The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology by Jake Devlin, (with Bonnie Springs)

wound."
    "Nah, just sheer dumb luck. Second week I was sitting on the
beach, some idiots left their umbrella up while they went walking,
and it blew loose and hit me. 13 stitches."
    "Pretty close to the femoral artery."
    "Yup; more dumb luck that it missed. That's why I always check
to see who's got open umbrellas upwind of me when I'm stretching.
And if you see Norm over there ... hey, Norm."
    Norm looked up from his puzzle and waved. "Hey, Jake."
    "He uses that drill and the sand anchor to hold the umbrella
down, even in strong winds."
    Pam looked over and winced slightly, then recovered her composure.
"Good idea."
    "Yup; Norm's pretty clever. He's a retired dentist."
    "Ah-ha."
    "Speaking of doctors, I see you had a great plastic surgeon."
    "No, no; these are real."
    "No, I'm sorry; I mean that bullet wound over your left
collarbone."
    "Oh, that. A long time ago, different life."
    "CIA, FBI, DIA, military, what?"
    "No, no --"
    "C'mon, Pam. I saw the DS380/17 in your sunglasses. That's Top
Echelon only, no civilian uses."
    Pam's eyes widened. "You know about --"
    She didn't finish, as a loud roar came from the water and shrieks and
screams broke out all over the beach, everybody staring and pointing
at the Gulf.
    Pam's eyes widened even further, and Jake turned to look over his
right shoulder.
    "What the –"
    Then gunfire erupted and all the beachgoers began running toward the
parking lots, except for the Mimosa twins, who reached into their
beach bags and adjusted the zoom on their equipment.

-12-

    Saturday, December 10, 2011
    3:15 p.m. EST
    New York City, New York

    The Occupy people began occupying the Upper East Side about noon,
marching up, down and across all the streets and avenues, waving the
usual hodgepodge of signs that had become familiar to anyone who paid
any attention to any news programs, with a few new additions: “Down
With Donne,” “No Miminum Tax,” “Money is a
Shitty Regilion” and “No Tax on Non-Profets.”
There was another which read “We Have Passionate Vague Demands”
and another claiming “We Hate Self-Defecating Humor.”
    Wayne and Linda, at Jennifer's request, accompanied her up the
private elevator to the Paynes' penthouse on their return from the
charity lunch. When the doors opened, Jonathan gaped at the sight
before him.
    “Jenn, are you okay? What happened?”
    “It was awful, Jon. They threw, they threw --” She
broke down in tears and fell into Jon's arms. Jon looked at Wayne
and Linda.
    “What happened out there?”
    “We had no problem getting to the Bernsteins', but on the way
back, it looked like it might be difficult. So Linda changed coats
with Jennifer – I mean Mrs. Payne – and moved ahead of us
as a decoy. Mrs. Payne stayed with me and we followed about eight
feet behind. The protesters were all over Fifth Avenue, the street,
the sidewalks, scores of them, marching and chanting. We made it
through that crowd and the ones on the cross street, but when we
turned onto Park, somebody splashed red paint on Linda and yelled at
her about wearing fur.”
    “He swore at her, Jon. It was awful,” Jenn wailed.
    “Are you hurt, Linda?” Jon asked.
    “No, but that clown sure is. He won't be using that arm again
for a long, long time,” Linda replied.
    “With that melee distracting everyone, I rushed Mrs. Payne here
to your building and we got inside; nobody followed us or touched
her.”
    “Wayne was wonderful, Jon,” Jenn whimpered.
    “And Linda cleared from the crowd and joined us inside after a
few minutes.”
    Linda said, “I made sure I wasn't followed, went way past this
building, around the corner, turned the coat inside out, wrapped it
into a ball and came back on the other side of the street with my hat
inside out. When the way looked clear, I came across the street and
Wayne let me in. Then we hustled into your elevator.
    “And we've got a cleaner who can probably get that paint off
the coat, if we get it to him soon.”
    “Oh, that'd be