Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology (24 page)

“
Good; apology
accepted. Anything else?”

“
Nope; I think
that's it for now. How's it going over there on the boat?”

“
Had one attack,
but we managed to stop it. No casualties on our side.”

“
Good. I guess
that's it from here. Tell Pam hello for me.”

“
Will do. Can't
wait to tell her about Toronto, too,” Jake said, laughing.

“
Yeah; she'll
love that,” Gordy replied, then began to hum the “William
Tell Overture.”

Jake laughed. “Wonder
if Pam'll like that better'n the Bolero. No, wait, that's more JJ's
style.”

“
Or maybe
Canada'll make it their new national anthem.”

Jake laughed harder.
“Good one.”

“
So long, Jake.”

“
See ya, Gordy.”

Gordy ended the
call, returned the satphone to its cradle and fired up his PC to scan
and send the subpoena. Then he went upstairs and lay down, lulled to
sleep by the heavy rain outside.

- 58 -

December
11, 2012
5:17
p.m. local time

Maldonado, Uruguay

“
Sure
you're up for this?”

“
Yeah,
I'm sure.”

“
I've
heard the second one is the toughest.”

“
I know,
I know. But I'm on top of it, really.”

“
Just
don't tense up when it comes down to it.”

“
Okay,
okay, okay! Geez, Linda, have you ever seen me tense up
when
it counted? Ever?”

“
Well,
uh, Tokyo, October.”

“
Oh, come
on; I didn't tense up.”

“
No, no,
not when you took the shot. But with the customs guy at
the
airport.”

“
Oh,
that; it didn't show, did it?”

“
Maybe
not to him, but I could tell.”

“
Well,
geez, I was hoping the sealant worked and nothing broke loose.”

“
Wayne,
the whole thing was filled with sealant, same stuff they used on
Hoffa back in '75; nothing coulda broken loose.”

“
I know,
I know. But I was worried.”

“
You
worry too much. It was all secure. Really. And it got on the
flight with no problems, didn't it?”

“
Yeah,
yeah. But he was mighty curious. And when he brought out that
mallet and started tapping on it, especially on the belly –
yeah, you're right; I did tense up.”

“
Well, he
was concerned that it might be a real artifact, not the replica that
it was. They have strict export controls.”

“
I know.”

“
And it
made it to Hawaii and the client with no problem, right?”

“
Right.”

“
So there
was nothing to worry about.”

“
In
hindsight. But at the time” –

“
At the
time, I was doing just fine with him, but you almost blew it.”

“
Did
not.”

“
Yes, you
did.”

“
Di- –
uh-oh, here he comes.”

“
Where?”

“
Just
coming out, the fat guy with the full cart.”

“
Okay,
got him; video running. Geez, was he gonna eat all that?”

“
Probably
in one sitting.”

“
Geez; no
wonder he's over 300 pounds.”

“
At least
he can't walk too fast.”

“
A shame
to let all that food go to waste.”

“
Yup.”

“
587 all
warmed up?”

“
Yup; all
set.”

“
Wait
till you've got a clear shot; no collaterals.”

“
I know.
Now let me focus.”

“
Okay,
okay. Just” --

“
Shh.”

A moment later,
customers leaving the supermarket and other passersby began
screaming, crossing themselves and running away from what remained of
a large male whose body had begun bloating and then exploded, sending
bits of flesh, bone and bodily fluids flying through the air. The
cart he had pushed out from the store was flung into a parked car six
meters away, two hands still clenched around the handle.

“
Perfect
shot, Wayne.”

“
Yup.
Let's get outa here.”

Wayne collapsed
the micro DK-587 and packed it into its case, slinging it over his
shoulder, while Linda checked the hallway outside the office and
wiped the doorknob down.

“
All
clear. Go, go, go,” she whispered, and Wayne ran through the
door and down the hall, Linda right at his back, the door to the
office closed and locked behind her, no trace of
their unauthorized use remaining.

