Devlin Sub Rosa: Book Three of the Devlin Quatrology
Page 25
“You sure that's him? Those robes all look the same.”
“Not to me. Blue-and-white head rag, blue and gold piping on his robe. And he's limping – wait a minute; he's changed legs. Nice try, asshole! You may think you're good, but I'm better.”
“He must have spotted us back there, JB.”
“No, shit, Sherlock.”
“And there. Spotted us again.”
“And off he goes. Shit. This is not gonna be pretty.”
“I got no shot; too many innocents.”
“What? My earbud fell out again. Say again.”
“I said I got no shot.”
“We gotta catch him now, CB; no other chances.”
“He could lose us fast in here; this souq is like a maze.”
“And this is his hometown.”
“Do you see him?”
“Yeah; he's heading down that aisle to the right.”
“Hard to see through this damned veil.”
“You think this beard is comfy?”
“No, but” –
“Get outa the way, asshole! Oh, geez, did I say that out loud?”
“Say what out loud?”
“Ah, good. Nothing, C- – oh, shit! Where'd he go?”
“I can't” –
“Ah, there he is.”
“Go, go, go, JB!”
“I'm goin', CB. You all locked and loaded back there?”
“Oh, yeah; all set. Just need to get outa these crowds.”
“Don't think he's gonna do that; he's using the cover.”
“Wait; he stopped running, just limping along again.”
“What the hell is he doing?”
“Maybe he didn't spot us, after all.”
“No, CB, he looked right at us.”
“But maybe he didn't really see us.”
“No, no, no; he saw us. I saw it in his eyes.”
“Then why would he quit running now?”
“Maybe he's tired. I know I am. This thing ain't easy to pedal.”
“Just get me close enough to get a clear shot.”
“Silencers on?”
“Of course.”
“Mine, too; okay. Oh, geez.”
“What?”
“Cramp.”
“Crap.”
“No, cramp.”
“Right. Crap.”
“No, Carie Berry; cramp!”
“Right. Cra- – oh. Shit!”
“Oh; okay. Sonofabitch!”
“Where'd he go?”
“Around the corner up there.”
“Still limping?”
“No, it's a cramp.”
“No, JB, not you. Is he still limping?”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Can you work through the cramp?”
“Yeah, I think so. Oh, shit!”
“Good, JB. Keep going!”
“I am, CB. Oh, ah, ouch, oh” –
“Where'd he go?”
“He's – uh-oh, CB. Something's hinky here. No crowds.”
“Uh-oh is right, JB. Looks like it might be an” –
“AMBUSH!”
– “ambush! Crap and double crap!”
- 107 -
June 19, 2013
9:41 p.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“And?”
“And what?”
“Right.”
“What?”
“And what?”
“And what what?”
“Oh, geez, Jake. What happened after you sent that email?”
“Oh. Right; sorry. Got off track there for a second.
“We followed through on both threats. The next day, and every day for two months, we shifted assets in their accounts, making sure we hit every recipient of that email at least five times in that period.”
“Always with that '666' number?”
“Of course. Never make promises – or threats – that you can't keep – or follow through on.
“And we kept our eyes and ears and surveillance systems wide open to find a suitable demonstration target.”
“You mean some random innocent person?”
“Maybe random, but never innocent.”
“So who'd you pick?”
“Nobody. He picked himself, a Hungarian politician, one of theirs, died in a car accident less than two weeks later, no action by us. But we let it be known in another email that we had done it, took credit for it.”
“Did they buy it?”
“Apparently. Nothing happened that triggered the Response. But now it's time to send it again, or getting close to time.”
“Really?”
“Really. They've been getting aggressive again, and the stuff we've been picking up is talking about creating another spike in oil and gas prices, trying to go over eight bucks a gallon over in the US.”
“What is it now?”
“I think a bit under four bucks. But if the email works again, they won't dare to do that. And if they try, I'll use some of our trading capital to push it back down.”
“You have enough capital to do that?”
“Sure. And we have lots of leverage we haven't tapped at all yet.”
“That's good.”
“Yeah. Even with all those idiots in the US Congress and that draconian Dodd-Frank law, we can leverage way up, sometimes more than fifty to one, none of it in the US. But I'll only do that if the trade is solid ... and hedged.”
“Good.”
“Oops; just thinking about those corrupt idiots over there, and the election next year, spiked my blood pressure. It's probably almost up to normal.”
“You okay, Jake? You look a little pale.”
“I'm fine. But how about we head for the hot tub?”
“Sounds good to me.”
- 108 -
August 22, 2014
9:38 a.m. local time
Undisclosed location
“So who is it zat is going to kill me?”
“C'mon, Doc, nobody's gonna kill you.”
“Nein, nein, nein, Julie. Somebody vill.”
“Listen, Dr. F, quit whining. Just because some plaque says 'R.I.P.' doesn't mean it's true. Maybe the future me is just playing a joke.”
“You mean will be playing a joke, Greg.”
“Oh, picky, picky. What are you, the grammar police?”
“Hey, hey, hey, don't use that tone with me.”
“What tone? I'm just saying.”
“Vell, if it is a choke, it is a wery cruel vun.”
