Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology (34 page)

“
Hold on,
Leon. At least let's hear him out.”

“
Nah,
Charlie, I'm just gonna shoot 'im now.”

“
Look,
guys, you're in big trouble, but I may have a way to get you out of
it, completely out of it.”

“
Oh,
yeah?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Oh, put
the damned gun down, Leon, and let's listen to him. Can't hurt, can
it?”

“
Okay.
But you better make a shitload of sense, asshole. Go.”

“
First,
this guy George is gonna hang you out to dry, you think, right,
Charlie?”

“
Yeah.”

“
And your
faces are all over the TV and probably the web by now,
right,
Leon?”

“
Yeah.”

“
So you
two are on your own, with George ready to point the finger at you,
and the video will support his position, right, Leon?”

“
Yeah.”

“
So
you're screwed, right, Leon?”

“
Yeah, so
we got nothing to lose by wasting you right now.”

“
Maybe.
But I've got two alternatives for you. Number one, we turn the
tables on this George guy. Does he have any credibility with
the
media or the public, Charlie?”

“
Yeah.
He's the SAC.”

“
The
what?”

“
Special
Agent in Charge.”

“
FBI?”

“
Yeah,
top guy in the local office.”

“
Then
you're gonna have to kill him. Turning the tables on him won't
really work. Or – wait a minute – maybe we CAN make it
work.”

“
Yeah?
How, asshole?”

“
One more
question. Does he know where we are?”

“
Yeah.”

“
So what
do you think he would do? What would you do if you were in his
shoes?”

“
Uh”
–

“
Would he
call up anybody, a team or squad or whatever?”

“
No; he
can't let anybody know what he's done.”

“
Ah-ha.
So there's his vulnerability. One, at least. So what would
he
do?”

“
Uh, he'd
have to kill us both so we wouldn't talk.”

“
Good,
Charlie. That's just what I'd do if I were him. Leon, does that
make sense to you? Leon?”

“
Quiet,
asshole. I'm thinking.”

“
Take
your time.”

“
So you
want us to kill a fed, a real fed? And an SAC, to boot?”

“
No, not
now that we know he's vulnerable.”

“
So
what's your idea, asshole?”

“
Wait,
something doesn't make sense. Why would the SAC have you two kidnap
me? What was his motive for that?”

“
I don't
know.”

“
Me,
either, asshole.”

“
What
about those photos? The ones of the senator and that
little
boy?”

“
He
wanted to find out where you got them and what else you had on the
senator.”

“
So the
senator is pulling his strings?”

“
Not
anymore.”

“
Why?”

“
The
senator is dead.”

“
What?
When?”

“
Three
days ago. It was on the news.”

“
Well,
guys, you haven't exactly let me keep up to date now, have
you?”

“
Look,
asshole, we”--

“
Let me
handle this, Leon. Sit down and shut up.”

“
What?
You think you can talk” –

“
Shut up!
This guy's onto something. So just shut up and listen.”

“
Don't
you dare” –

“
Look,
guys, we don't have much time. He may be on his way
here
right now.”

“
Look,
asshole, you – okay, okay. Go on.”

“
Thanks,
Leon. Now, maybe whatever the senator had on the SAC to make him get
you to do his dirty work isn't – what's your word? –
operative anymore. I mean, those photos
were
disgusting, so I can see why he wouldn't want those to get out, but
now that he's dead, no reason anymore, right? Hell, if I were the
SAC, I'd be relieved not to be under the guy's thumb anymore. Making
sense, Leon?”

“
Go on.”

“
But now
I'd be wanting just one thing: to cover my own ass.”

“
By
killing off the loose ends.”

“
Right;
you guys … and me, of course. And making it look like we –
oh, maybe that the three of us killed each other. Not sure how he'd
do that, but I think that's what he'd try to do.”

“
That
fuckin' sonofabitch; I'll kill him myself.”

“
C'mon,
Leon; he's a fed.”

“
I don't
give a fuck, Charlie; he's gonna kill us, and with our photos all
around, we're dead or in for life anyhow.”

