Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology (11 page)

“
Settle down,
Doctor. My guys are careful enough to get it on board with no
damage.”

“
But it is a
prototype; the instruments are delicate and finely tuned. The
slightest” --

“
Shut up and sit
down, Doc, or I'll have you gagged.”

“
All right, all
right.”

“
Craig, leave him
be, but your guys do need to be careful. The client won't be happy
if he can't finish his work.”

“
Okay, Becks;
sorry.”

“
Okay. How are
we doing? How soon can we lift off?”

“
Maybe another 15
or 20 minutes, but we'll have to be in the air in 30 at the most;
radar's showing a big storm heading our way.

“
We've still got
to clean up the inside, load those drums and pack all the clothes and
weapons we took off those mercs.”

“
And you've got
pics or videos of all of 'em?”

“
The ones that
were still recognizable. But we got blood samples from all the extra
pieces for DNA, if needed.”

“
Good.

“
Doctor, I'm
bushed. Mind if I” –

“
Bushed?”

“
Exhausted.”

“
Ah.”

“
Mind if I sit
with you?”

“
Not at all.”

“
Thanks. I'm
sorry for how I treated you earlier.”

“
No, I
understand. What is it called? The warmth of battle?”

“
Heat of battle.”

“
Ah. Heat of
battle.”

“
Yup. So, you
doing okay?”

“
Thank you; I am
much better now. These last two months have been terrible, ever
since I was kidnapped.”

“
I can only
imagine. This place musta been cold at night. But now you're free.”

“
Yes; thank you
so very much.”

“
How long did
they keep you here?”

“
Only for about
the last week.”

“
Where were you
before that?”

“
I do not know;
they always covered my eyes when they took me outside my room or my
lab. I know it was warmer, and there was no ocean in the near.”

Becky managed to avoid
raising an eyebrow at the Germanic idiom. “How far away from
here, would you guess?”

“
I do not know;
it was many hours on an airplane and then perhaps another hour on a –
a helicopter.”

“
Wow. I'd
imagine you were very frightened. I know I would be.”

“
I was terrified.
They threatened to beat me if I did not do my work.”

“
Did they?”

“
Beat me?”

“
Yeah.”

“
No, not until
tonight.”

“
Who did that?”

“
I do not know
his name, only that he was German and the others called him, ah –
in English it would be 'Leader,' I think.

“
And you're
German, too, right?”

“
No, I am Swiss.”

“
Really? I have
a cousin who plays hockey for the Lugano team.”

“
I do not have
any interest in sport.”

“
Too bad. He's a
very good player.”

“
Oh.”

“
So this German
beat you tonight. Why?”

“
I do not know.
I – perhaps he was frightened of whoever had hired him to hold
me prisoner when he thought that he had failed, so he took it out on
me.”

“
Do you know who
hired him?”

“
No, I do not.
Obviously it was someone who wanted my work for themself. But I do
not know who it was.”

“
How did he beat
you?”

“
With his
pistol.”

“
That had to
hurt. Especially your nose and cheekbone.”

“
Yes, it is still
quite painful, even with those pills.”

“
Yeah; it takes a
while for them to kick in.”

“
Kick in?”

“
Take effect.”

“
Ah.”

“
I've had too
much experience with 'em.”

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah, the
stories I could tell.”

“
I can only
imagine.”

“
That guy who
beat you, he was pretty big, wasn't he?”

“
Oh, yes; yes, he
was.”

“
Much bigger than
you.”

“
Yah, much, much
bigger.”

“
Like what, 240,
250 pounds?”

“
Uh” –

“
Oh, sorry; let
me see. 110, 115 kilograms?”

“
Perhaps 120,
yah.”

“
And you're maybe
half that?”

“
Nein, I am 70
kilos.”

“
Um … so
about 150 pounds. Hmm.

“
So tell me, how
did you get his pistol away from him?”

“
I – I –
uh – he turned away from me and I just reached out and took
it.”

“
Wow. Right out
of his hand?”

“
Uh, no; he –
uh, he had put it back in his holster.”

“
And you just
grabbed it?”

“
Yah, yah.”

“
And shot him?”

“
Yah, yah.”

“
Right in the
back of the head?”

“
Yah.”

