John and Cheryl

I had already submitted the first two parts when I got comments at the end of the first one about this story. I mentioned that this was a different version of the original 'Blackmailed' story, but many did not understand my explanation. This story used the same characters and in retrospect, I should have changed the names to prevent some confusion. But the idea was to provide a completely different story of the same people that were in Blackmailed based on my conversation with another reader. This story has nothing whatsoever to do with the earlier one except that I used the same character names. Sorry for the confusion.

To the reader who noticed the incorrect name for who Ed was the boss of, I fixed it here. Again, doing my own editing, so it was my fault and I just missed it.

Main Cast

John, 35 years old, 5' 11", 175 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, Cheryl's husband.

Cheryl, 34 years old, 5' 4", 105 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, John's wife.

Meryl, 34 years old, 5'4", 105 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, Cheryl's identical twin.

Ed, 40 years old, 5'11", 180 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, John's boss.

Bob, 45 years old, Ed's boss.

Fred, 55 years old, COO of John's company.

Tony, 30 years old, 6'3", 220 pounds.

Ted, 7 years old and Natalie,9 years old, John and Cheryl's kids.

*

Chapter 6 -- John

I was on my way to the police station. I had received a call from a detective who told me that my wife, who I had found out was cheating on me and was planning on divorcing, had killed 5 men. FIVE! I was in shock. Cheryl had never been violent in her life. I had called her twin, Meryl, and told her to meet me there. I had also called Cheryl's parents and asked them to get the kids. Now I was wondering about where Cheryl got the gun. I had better check our home safe. I had a Glock .40 in there and if that was the weapon, I'd better find out.

I arrived at the police station and walked up to the desk sergeant. I identified myself and before I fully finished he waved me to the right and I turned to see Meryl standing there, in tears.

"Hey. What's going on?"

Meryl put her hand on my forearm and steadied herself. She seemed to be swaying. "They are putting her in one of the interrogation rooms. A doctor just finished patching her up according to the police. We should be able to see her in a couple of minutes."

"Did you call your friend, Jake?" I referred to her good friend who was a defense attorney. I had asked Meryl to call him.

"Yes, he's on his way."

"Good."

Before we could say much more, a policeman in plain clothes came up and introduced himself as Detective Sergeant Savanti, the individual who had called me. "Mr. Jacobson, we have your wife in Room 3." He turned and led us to the room. "Take your time. The doctor gave her something for the pain, but not enough to make her sleepy. He said he may sedate her later."

"Sedate her?"

"She's in some pain and pretty shaky. Please, go in."

Meryl and I entered the room and my wife sat there, cuffed to the table by only her right arm. She looked terrible. They had her in some sort of jail outfit, which was bulky and ugly. Her hair was wet and matted, her left arm was in a sling, and when we got close her face looked bad, too. She had a cut over her left eye that the doctor had put a couple of stitches in, her left eye was turning blue, and there was no telling what other injuries she might have. The look in her eyes when she saw us was one of concession and defeat. She looked small and meek sitting there.

She looked up as we came in and I could see very little of the woman I knew; the one who was strong and strong-willed. "Hi." Her hello was barely discernible.

"How are you, Cheryl?" Meryl asked her and took the seat on the right hand side facing Cheryl, while I took the left hand side.

"Better now."

"You look like you've been through World War 3."

"I have. But I won!" She tried to appear happy, but it missed. The smile she tried to put on died before it was halfway complete. Then she turned to me and lowered her eyes. "I'm very sorry, John. I cannot change what I did, but please help me."

I thought about that. I loved her, I hated her. I guess I couldn't abandon her right now. It would have to wait until after whatever all was involved here. She was, after all, the mother of my children, and they needed her. "I will." But I was still going to divorce her.

She reached out as far as she could to grab my hand on the table, but I flinched and I could see the pain flash in her eyes. Meryl immediately grabbed her hand. "We'll help you through this, Cher. Jake Michaels is on his way. He's going to defend you."

Cheryl took a glance at me. "I hope so. John, I cannot tell you how sorry I am that I got the family into this. Please give my love to Natalie and Ted. I'm sorry I took them this weekend, but I was afraid it would be my last chance to see them for a long time."