“Well, if you're gonna say something, at least say it right.”
“Jesus, Julie, 'is,' 'will be,' really? Gimme a fuckin' break.”
“Oh, chill out, asshole!”
“You chill out, bitch!”
“Sometimes I wonder why I ever married you!”
“Me, too. You're a royal pain in the ass.”
“Bastard!”
“Slut!”
“Cocksucker!”
“Whore!”
“Actually, Julie, I belief you vould be ze cocksucker.”
“Shut up, Doc!”
“I mean, if you vant to be accurate. Unless you sink Greg” –
“Yeah, shut the fuck up, Dr. F!”
“Qviet, bohss of you. Vat is wrong viz you?”
“Back off, Doc! This is between me and him.”
“Yeah, Dr. F! Back off. Hey! I said back off! Shit! What the” --
“Jesus, Greg. What the hell did you do?”
“I barely touched him.”
“Well, get in there, check for a pulse.”
“Weak, but it's there.”
“CPR. Do it, Greg.”
“Not me; you do it.”
“No, you do it.”
“No, you do it.”
“Oh, you asshole! Back off. I'll – uh-oh.”
“Shit. Pulse?”
“None. Grab the defib.”
“Okay. Charging. Clear!”
“Again.”
“Wait, wait. Shit. Okay. Clea
r!”
“So an optimist sees ze glass as haf full, a pessimist sees it as haf empty. An engineer says, 'You haf a glass tvice as big as you need.'”
“Oh, good one, Doc.”
“Yeah, Dr. F; good one.”
“Okay, kids; break time is ofer. Back to vork. Now, viz ze bigger flucks inductor” –
“Wait a second, Doc. Forgetting something?”
“Oh, ja, ja; sorry. Sank you, Julie.”
“Whose turn is it this time?”
“Yours, Greg.”
“Okay. 'Hi, Julie, from Greg and Dr. Ford, July 23rd, 2015.' And you read it after our next break, Dr. F.”
“Ja, ja.”
“And please, Julie, can we get that thing off my chair? I wanna sit there for meals again. It's been a month.”
“Oh, Greg, quit whining. It's where it landed and it's gonna stay right there to remind us that we did it.”
“Will do it.”
“Oh, right; sorry, Greg. That we will do it.”
“Y'know, Dr. F, I've been thinking.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Oh, c'mon, Julie.”
“Ja, ja; let him schpeak. Vat haf you been sinking, Greg?”
“Just joshing ya, Greg.”
“Okay, okay. Well, since that clown landed here, we know we did it – I mean will do it. We broke the one-year barrier. So maybe we don't need to do anything. I mean, it did happen, right? It's sitting right there in my chair. And we can't change that, can we? So maybe we can all just relax and twiddle our thumbs.”
“Oh, Greg, that's just silly” –
“Vait a minute, Julie. He may be correct. I mean, zat – vat is it called again?”
“A clown doll.”
“Clown doll; okay. It is sitting in Greg's chair, right?”
“Right, I see it. But” --
“Okay, kids; break time is ofer. Back to vork. Now, viz ze bigger flucks inductor” –
“Wait a second, Doc. Forgetting something?”
“Oh, ja, ja; sorry. Sank you, Julie. I sink it is your turn.”
“Right. So a minister, an artist and a research scientist are asked if they would rather have a wife or a mistress. The minister wants a wife, because 'that's how God meant it to be.' The artist wants a mistress, because he doesn't want to be tied down. But the research scientist says, 'I want both. So when my wife thinks I'm with my mistress and my mistress thinks I'm with my wife, I can be in my lab getting some work done.'”
“But vat is funny about zat, Julie? It is just ze trooss.”
“That's what makes it funny, Doc.”
“Yeah, Dr. F, it's funny.”
“Okay, ja, ja, okay; it's funny. See how I'm laughing? Ha-ha-ha-ha. Okay. Back to vork. Now, viz ze bigger flucks inductor” –
“Greg, are you gonna join us?”
“Lemme just finish this last bit of bagel.”
“Okay. But be sure to push your chair back in; you keep leaving it out where we can trip over it.”
“Ja, ja, Greg. I haf schtubbed my toe sree times already.”
“Okay, okay; I'll be sure to do that.”
“Okay, kids; break time is ofer. Back to vork. Now, viz ze bigger flucks inductor” –
“Wait a second, Doc. Forgetting something?”
“Oh, ja, ja; sorry. Sank you, Julie.”
“Whose turn is it this time?”
“Mine, I think, Greg.”
“Okay. 'Hi, Greg and Julie and Dr. Ford, from Greg and Julie and Dr. Ford, July 23rd, 2015.' And you read it after our next break, Dr. F.”
“Ja, ja.”
“And please, Julie, can we get that thing off my chair? I wanna sit there for meals again. It's been a month.”
“Oh, Greg, quit whining. It's where it landed and it's gonna stay right there to remind us that we did it.”
“Will do it.”
“Oh, right; sorry, Greg. That we will do it.”
“But it vill take a lot of vork to do it, und ve must alvays vatch out for zose – vat vas it again, caterpillar effects?”
