by Jake Devlin
“And is this the detonator?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Well, well, well. For being honest, you can go straight up. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.”
“Another clean shot. Bravo.”
“Okay. Good. Can you defuse the bomb?”
“I don't think so; it's not like anything I've seen before, definitely not like that one back in Bonita.”
“Well, then I guess it's Plan B.”
“Okay, CB. Let's go.”
“Oh, wait; let me get my first bullet out, just in case.”
“Ah, right. Good idea.”
“Let's see; ah, there's the hole … and … and … got it.”
“Good. Ready?”
“Ready. Face masks back on.”
“Right. Over.”
“Good. Let's go. Over.”
“Woah, CB; that is gruesome. Over.”
“Yeah, and stinky. Over.”
“Okay. Tank on, scooter loose. Over.”
“Mine, too. Ready? Over.”
“Yup. Over.”
“And we're off. Over.”
“Wonder who did the beheadings and the shooting. Over.”
“Not our problem, JB. We got our target. Over.”
“Right. Just curious. Over.”
“No point, JB. We're done. Okay; I think we're far enough. Over.”
“Okay, CB. Here goes. Over.”
“Oh, bravo, JB. Over.”
“Boy, that was a pretty big bomb! Over.”
- 131 -
September 4, 2014
10:14 a.m. local time
Undisclosed location
“I am Sviss und I know time. I underschtand time und I – oh, vat is ze vort? Oh, ja, 'play.' I play vis time. I manipulate time. Ladies und gentlemen, prepare yourselfs to be amazed.”
“No need for the drama, Doc.”
“Right, Dr. F. Let's just get to the demo.”
“Ja, ja. Ladies und gentlemen, if you will step over to zis table? Sank you.”
“Is that the 3D printer over there on the counter, Dr. Ford?”
“Ja, Herr Burnett, it” –
“Barnett, Doc, Barnett.”
“Oh, sank you, Julie. Sorry, Herr Barnett.”
“No problem. Go on.”
“As ve showed you in ze kitchen, ve are able to send somesing back up to a year in time.”
“Will be, Dr. F, will be able.”
“Ach, right, Greg; sank you. Vill be.”
“As I told you, Paul, I was talking with Greg on the phone when it appeared, and I saw it on the video later.”
“That was after the first one fell and shattered, Amber?”
“Right.”
“Ja, ja; my aim vas off vis zat vun.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“Ja, ja. For zis demonstration, we vill not vait a year, only a few minutes. But zat should gif you ze idea.
“If you vould, look sru zat binder und pick out some object, any object.”
“Evelyn, you want to do it?”
“Sure, Ja- – Paul.
“Hmm. No, nah, hmm – okay. How about this dinner plate, the one with the orchids?”
“Ach, ja. Good choice. Okay. Now vatch ze table.”
“Should we stand back?”
“Nein – no; ve haf used zis table many times now, so it is safe. Ve haf got it – vat is ze vort, Greg?”
“Zeroed in.”
“Ja, ja; zeroed in. Okay. But let me check ze time. Good. Okay. Und zere it is.”
“Wow! Did you see that, Paul?”
“Yup. Gordy, did you see that?”
“Yup; it just appeared. Amber?”
“Yeah, just like that clown doll did.”
“You can pick it up; it should only be varm.”
“Go ahead, Ev; you're closest.”
“Ah, okay. Right, just warm. And those orchids are beautiful.”
“Julie wrote the code for those. I did the basic form.”
“I liked adding those, just embossed; so when and if we start producing them in quantity, people can paint the flowers in whatever colors they want to use.”
“Can I see that, Evelyn?”
“Sure, Paul. Here.”
“Sonofagun; there's my initials.”
“What?”
“My initials, 'PJB.' Going through the logic of this whole idea, I must have figured I'd put them there on the underside when we get to the next step.”
“For some added proof?”
“Right, Gordy.”
“Good idea. But I think you mean you will must have figured.”