Three flights
down, they took a breath before opening a door and walking casually
through it, merging unobtrusively with the crowds enjoying the
museum's latest exhibits of local artists' paintings and
photography.

Half an hour
later, well away from the city, Linda dialed a number on her
satphone.

“
Authentication
3789054, encryption on. Hi, Amber. It's done. We're on our way to
Montevideo and then Buenos Aires. What? No, it worked fine; no
spread, no collaterals, less than two seconds to explosion. And the
waveguide only got lukewarm. Right, Wayne?”

“
Right.”

“
Yeah, no
problems there. Want me to send the video now or can it wait till we
get to the hotel in BA? Okay, fine. I'll give you a buzz when we
get there. Anything else we need to do? Okay. Buzz ya later.”

“
You
okay, Wayne? Want me to drive?”

“
Yeah –
no – well, I don't think I'll ever get that picture out of my
head.”

“
At least
we don't have a body to dispose of.”

“
Yeah. I
don't think our guy could cast a Buddha that big.”

“
But he
could probably just seal him up, coat him in bronze and put the
statue in a park somewhere.”

“
Like
Hoffa.”

“
Yeah.”

“
But
fatter.”

“
Yeah.”

“
Lots
fatter. Did you see how that guy bubbled and then just blew apart?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Incredible,
absolutely incredible.”

- 59 -

December
15, 2012
10:47
a.m. local time

Bonita Beach, Florida

“
It's
incredible, Dallas, absolutely incredible.”

“
Glad you
like it, Gordy.”

“
Me, too,
Dallas, but I have one suggestion.”

“
Okay,
Rosemary; I'm open.”

“
Well,
you know that Pam and Jake are in love, right? I didn't see their
intimacy and trust in there so much. It was very erotic, but just
sort of, uh, physical, mechanical, clinical. Are those the right
words? Know what I mean?”

“
Yeah, I
do.”

“
Don't
get me wrong; it's incredibly good, super erotic. Just reading it
gave me a lot of – ah, you know.”

“
Orgasms?”

“
Oh,
dear. Uh, yeah,” Rosemary said, blushing. She looked at
Gordy
and said, “Not as intense as with you, of course.”

“
But
pretty damned good, huh?”

“
Yeah,
Dallas, pretty damned good.” She blushed again.

“
And JJ?
He's not in love with her.”

“
No, he's
not,” Gordy said. “He likes her, and her personality both
scares him and intrigues him, and this is a
going-away party for her,
so he goes along with it.
But he'd probably prefer just spending his
time with
Pam.”

“
But he
does get excited at the prospect,” Rosemary said.

“
Every
man's secret dream, right, Rosemary?”

“
Right,
Dallas.”

“
Hey,
girls, I'm sitting right here – well, reclining, actually.”

“
Sorry,
Gordy. Just girl talk.

“
Anyhow,
I think I know what you're looking for, and it's no big deal at all
for me to add that.”

“
But
without toning down the eroticism.”

“
Of
course not, Rosemary; that may even heighten it. And it'll be fun
for me to play with that. In fact, I just had an idea on how to do
it.”

“
Really?
How?”

“
It's
just fuzzy now, Gordy, but I can flesh it out pretty easily.”

“
Cool.
But again, no rush; don't mess up your holidays on it, okay? I'll be
out of town for the next week, probably, and Ro'll be gone until
after Christmas, and we've got lots of time after that, too. So no
rush, okay?”

“
Works
for me. I've got a deadline on my new novel on January 15
th,
but I'm ahead of schedule on that. This'll be a piece of cake,
really, and we'll be in touch along the way, okay?”

“
Great.
And thank you so much, Dallas; it means a lot to me.”

“
And to
me,” Rosemary added.

“
Cool.
But now I've got to run; another appointment again.”

“
Okay.
See ya.”

“
Bye,
Gordy. Rosemary, again, feel free to call anytime.”