Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
After reaching the top of the stairs, Sapphire Angel spotted the two men in front of Gavin Pierce's door. One of them rose from a crouched position in front of the lock, while the other turned the handle and eased the door open. It took all of her willpower not to sprint to them, but she couldn't risk spooking the two strangers, who might harm Pierce.
As she glided down the hall, the men slipped into the apartment and closed the door behind them. Sapphire Angel broke into a trot, staying on her tiptoes, and reaching the door within seconds. She lifted her hair and leaned her ear to the door.
She heard a muffled voice on the other side exclaim, "Who the fuck are you?" The response of the two men was too faint for her to understand, but Gavin Pierce's reply was unmistakable.
"Woah, man!" he exclaimed with a panicked yell. "Take it easy pointing that thing at me. I don't know where he is!"
That was enough for Sapphire Angel. She reached a gloved hand to the handle and gave it a slow turn. Once the latch disengaged, she inched the door open. Gavin Pierce's apartment stretched before her, with Pierce standing in the bedroom doorway about fifteen feet away, and the two men positioned close to Pierce with their backs to her.
The man on the left aimed a small handgun at Pierce and gave a slight turn in her direction as the door opened. Before his head finished its turn, Sapphire Angel crouched, swept her hand past her boot, and flicked her wrist forward, shooting a thin cable from a small cylinder-shaped object. She gave a quick jerk as the cable reached the man, sending it twirling about his wrist, which had turned with his body. Before he realized what was happening, she gave a tug, wrenching his arm and sending the gun clattering to the ground a few feet from her.
As the eyes of both men followed the gun, still processing what was happening, the costume-clad woman leapt forward, closing the distance like a missile. She kicked at the man to her right, launching him into the wall as she lashed a jab into the middle of the other man's face. As his eyes went slack and he started to collapse, unconscious on his feet, she whirled back to the first man, who was pushing himself off the wall.
He charged her, arms out, reaching for her throat. Her hands shot up to intercept his, halting him in his tracks. The huge man dwarfed her as they faced one another, hands locked, but a smile came over her face and his eyes widened. A moment later he was crying out in pain as she bent his wrists back and drove him to his knees. She released her hold and lashed out with a knee, catching him under the chin and toppling him to his backside.
While he shook his head and caught his bearings, the stunning super lady darted behind him, wrapping one arm around his neck and placing her other hand on top of his head, holding him in a headlock. He tried to rise, but with almost no effort, she forced him back down. His eyes bugged out, and he swiped at her arm, trying to pry himself free, but it was to no avail.
Sapphire Angel maintained her grip, cutting off his oxygen, until his resistance faded. Just before he passed out, she released him, and he toppled to his side, groaning on the floor.
"Are you okay?" she asked, rising and looking to Gavin Pierce, who remained in the doorway, standing with wide eyes and his mouth agape.
"Y... Yea," he stammered. "Holy shit."
"Throw some essentials into a bag — only what you can grab in a minute or two," she said. "You need to disappear for a while, so friends of these goons don't pay you another visit."
"Uh, yeah, sure," he said, but remained frozen in place, looking at the costumed beauty like she was angel descended from heaven.
"Now!" she said, giving a wave of her hand toward his bedroom.
With a start, he turned and darted into the bedroom. Sapphire Angel kneeled before the man on the floor, who was catching his breath. She placed the tip of her finger under his chin and lifted his head so his eyes looked up at her.
"Who are you?" she asked the man.
"I'm Sam," the man mumbled, his eyes almost as wide as Pierce's had been as he gazed at the heroine. Whether he was weak-minded by nature or his head injury affected him, she didn't know, but she recognized the look. She would be able to ply him for information.
"What were you doing here?" Sapphire Angel asked.
"We were asking that guy where his brother was," Sam intoned, his eyes unblinking as he spoke.
"Who sent you here?"
"My boss."
"Who is your boss?"
"Steve."
"Who's Steve?"
"He's my boss."
Sapphire Angel gritted her teeth.
"What is Steve's job?"
"I told you, he's my boss."
"I mean, does he have a job title?"
"Oh," Sam intoned. "Head of security or something like that."
"For who?" she asked, starting to lose her patience.
"WarTech."
Bingo. She had wanted proof to justify sneaking into the WarTech facility, and now she had it.
"Did he tell you why he wanted to find this man's brother?" she asked.
"No, he — " Before the man could finish his answer, Gavin Pierce stomped back into the doorway, a bag slung over his shoulder. Sam jerked his head up toward Pierce, before turning back to face Sapphire Angel. His look of awe disappeared, replaced by one of annoyance.
"What the fuck," he muttered. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"People like talking to me," Sapphire Angel replied with a teasing smile. She had the information she needed, but Pierce's interruption made it unlikely Sam would tell her any more.
"And you told me enough," she said with a smile. "Lay flat on your stomach."
"I'm not — " the man started to say, but Sapphire Angel held up her index finger, cutting him off.
"You've seen what I can do," she said. "So you can either lay flat on your stomach, or I'll make you do it."
"Son of a bitch," Sam grumbled, before rolling onto his stomach.
Sapphire Angel crouched next to him, pulling zip ties from her boot and using them to bind his wrists and ankles behind him, before pulling his ankles up to his wrists and securing him in a hog tie. Once he was bound, she checked his pockets, taking his smartphone. She moved to the other man and repeated the process, after checking him to make sure he was in no imminent danger from his injuries.
"That was fucking amazing," Gavin Pierce said, still standing in the bedroom doorway with his bag over his shoulder.
"It's time for you to leave," she said. "There's no way to know if these guys have any friends nearby, and I can't stay here forever and babysit you."
"Awww," he replied, his shoulders sagging. "Okay. What are you going to do?"
"These guys gave me what I needed. It's time for me to do what I should have done from the beginning."
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Always amazing to read chapters where Sapphire fights the bad guys! That’s so nice that she still went in and saved Gavin despite his rather.....unhealthy obsession with her. Then again, she’s a superhero, so I wouldn’t expect anything less.
I laughed when Sam threw Sapphire for a loop with that whole “Who is your boss? Steve. Who’s Steve? He’s my boss” exchange. If this was an actual movie, I could totally picture a laugh track playing right after that line. So “Steve”’s the head of security for WarTech.....yet another guy to add to our list of baddies, I suppose. Lots of villains to keep track of in these novels, but I think I’ve been getting by fine. Book #6 of my series has a heck of a lot of villains in it as well, but I won’t spoil anything.
A small part of me thinks that those men were genuinely concerned about where Gavin’s brother was and that’s why they stormed his apartment in order to find out. Or maybe they really were with WarTech and didn’t exactly have his best interests in mind.....I’m gonna go with the latter on that; they seemed very off-putting, anyway.
WarTech, we’re coming for you! Everyone there---Mark Devlin, Roy Valik, Calvin Valik, Richard Turner, Mantis---let’s do it! Unless Mantis does something again. He could ambush her before she even attacks WarTech, join the WarTech staff in defending the building, do the latter and betray Devlin at the last second.....oh, so many possibilities! I’m going to be on edge for the entire last week of 2022, I can tell.