The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology (59 page)

“Wow. That's impressive.”

“Oh, yeah; I'm the top producer. They love me.”

“Salary or commission?”

“Both.”

“Cool. Not a bad way to earn a living.”

“I love it. I get to meet some of the most interesting men.”

“And rich, too, I'd bet.”

“Of course; they're CEOs.”

Pam smiled at Jake and said, “Are they any good in bed?”

“Some of them – oh, I shouldn't say, should I?”

“Not unless you want 'em in Jake's book.”

JJ looked at Jake, “You wouldn't, would you?”

Jake smiled. “You might want to keep some stuff to yourself,
JJ.” He reached into his cooler, got his water bottle and took
a long swig.

“So what did you do before the fundraising gig?” Pam
asked.

“Dancer.”

“Really? What type? Exotic?”

“No, no, no. Flamenco.”

“Really?”

“Really. Twelve years; I was terrific, made a ton of money.”

“Cool. Ever had a ménage à trois?”

Jake spat some water out, then spluttered, “Pam!”

Justin gasped, Lindsay fumed. Sharon rasped,“Uh-oh; I may need
more cameras.” Norm and Janet's ears perked up.

“Gee, I – oh, I'd better keep that to myself,” JJ
said, glancing at Jake.

“Ah, well,” Pam said, giving Jake a quick, hidden smirk.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“So, JJ, you travel a lot?”

“Oh, yeah. All over the country, all the time.”

“Europe?”

“Nope, never been.”

“Mexico, Latin America?”

“Nope.”

“Canada?”

“Once, nine, ten years ago.”

“What part of Canada?”

“Montreal.”

“Did you like it there?”

“It was great. I was putting on a charity fashion show up
there for a sister charity.”

“Get to see much of the city?”

“Not really; I was stuck in the hotel most of the time.”

“Too bad; it's a great city.”

“Oh.”

“So you've never had a three-way?”

“Just twi- – oh.” She looked at Jake. “Oops.”

“Two guys or two girls?”

“Gir- – oh, oops.”

“Oh, goodie.” Pam smiled at Jake.

Sharon rasped, “Definitely wish I had more cameras.”
Justin, now breathing heavily, looked at Lindsay, whose scowl
threatened to freeze permanently. Norm and Janet were now only
pretending to work on their puzzles.

“What d'ya think, Jake?” Pam asked. “Want to give
it a try? We're nearly twins, after all.”

JJ interrupted, “I don't know, Pam; I'm not sure I --”

“Oh, c'mon, JJ. You know you --”

“Okay, give it up, girls. You almost had me there, but no
gotcha. Good try, though.”

Stunned to the point of perflutzity, Pam and JJ could only stare at
Jake. Jake grinned at them both.

“Ah, shit,” Sharon rasped.

Justin, “Damn.”

Lindsay stared at Justin and hissed, “Pig.”

Norm and Janet leaned further towards the trio.

“Of course, if you two really want to --”

“Heads up, Sharon. This guy looks a little hinky,”
Justin said.

“Which guy?” Sharon asked. “Oh, shit!”

Pam finally said, “What gave it away?“

“Well, first, you both have the same --”

JJ and Pam simultaneously yelled, “Gun!!!!!!”

Jake saw it out of the corner of his eye, snapped his leg up and
kicked the gunman's right wrist, then grabbed his left hand in a kote
gaeshi wrist lock, while JJ reached out and pulled the gun from his
right hand just after he pulled the trigger, the bullet flying into
the air and ultimately landing harmlessly in the bay behind the
guardhouse at the entrance to the Collier parking lot; it was found
three years later embedded in the shell of a sea turtle caught near
Marco Island.

The gunman screamed as Jake put more pressure on his wrist and
fingers, forcing him to his knees and then onto his face in the sand,
where Jake sat on his back while Pam got some flex-ties from her bag
and tied him with those, and JJ expertly added another set around his
ankles.

“Nice move, Jake,” Pam said.

“Pizza cake,” Jake replied, breathing heavily.

Justin said, “Did you get that, Sharon?”

