Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology (3 page)

“
First pack and
DV-894 in place.”

“
Roger that,
Cam.”

“
Let's go,
Becks.”

With that, Cam joined
Becky at the west end of the wall and they rounded the corner,
weapons at the ready. They could see nobody all the way to the north
end of that wall.

Becky attached another
pack of C4 to the outside corner of the west wall, whispered, “Second
pack placed,” and the two ran quietly to the north end of the
wall.

Becky peeked around the
corner and saw another man in monk's robes leaning against the wall,
smoking a cigarette. An automatic rifle leaned against the wall
beside him.

One silenced bullet
from her machine pistol dropped him, dead before his body hit the
ground.

“
Two down for
good.”

“
Roger that,
Becks. 16 to go, plus the target.”

“
Copy, Fiona.”

Becky and Cam ran past
the body, on to the 15-foot-tall wooden doors, and stuck two more C4
packs, one on each door, about three feet from the ground and next to
the crack between them.

They ran back to the
body, dragged it and the rifle around the corner, and kneeled down
next to it.

Becky picked up the
rifle, set it to auto and fired three rounds into the dirt about
fifteen feet in front of the door. She waited five seconds and fired
another burst, this one into the dirt five feet in front of herself.

Ten seconds later, the
front doors creaked open and men in monk's robes carefully stepped
out, automatic rifles at the ready.

Becky pulled a small
metal box from a pocket and pressed a button, and the sound of
gunfire echoed from the opposite corner of the monastery.

Seven of the men rushed
away from the doors to the far corner of the building, led by one man
wearing his own night vision goggles. They paused there until the
leader beckoned them to follow him around the corner.

“
All yours,
Fiona. Seven hostiles.”

“
Roger that,
Becks. Seven hostiles. Got 'em.”

Three men in monk's
robes remained at the door, one with night vision goggles, all on
full alert, automatic rifles at the ready.

“
Your call,
Becks.”

“
Copy that, Cam.
On three. One, two, three.”

Three silenced rounds
exploded the heads of the three men, and a moment later, the sound of
an explosion echoed around the walls of the monastery, followed after
a moment by Fiona's voice.

“
Shit! Only got
five of 'em. The other two are only stunned, starting to get back
up.”

“
I'll check,”
Cam said and ran back to the corner by the ledge, peeking around,
then pulling back.

“
Are they up,
Fiona?”

“
Nope; still
scrambling.”

“
Copy.”
Cam then ran along the ledge toward the east corner, but when she was
only halfway there, Fiona's voice came thru her earbuds.

“
Now they're up
and they've split up, one going back to the front of the building,
one heading your way.”

“
Copy that,
Fiona.”

- 6 -

November
12, 2012
1
:33 p.m. local
time
Bonita Beach, Florida

Another gorgeous fall
day on the Gulf, clear blue skies, air temp 83, water temp 76, and a
water-warming seabreeze that had begun about noon. The beach was
crowded, both due to the Veterans' Day holiday and the typical autumn
arrivals of snowbirds for “season.”

"So, Gordy, what
do you think about the election?”

“
C'mon, Janet,
you know better than to ask him that.”

“
Now, Norm, it's
still a free country. I can ask him, but he doesn't have to answer.”

“
Got that right,
Janet … on both counts. I'll just say this. The result was
not unexpected. The guy sure knows how to campaign.”

“
So did you vote
for him?”

“
Sorry, Janet,
that one's off limits. You know I won't answer that.”

“
Can't blame a
girl for trying, can ya?”

“
Nah, not at
all. You do keep me on my toes.”

“
So how ya doing
on the sequel?”

“
On the wha- –
oh, right. It's coming along, still early.”

“
I heard
Rosemary's back.”

“
Oh. Hope she
had a good summer.”

“
Seen her yet?”

“
Nope. But I've
gotta get outa the water now; I can feel my body temp has dropped a
degree and my finger botox has worn off.”

He filled his bag with
water, went up to his PVC lounge, sat down, rinsed the sand off his
feet and pulled out his spiral notebook, where he wrote “Glenda,”
“Kufstein, Austria” and “Bolzano, Italy.”

Then he lit a small
light cigar with his magnifying glass, lay down and closed his eyes,
a smile playing across his lips.

- 7 -

November
13, 2012
2:41
a.m.
local time

80 feet above the
Aegean Sea

Automatic fire sounded
as one of the two survivors came around the corner, spraying bullets
randomly in front of him. A silenced burst from Cam's pistol dropped
him in his tracks. She ran up to him and fired another bullet into
the back of his head, then ducked around the corner and checked the
carnage of the other five blown-apart bodies.

