Devlin's Defiance: Book Two of the Devlin Quatrology Read Online Free PDF Page A

said in the gruffest voice he
could manage. The man's head swiveled so he could focus his eye on
this new presence, but his coughing got worse.
    “ While she's
getting you some water, I've got a few questions for you.
    “ First, what's
your name?”
    “ Allahu Akbar,”
the man whisper-chanted, glaring cyclopseanly at Jake. “Allahu
Akbar.”
    “ No, no, no; your
name.”
    “ Allahu Akbar,
Allahu Akbar.”
    Jake pressed on his
chest, much harder than Pam had. The man cried out, until another
coughing spasm drove more blood out of his mouth.
    “ Want some
water?” Jake asked gently. The man nodded weakly, still
coughing and spewing blood.
    “ As soon as you
tell me your name, I'll give you some.”
    “ Allahu Akbar,
Allahu Akbar.”
    “ Okay, so that's
how you want to play it? Fine.”
    Jake pressed even
harder on the man's chest, then slapped him on the left cheek,
ignoring the man's cries of pain, then again on the right cheek. The
man moaned once and went silent.

- 17 -
    November
12, 2012 3:12 p.m. local time
    Bonita Beach, Florida

    “ Four or five a
week? Really?” Rosemary asked, incredulous.
    “ That's what I
heard. Think it was on one of those medical shows I clicked into
accidentally.”
    Dallas, a pretty 50-ish
brunette who'd been noodling nearby, cut in, “I can have four
or five an hour. Sometimes in ten minutes with the right guy.”
    Gordy chuckled. “Or
the right batteries.”
    Rosemary blushed
through her tan, almost, but not quite, stifling a nervous giggle.
    “ Sorry, Rosemary,
couldn't resist. That was too good a setup to ignore. But that's
what they said, that it was healthy and helped women live longer.
So, Dallas, you'll probably live a couple hundred years.”
    Now it was Dallas' turn
to blush, but she did no such thing. She laughed a hearty belly
laugh instead. “Got that right, ol' man. Maybe three
hundred.”
    “ Okay, three
hundred. And in twenty years, when you get to be our age, you just
might have a chance to be as sexy-looking as Rosemary is.”
    As Rosemary blushed
even more, Dallas glanced over at her and said, “I sure hope
so. What's your secret? How do you keep that great figure?”
    Rosemary, still
blushing, stuttered for a moment, but finally said, “I graze.”
    “ You what?”
    “ She grazes,”
Gordy said, “eats a little bit all day long, not ever
over-eating. So her stomach doesn't expand three times a day, like
most people's do, and she doesn't have those mid-morning and
mid-afternoon and evening hunger pangs that most people get.”
    “ But how does
that work?”
    “ When I do get a
little bit hungry, I nibble a tiny bite of something, but never very
much.”
    “ But – but
what about when you go out to dinner? Or do you?”
    “ Sure, I do, but
again I only nibble, and I almost always take most of the meal home;
sometimes it can last four or five days, and I always order stuff
that'll keep that long.”
    “ I'd guess she
gets about a hundred, maybe 125 calories an hour.”
    “ That's all?
Wow.”
    “ Never counted,
but Gordy's pretty good with numbers, so I'll take his word for it.”
    “ I've started
doing the same thing, thanks to Rosemary. And I've sorta figured out
that weight control or loss – and I'm only talking about
weight, not any medical issues; that's a whole different ball game –
is about four percent food choice, four percent exercise and 92
percent portion size and timing ,
like grazing.”
    “ You DO do
numbers, like she said, huh?”
    “ Guess so, some
of the time. But right now, I'm 92 percent sure my body temp has
dropped a full degree in this 79-degree water. And I think I need a
nap. So if you lovely ladies will excuse me?”
    “ Sure, Gordy; nap
well.”
    “ Thanks, Ro. And
Dallas, nice meeting you.”
    “ Same backatcha.”
    As Gordy headed to
shore, he overheard Dallas say, “You've never had any work
done?” and Rosemary answer, “Nope, none; cross my heart,”
and he smiled to himself, lay down on his lounge