by Jake Devlin
“You mean tot – dead?”
“Yeah, dead. Understood?”
“Ja, underschtood.”
“Okay, good. Any questions?”
“Uh, no, nuzzing zat I can sink of.”
“Okay; good.
“Rona?”
“Okay. We think you'll be happy to know that Greg told me that he and Julie have tweaked your device” –
“Gizmo.”
“Okay; gizmo –and they've got it up to almost six hours and three hundred miles.”
“Six hours, sree hundred miles? Vow! How?”
“No idea; don't ask me. But you can ask them in a couple weeks; should have everything set up by then.”
“Ah, good; sank you.”
“Okay. I sink – I mean I think that's it for today. Joel, anything else?”
“Nope; that's it.”
“Okay. See ya later, Doc.”
“Oh, one sing.”
“Yeah?”
“Could you have zem send me in some milk and spinach?”
“Uh – sure; can do.”
“Sank you.”
- 81 -
June 18, 2013
7:21 p.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“Look at the next section.”
“'Methods and Strategies'?”
“Yup.”
“'Disinformation and Repetition; Infiltration of Media Outlets; Infiltration of Local, State, Provincial and National Governments; Textbook Revision; Funding Conspiracy Theorists' – wait, what?”
“Yup; part of their disinformation campaign. A little bit of truth wrapped in multiple layers of lies. Hell, they even managed to put the bug in the ear of a guy in England to get him to write about the alien lizard people he claims are the elites who actually rule the world. David something; QH'd his last name. Back in the early '90s.”
“Lizard people? Haven't heard that one. Eww, ick.”
“Yeah. He's made a lot of money off that stuff, and he's got a lot of gullible folks believing that crap.”
“Sounds pretty skee-feeish to me.”
“Well, a lot of people like science fiction.”
“Maybe they forget the 'science' part of that.”
“So true. But then, where there's money to be made, anything goes, fiction or not.”
“Like that cultish religion that that skee-fee author founded, the one with a lot of followers in Hollywood.”
“Oh, right; they use a lot of the same methods and strategies, I've heard. Not really on my radar.”
“And pretty litigious, from what I've heard.”
“Yup. But religions and cults are great money-makers. I remember back in college, a woman I dated had the idea that we should create two religions, each one built on rejecting the other one, demonizing each other, and that we'd each head one up, build our memberships and collections over a few years till we had a bundle and then retire as a couple to some Caribbean island.”
“Wow; that's pretty cynical.”
“Yup. I also thought it was hysterically funny. People can be so gullible.”
“Did you ever do anything with the idea?”
“Naw; we broke up a few months after that.”
“When you got recruited?”
“Naw, long before that. She had a great name, though: Shantal, and her middle name was Desirai.”
“Desiree? Haven't heard that in a long time.”
“And she spelled it differently; D-e-s-i-r-a-i, not D-e-s-i-r-e-e.”
“You know what happened to her?”
“No idea; completely lost touch. I hadn't even thought about her in years, until just now. She's probably a white-picket-fence suburban granny in Iowa or Indiana or somewhere.”
“A nice comfortable, uncomplicated life.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“But back to – hmm, 'Indoctrination of Children; Tax Increases; Freeze, Personalize, Polarize' – isn't that one of Saul Alinsky's rules?”
“Yup, from 'Rules for Radicals,' his last book.”
“Right, community organizing; read that back in college, and it was mandatory reading at the Farm.”
“After my time. But I read it somewhere in the mid-70s, I think. Know your enemy.”
“Yeah, that's why it was mandatory reading.
“Ah, 'Pander to the Poor,' 'Distract, Drug and Dumb Down the Masses'” –
“Bread and circuses, the Romans called it. They've already got that locked in. Think of the welfare states around the world, and all the fluff people get on TV, the dancing and singing competition shows, reality TV, football, baseball, basketball, hockey” –
“Soccer.”
“Yup, and all that ties back into the divide and conquer strategy.”
“And movies. Don't forget about the film industry.”
“'Not a whole lot of intellectual stimulation out there.”
“At least not too much that's profitable. Fades quickly.”
“But the sheeple are complacent, just the way they want 'em.”
“God, yeah. Remember some of the conversations we overheard back on the beach in Bonita?”
“Oh, yeah; dumb, dumb, dumb, but not dumber than you'd hear anywhere else.”
“Got that right, Jake. Let's see. 'Culture Destruction; Coordinated Manipulation of Stock, Bond and Currency Markets; Confiscation of Weapons; Create Pandemics of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,' parentheses, 'R&D has one; now testing in Africa,' close parentheses, 'Viruses and Plagues, e.g. Ebola; Genocide of Inferior Races' – what? Genocide? C'mon, Jake, they're not serious?”
“'Fraid so, Pam; we've got recordings of scores of conversations dealing with just those topics. We also have one from a month ago where they're talking about weaponizing Ebola and that enterovirus, making 'em airborne, and that they're close to perfecting a vaccine solely for what they called 'the select few.' Want to hear some of those?”
“Maybe later. Let me finish this first.”
“Sure.”
