We last read Chapter 13, in which we meet Raven Tristan, the secret weapon of StarPrime CEO Xavier Wheldon. She uses her considerable skills to obtain information about people for Wheldon to use as leverage. Wheldon keeps a trophy case with mementos of all the victories he achieves over opponents using such information. Wheldon directs Tristan to focus her energies on Beth Harper, so he can add another item to his trophy case.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
Ten minutes later Xavier Wheldon was seething again, after receiving the final reports of his men's pursuit of Beth Harper and Conner Bennet. His two shooters had gone silent a few minutes into the pursuit, so his only information had come from one of his men near the road. The man had seen Harper and Bennet make it to their car and flee.
Now he knew why his shooters had gone silent. Battered and bruised, they had reported in moments ago, and the news wasn't good. Sapphire Angel had appeared again and taken them out. That was bad. Really bad. The superheroine had interfered twice now.
He wished he had known of the superheroine's latest appearance prior to his meeting with Raven Tristan. Tristan might be able to do something about the costumed woman. He thought about summoning her again, but dismissed the idea. He wanted her to finish with Harper first, who was the more immediate threat. Then he could turn her attention to Sapphire Angel.
Wheldon tapped away at a few keys on the keyboard in front of him. In response, a 110 inch screen on the wall above him flickered to life. He pushed himself back from the keyboard to get a view of the screen, and to make sure his profile was centered for the camera mounted below the screen.
The screen was divided into six sections, with the live image of a different person, all men, appearing in five of them. Each man seemed irritated, rocking impatiently or thumbing through papers. As Wheldon watched, a man stepped into view in the remaining section and sat down in a plush leather chair. This was MacGregor Lockheed, perhaps the most powerful one in the group. He was the oldest of the group, with grey hair and deep wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead. He had a stern look to him.
Wheldon noted, not for the first time, how all the participants of this secret group were men. A few of the essential members of this group were sexist pigs, calling themselves "old school." Wheldon was old school himself, but gender meant less than performance to him.
"Are we ready to call this meeting to order?" the man in the bottom right section of Wheldon's screen asked. A nervous-looking fellow, his voice cracked when he spoke. His words were tentative, as if he were afraid of the reaction he might get. He had stringy brown hair, a gaunt face, and deep-set eyes. Wheldon knew not to let appearances deceive him. This man might appear meek, but he had amassed a considerable base of power thanks to his conniving ways. Technically, he was a lobbyist, but his interests ran much deeper than those of of his clients.
"Yes, let's get this started. I have a busy evening," Lockheed said in his regal tone. The other participants fell silent, showing deference to the older man.
Wheldon was sure they all had busy evenings ahead. Every participant wore an expensive suit, and each worked a career that didn't end with the close of the typical workday.
"For starters," another man on the screen began, "Tell me about the hick police chief, Xavier. Your last report said he wants to be more involved." Mark Bishop, a powerful U.S. senator, had wavy blonde hair that greyed around the temples. He was chewing gum and his feet were kicked up on the desk in front of him. His tanned skin and sharp blue eyes made him look like he had just walked off of a movie set.
"Yes, I'm worried about anyone outside our group of seven," a bald man said. "I don't know this guy, so I don't trust him to keep his mouth shut."
Wheldon took it all in, waiting to make sure there were no other questions about Chief Biggins. He answered, speaking in a calm and measured voice.
"He's an annoyance, yes," Wheldon replied, nodding. "But we can trust him. He has too much to lose, and he's too important. As we've discussed previously, he can help smooth over some local issues up here. He's already deflected one potential problem." Wheldon didn't mention that one of his men had caused the problem by shooting and killing a trespasser.
"Is it worth the trade off?" the bald man asked.
"I trust Xander's judgment on this," someone else replied.
A small argument broke out among several participants. Wheldon sighed, sitting back in his chair to let the turmoil run its course. It continued for less than a minute before MacGregor Lockheed raised his voice.
"Gentlemen!" he snapped, and the other men became quiet. "Xavier knows more about the local politics than any of us. It might seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme of what we're doing, but those small potatoes have the potential to interfere with of our plans. We need to trust Xavier on this. Or at least trust me. He's coming down my way on Monday, and I'll go over everything with him, and make sure all is on track."
Any trace of argument evaporated. Not a murmur rose from the men on the screen, although Mark Bishop, the senator, wore a hint of a smile on his face, as if the situation amused him.
"I'm glad to see we're in agreement," Lockheed said calmly. "Now, Xavier, how is the work coming up there? Is Tanner going to make the deadline?"
"He will," Wheldon answered. "We're not quite where we need to be, but we're getting closer and we still have time. We're running another test tonight."
"What's this about him trying to get word to the outside?" Bishop asked, still kicked back in his chair. "That's disturbing."
Wheldon tried not to let his annoyance show. He had only confided in two of the men about Bud Tanner's escape, not wanting to create an unnecessary distraction for the rest of the group. Someone had ratted to Bishop.
"He slipped away, Senator, but we retrieved him."
"Not initially, right? He got away on your first attempt to get him back," the blonde man said.
"That was a temporary setback," Wheldon said. "We found him an hour later, and shortly after that he was back to work." Wheldon held his breath, waiting to see if any of the men would mention Sapphire Angel's rescue of Tanner. If they didn't bring her up, he wouldn't mention either of her appearances. He didn't want to spur more questions.
"And he didn't go to the authorities?" Bishop asked.
"No," Wheldon said. "With our contacts, we would have heard by now."
"Are you sure the threat you're holding over his head is enough to keep him in line?" the mousy man asked, his voice cracking once again.
"It's enough," Wheldon said, using his most reassuring voice. "Tanner thought he could slip away and return without our knowledge. Now that he knows he can't hide anything from us, he won't try again. He knows the consequences if he tries, and he also knows the consequences if he can't deliver what we need in time."
"Very well," MacGregor Lockheed said, cutting in. "I think we've heard enough for now. We will do this again tomorrow, so you can report on how the test goes tonight."
"I will," Wheldon replied, and rocked forward to touch a key on the keyboard. The screen went blank.
He leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. These men had all come together with a common goal, but he wondered if it wouldn't be easier to operate alone. It was too late for that now. He gave away as little information as he could in these meetings, but the time for reckoning was coming.
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I KNEW Chief Biggins was allied with the bad guys! And wait.....is the “trespasser” Joseph Snyder?! If it weren’t for the potential legal consequences, I’d have Sapphire Angel just march into that sheriff’s office and give Biggins the roughing up of a lifetime because holy crud....corrupt police officers are the WOOOOOOORST. They use their position and badges as “shields” to defend against any shady acts they might commit.
Yea, I agree with you on the police angle. I try to be careful, because a corrupt authority figure can make for a good story, but I don't want to go back to that well too often, because, like any profession, it's often just a few bad apples making it bad for the good ones.