its buildings. The whole place was now a crime scene.

Immediately after the discovery of the IED, Frank loaded the dog and its handler into his truck. Using the addresses I'd given him, they went to check out the five operational construction sites. He was fully aware of his instructions to disarm and keep any explosives he found; but only if that was possible without endangering lives.

Nothing was found at the three make-work sites that were inspected. The projects those crews had been working on had been completed, and the finished homes handed over to their new owners. The crews that had worked on the finished homes were undertaking groundwork on new construction sites so they would be ready to start when they returned after the holidays.