Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Ten minutes later, Sapphire Angel sat inside a car in an alley, as sirens descended on the warehouse a few blocks away. After securing the gang members, she had made an anonymous call to the police, to start the process of putting them behind bars. The gang's own surveillance footage would do the rest, along with the contraband piled high in the warehouse. And of the nine criminals, odds were at least one of them would speak to the police, to save his own skin.
The superheroine's car was a heavily modified Ferrari 488 Spider, with sleek lines that screamed power and speed. The car's speed, though, wouldn't help her deal with a problem more worrisome than the Red Scorpions. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard, muttered under her breath, and retrieved an iPhone from a hidden compartment in the glove box. She powered it on and tapped the first number in her favorites. As the soft ringing of a phone filled the interior of her vehicle, she unfastened the clasp of her necklace and slipped it from around her neck. A few seconds later, a man's voice answered.
"Hey Beth, how's it going?" The voice belonged to her real-life boyfriend, Conner Bennett, who didn't know his girlfriend, Beth Harper, was the famous superheroine Sapphire Angel.
Beth gave a forced sigh. "Not good. Sorry I missed the start of the show. I'm trying to get this story done before my deadline."
Without the necklace, and its mysterious ability to conceal her identity, Conner would recognize her as Beth, not Sapphire Angel, whom he had met on a few occasions.
There were a few moments of silence before Conner spoke.
"It couldn't wait until the morning?" he asked.
Another sigh. "I'm sorry, but my publisher was hounding me. Even with my recent move to lifestyle stories, I needed to meet this deadline."
A familiar pit of angst formed in her stomach as Conner said nothing. She hated lying to him, but it was necessary. He needed to see her as Beth, not as the woman half the country idolized.
"It looks like my schedule is going to be better soon," she continued. "We should get some quality time together then."
"I've heard that before," Conner grumbled.
"Ouch," the costumed woman said as she cringed. "I guess I deserve that."
Conner had every right to be upset. They had only been dating a little over a month, and it had been a very busy month for Sapphire Angel. Beth and Conner had started their relationship during the same mission where Sapphire Angel prevented a nuclear disaster and saved the President of the United States. Sapphire Angel, already famous, had catapulted to almost unheard-of levels of national stardom. As her fame grew, she became even more proactive than before, hunting down dangerous criminals in south-central Pennsylvania. The Red Scorpions were but one of many adversaries.
She felt an obligation to use her powers to help others. Or at least that's what she wanted to believe. She didn't want to believe she was staying busy to avoid learning about herself, or about the truth behind her powers. In the beginning, she had been certain her powers were the side effect of an experiment gone wrong — an experiment she had stumbled into with her boyfriend, John. It had killed him and left her with her powers when she wore her necklace.
But as time went on, some of her powers proved to be too... convenient to be just a side effect of the experiment, like the way her necklace made even those close to her not recognize her, or how they disregarded obvious signs of her identity. And some of her abilities felt natural once she slipped the necklace around her neck. It was almost as if they were meant for her. She was both afraid and curious to learn if there was more to it, or if it was only her imagination running wild.
Whatever the reason for her increased activity as Sapphire Angel, it meant less time for Conner. And more lies.
"You know I'm not the clingy type," Conner said, "but sometimes your obsession with work and your neglect of this relationship gets a little ridiculous."
She winced. "After tonight, it will get better. I promise," she said, urgency in her words. Perhaps she would back off of her life as Sapphire Angel, for just a bit, to focus more on their relationship.
"I hope," Conner replied. He left his words hanging, as if leaving something unsaid. It sounded almost like an ultimatum.
"Well, I should get back to work," she said in a hushed tone. "I can stop by when I'm done."
"I'm going to turn in early tonight. So maybe some other time." He hung up.
Sapphire Angel gripped the steering wheel tightly for a moment, before bowing her head and resting it against her gloved hands. Something needed to change, or she and Conner wouldn't last much longer. Just a few more nights. That's all she needed to round up the rest of this gang, and then she could take it easy for several weeks. Or could she? Could she stand by, living a life of leisure, knowing people were out there suffering at the hands of other criminal organizations as bad as the Red Scorpions?