“What?”
“I mean you're going to figure to do that, not that you've already thought to do it.”
“Oh, right. Got it, Gordy.
“Sorry. Go ahead, Doc.”
“Ach, ja. Vat is ze number for zat plate?”
“I don't see” –
“Nein, nein; in ze binder, Frau Barnett.”
“Oh. Um – ah, 'Orchids Dinner Plate, 721.'”
“721, 721 – ach, go tit. Now I vill insert zis disk into ze” –
“Before you do that, Dr. Ford” –
“Ja?”
“Don't use that disk; use the next one.”
“Ze next vun, Herr Barnett?”
“Yup. You got a 722 there?”
“Ja, of course.”
“Use that one, then, please.”
“Ach, ja, I underschtand. Okay. 722, 'Roses Dinner Plate.' Zere. Now I insert it into ze machine, set ze time coordinates, check ze spacials – good – und press Schtart. Good. Und now ve vait vile it prints.”
“How long will that take?”
“Let me see ze binder, please. Sank you, Frau Barnett. Ach, ja; ninety-vun secunden – sorry; ninety-vun seconds.”
“Okay.”
“Dr. Ford, can we take this plate with us?”
“Naturlich – of course you may, Frau Barnett.”
“Okay, Paul? I'd love to paint the orchids.”
“Sure, Ev.”
“Thank you, Dr. Ford.”
“Greg, in your reports you mentioned unintended consequences, butterfly effects, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, just call me Paul.”
“Yes, Paul. And we have no way of predicting what those could be.”
“Do you think that sending a dinner plate a few minutes back in time could have significant unintended consequences?”
“Significant ones? Doubtful.”
“Probability percentage?”
“Oh, in the area of five or six, no more.”
“Well, it happened, and I didn't see any significant changes.”
“You wouldn't, Mr. -- Paul. History would change from the moment that plate appeared on the table, and none of us would have any memory of any other history.”
“So that would be for what now, the last three, four minutes?”
“Correct, sir, depending on when Dr. F pushes the button on the gizmo.”
“Okay. Well, let's see what happens – oh, hang on, Dr. Ford.”
“Ja?”
“Don't press it yet.”
“Ja, okay.”
“Got something I can use to scrape my initials on it?”
“Ja, ja. I haf – ach, perhaps zis – vat is ze vort?”
“Screwdriver, Doc.”
“Sank you, Julie. Ja, schcrewdriver.”
“That should work. Oops, wrong order. Okay; that'll still work.”
“Weren't you gonna scratch 'em on the bottom, Paul?”
“I was, Ev, but if I do it on the top, that'll make this a more valid experiment. Okay, Dr. Ford, all – oh, wait. Can you move the time back a minute or two?”
“Ja, sicher – I mean sure, no problem. Vun minute?”
“Yup; that'll work.”
“Ja, ja; done.”
“Okay; that should do it.”
“Ja, ja. Und here ve go.”
“Wow!”
“Okay, Dr. Ford, I'm impressed. Amber?”
“Absolutely.”
“Gordy?”
“Yup.”
“Evelyn?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Well, Doc – sorry – Dr. Ford, Greg, Julie, you can rest assured that we will continue funding you all. But now we'll let you get back to your research. Keep Amber posted.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Barnett, we will. And thank you.”
“No problem; I'm impressed.”
“Sank you, Herr Barnett.”
“Yeah, thanks, Paul. And Evelyn, good to see you again.”
“Julie, lovely to see you again, too.”
“Goodbye.”
“Well, that was amazing, Ja- – I mean Paul.”
“It's okay, Pam; we're outside. They can't hear us anymore. And yup, amazing. But it still defies logic.”
“May I see that, Pam?”
“Sure, Amber.”
“Hmm. Oh, wait. Why did you scratch your initials in the wrong order, Jake?”
“I did?”
“Yeah, 'PBJ.'”
“Oh, oops. I musta not been paying attention.”