“
Good shooting;
I'm impressed.”

“
Oh, I was –
what is the word – fortunate?”

“
Lucky?”

“
Yah, lucky.”

“
Very lucky.”

“
Hey, Becks, turn
on your radio. Fiona's trying to call you.”

“
Oh, okay.
Thanks, Craig.

“
Hey, Fiona,
what's up?”

“
I can't reach
Cam.”

- 32 -

November
13, 2012
7:06
a.m. local time
On
t
he
Red Sea

“
Good morning,
girls,” Jake mumbled, pouring and gulping down a huge glass of
fresh-squeezed orange juice as he gingerly sat down at the table.

“
Good morning,
Jake,” Pam and JJ chorused brightly.

“
Well, you two
sure look bright and bushy-tailed. I'm totally drained.”

Pam and JJ glanced at
each other and again chorused, “In more ways than one,”
and laughed.

Jake joined in, but
weakly, as he picked up a croissant, smeared it with peanut butter
and strawberry jam, bit off half of it and chewed it only briefly
before swallowing. Then he reached for the bottle of multivitamins
on the table, shook one out and washed it down with more OJ, then
finished the other half of the croissant.

“
Ah, that's
good.” He filled his plate with Canadian bacon, Eggs Benedict,
home fries and a slice of ham and dug in, washing it down with more
orange juice.

“
Almost human
again,” he said between bites, about a quarter through the
plate.

“
Good morning,
Mr. Almost Human,” Pam said, smiling.

“
Welcome back,
Jake,” JJ added, also smiling.

“
Okay, how do you
two manage it?”

“
Manage what?”

“
To be so
energetic and happy this early after everything that went on last
night. I'm still exhausted.”

“
It's really
simple, Jake,” Pam said, smiling even wider.

“
Yeah, it is,”
JJ added, also smiling wider.

“
So what's the
secret?”

Pam and JJ glanced at
each other and said simultaneously, “We're vampires,”
still smiling.

“
Excuse me?”

“
We're vampires.”

“
Vampires?”

“
Not the bloody
kind; we suck energy,” Pam said, smiling.

“
From men,”
JJ added, also smiling.

“
I sure
experienced that a lot last night.”

Pam and JJ both
laughed. “That too,” JJ said.

“
But we mean
energy,” Pam added.

“
And we do mean
vampires,” JJ said, frowning as seriously as she could at Jake.

Jake stared back at
her, frowning lightly, then more darkly, then letting his eyes go
totally flat.

“
You're using the
wrong word, gals. It's not 'vampires,' it's – wait for it –
it's 'females.' Ah-ah,” he said, shaking his finger, “think
about it.”

After a moment, Pam
started laughing, her deep belly laugh. “Ah,
now
he's
back.”

“
Damn, no gotcha
there,” JJ added, looking over at Pam and breaking out into
laughter herself.

“
No, no, no; I'm
serious, gals.”

Pam and JJ stopped
laughing and stared at Jake.

“
Gotcha,”
Jake said, breaking out into his own laughter. After a beat, the
women joined him.

“
By the way, JJ,”
Jake added, “it's good to hear that you're able to talk
normally this morning.”

“
It took a long
time to wear off. 'By dug id dub.'” They all laughed even
harder.

After catching her
breath, Pam finally said, “I do have something serious to tell
you, Jake.”

Jake gasped and blurted
out, “Oh, no; you're not
both
pregnant, are you?”

Pam laughed, “No,
no, no. Just that the helicopter is getting here early, about 7:30.”

“
That's just a
few minutes.”

“
Yup. There's a
bad storm coming from the north.”

“
Oh, that's a
relief,” Jake said, breathing a sigh of the same.

“
That there's a
storm coming?”

“
No, that neither
of you is pregnant.”

“
Oh, Jake,”
Pam said, laughing and hitting him lightly on the arm.

“
Okay, seriously,
I've gotta tell you both, last night was one I will never forget. It
was incredible.”

“
For me, too,”
Pam and JJ chorused, then glanced at each other and laughed.

“
So what was in
that spray?”

“
In what –
oh, that,” Pam said, smiling, “just some anesthetic and a
few secret things. It's still experimental, but it worked, didn't
it?”