“
Okay,
guys. Ready for my idea?”

“
You bet
your ass, asshole.”

“
Okay.
Leon, call George and tell him you've killed me, but you need help
disposing of the body … and now you want twice what he'd told
you he'd pay you. How much was that, by the way?”

“
Ten
grand.”

“
Each?”

“
No.”

“
You mean
you did all this for five grand each? Geez, I woulda given you twice
that, each, to forget it all.”

“
Well,
asshole, I think I'll hold you to that.”

“
No
problem, Leon. But the first thing you need to do is call George.
You remember what you need to tell him?”

“
Yeah, I
remember. I ain't stupid.”

“
I know.
But before you do that, I need to hit the head. Else I'm gonna shit
all over this chair. Could you untie me and let me get in
there?”

Charlie and
Leon looked at each other, then nodded.

Charlie got
behind Gordy and untied his wrists from the chair. Gordy shook them
in front, then rubbed them, then stretched them out in front of
himself. Then he tried to stand up, but his legs gave
out
and he started to topple over.

As Charlie
rushed to help him, Gordy pushed his thumb into
Charlie's
brachial plexus, grabbed the gun from his holster, clicked the safety
off and shot Leon in the chest, then again in the forehead, both
shots made before Leon hit the ground, rolling onto his side, his
empty eyes staring accusingly at Charlie and Gordy. Then he turned
the gun on Charlie.

“
Sorry
'bout that, Charlie. Now I guess it's up to you to make the call.”

Charlie looked
at Gordy, then at Leon's body, then back at Gordy.
“What
the fuck?”

Calmly staring
back at him, Gordy repeated, “It's your turn to make that call.
Take a moment to compose yourself, then dial.”

Charlie
collapsed into the chair Gordy had been tied to, breathing heavily.
“I can't believe you just shot him, just like that. Who are
you?”

“
I'll
tell you all about me after you've made the call. Now catch your
breath and dial.” He picked up the phone from a table near the
door and kicked it across the floor to Charlie's feet.

But as Charlie
reached down to pick it up, it rang.

“
It's
him,” Charlie said.

“
Well,
well, timing is everything. Now tell him just what I told Leon to
tell him.”

“
Hello?
Yeah. You're where? Okay. We're good. No, not yet; we were
waiting to hear from you. Okay. One minute. I'll unlock the door.
Good.

“
He's
outside, coming in.”

“
Good,
perfect timing. Now you just stay in that chair.” Gordy moved
to where he had a clear view of the door, but was hidden from it.

A minute later,
the door opened and the SAC walked in, his gun in
his
hand. Gordy shot him in the chest once, twice, thrice, and then a
fourth and fifth time, ensuring that the fourth and
fifth bullets missed the target, one on each side, embedding
themselves in the doorjamb
and the wall.

Then he walked
over to Charlie, said, “No, no, Charlie, just stay right
there,” put the gun to Charlie's temple and fired. Then,
carefully
holding the gun away from his own arm, he
put it in Charlie's hand
and fired it into Leon's
stomach, then let Charlie's arm fall, the gun dropping to the floor.

He walked over
to the SAC's body, pulled his arm out and up and
pulled
the trigger with the SAC's finger, aiming up toward the top of the
wall in front of him.

Then, hearing
sirens in the distance, he grabbed the SAC's gun, fired it again,
this time grazing Charlie's arm, staggered out the front door and
collapsed on the sidewalk, the gun falling a couple of feet
from
his outstretched arm.

When the first
car screeched to a halt and two deputies got out, weapons drawn, he
yelled, “Oh, god, I'm so glad you found me. I was kidnapped.
Thank you, thank you,” broke down and cried.

- 92 -

January
14, 2013
11:19
p.m. local time

Aboard
Defiance

In the Gulf of Aden

“
Oh,
that's great news, Amber. Wonderful! Was he hurt? Well, find out,
okay? And have you told the teams to stand down? Good. And nobody
left to seek any revenge. What a relief. When you talk to him, ask
him to give me a buzz when he's clear, okay?