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

toward Naples, no longer
giggling. A small metal box with a small red button, a toggle switch
and a green light on it bounced about on the bottom of the boat.
    Jake looked out at a rapidly deflating and shredded King Kong head,
about fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide, as it fell back into the
Gulf, floating on the light chop, about ten yards south of the Hat
Squad, who were all paddling north as fast as they could with their
noodles, boogie boards and lifebelts.
    Fifty yards further out on the Gulf, a jet ski had stalled out and
was smoking; the kid who had rented it had disappeared.
    Millie fell over as a fourth Marine finally emerged, M-16 at the
ready, from his hiding spot directly under where she had put her
blanket two hours earlier.
    The Incontinentals and others on the beach pulled out cell phones and
began taking pictures and videos of what was going on.
    The four Marines converged on Pam and Jake, their weapons all pointed
at Jake, who cowered, his arms crossed in front of his face.
    "No, no, no," Pam commanded. "Weapons down!"
The Marines complied. "He's clear."
    The Marine who'd been under Millie looked at his fellows and asked,
"Where's Ron?"
    The pale young man pointed toward Norm and Janet, who had run toward
the parking lot when the gunfire began and were now coming back to
their chairs. "Danuski? I think he was somewhere in there."
    Pam pointed at two of the Marines and said, "Hunsucker, Babcock,
see what's going on with him. Miller, Schwartz, crowd control ...
PEACEFULLY, no weapons." She looked at the pale young man,
"Murphy, get out there and see what the hell that thing was.
I'll hold your weapon." Murphy nodded, handed Pam his handgun
and his sunglasses, revealing pinkish-red irises, and headed for the
water and the deflated gorilla head.
    Hunsucker and Babcock ran over to Norm and Janet, calling for their
compatriot both aloud and into their throat mikes, getting no
response. They pulled Norm's drill out of the sand and saw blood on
it, about a foot up from the tip.
    Janet said, "That's Norm's; he cut his toe on it." Norm
showed them his bandage.
    Hunsucker threw their chairs aside, then reached for the umbrella.
He pulled up on the shaft, but it wouldn't budge. He reached down to
pull up on the handles of the sand anchor; still no movement.
    Norm said, "Twist it ... no, the other way."
    Hunsucker twisted and the anchor slowly came up, exposing more blood
mixed in the sand on the blade. He and Babcock began digging in the
sand with their hands, revealing the top of a helmet, then even more
blood mixed with the sand.
    "Oh, shit," Hunsucker muttered.
    "Oh, Ron, no," Babcock cried.
    Norm looked on as more sand and blood came out in the Marines' hands;
he covered his mouth, looked at Janet, and croaked, "Oh, my
god."
    Babcock and Hunsucker finally got enough sand out to be able to pull
Ron up and onto the beach. They rolled him over, revealing a
mangled, bloody throat. Hunsucker checked for a pulse, found nothing
but dried and drying blood. Babcock started crying.
    The beach crowd shrank even further back, but several kept their cell
phone videos recording. Janet turned away and vomited. A flock of
twenty or thirty seagulls swooped in and began gobbling up her
breakfast muffin.
    Babcock leaped to his feet, grabbed his weapon and pointed it at
Norm. "You killed him, you killed him," he screamed, tears
still running down his cheeks.
    Norm cried out, "I didn't know he was there!"
    Pam yelled, "Stand down, Marine. STAND DOWN, dammit!"
    Hunsucker jumped up, grabbed Babcock's weapon and forced it down to
the ground. "Cool it, Babs; cool it."
    Pam ran directly between Norm and Babcock, got right in Babcock's
face and in a measured but intense tone said, "I said, STAND
DOWN, Marine!!!"
    Babcock, snarling at Norm, looked back at Pam, said, "Yes,
ma'am," and backed away.
    Pam said, "It was an accident. How could he know Ron was down
there? Think, Marine." Hunsucker pulled Babcock away from Norm
and Pam, toward the