“'Addiction to Prescription Drugs' – well, that's locked in, too.”
“Yup.”
“'Reduce Nutritional Content in Foods; Create Famines; Foment Discontent; Suppress Opposition; Discredit, Demonize and Ridicule Critics.' Oh, yeah, lots of that going around over there, politically.”
“Yup; makes the US government a total laughingstock, both the Congress and the President.”
“I'll bet Putin is just looking for an opportunity to test him.”
“I doubt he'll do anything before the Sochi games this winter.”
“You never know; he's one super-wacko, unpredictable.”
“Got that right, Pam.”
“Let's see. 'Useful Idiots' – that's Lenin's term, right?”
“Allegedly; like maybe innocent pawns, blindly and unknowingly following and supporting.”
“Just two more. 'Lawsuits,' 'Assassination.'
“And what's this, Jake? 'Members, See Appendix A; Targets, see Appendix B'?”
“We don't have those; never got 'em. But I'd bet we took out a lot of the folks in Appendix B, and probably some in Appendix A.”
“Really?”
“Yup. Did a lot of jobs for some of those folks and to some of 'em, all through the '80s and '90s. Lots of minor government people, CEOs, criminals, a few priests, lots of investors and traders; they all sort of run together. The only one I remember clearly was Vince Foster, July of '93.”
“Vince Foster? That name's – wasn't he White House counsel back then?”
“Yup. Not sure exactly who the client was, but it was someone in the White House. I made it look like a suicide, as requested. He was a nice guy, overwhelmed and depressed, and I felt sorry for him. But I had to do the job, fulfill the contract.”
“Geez.”
“I don't know; maybe I did him a favor. I let him pull the trigger.”
- 82 -
May 25, 2014
10:34 a.m. local time
Bonita Beach, Florida
&n
bsp; “Hey, Gordy, have you seen this?”
“Seen what?”
“This story in today's paper. Here.”
“Which one, Joe?”
“Right there.”
“'New Defenses Against Dumb Laws'?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Mm, mm, hm, 'common sense,' hmm, mm, 'red light,' mm, hm, 'cui malo,' hm, mm, ah-ha. Okay, got it.”
“Can I see that, Gordy?”
“Sure, Ro; here.”
“So what do you think, Gordy?”
“Sounds right, at first glance. The red light example makes a lot of sense.”
“The three a.m., empty road thing?”
“Yeah. Common sense as a – an – oh, what does it say, Ro? What's the word?”
“'Absolute'?”
“Yeah, absolute defense. Damn QH.
“And the other, the Latin one?”
“Oh, 'cui malo'?”
“Right, 'who is harmed,' as a relative defense.”
“Like 'No harm, no foul'?”
“Yeah, but relative, not absolute. That's gonna be a tricky one.
“And this all goes into effect when, Joe?”
“July 1st, along with a lot of other new laws.”
“And only in Florida?”
“Yup; state level.”
“That should be interesting.”
“There's another new law, that at all intersections, a left turn on green is allowed, but yielding to oncoming traffic.”
“Not just when there's a green arrow, like the law is now?”
“Right.”
“Every intersection?”
“Right. They thought about just putting up more of those 'Left Turn Yield on Green' signs, but they decided it would be much, much cheaper to just put it in a new law.”
“But won't there be more accidents?”
“Maybe, Rosemary, but then 'cui malo' applies. If there IS an accident, the driver at fault will be penalized big time.”
“Kind of like the idea of knives in steering wheels that Donne had, eh, Gordy?”
“I guess so; I've forgotten.”
“To cut down on reckless driving.”
“Oh, right.”
“They'd pop out in an accident.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah, Joe; people would drive more carefully.”
“Wow.”
“Excuse me, sir. Could you take our picture?”
“Sure, as long as I don't have to get up from here.”
“Great; thank you. Mom, Dad, Sis, Uncle Jimmy, Mame, Elva, c'mon over here! He's gonna take our picture.”
“Just press this little button on the screen?”
“Yeah, right there.”
“Okay. Okay, everybody ready? A little closer together. Good. Okay, let me see smiles and teeth. And ladies, shoulders back, tummies in, boobs out, and – ah, got it, I think. I think I heard a click.”
“Lemme – ah, yeah; that's good. Great; thank you.”
“No problem. Have a great day.”
“You too.”
“Sorry 'bout that, Ro.”
“You really like that boob line, don't you?”
“If they're all old enough; gets 'em laughing and smiling, raises some beta-endorphin levels. Better'n 'Say cheese.'”
“Hey, Gordy.”
“Hello – uh – oh, Sarge? Didn't recognize you out of uniform.”
“Got a day off, thought I'd come down casual, see what the beach is like this way, and maybe chat with you some.”
“Sure. You know Rosemary, right?”
“Yup. Hello, Rosemary.”
“Hi.”
“And this is Joe.”
“Hello, sir. I'm Tom.”
“And your friend?”
“Oh, sorry, Gordy; this is a friend, Loo.”
“Lou?”
“Right. Good to meet you, sir.”
“And you. Wow, that's a strong handshake!”
“Sorry; sometimes I forget myself.”