“Yup,” Sharon replied. “Seen and recorded. But
shit; we were too slow.”

“Luckily, they were fast enough,” he replied.

“All three of them,” Sharon said. “Hmm.”

The man on the PVC lounge, having seen the whole event unfold, pulled
his right hand out from under his lounge, scratched his right temple
and then went back to reading Pirandello's “Enrico IV.”

Pam took out her cell phone and dialed 911. Within minutes, Sergeant
Dooley and six deputies arrived and, after ascertaining what had
happened, took the gunman into custody, applied first aid to his
broken left fingers and right wrist, and whisked him away in a
cruiser.

After taking statements from Pam, JJ, Jake and many other people on
the beach, as well as reviewing six cell phone videos, a charge of
attempted murder was filed against the gunman, who, further
investigation revealed, was a pro-life fanatic with a lengthy
criminal record, mostly assault and battery, as well as a history of
bipolar disorder, who was enraged that Devlin had written that Donne
had legalized abortion. He'd heard about Jake's web site from a
girlfriend who'd gotten the link directly from Jake the previous
year. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life. Two
months into his sentence, he died after being shanked by a pro-choice
nutjob in the prison laundry.

At three o'clock, after they had given their statements, Jake looked
at Pam and JJ, smiled broadly and said, “Now, about that
three-way ...”

-118-

Friday, January 2, 2015

8:30 p.m.

The Oval Office

The White House

via a 24-hour news channel

Gordon Donne, dressed in his usual casual clothing, his fringe of
hair a good deal thinner and grayer, smiled into the camera. His
complexion and demeanor gave a picture of general good health.

“Good evening, my fellow Americans, and Happy New Year.

“It's been a little over three years now that I've been working
for y'all, and I have some generally good news to report.

“First, as usual, on the economy, I'm pleased to tell you that
GDP grew at about 5.5 percent last year; I say “about,”
because the final figures aren't in as yet, but the first three
quarters grew at that rate or better, and the fourth quarter, even
without China in the global economy, should have come in at or above
that average.

“So, since that met my goal of five percent growth a year ahead
of my projection, I'm reducing income tax brackets for individuals by
one percent for this year, 2015. New withholding software for all
platforms is available on our web site, _______.gov, and we urge all
employers to download and install that as quickly as possible.

“I've also eliminated the partisan surcharges, again for this
year and all future years, and I've cut the minimum tax in half,
from $720 a year to $360.

“The country reached a record revenue of 4.3 trillion dollars
last year, and our budget for this year is only 3.1 trillion, down to
17 percent of GDP, so we've started paying down our debt. It's down
to 15.3 trillion dollars, and it's looking like we'll have it down to
ten trillion in another three years or sooner. When we get there,
I'll consider another tax cut for individuals.

“For businesses, the rates will stay the same, and we've found
that the US is turning into a tax haven of its own, simply because we
no longer have the highest business tax rates in the world; we have
close to the lowest. We have found that tax avoidance and evasion by
businesses has gone way down from 2011 and before, and CEOs tell me
again and again that this country is the best place in the world to
locate and do business.

“The unemployment rate, as you all heard this morning, is now
down to 5.9 percent, and we added over nine million jobs last year.
So we're making good progress on that front.

“Our Sovereign Wealth Fund now has over two trillion dollars
under management and has made an 18.3 percent return over the last
two years. That fund has financed thousands of infrastructure repair
and construction projects, mostly roads and bridges, and since fewer
than 15 percent of our investors have chosen the annual payout
option, we've still got lots of capital to invest. I'd give that a
grade of about a B plus; it's good, but it can do better.

“The Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security fixes we put in
place in 2012 have made all of those programs solvent through 2085,
so I'm very pleased there. And the Al Capone tax has rendered fraud
in all of those virtually nonexistent. We continue our vigilant
monitoring, of course.

“The environment continues to be healthy, and the regulatory
agencies that still exist are efficient, non-invasive and cooperative
with the 92 percent of businesses that still maintain their A rating,
and tough, micromanaging and invasive with the eight percent with the
dreaded B rating, which they keep for a minimum of two years from
when they receive it. 3,012 businesses have gotten their A back.