"I'll pass that along." I was still so upset and confused that I found it hard to be very nice. "Do you want to tell us what happened?"

She lowered her head. "No." She looked up at me. "John, it was your gun. Look in the safe."

"Okay." Why did I have to look in the safe if she had already told me she took the gun? "Why?"

"I left you something. Please, just read it."

"Okay." It was probably some mushy confession and an attempt to get me back. She probably tried to explain that she was not an adulteress and a murderer. I couldn't imagine how I could take her back, but I didn't say anything with her in her present condition.

There was a knock at the door and Jake came in, looking exactly like you would expect a pricey defense lawyer to look. His suit was expensive and perfect. His shirt and tie perfectly matched the suit and when he smiled, he looked rakish. "Hi, I'm Jake Michaels." He shook my hand, then Meryl's, and then finally he leaned over to shake Cheryl's. She hesitated, but then took it. He turned back to us. "Can you guys excuse us for a few minutes? I want to run through the statement that the police already have and find out what is going on here."

I stood. "Sure." I wanted to get out of there anyway. "See you later Cheryl." I leaned over and patted her hand, at least trying to give her some reassurance without displaying any affection.

"Okay." Meryl was less sure, but got up.

Jake had further instructions for us. "It's going to be a late night and Cheryl needs some rest after this, so why don't you two come back later or tomorrow."

I looked at my watch. It was only 6pm. Ted and Natalie were with the grandparents. It was early, but I wanted to see what was in the safe. "Meryl, why don't you stay for a while tonight and I'll come by tomorrow morning."

Meryl agreed and I got the hell out of there. It was creepy being in a police station with your wife being held for murder. I rushed home and called the grandparents to bring the kids home around bedtime. They asked all kinds of questions, but I put them off since I really knew nothing. I went straight to our safe and found it was still open. The gun, one clip, and some of the ammunition were gone, but there was a manila envelope there with my name on it. I pulled it out and looked at it. It only had my name on it in Cheryl's handwriting. I went to the kitchen, got a beer and sat at the table to open the envelope.

I opened it and there were several printed pages and a thumb drive fell out. I picked up the thumb drive and looked at it. It would have to wait. I started reading the letter.

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My dearest John,

I can only begin this by saying that I am sorry. I made a couple of terrible decisions in the beginning, then was blackmailed by the six people listed here, and it has become a complete nightmare to me. I feel like I have been descending through Dante's layers of Hell, but they are all made of lust and violence. Here is what you need to know. Please do not share this with anyone. I will take whatever punishment they dish out. It's my fault and my responsibility. I will deal with it.

It started on that first day that I gave you the cold shoulder. You had just returned from a trip to New York City on business a couple of days previous to that. You traveled with Monica from your company. I was never jealous of her. We were so happy and had a terrific marriage. You never gave me any reason to suspect anything with her. However, I was stopping by to see you that day when Ed saw me and called me into his office. He said that he wanted to talk to me about you and your place at the company. With all the hard work you had been doing I thought he was going to discuss some big promotion news. Instead, he offered me a bottle of water and fidgeted and beat around the bush about nothing. I was feeling flushed and bothered by this so I asked him straight out what it was. He told me that he had evidence that you and Monica were having an affair on the road. I was shocked and refused to believe him. He acted like he didn't want to show me, but he did show me a video that really got to me. It first showed you knocking at a hotel door and Monica answering to invite you in. It then cut to a shot of a couple having sex. It was obviously Monica. I never saw the face of the man during sex, but the room looked to be the same as the one you entered and it was obviously Monica. I was suddenly feeling woozy and weak. Ed told me to sit for a while and now with what has happened since then I realize that he drugged me. He waited until I was barely able to tell where I was and then he stuck his cock in my face and told me to suck it as revenge on you. That was my first mistake. I don't remember it at all, but I must have. By the time I recovered and got home I was feeling sick, but when I got a video on my phone showing me sucking him off, I threw up several times. I didn't know what to do. I was angry at you and was going to throw it in your face, but something made me hold back and made me afraid to tell you anything. Instead, I decided that I would go back and confront Ed. This was my second mistake.