“
Six down for
good, Fiona.”

Becky took out the
other survivor as he came into the open, looking for his compatriots
who were no longer standing guard at the doors.

“
What is that,
Becks, ten?”

“
Uh, seven plus
three plus the first two. Twelve.“

“
So four to go,
plus the target.”

“
No, Cam, six to
go, plus the target.”

“
Six, right.
Copy that. Let's draw a few more out. I'm coming up to the corner,
Becks. Don't shoot me.”

“
Copy that, Cam.
Ah, okay. Wait, wait; go back around the corner and hold.”

“
Copy that.”

“
Good.”
Becky fired several more rounds from the automatic rifle, aiming for
the dirt right in front of the doors, and then pulled back around the
corner, waiting.

After a moment, she
peeked around and saw two monks with night vision goggles
belly-crawling out from the doors, scanning the areas in front of
them and to both sides.

She fired three rounds
from her pistol, hitting the man closest to her.

“
Now, Cam; all
yours.”

As the second monk rose
up to look over his partner's body, Cam stepped out and hit him with
a single bullet to the back of his head.

“
Now
it's
four to go, Becks.”

“
At least one
staying with the target, maybe two. So we've got two or three to
deal with next.

“
Fiona, can you
see any of 'em?”

“
Nope, sorry; the
IR can't see through the stone.”

“
Copy that.

“
Cam, let's just
wait and see what they do.”

“
Like Melbourne.”

“
I hope not that
long. Let's give 'em three minutes.”

Less than a minute
later, automatic fire sprayed down out of one of the windows on the
west wall, forcing Becky to duck around the corner to the front of
the building. Another spray of bullets from a window on the east
wall pushed Cam around her corner, as well.

Cam and Becky both slid
their weapons around the corner, firing on full auto up and along the
windows. Cam was rewarded with a scream from above and the thunk of
a rifle bouncing on the stone walkway below. When she glanced around
the corner, she saw a hand and part of a forearm still grasping the
weapon.

“
That was close,
Cam. Are you hit?”

“
Nope. You?”

“
Took one in the
chest, but hardly felt it. Love this new vest. I'm good.”

“
Watch the door;
bet they'll be shooting from there.”

“
Let 'em try;
they'll be sorry.”

- 8 -

November
12, 2012
2:33 p.m. local
time
Honolulu, Hawaii
, USA

"Where would you
like it, Wakagashira-san? Am I pronouncing that right?”

“
Close enough.
Over on that pedestal by the staircase. And have it facing out
toward the ocean.”

“
Yes,
Wakagashira-san.”

“
But be sure it's
close to the stairs. I want to rub its belly every time I go past
it.”

“
I'll be sure,
Wakagashira-san.

“
Okay, guys,
bring it in. Careful! Watch the door frame! Okay, easy, easy. I
know it's heavy. Over there, on that pedestal. Good. Careful! Okay.
Now turn it more toward the windows. Good. Hold it.

“
Is that okay,
Wakagashira-san?”

“
Closer to the
staircase.”

“
Yes, sir.

“
Guys? You heard
the man. Get a move on.

“
Better,
Wakagashira-san?”

“
Excellent. Good
work. Thank you all, gentlemen.”

“
Thank you,
Wakagashira-san. We'll send the bill to your office.”

“
No need, young
man. How much is it?”

“
Pickup, storage
and the move, um, three hundred dollars.”

“
Fine. Will this
cover it?”

“
Seven hundred?
That's way too much, Wakagashira-san.”

“
Split the extra
between the four of you. Consider it a small gratuity.”

“
Thank you,
Wakagashira-san; that's very generous.”

“
Think no more
about it. You all did great work. But do me a favor and keep this
job to yourself. I don't need a bill or a receipt, or any record at
all. Agreed?”

“
Agreed,
Wakagashira-san. I'll keep it off the books.”

“
Good. Good
day.”

Once the front doors
had closed, Wakagashira-san walked over to the bronze statue, patted
its belly and chuckled.

“
Well,
Oyabun-san, now you are joined with the Buddha for all time.”

He chuckled again and
headed up the stairs.

- 9 -

November
13, 2012
2:45
a.m. local time

80 feet above the
Aegean Sea

Within a minute, the
west part of the front door opened enough to let a barrel inch
through the gap, firing randomly to the east on full auto.

Becky, tightly wedged
against the wall near the western corner, detonated the C4 on that
door, blowing a two-foot hole in it and in whoever was behind it,
silencing the gunfire.