With a sigh, she retrieved her necklace, the source of her powers, and refastened the clasp at the back of her neck. She shifted the powerful vehicle into gear and sped off into the night.
Mantis wasn't his real name. A Saudi by birth, he dressed and manicured himself such that he could have passed for a Westerner of Greek or Italian descent. He had short dark hair, tanned skin, and a beardless face. The face was usually devoid of emotion.
Fresh off his abduction of Eric Stump, Mantis sat in a folding chair in the headquarters of WarTech, the renowned military contractor, facing three men who could have been triplets. The three men sat on comfortable executive chairs, and wore identical brown loafers, khaki pants, and plain blue Oxfords. They had buzz cuts on their heads and were all in their early forties.
They might look similar, but the man in the middle, Mark Devlin, was the only one who mattered to Mantis. As the CEO of WarTech, he called the shots. The other men were the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Operations Office, and, in theory, should have had some say in the company's affairs. But Mantis understood the dynamics between the men. They were both here for show and would defer to Devlin in all matters.
The three men sat behind a dark wood table, while Mantis sat alone, looking like a low-level assistant before his superiors. Mantis tolerated this symbolic nonsense not only because these men paid him well, but also because their plans suited his purposes. They just didn't realize it.
"You've done well, Mr. Mantis," Devlin said.
He did not need praise from any of them. And certainly not from Mark Devlin. The WarTech CEO talked a good game, and carried himself with confidence, but Mantis saw right through it. It was a fake confidence, projected by an insecure man. And even if Devlin had been Allah himself, Mantis didn't need his praise for the acquisition of Eric Stump. Mantis had kidnapped people in situations much more difficult than grabbing a clueless young man in a parking garage elevator. He had snatched millionaires from their fortified homes. He had kidnapped politicians, and even once had snatched a Saudi prince right from under the nose of his security detail.
Mantis wasn't doing this for praise, but wasn't doing it for money alone, either. In fact, the greed of these three men disgusted him. But their path aligned with his, at least for now.
The prime motivation for Mantis was his hatred of America. While these men acted out of a lust for money, he accepted their assignments so he might play a part, however small, in poisoning this depraved country. He would help leech away this country's life-force, by assisting these men with their plans. He didn't know, though, how much longer he could tolerate their greed and condescension.
"Will you kill the boy?" Mantis asked. He spoke with a very slight Middle Eastern accent which he was able to hide when desired. Now, he didn't care if they heard it. He also didn't care what happened to his kidnapping victim, but he often liked to learn the fate of his targets, out of professional curiosity
"Eventually, yes," Devlin answered with a commanding voice. His tone suggested confidence, and that he was accustomed to giving orders. "We first need to find out how much he learned, and if he shared it with anyone."
Mantis nodded. "So if he did share information, you may need me again soon?"
Devlin nodded. "Yes. You will continue to receive your usual retainer. Just stay close, and we will let you know when it is time."
That was enough for Mantis. He welcomed the chance to ply his trade again. He also welcomed the chance to learn more about this organization, in the event it no longer served his needs.
End of Chapter 3
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
A dark part of me hopes that she and Conner’s relationship falls through because she basically put John to the curb, but at the same time, I want her to stay happy. Likewise, part of me wishes that she would just spill her superhero status to him, but another part worries about the possible outcomes of that. Then again, Conner was definitely more than intimate with Sapphire Angel on multiple occasions in the previous novel, so I doubt he’d care much. Imagine if he learned that the girl he was dating AND the girl who mysteriously visited him in his house and shared passionate kisses with on more than one occasion were one and the same.
So now we’re dealing with WarTech, led by Mark Devlin, and Mantis (Eric Stump’s kidnapper), who hates America. Is it the guns? Does he not like the guns? It’s the guns, isn’t it? xD
I don’t have much time today since I’ve got college, but I’ve found a few minutes to make some progress! Then again, the entire novel isn’t fully posted yet, so I’m trying to space out my sessions so I don’t run out of chapters.