My second visit was worse than my first. I was going to refuse to take anything from Ed on this visit but Jenny, his assistant, offered me coffee while I was waiting outside his office which I took. This was my third mistake. I should have never trusted her. It turned out to be drugged as well and she was working with Ed. Three men came out of Ed's office: Ed, a large man named Tony, and a doctor who they just called 'Doc'. They took me into Ed's office, drugged me again, and when I awoke, Jenny was trying to rub herself on my face and Tony was fucking me. The video of this was so much worse and he made sure to show it to me and he even sent me a copy. It showed Ed fucking my face, then fucking me, then him fucking and cumming in Jenny, and finally, Jenny sitting on my face with a cum-filled pussy and Tony fucking me hard. There is even the porn style shot of Tony cumming on my face. I have never in my life had any desire to have sex with a woman, but in the film it looks like I am. I also said things that they dictated to me that were designed to completely humiliate you. I said things about you not taking care of me sexually and how I loved fucking Ed and Jenny. I remember none o f this; everything about that day is hazy because of the drugs. I only remember waking up near the end of it and ending up with a face like a glazed doughnut (a phrase I remember you saying when we watched porn once). The last two things they did was to tell me that the video of Monica and her lover was not you, so you were not cheating, and then to show me pictures of you, Ted, and Natalie. They threatened to harm you if I didn't continue. I felt stuck and couldn't see a way out of this mess.

In any case, they blackmailed me and it worked. I tried to think of a way to get out of it, but couldn't bring myself to do anything when they threatened the kids. After a couple of weeks of trying to avoid Ed and Jenny, they made me have sex with a customer and forced me to try to pleasure Jenny. Then, after that incident I was invited to a meeting at Fred Williamson's house. Since he was your COO, I thought something had happened and he wanted to see me and discuss how he was going to address the terrible things that Ed and Jenny had done to me. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. The instant I entered the door, I was manhandled, handcuffed, and taken to a basement 'playroom'. It was a dungeon like nothing I had ever seen. They abused me all day. I barely got out of there in time to pick up the kids from school. This time I was determined to stop them.

For the next three weeks, they would order me to meet at Fred's house one day a week during the time when the kids were at school. There were five of them: Fred Williamson, your boss Ed, his boss Bob, the asshole Tony, and this doctor somebody who they all just called Doc. Tony was the worst. He was sadistic and was the one who kept reminding me that he would kill you guys as he fucked me and slapped my ass and tits. He said that he had already almost run you off the road with his SUV, but didn't elaborate. He continued to abuse me just for fun and then cum all over me. He was big, strong, and scary and I didn't think to cross him. In just a couple of months things had spiraled completely out of control.

They fucked me and I had sex with all five men and sometimes Jenny once a week for the last few weeks. I became sore and upset and the drugs were affecting me. I was moody, I snapped at the kids, I snapped at you, I hated my life. Things looked dark and bleak and I had to act. I knew that I had had enough and had to get out before they did something to me to make sure I never talked about it, or hurt our family, or moved on to prey on another unsuspecting woman. I knew there was only one way to do this. I couldn't take any more beatings. I am going to take the gun in the safe with me today. I am going to shoot them, no matter what. If you are reading this, I am either dead or in jail for killing them. I'm just sorry that it came to this.

Please do not share this with anyone. I cannot stomach that you are finding out this way and it would kill me if the kids ever found out about all these terrible acts. If I'm going to jail, then I will gladly accept my sentence for killing those assholes. I just know that I had to end it and not let them prey on me or anyone else any more, especially my family. Just know that I never stopped loving you. I just couldn't bring myself to have sex with you after all of them had fucked me without protection. The only time we did I knew it was a chance, but I was just prolonging the inevitable. And then there was the fact that I was cheating on you. That didn't make it any easier. This all stems from a stupid mistake that I made and my inability to nip it in the bud when it happened. In hindsight, if I had told you after that first time in Ed's office, I believe our love was once strong enough that we could have recovered. After this, I only hope that you'll let me see the children again -- if I live through Monday and make it through a trial.

