The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology (36 page)

Sharon threw her two cents in. “C'mon, Jake. We didn't go to
all the trouble of putting the bug in for you to not pick up on an
open invitation. Get with it, old man. Quit being oblivious!”

Finally, Pam sighed and lowered her feet to the bottom and twirled to
face Jake.

“Thank you, Jake; that was really great. You have magic
hands.”

“Any time, Pam.”

Pam leaned back on her noodle and wrapped her legs around Jake's
waist, pulling him closer to her.

Jake, once again perflutzed, felt his face flushing and was glad he
was as tan as he was. But he couldn't find anything to say.

“I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?” Pam said,
smiling.

“You always surprise me, but … but I can adjust.”

Pam smiled even more and said, “I'm glad of that, Jake.”

“Why, Mrs. Robertson-Brooks, are you trying to seduce me?”

“What do you think, Mr. Devlin?”

“Sure seems like that. But it's been a long time, so I'm not
sure.”

“Let me see if I can make it clearer for you, okay?”

“Okay.”

She pulled him even closer and murmured, “Oh, that feels good.”

“For me, too,” Jake said, smiling.

“How about this?” Pam slid her legs down and intertwined
them with Jake's, pulling him even closer and tighter to her, at
least from their waists down, well under the water's rippling
surface.

“Even better.”

“I can tell. Mmmm.”

“Wow, Pam. You are a total surprise.”

“A pleasant one, I hope.”

“Absolutely,” Jake replied, as they locked eyes for a
very long moment. Finally, Pam broke the silence.

“Let's go up to my condo … if you want to.”

“I'd like that.”

Pam untwined her legs from Jake's and smiled as she turned to the
shore.

Jake said, “Oh, wait a minute. I think I need to stay in the
water a little longer.” He smiled sheepishly.

Pam smiled knowingly. “Maybe if you thought about baseball or
football?”

“Not much of a sports fan.”

“Oh; too bad.”

“In fact, in my whole life, I've only watched maybe a total of
five or six innings of football.”

“I'm not much of a spor- – wait a minute. Innings?”
She saw Jake smiling and laughed out loud. “I guess that does
get the point across.”

“Only if people listen well; a lot of 'em just think I'm
stupid.”

“Which is fine with you, I'd guess.”

“Yup; I --”

“Jake Devlin, I've got a bone to pick with you,” a high,
squeaky female voice intruded. Pam and Jake both laughed, as did
Jill, Carie and Sharon. Jake turned around and saw the elderly
leader of the Hat Squad glaring at him and, to a lesser extent, at
Pam. He squelched his laughter as best he could.

“Yes, Alice? What is it?”

“I read the stuff you have online, and you need to take out all
those F-words. It's disgusting and disgraceful.”

Jill, Carie and Sharon laughed out loud; Pam covered her mouth.

Jake, biting his tongue, smiled at Alice and said, “Geez,
Alice, I'm glad you read it, but those words help define Debbie's
character.”

“That may be, but those words are offensive, and I insist you
take them all out.”

“Alice, I would like to accommodate you, but they're important
for the story. I'm sorry if you're offended by them, but they're
staying in.”

“And the N-word, too. You need to remove that.”

“You know, Alice, on that one, I may do that; I've been
debating that for a while.”

“Well, do it, young man. Do it.”

Jake held an index finger to the tip of his nose. “Tell you
what, Alice, I'll change it so it reads 'N-word deleted' in
parentheses.”

“That's one,” said Alice, not satisfied. “But you
need to get rid of all the F-words, too.”

“Sorry, Alice; those will stay in.”

“Well, then I certainly will not be buying a copy, and none of
my friends will, either.”

“That's your choice, of course, Alice, if you're offended by
it. I'm sorry you --”

“I'll write letters to the editor and put a warning in our
community newsletter.”

“Alice, you're free to do whatever you want to do. But I've
got to run now; got an appointment.”

“What kind of --”

“Frankly, Alice, that's none of your business.”

“Why, of all the – you are a very rude young man.”

“Sorry you feel that way, Alice, but I've got to run. Have a
nice day.”