“Butterfly effects, Doc, butterfly effects.”
“Ja, ja, butterfly effects; sank you, Julie.”
- 109 -
June 19, 2013
9:56 a.m. local time
St. Tropez, France
“So right after every election over there, they have their own initiation rituals, where they indoctrinate all the new congressmen and women.”
“Indoctrinate?”
“Yup, indoctrinate. The leadership and the lobbyists are all in cahoots, and they bring all the newbies in and lay down the law, let 'em know how things work in DC.”
“Just like that? 'Here's how it is. Get with the program'?”
“Almost, but not quite so blatant. These lobbyists have done their research, looking for weaknesses, often starting even before any of 'em announced their candidacies. Almost as good as the research we do on our targets. And with the campaign donations they've made and promised to make, they've already got most of 'em by the short hairs. Add to that the sexual perversions they've uncovered or induced” –
“Induced?”
“Yup. If the police did it, their courts would call it entrapment. Lobbyists have huge budgets for hookers, both male and female. You'd be amazed how much sex is tangled up in politics.”
“Amazed? Me? Don't think so. Remember, I was a honey-trapper in the CIA.”
“I know, I know. Guess that was more rhetorical.”
“Preaching to the choir.”
“Yeah; sorry, Pam. Let's say most people would be amazed.”
“If they knew.”
“If they only knew. If they bothered to look.”
“Which they don't.”
“Or won't.”
“Won't; right, Jake.”
“Yeah. What gets reported is only the tip of the iceberg. You wouldn't – sorry – most people wouldn't believe the amount of stuff we've got recorded and stored on almost every one of 'em, Congress, administration, even the Supreme Court. And that's not anywhere near the whole iceberg.”
“And that's just the U.S.”
“Yup. But also on almost every politician in most of the other countries, too. Most of it from our security/surveillance systems.”
“The dictators are the worst.”
“In most cases, right. But almost anybody with power and influence can usually get away with whatever they want.”
“Like that guy from the IMF with the hotel maid in New York.”
“The guy from the IMF? Wait a – oh, yeah, right, right. He paid the maid off so she wouldn't testify?”
“Yeah. And he's got a long history of rape allegations and dealing with prostitutes. Sleazebag.”
“French guy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But the French are so accepting of sexual oddities in their public figures.”
“Not so much oddities and perversions; just with mistresses.”
“Sort of a badge of honor.”
“Yeah; trying to prove their masculinity. Delusions of adequacy.”
“Ah, the French. Did I ever tell you about the best and worst European vacations?”
“I don't think so.”
“Well, the best European vacation, you're greeted by the English, fed by the French, organized by the Germans and entertained by the Italians. The worst, you're greeted by the French, fed by the English, organized by the Italians and entertained by the Germans.”
“Oh, Jake, that is so true!”
“Especially for the French; and here we are in the midst of 'em.”
“Yeah, Jake; here we are, all four of us.”
“Four?”
“You, me, Stevie Bruce and Ginny May.”
“Ah. Do I detect a suggestion there?”
“Why, suh, I do believe you do.”
“Ah-ha. '”A good time for a quickie,” she said longingly,' eh?”
“Extremely longingly.”
“And extremely effectively.”
“Mmm. Here or in the bedroom?”
“Bedroom, I think. Getting a little woozy in here.”
- 110 -
August 24, 2014
10:06 a.m. local time
Bonita Beach, Florida
“No, no, no. I mean instinctively, not consciously or verbally.”
“Okay, Dallas, I think I got it – I think. But” –
“Lemme try it this way, Gordy. Most animals have mating seasons, right?”
“Yup.”
“Like those manatees we saw in May right over there by the shoreline.”
“Right, part in the water, part on the sand.”
“One female, ten males, taking turns.”
“Nine or ten, yup.”
“And that's instinctive, built into their – what?”
“Sorry. I just flashed back to Lin and Beth and – Rae Ann? Right, Rae Ann – taking videos of that.”
“Oh, yeah. What'd you call it? Manatee something?”
“Manatee porn.”
“Porn; right. Cute.”
“Sorry. So?”
“Well, we humans don't really have a mating season.”
“Yeah, we do; it's just that once the hormones kick in, it's year round.”
“Well, maybe a bit stronger in spring, according to the research.”
“Research?”
“Oh, yeah. I do a lot of it to write what I write.”
“Never thought about it. Your novels just seem to flow so naturally.”
“Thanks. But it takes a lot of work to do that and tap into women's basic instincts and set 'em free from all the strictures societies all around the world bind 'em in. Help 'em find their own personal power in whatever small way I can.”
“Yeah, I noticed you snuck some of that in; very subtle.”
“I do what I can.”
“Many men read you?”
“Not many; mostly women.”
“Well, I read a couple of 'em. And just between you and me, I had to take a few cold showers.”
“What, Rosemary wasn't around?”
“Some of the time, yeah. And when she was reading 'em, wow!”
“Had some good times, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. With Rosemary, it's always a good time.”
“Do you let her know that?”
“Of course. And I try to give her a good time, too.”
“Very sage of you.”
“Yeah; thanks.”
“You know, a good bit of my fan mail comes from men.”