“No malo.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ah; sorry. No harm, no foul. I didn't hear any bones break.”
“Oh, good.”
“So are you LEO, too?”
“LEO?”
“Law Enforcement Officer, Ro.”
“Ah; thanks.”
“Yeah; he's my lieutenant.”
“But today, Tom and I are off-duty, just visiting the beach.”
“And I'd bet you want to 'chat' with me.”
“If you don't mind.”
“Can we do it here? I'm not that good at vertical.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“I'll leave you to it, Gordy. See ya later.”
“Okay, Joe. And thanks again for the article.”
“Nice meeting you guys. Rosemary, see ya later.”
“And nice meeting you, ma'am.”
“I'll leave you guys to it, too. I see Dallas up there; I'll go talk with her.”
“Oh, Ro, you can stay if you want.”
“Naw, Gordy, I'll leave it to you guys.”
“Ah, right; okay. See you later, okay?”
“Great. Lieutenant, nice meeting you.”
“And you, ma'am.”
“Okay, guys, I'm guessing you want to chat about those fake FBI guys that kidnapped me a year and a half ago, right?”
“Yes, sir. And about your martial arts training.”
- 83 -
June 18, 2013
7:33 p.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“Wait. You let him pull the trigger?”
“Yup.”
“But why?”
“Because I knew he would, considering his choices.”
“What choices?”
“That he'd pull it or I would. As soon as he knew I'd been hired to assassinate him, he knew he'd been totally betrayed.”
“By the White House?”
“Yup. I saw it on his face as soon as I got into his car.”
“You didn't just take him out right away?”
“No; I had some questions about the whole deal. Something was hinky about this one.”
“So what'd you do?”
“We'd been tracking his routine for a couple of days, and we took a couple of newbies with us as drivers. Mike and Janice were in separate cars; Gordy was riding with Mike and I was with Janice. We did a double block near his home in Georgetown, Janice in front of his car, Mike to the left. I got out and headed back to Foster's car.”
“Gordy held a pistol pointed at Foster and held up a cardboard sign that read 'Unlock passenger door,' but so no one in any other cars could see either the gun or the sign. Foster did it and I climbed in, my handgun aimed at his gut.
“'She sent you, didn't she?' he said, and I saw the resignation and shock on his face.
“'Probably,' I said, 'but I was told to make it as quick and painless as possible. And I will; I promise you that.'
“'Thanks,' he sighed, and I told him to drive on, which he did.
“'Vince,' I said after the shock had worn off and he was able to drive normally, 'something weird is going on here; help me out. Why do you think she wants you dead?'
“'Because of what I know, what I've done, what she and he have done, even before they moved up here.'
“'She wants to silence you.'
“'Yeah. And you're also supposed to get anything I've written down, right?”
“'Nope, not part of my assignment.'
“'Really? That's hard to believe.'
“'It's the truth; I never lie to a target.'
“'Look in the glove compartment.' Keeping an eye and my gun on him, I opened it and found a handgun and a journal in there.
“'Take the journal with you when we're done. That is why you're here to kill me, for the information I've written in there. They do not want any of it to get out. Keep it; you may need it … for insurance.'
“'I have my own kind of insurance.'
“'I hope
it's good. Every time they've used freelancers in the past, those freelancers have wound up dead within two weeks.'
“'Not uncommon. Done a few of those myself.'
“'Not for' –
“'No, no, not for either of them. Other jobs.'
“'Well, I've arranged fourteen for them.'
“'Only fourteen?'
“'Only? That's a lot.'
“'For you, I suppose you're right.'
“'It's all in there,' he said, pointing to the journal, 'names, dates, all the ugly details.'”
- 84 -
May 23, 2014
2:31 a.m. local time
Transylvania, Romania
“Jesus, that was a LOT of blood, Keith; good idea on the sheet.”
“Yeah. And see, no ashes, no flames. Just a plain ol' corpse.”
“Okay, okay; so he's human.”
“Not anymore.”
“Lemme get some video of the dead girl.”
“Okay. But don't take too long; we gotta get outa here before the other guards show up.”
“Oh, Jesus, Keith, she looks even younger than Nicole; can't be more than 14 or 15. Bastard!”
“Yeah. Hurry up; we gotta get” –
“Wait. Hear that?”
“What now?”
“Not sure. It sounds – it – I can't – it” –
“Where's it coming from?”
“Uh, it – wait; lemme – behind this curtain? Lemme – omigod!”
“Holy shit!”
“What are those?”
“I don't – maybe hyenas, something like that. Never seen any live before.”
“And so many bodies!”
“Must be 20, 25 in there. And so many parts.”
“Bastard!”
“One way to get rid of the evidence.”
“What a sicko! Lemme get some video.”
“Watch for reflections. Don't want to see your face in there.”
“I'm sure Amber'll edit it down to just what the client needs to see.”
“But this should go to Interpol, too.”
“Yeah. Those poor girls.”
“And probably lots more in his pipeline.”
“Definitely shoulda cut his balls off before you staked him. And his dick.”
“Yeah; he died way too easy.”