He turned away, looked at Pam and worked very hard to keep from
bursting out in further laughter. Pam did the same thing, less
successfully, and they headed for shore.

Jake said, “Well, at least I don't have to stay in the water
any longer.”

Pam smiled and said, “Maybe we'll have to send her a thank-you
note.”

“We may just have to do that. Maybe give her a commission.”

“But now, Jake, let's go keep that appointment.”

“Yes, ma'am, let's.” They made it to shore, picked up
their bags and headed off the beach to do just that.

“Hey, Norm, Janet, can you watch our stuff for a while?”

“Sure, Jake.”

As they passed the Mimosa twins, Jake glanced at them and held two
fingers to his eyes, then pointed them at his and Pam's stuff,
questioningly. They nodded and he smiled and nodded back.

“Those ditzy chicks'll keep an eye on our stuff, too.”

“Well, if they're pros, they'll be good at it.”

“Oh, c'mon, Pam, they're just kids.”

Out in the water, Alice had just gotten back to her coven –
sorry, her group, and was talking and gesticulating angrily, pointing
and glaring at Jake and Pam's receding figures.

-68-

Friday, January 13, 2012

9:00 a.m. EST

The White House

Washington, DC

Donne warmly greeted Admiral Dean Thomasson, Chairman, and the other
members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as they filed with military
precision into the Oval Office and stood at attention in front of his
desk. The Secretary of Defense, Leander G. Bentley, the Third,
shambled in behind them and headed for the couches in the center of
the room, settling his prodigious bulk into the nearest one.

“Good morning, gentlemen, and a very happy Friday the 13th, or
if any of you are superstitious, happy Ides minus two of January –
oh, at ease – no, more than at ease. Relax and let's sit down
over there.” He pointed to the couches, and they all filed over
there, with Donne, Bentley and Thomasson sitting on one couch and the
other three on the other.

“First of all, gentlemen, I want to congratulate you all on how
well and with great restraint your troops have been dealing with the
Occupy movement and the other protest movements that have been
organized and financed by the radical left. Damage and injuries have
been minimal, from the reports I've seen, and I understand your
people have helped ensure that they have cleaned up their trash and
repaired the damage they've caused, all under your supervision.

“And am I correct that your troops have had no problems with
the Tea Party people, other than some of the radical far
right-wingers and some left-wing plants?”

SecDef Bentley responded, “Correct.” The others nodded.

“Good, good. Just keep on with the same procedures.

“Now, have you brought what I asked you for, Dean?”

Admiral Thomasson opened his briefcase, pulled out a thick sheaf of
papers and set them on the coffee table in front of Donne and
Bentley.

“There you are, sir --”

“Gordy, please.”

“-- Gordy. That's the budget analysis we've prepared for you,
with the three different percent reductions you asked for, 10, 25 and
40.”

“Good, good, Dean. We'll go through it in detail and work with
you to implement what we can without damaging our defense
capabilities and our readiness.”

“Well, si- – Gordy, the 40 percent would do just that.”

“Of course it would. But that exercise helps us all to see
what your priorities are over there at the Pentagon.

“The six of us will look that over in depth and come to some
decisions together, and we'll bring some outside military advisers in
to do their own analyses and give us their input.

“But how do you feel about no longer having politicians decide
what you need?”

“That is the best thing you've done in this whole process,
Gordy. I was getting sick of their meddling and ignorance. But
mostly it made me sick to see them pushing pointless programs just
for the sake of bringing the bacon back to their home districts or
states. That was no way to run a professional military.”

“How about that guy who thought Guam would tip over if the new
Marines were added there?”

“I had to bite my tongue so hard that it bled while I was
trying to answer his question and not laugh … or shoot the
SOB.”

Everyone in the room laughed, remembering the scene.

Donne said, “I was watching it on the tube, so I didn't have to
hold my laughter back. But it wasn't humorous laughter; it was …
I don't know the right word … not nervous … maybe
contemptuous? Something like that.”

“Sad laughter, Gordy?” Bentley suggested.

“Not quite, Lee, but that's in there, if there's no hope. I
think it's more fear and anger and frustration.”

