Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology (7 page)

November
12, 2012
3:34
p.m. local time

Aboard
Defiance

On
t
he
Red Sea

“
Sir, your C of S
wants to talk with you.”

“
I'm on my way
below; I'll take it in my cabin.”

“
I'll let her
know, sir.”

“
Thanks,
Captain.”

A few moments later,
Jake picked up the encrypted sat phone in his cabin.

“
Hey, Amber.”

“
Hi, Ja- –
uh, Paul.”

“
Oh, Jake's fine
between us.”

“
Okay. I got
everything from the captain, and I'll take care of all that with
Keegan.”

“
And JJ's trip
home?”

“
Yup. And we've
got another job I want to clear with you.”

“
Okay.”

“
It's in
Malaysia, and the client wants the body found.”

“
We've done that
before.”

“
But not often.”

“
Nope.”

“
He also wants it
disfigured and displayed.”

“
How?”

“
He's leaving
that open; he just wants it ugly, but recognizable.”

“
As a warning?”

“
Right.”

“
To whom?”

“
The other
triads.”

“
We can do that.
Double our usual fee, of course.”

“
I've informed
the client.”

“
When does he
want it done?”

“
By the end of
the month.”

“
Who's
available?”

“
Derek's just
coming off that job in Manila.”

“
He sure botched
that one up. Dufus.”

“
Kim Li could
back him up; she knows the culture over there, and she's been on
leave in Auckland.”

“
How about Rian?”

“
She's still
recovering from Manila.”

“
Right; damn
Derek. How about Clint?”

“
On leave back in
the States, off the grid.”

“
Lance and Tom?”

“
The Bahama
Twins? On a job in Rio.”

“
Sharon?”

“
Nope. She's
working with a new girl, Glenda, on that target in Austria.”

“
Oh, right; the
inventor in Kufstein.”

“
Last report,
Glenda was following him down toward Bolzano, just passing
Innsbruck.”

“
How about Vito
and Donita?”

“
Danuta.”

“
Oh, right;
Danuta. Danuta, Danuta; got it.”

“
They're working
with the KSK Triplets and the Mimosa Twins on that guard job in
Pretoria.”

“
Ah, right; the
Belgian. How about Josh?”

“
He's going
through the conscience pangs after his second job.”

“
Like all of us
have. How's he coming along?”

“
He's working
with Doc Logan; should be fine in a couple weeks.”

“
Ah; Logan's
good. Wayne and Linda?”

“
They just did
the job in Tokyo and they're prepping the micro
DK-587 for
that fat organ trafficker.”

“
Oh, right,.
Anybody else available?”

“
That's it; I've
checked the whole database.”

“
Damn. Okay,
okay. Check with Derek and Kim Li, see if they'll take the job. And
keep your fingers crossed.”

“
Will do.
Anything else going on down there?”

“
Just that one
attack so far. But we'll see what we'll see.”

“
When you see
it.”

“
Right-oh.
Anything else I need to know now?”

“
Nope; that's it.
But say hi to Pam for me, okay?”

“
I'll do that,
Amber. Keep me in the loop.”

“
Will do.”

- 21 -

November
12, 2012
3:56
p.m. local time

Bonita Beach, Florida

Three Collier County
deputies followed their sergeant across the sand from the boardwalk
from the parking lot, then picked up their pace when they saw the
group surrounding Gordy.

“
What's going on
here? Quiet. Quiet! Malcolm?”

The leader shook his
head and the group continued their chant.

The sergeant stepped
directly in front of the leader and spoke clearly and intently. “I
said, quiet down! Quiet!” Again the leader shook his head and
the group continued.

The sergeant waved one
of his deputies over. “Cuff him, Jacobs.”

“
Turn around and
put your hands behind your back, sir.” The man stayed put
until the deputy grabbed his arm and forcibly turned him around,
cuffing one wrist and then the other one. The bullhorn dropped onto
the sand.

“
Hey, hey, hey!
We've got the right to be here. First Amendment, public space,
Sergeant.”

“
You're under
arrest for disobeying a lawful direct order from a police officer.
Take him over there and read him his rights, Jacobs.” The
deputy complied.

