The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology (65 page)

“Much better now that I've moved him to that private school in
Virginia; the public schools in DC are awful.”

“Atrocious.”

“Appalling.”

“Abominable.”

“Abhorrent.”

“Abysmal.”

“Um … agregious.”

“Doesn't count, Cam; it's 'egregious,' with an E. Round goes
to me.”

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

“I'll put it on your tab. That's – what – 5K, so
55K now?”

“Okay, okay. 55K it is. You'll get it as soon as we get paid
for this job.”

“Fair enough. Anyhow, agreed on the DC schools. Nate and I
moved Tiffany out two years ago.”

“I know. How's Nate doing in his new job?”

“He's still sorting it out, but he says it's mostly okay. It's
the only place that gave him an interview.”

“Really? Only one interview in – what was it –
nine, ten months?”

“Over a year. That bitch of a boss he had wouldn't even give
him a recommendation.”

“Shit. A royal bitch, just like her namesake.”

“The worst. At least he wasn't working for HER.”

“Oh, at the State Department?”

“Right. He's glad he's always been in the private sector,
that's for sure, even if it was with that bitch. And I heard she got
promoted to VP.”

“Christ, Becks, really? Who'd she sleep with to get that?”

“You know Malcolm, the CEO?”

“Seen him and his family in the papers and on TV. You mean”
--

“She's been fuckin' him for at least three years.”

“Three years? No kidding? Friggin' hypocrite.”

“Yeah, so much for family values.”

“Geez; asshole.”

“And how are things with Armando?”

“Oh, god, Becks, he's the sexiest man I've ever met. I damn
near have a Big O just thinking about him.”

“You'll bring him to the pot luck next Sunday?”

“Oh, yeah. And you won't believe the dish he's bringing.”

“Oohh, tell me.”

“Nope, can't. He swore me to secrecy.”

“Oh, c'mon, Cam. You can tell me.”

“Sorry; can't. Really. He wants it to be a surprise. But
you'll love it, guaranteed.”

“Can't be any worse than that tofu shit whatsisname brought
last year.”

“Oh, Herb the herbalist? Yeah, that sucked. Never gonna date
a vegan again, that's for sure.”

“Bravo, Cam.”

“But Armando, he's … he's – uh-oh. Oh, god, oh,
oh, ohhhhh!”

“Oh, Cam, did you just” --

“Oh, god, oh, god. Oh. My. God!”

“Come on, Cam; time to focus.”

After a long pause, Cam replied, “Okay, okay, I got it, Becks.
All set.”

“Okay; we just crossed the one-mile mark.”

“I'm okay, really; all focused.”

“Good.

“Coming up on 1500 yards, Fiona.”

“Roger that, Becks.

“You good, Cam?”

“All set, Fiona, really; compartmentalized. But are these
machines vibrating more than usual? Or is it just me?”

“I'd bet it's just you, Cam.”

- 2 -

November 12, 2012
2:27 p.m. local time

Isle of Man, United Kingdom

“Authentication 0018937.”

“What's up, Marta?”

“We just picked up an alert on one of our Colombian bugs.”

“Which one?”

“The one in El Oso's bedroom in Medellin.”

“What's that bastard up to now?”

“He's planning a major assault on the Palace of Justice and the
US embassy in Bogota a week from tomorrow.”

“Patch it through. It's live, right?”

“Yup. Here ya go, Amber.”

Fifteen minutes later, after traveling through a worldwide network of
fifteen anonymous servers, an emailed recording of that conversation
in the original Spanish, along with an English translation, was
received in a nondescript office in a nondescript industrial park
near Langley, Virginia, in the United States, as well as in another
nondescript office in an office building in Bogota, Colombia, and yet
another in Medellin.

Four hours after that, contracts with the Asp, the Decimator and the
Passive Vocalist were finalized, each with a fee of 20 million euros,
all with the same target. Three deposits of ten million euros were
sent and received and ultimately consolidated into one account in the
Cayman Islands.

The following morning, El Oso's guards were horrified to see his pet
liger, with no warning, suddenly leap onto El Oso and claw at his
body, blood and guts spurting around his office, and then begin
gnawing on his stomach, face and arms as El Oso screamed and fell to
the floor under the onslaught.

It happened so quickly that none of the guards was able to get from
the monitoring consoles to the office in time to save El Oso's life,
but they did manage to kill the liger with at least ten rounds from
their sidearms.

The next day, three additional transfers of ten million euros each
were sent and received and added to the Cayman Island account,
bringing the total there to sixty million euros. The man with many
names received a report the following day, read it, then shredded and
burned it.

No attack on the Palace of Justice or the US embassy occurred. End of
excerpt

Reviews of “Devlin's Defiance”

"Devlin's Defiance" is best read after reading this
author's first book, "The Devlin Deception." I read both
books and totally enjoyed them both, though I likely would have been
confused, had I not read the first book ahead of this one. Perhaps
that is the source of other reviews that may cite confusion. Now,
with that out of the way, I will highly recommend both books. As for
my critique of "Devlin's Defiance" specifically, it is a
fascinating work of fiction that is grounded in some very real
aspects of our government and society. It is at times humorous enough
to instigate laughing-out-loud moments, yet it also serves as a
commentary on so much that is relevant to our contemporary
geopolitical environment, our economics, and our culture. This book
plays with layers of fiction, and can be read for pure entertainment,
if that is the reader's desire. But if you are looking for depth in
terms of content, character, and plot, you can't go wrong with this
engaging selection. The book features short chapters, which I liked,
given only short bursts of time I am able to devote to reading for
pleasure. I was able to achieve closure before retiring the book each
night. Although there is shifting of time periods and characters, I
found it easy enough to follow the chronology and the plot actions.
There were a few tricky parts that demanded a lot of thinking and
even flipping back to a previously read chapter or two, in order to
reach a conclusion. So, if mindless reading is your goal, skip this
one; but, if you like to be intellectually challenged and superbly
entertained, by all means, order it today. MLH, on Amazon

Great sequel to “The Devlin Deception” with revisiting
Gordy’s beach friends including: Jill & Carie, Rosemary,
Sharon, Mavis and Malcolm, Sargent Dooley, and of course we all know
someone like Ron & Jenny and certainly can’t forget Jake’s
friends Pam & JJ. Then there’s a new character named Dallas
to keep reading real interesting. Abundance of subplots throughout
the book that will keep you guessing and scratching your head
wondering how can that happen and how it will all turn out. There are
assassinations all around the world and some good old fashioned
science fiction that who knows may come true someday or have I QH’d?
Need to read the book to know what QH stands for. The alternate
epilogues again are a humorous side of the author that you’ll
wonder what’s up with that. The ending has an interesting
technique to write an alternate chapter by putting it on-line but for
very, very good reason why. Now that with “The Devlin
Deception” and “Devlin's Defiance” written, looking
forward to the next adventure. TSR, on Amazon