Bentley said, “In any event, I'm relieved that we're all free
of the idiots using us all for their political agendas. Now maybe we
can actually make things work.”

“And, Dean, you know we're going to have to overhaul your
procurement processes? Way too much fraud, waste and abuse.”

“Absolutely, Gordy. We've got over a hundred ongoing DIA
investigations right now.”

“Good, good; keep me apprised on all of that as things
develop.”

“Of course.”

“And you've followed my guidance that reductions in force
should first come in the upper bureaucratic levels, not at the
operational level, right?”

Thomasson shifted in his seat, cleared his throat and said, “Well,
Gordy, that's --”

“Now, now, Dean, don't you dare lie or deflect on that one.”

“It's tough, sir; there'll be a lot of resistance and backlash
on --”

“I know that, Dean. But if you don't get it done, I will, and
I will be much tougher and carry a bigger axe than you will. But if
we're really going to get down to a lean and mean military, the bloat
has got to go. But without reducing our operational readiness. Got
it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And don't try to snow me 'cause I'm new at this. Don't forget
that DEI has been a big supplier to the Defense Department.”

“And you've always come in under budget and ahead of schedule,”
SecDef added.

“Thanks, Lee, but I don't need the endorsement.

“Dean, guys, I will look over these papers and do my own
analysis, along with staff, and I hope, for your sakes, that you have
been very honest and deeply critical and analytical in this stuff,”
he said, patting the pile of papers. “I don't want to have you
do it again in a cell downstairs.

“Okay. Any more questions, comments?”

Silence.

“Okay, guys. Dismissed.”

Everybody, including the SecDef, left the office, as Donne picked up
the sheaf of papers and began skimming through it, frowning and
making wholesale redactions and writing many cryptic and nearly
indecipherable notes in the margins.

Half an hour later, his intercom buzzed. “Yeah, Emily?”

“One of the guards just brought me an 18-page motion from that
union lawyer, Ms. Skinner, objecting to the food, the jumpsuits and
the general conditions in the cells, with a 23-page supporting brief,
all handwritten. Do you want to see it?”

“No need. Just stamp it 'Denied,' sign it as Chief of Staff,
make a copy and send it back down.”

“Will do. Anything else you need, Gordy?”

“I'm all set – oh, could you have someone bring in a
couple more of those donuts and another can of soda?”

“Oh, Gordy. How about --”

“No, no, no, Emily. Might as well give up on that. But I
appreciate your concern. The donuts and soda'll be just fine.”

“Can't blame a girl for trying.”

“I never will, Emily.”

He heard the intercom click off and went back to his papers.

-69-

Five Months Earlier

Sunday, August 14, 2011

1:55 p.m.

A seventh-floor condo

Bonita Beach, Florida

“Oh, god, Pam, again? You're insatiable.”

Pam reared her head back, flinging her golden mane through the air,
coming to rest against her glistening shoulders and back. She
laughed, looking down into his eyes.

“I'm insatiable? Oh, Jake, you should talk.”

“What? Me? Three times in … what? … two hours?
I'm surprised I haven't died already.”

“Oh, Jake, you have, three times, but it was just la petite
mort.”

“Just what?”

“The small death.”

“None of them were very small, at least to me. I almost passed
out that last time.”

Pam laughed, “Me, too.”

Jake said, “Can you imagine the headlines? 'Naked Couple Found
Dead in Condo; Multiple Small Deaths Blamed.'”

Pam reared her head back and laughed again, her eyes sparkling. “I
wonder if Sgt. Dooley would be the one to investigate.” She
giggled, and Jake chuckled.

“He's Collier; we're in Lee. So no.”

“Oh, tough luck for him. He so wanted to see me naked.
Remember?”

“Just that he was big and bald … and that you backed him
down pretty quickly.”

Pam laughed. “I did, didn't I?” She stopped laughing
and sighed. “Dealt with a lot of locals over the years, even
back --”

She sighed again and rolled off of Jake and over onto her back, her
eyes open, staring at the ceiling, her breathing shallow but regular.
A long moment later, a frown wrinkled her brow, her eyes closed and
a tiny tear oozed from her left eye, followed by another and then
another.