You are the only man I ever loved and ever want to love. Please don't hate me.

Your lost wife, Cheryl

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I put the note down. I felt my cheeks and realized I was crying. How anyone could do those types of things to a beautiful woman like Cheryl was beyond me. I was still afraid I would never get past this, but I knew I wouldn't keep the children from seeing her.

Chapter 7

The next day I went to the police station. I put the envelope back in the safe. I had decided not to look at the thumb drive. I couldn't think about seeing anything on there after reading the letter.

When I got there, I was allowed to talk to her. I waited while they brought her to an interrogation room. When she came in she saw my face and looked down. They cuffed her to the table and I waited. She said nothing.

"I read the letter you left."

"Oh." Her answer was quiet.

"I'm sorry that it came to this."

She looked up. "Me, too."

"What did the lawyer say?"

"He said that I would probably get 10 to 20 years for each count. He said that even though I was beaten up, they would say that that was no reason to kill them."

"Can I give him the letter?"

"No!" She said it adamantly.

"It would make it easier on you."

"It's not supposed to be easy. I made a mess of my life and I have to pay for it." She sounded so resigned to her fate.

"Yeah, maybe. But that's not fair to the kids or the rest of the family."

She looked up and I could see the wheels turning. "They'll find out."

"Find out what? That you were drugged and blackmailed and abused? That's not a disgrace."

"No? You know better than that. Everyone will stare at me and wonder; or they'll imagine me in the positions those guys put me through and always think if me that way. I'll be a pariah to the women and a source of dark fantasy to the men."

"I don't think so. I think they'll realize what happened."

She looked very pointedly at me. "And are you going to take me back like nothing has happened?" When I hesitated and she looked away. "That's what I thought."

"Cheryl, a lot has happened."

She got angry at that. "No shit! Most of it happened to me. You think the kids won't hear about this from their friends? You think people won't look at me differently because of this? You think our friends and the kid's friends won't start disappearing?"

"And if you are convicted of murder? Will that make them look at you any differently? How will the neighbors, our friends, and the kids' friends treat them if you are a convicted murderer? In fact, a lot of this will come out during the trial and you know the newspapers will spread it all over."

She studied her hands. "I don't know, I don't know. I just know that I cannot face them. You will probably have to move to a new place so that you guys can get on with your lives."

I reached over and put my hand under her chin and lifted her face. As it came up I saw her look soften. Tears brimmed as it was the gentlest touch I had given her in a long time. "Cheryl. I may never get past this. I may never love you like I did. But I think you owe it to the kids to be around and be a mother to them. They need a mother."

The tears finally spilled over the bottom of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. "I know. I just don't know if I can do it."

"Let me talk to Jake and find out what he thinks without giving him any particulars."

She hesitated and stared at me for a couple of seconds. "Okay." She wiped her tears and tried to straighten up .

Then, in a big coincidence, Jake opened the door. "Hey, guys." He came over and sat next to me. "I don't mean to barge in here, but I have a court date in a while and I need to talk to you two."

About that time my phone rang. It was my assistant from work. "Let me take this outside and I'll be right back."

They agreed and I left them to talk. I walked into the corridor. "Hey, Joanne, what's up?" There was some silence and then I heard a little sniffling. "Joanne, what's going on?"

Suddenly Joanne blurted it out. "Oh, John, I'm so sorry. You've been fired!"

"What?!" I was stunned.

"Yeah, I was just told. I might lose my job, too."

"Just hold on, Joanne. Nobody has told me anything. Let me make some calls and see what the hell is going on. This can't be right." This was just too much on top of everything else.

"Okay, John, I hope it's a mistake. Oh, how is Cheryl?"

"Not good. I'll call you back soon."

I hung up and called Monica, who was a peer. As soon as she answered I burst out with the question. "Monica, what the hell is going on? I'm fired?"

"I don't know what's happening. It came out in an email from the HR manager. There was no reason provided to any of us. I'm checking it out. I'll call you back if I find anything out."