The sergeant turned to
the rest of the group. “Now, unless you all want to join
Malcolm, QUIET DOWN!” Then he walked to one of the elderly
ladies holding a sign and chanting.

“
Mavis, tell
these people to shut up. NOW!”

The elderly woman waved
to the rest of the group to be quiet. They stopped chanting.

“
Good. Now, why
are you harassing this man?”

“
He's a baby
killer!”

The sergeant turned to
Gordy and said, “What is she talking about, sir?”

“
I think it's
about a novel that, uh, I wrote. Fiction.”

“
Mavis, is that
right? Is it about a book?”

“
Yes, it is.”

“
So you're not
saying he's killed a baby?”

“
He legalizes
baby-killing in his book.”

“
It's fiction,
Sergeant, just fiction.”

“
Baby killer!”
the leader, Malcolm, shouted from where the deputy had made him kneel
down in the sand.

“
Shut up,
Malcolm,” the sergeant roared, “or we'll make you shut
up.”

“
Baby killer!”

“
Jacobs, put him
in the back of your cruiser. And close the windows.” The
deputy pulled Malcolm up and walked him off the beach toward the
parking lot.

“
Now, Mavis, you
know the routine; disturbing the peace, and today, the public's quiet
enjoyment of the beach. Williams, Cruz, take them all out to the
parking lot and call for a wagon.”

“
Yes, Sergeant.”

The sergeant turned
back to Gordy as the group quietly but sullenly walked off the beach,
followed by the deputies.

“
Now, sir, your
name?”

Gordy told him, and the
sergeant wrote it in a small notebook.

“
And you wrote
some kind of book?”

“
A novel, yup.
Fiction.”

“
And something in
there about abortion?”

“
Yeah. The new
dictator of the US legalizes it.”

“
Dictator?”

“
Yup. But it's
fiction.”

“
What's the
title?”

“
'The Devlin
Deception.' It's an anti-political thriller.”

“
You got a copy
with you?”

“
Yeah, I do.”

“
Lemme see it.”

Gordy reached into his
bag, pulled out a copy and handed it to the sergeant. While the
sergeant was leafing through it, Gordy spoke up.

“
Oh, there's also
a scene at the end where an anti-abortion guy tries to shoot the
author and then gets killed in prison. And” --

“
Wait; this says
the author is Jake Devlin, but your name is Gordon” – he
reached to his pocket for his notebook.

“
Right. Ah,
that's a pseudonym.”

“
A what?”

“
Pen name.”

“
Oh; okay.”

“
I take it you
know these people, Sergeant.”

“
Yeah; that
Malcolm is an anti-abortion zealot, travels all around the country.
I've had to deal with him before over in Miami. He gets the church
folks all fired up, and they picket the abortion clinic in Naples
every Monday, but it's closed for the holiday today.”

“
So they decided
to come and picket me here?”

“
Looks that way.”

“
Just because I
wrote a novel? Sounds like harassment to me.”

“
It is, but not
legally, unless they actually assault or batter you. Did they? Any
of them?”

“
Nope; they kept
a ways away from me. But they sure were disturbing the peace.”

“
Yup; this is a
public beach, but there's an ordinance that prohibits organized
demonstrations like that and disturbing people's quiet enjoyment of
the beach.”

“
Oh, good. So if
they come back, we can call you?”

“
Yeah. I'll talk
to Mavis and Malcolm, lay down the law to 'em, and maybe they'll stay
away. But if not” --

“
I'll call –
what – 911?”

“
Or just call me.
Here's my card.”

“
Okay, Sergeant …
Dooley?”

“
Right.”

“
Thomas?”

“
Yup; had to live
with that all my life.”

“
Sorta hate to
tell you this, Sarge, but I used that name in my novel.”

“
What?”

“
I used that name
for a Collier County sergeant in the novel.”

“
Really?”

“
Yup; had no idea
there was a real sergeant with that name. I even checked with the
department.”

“
When was that?”

“
Oh, back in –
let's see – I think it was June.”

“
Ah, I wasn't
here then. Came over from Miami in September.”