“And right in the middle of one of the roses, Jake. I was thinking I might want to paint those, but now” –
“Oh, Pam; sorry. I wish you'd said something.”
“Didn't have a chance, Jake. You just grabbed that – what was it you used?”
“Oh, an awl.”
“Okay. You just grabbed that awl and starting scraping.”
“Sorry. The idea just popped into my head when the printer finished. I'm really sorry, Pam.”
“It's not major, Jake. Don't worry about it.”
“Forgiven?”
“Of course. And I do like the plate you picked, with these roses.”
“Thank you. What?”
“Not sure. I just had an image pop up.”
“An image? Of what?”
“Orchids; no idea where that came from.”
- 132 -
September 7, 2014
8:24 a.m. local time
Bonita Springs, Florida
“Did you see this, Gordy?”
“See what?”
“Second section, front page, bottom left.”
“This one, 'No Sale on Park Sales'?”
“Right.”
“Hm. 'In a stunning defeat for the Governor, the Florida Supreme Court today ruled that local communities can resume regulating or banning commercial activities in public parks and on public beaches.' Blah, blah, blah. 'The Court also refused the administration's request for a stay pending appeal to the US Supreme Court.' Blah, blah, blah. 'Lee and Collier County commissioners are expected to vote to reinstate their bans, while the City of Bonita Springs is expected to maintain its current commercial zones, resisting pressures from environmental groups and other anti-business lobbyists.' Hm. Good for Bonita.”
“Kewl.”
“I think that seals it. I will do that charity auction, give back to the city.”
“Where people can get their names as characters in your fourth book by donating to local charities?”
“Yup. Haven't worked out all the details yet, but I should have it all sorted out by the launch party in November, and I'll put a button on the web site, a link to how it'll work, minimum bids for different kinds of characters and all that.”
“Still wanting to run it for a full year?”
“Yup. It'll take me about that long to write it. And then it'll probably take me another month or two to put the names in before I release the book.”
“And all by email?”
“Yup – well, other than the actual donations. We'll probably take some pictures with the winning bidders and their checks and the charities' reps.”
“Kewl.”
“Hope so. If it could raise twenty or thirty thousand for some local nonprofits, I'd be happy.”
“That much?”
“Who knows? It could happen. Maybe even” --
“Woah! That one was close.”
“Yeah, Ro; probably hit the beach.”
“It's really coming down out there. Maybe we can spend the whole day here in bed.”
“I'd like that.”
“Dallas gave me some new ideas I've been wanting to try out on you.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yeah. I think you'll like some of 'em.”
“With you, Ro, I'm sure I'll like all of 'em.”
“So take – I mean leave your teeth out and let's get – I mean let's stay naked.”
“Sounds like a plan to me, unless you maybe want to take a walk on the beach in the rain?”
“Oh, I think we can skip that.”
“Really? Bet we'd have no trouble finding a parking space.”
“No, probably not – wait a minute. Something I was supposed to give you last night.”
“What? You gave me a lot; best welcome home ever.”
“No, not – this was a card a woman on the – ah, here it is; just her name and a phone number. Here.”
“'Grace' – oh, shit!”
“What's the matter? Do you know her?”
“What did she look like?”
“Oh. Uh, maybe about eighty, tiny, frail, white hair. Dallas said she had – oh, ah – ah-ha – steely eyes.”
“Color?”
“I didn't notice. Maybe Dallas did. Why?”
“Nothing. But I have to make a phone call.”
“Right now?”
“Yup.”
“Don't take too long, okay?”
“Oh, I won't; not more than a minute. I'll be right back and you can work your magic.”
“Oh, it'll be magic, I promise you that.”