“On the energy front, we have achieved 85 percent independence,
with nuclear now generating most of our electrical energy needs,
along with coal, natural gas and a minimal contribution from solar
and wind farms, and a tiny bit from bioenergy sources.

“As you all probably know, nearly every country has joined us
in fixing their currencies to oil, and here in the US, after we
eliminated the federal tax on gasoline, that price is down to under
two bucks a gallon, and our refining companies and the oil companies
themselves are still showing record profits and distributing them in
dividends.

“On the education front, the high school dropout rate
nationwide is down to six percent, with pockets here and there where
it is higher. But by giving school districts greater flexibility to
address their local issues, and not just throwing money at them, I
expect those pockets to bring their dropout rate down to or below the
national average. We are now actually graduating high schoolers who
know how to read, write and plan their personal finances, and who are
eager for higher education, be it college, trade school or one of the
thousands of apprenticeship programs the private sector has
implemented.

“As for defense, our military is the strongest, leanest and
meanest in the world, but ever since the China-India-Arab war, in
which we intervened with insurmountable power, we have only had to
utilize it minimally.

“Our steadfast support of the right of Israel to exist and
prosper, while criticized vehemently both here at home and in the
Arab world, has ensured our Israeli friends' continued existence and
cooperative contributions to the American economy, especially in
technology.

“Obviously, our support of Israel before, during and after
their coordinated attack on and complete decimation of Iran's nuclear
facilities was instrumental in the regime change in that country. Of
course, the new regime is no less hostile to this country, but they
have given up their nuclear ambitions and know that we hold the
leaders completely accountable for the actions of their people,
especially after the China war, so they have been a good deal more
docile than the previous leaders. I doubt we'll reopen diplomatic
relations with them for several years, but if and when they come to
the table with serious and verifiable options that align with
American interests, we may … and I emphasize may …
consider that.

“Of course, we maintain a strong presence on the homeland
security front and have had no terrorist attacks since May of 2013,
in the midst of the China war, and that was contained to one bomb in
a sparsely populated area. I congratulate everyone in our
intelligence community for their hard work and ongoing success.

“I'm going to end with that and let you all know that you can
find more information about the state of the country on our web site,
________.gov.

“So I'll now simply wish you all a very happy and prosperous
2015 and say good night.”

-119-

Monday, July 16, 2012

11:49 p.m.

Cyberspace

The Instigator reviewed his emails for the first time in several
weeks, then checked the balance in the account, which was now exactly
190 million euros plus a relatively small amount of interest. He
debated for a moment about perhaps instigating some more contracts,
but finally decided against it, satisfied that nineteen contracts
were plenty … for now.

“Pizza cake,” he said quietly. “I can run this all
again in a year or two.”

Smiling to himself, he turned off the PC, settled back in his
recliner, sighed, stretched and finished off the last of his
expensive wine, then rinsed the glass and headed up to bed, where he
slept soundly, deeply and dreamlessly through the night, awakening
refreshed and fully restored at a little past nine a.m. local time.
He opened the shutters and looked out at the expansive, virtually
limitless view from his windows.

“Ah, another gorgeous day. Hope the locals are enjoying it.”

-120-

Friday, January 3, 2020

8:30 p.m.

The Oval Office

The White House

via a 24-hour news channel

Gordon Donne, dressed in his usual casual clothing, his fringe of
hair even thinner and grayer, smiled into the camera. At age 60, he
looked to be the picture of health for his age.

“Good evening, my fellow Americans, and Happy New Year.

“It's been a little over eight years now that I've been working
for you, and, as usual, I have some good news to report.

“Tonight, I'm going to limit myself to the economy, and I'm
very pleased to tell you that GDP grew at about 11.5 percent last
year, beating my goal of ten percent within eight years; I say
“about,” because, as usual, the final figures aren't in
as yet, but the first three quarters grew at that rate or better, and
the fourth quarter will have come in at or above that rate.