- 133 -
September 9, 2014
10:14 a.m. local time
Undisclosed location
“I've got some good news, some bad news and some really bad news, Jake. Which do you want first? Okay. Phil and Nadia's teams found proof that Nick, Pam's seventh-floor CIA guy, was the mole and probably still is. Yeah. A hundred percent correlation with the KGB files; dates, locations, promotions, everything matches. Yup, hundred percent sure. Hey, Pam. Yeah, one hundred percent. So you want me to have him picked up, Jake? Will do. Yeah, I think so, too. Next time he goes to the cemetery. Yeah, okay. I'll put a team on that right now – no, two teams.
“But the bad news – and this is part of the really bad news – two of our safe houses have been hit. Yeah, last night, coordinated. The one in Sofia and the one in Vienna. Six of ours dead, one survivor. Yeah. In the clinic, but Doc says it's touch and go. No, no idea, but we'll find out and track 'em down. Nope, nothing there for them to get. Right. Already done, full red alert to all teams.
“But here's the really bad news. In both safe houses, whoever attacked them left the same note in each, spray-painted on a wall, 'Coming 4U, JD. All of U.' So they've got your initials. Right. Yeah, I know.
“And one other thing. Gordy got contacted back in Bonita by Grace Unterfeuer. Yeah, he's sure; she's resurfaced. Oh, shit, indeed.”
- Epilogue -
September 27, 2014
10:23 a.m. local time
Bonita Beach, Florida
“Greedy sonofabitch!”
“Y'got that right, Dallas. Wanted a second fee for the prologue, even though I'd paid him for it once. When I couldn't fit it in either 'Deception' or 'Defiance,' I used it in 'Sub Rosa.' And when I refused to pay him again, he filed a grievance with his union.”
“Oh, right. Bring in the thugs.”
“I hope that didn't cause the strike.”
“I'm sure it didn't, Gordy. But we're all having trouble with it, and nobody knows when they'll come back to work. Stephen's at a total loss, hasn't written a word for the whole year. Same for Sue, Danielle, Stuart, Janet, Clive and most of the rest of 'em. But James is only concerned with his eighty-p
ercent cut” –
“Just for putting his name on a book somebody else wrote.”
“Yeah. So he's using scabs.”
“With his co-writers?”
“Some of 'em, not all; some are refusing to cross the picket line.”
“They have a picket line? Where?”
“Not a real one, just metaphorical.”
“A metaphorical picket line?”
“Appropriate, don't you think?”
“I guess.”
“What, would you prefer 'virtual'?”
“Maybe. It's all virtual, isn't it?”
“Uh – yeah, guess it is.”
“Yup.”
“So how was it for you, doing it all without one, Gordy?”
“Upsides and downsides.”
“I'd imagine.”
“Well, instead of 'It was another postcard-perfect day on Bonita Beach. A smattering of cottonball clouds scudded their way across the azure sky as the sun neared its zenith above the gentle whitecaps on the warm, blue, welcoming water of the Gulf,' somebody just says 'Wow, another perfect day, huh?' and I can get down to whatever I wanted to accomplish in that scene.”
“That's an upside?”
“Yeah, I guess; at least for me it was. Downside is I've got all these pages of notes full of metaphors, similes, puns and literary cliches that I couldn't use anywhere.”
“Maybe you can use 'em in your next one.”
“Maybe, if the strike is over by then.”
“We've all got our fingers crossed.”
“That'd make it hard to type, wouldn't it?”
“Yeah. So many typos.”
“Goddamn greedy prima donnas.”
“Narrators, pah! Can't work with 'em, can't work without 'em.”
“Y'got that right, Dallas.”
End
A Final Word to the Wise
I hope you enjoyed these three novels, and I would be very grateful, as any author would, if you could take a few moments to post a review on any review sites you know, or on those you can find by clicking the “Review” tab at the top of the page at:
JakeDevlin.com
Thanks,
Jake
If you're reading this before 6:00 p.m. on November 22, 2015, and you would like to see your name immortalized as a character in the fourth novel in this series, you're in luck. The charity auction is still running, and for a donation to a Bonita Springs charity, you can make that happen. For all the details, just go to this link: