We last read Chapter 15, in which Beth decides Sapphire Angel will pay a visit to Chief Biggins’ office at the Mountville police station, after hours, to find out what the chief is hiding about the shooting near the nuclear power plant. Before leaving for the Mountville police station, Beth stops at a local club to meet her best friend, Ethan Moore. Unbeknownst to her, Raven Tristan is watching her from a safe distance. As Beth heads off to sneak into the police station, Raven Tristan stalks after her.
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!
Raven Tristan fell in behind Beth Harper as the young woman drove through the streets of Harrisburg. She stayed a safe distance behind her and allowed other cars to get between them once Harper reached the interstate. She followed as the blonde woman made her way around the city's beltway and crossed the Susquehanna River. Harper drove past the exit for New Cumberland and Lemoyne, which meant she wasn't heading home. Very interesting.
Just after the interstate crossed the river, a state route split off to the left. Harper stayed on the interstate, following the loop in the road to continue south. The next exits came fast, spaced only a hundred yards apart from one another, and Harper exited at the third one. Tristan eased off the highway and started down the ramp in time to spot Harper turn right at the end of the ramp. Tristan followed as Harper headed out into the country.
What followed were many turns on back country roads. Tristan had to stay back further, as there were fewer cars out here to use as cover. After five minutes of following, Tristan made a turn and Harper was nowhere in sight. Tristan swore and stepped on the accelerator. After a minute she came to a four-way stop in the middle of a cornfield. There was no sign of Harper.
Tristan gripped the steering wheel tightly in frustration, as if crushing it in her hands would bring Harper's car back into view. Where had she gone? Tristan hadn't noticed any intersecting roads or driveways in this rural area until this one. Could Harper have detected she was being followed and sped up? Whatever the reason, Tristan didn't see her.
Tristan drove around for a few more minutes, searching in vain, but Harper had disappeared.
Magic hadn't caused Beth Harper to vanish. Planning and caution had done the trick. She had turned off the main road and onto a lane nearly invisible to the naked eye, but not before pressing a button on her dash and viewing a grid of images appearing on the screen on her dash. The images streamed video footage from hidden wireless cameras placed in strategic points along the road.
Satisfied nobody was close enough to see her, Beth had made a hard right off of the road, directly toward a seemingly impenetrable line of shrubs. She pressed a second button underneath her dash and the shrubs swung out of the way, like they were on wheels. After she drove past them, they swung back into place, as if nobody had ever been that way.
A forest loomed behind the shrubs, with a tangle of undergrowth and trees growing into one another. Beth navigated the dirt lane as it ran through a gap in the trees, sliding deeper into the gloom. After forty yards she came to a chain-link fence, with a gate in front of her. Both the fence and the gate extended over ten feet into the air, with barbed wire covering their tops. She pressed the button under her dash again, and this gate also swung open as she approached.
Beyond the fence, the darkness of the forest continued. The darkness seemed to draw Beth's car into it, until she came to a clearing thirty seconds later. The young woman focused on an aluminum building in the middle of the clearing. The building was nondescript, with 20 foot high grey walls and a tapered black roof, also made of aluminum. The trunks of the nearest trees sat thirty yards back from the building, although branches extended out over the building, casting flickering shadows from the moonlight.
Beth steered her car to the front of the building, coming to a garage door. Another press of a button and the door raised. She pulled her car into the building and the door lowered behind her.
The interior of the building was as nondescript as the exterior. A second closed garage door stood at the opposite end of the building, across from the entrance. A ten foot-high stack of hay bales stood against the aluminum wall to her left, with a wheeled toolbox parked in front of it. A wooden door stood in the corner, immediately to Beth's right upon entering.
The focal point of the building was a car parked in the middle of the room. The car had been a gift to Sapphire Angel from Stanley, using a portion of the settlement money from John's death. The car's dull gray color contrasted with its sharp, screaming lines. Beth didn't know much about cars, but appreciated this one. Stanley had told her it was a customized Ferrari 488 Spider with an automatically folding convertible roof. He hadn't even allowed her to drive it until she had taken a week-long course to master the vehicle. The car was a beast.
A push of a button would drop the rear spoiler into the vehicle, altering the car's appearance. The button also changed the car's color to sapphire blue, matching the vibrant color of Sapphire Angel's costume. Stanley had explained how it all worked — something to do with temperature-controlled paint, paramagnetic iron oxide particles, electric currents, the spacing of crystals, and the reflection of light.
She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, and she still had searched online to confirm such a color change was actually a real thing. She appreciated how the changes gave her the choice to either show off as Sapphire Angel, or travel in anonymity. Or at least as much anonymity as a $250,000 car could give someone.
Beth pulled up to the right of the Ferrari, grabbed her shoulder bag, and hopped out of her car. She hurried back to the room in the corner and entered. It was a changing room, which seemed out of place in the drab aluminum building. Hooks were on the wall, a shower and toilet were on one side, and a sink and makeup table were on the other. A mirror hung from the wall above the makeup table. Given her abilities, the room was usually unnecessary, but she liked having it.
She closed the door behind her and moved to the center of the room. She held her right hand to a point just below her neck and formed a fist. She closed her eyes in concentration, and a split second later a flash of light surrounded her. When the light subsided, her transformation was complete. She was Sapphire Angel.
As she stood with her hands on her hips, surveying herself, the blond bombshell was pleased with what she saw. She was fit and slim, with long, slender legs sheathed in tights and shimmering in the light. White satin gloves covered her arms to her elbows, leaving her upper arms bare, and revealing toned muscles that were still delicate and feminine. Her straight blond hair hung down over her shoulders, and the tight blue costume clung to her firm, modest breasts and her flat stomach. The short white skirt accentuated her subtle curves, moving with every turn and barely reaching her legs. The short ankle boots had just enough of a heel to lengthen her already fantastic legs.
Sapphire Angel was more than the sum of her parts. She radiated an aura, filling the room. From her blonde hair, to piercing blue eyes, to the brilliant color of her costume, it was as if she drew all light in the room to her. Just like an angel.
The costumed woman left the room and trotted to the sports car. As she approached, the driver's door clicked and unlocked. She opened the door and climbed in, pressing one of several buttons on the dash. The button connected to a small transmitter in her boot, so the car would only start for her.
The car rumbled to life before emitting a soft purr. The dashboard lit up, displaying custom dials and switches, and the headlights illuminated the building. Sapphire Angel pushed another button and the door on the opposite side of the building opened, scrolling upward. She punched the gas pedal and the car shot out into the night.
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TO THE BETHMOBILE! (Batman jingle plays)
For real, though, I was not expecting her to get a superhero car! Does it have any weapons built into it? Also, that was actually really smart, how Beth managed to evade Tristan's grasp.....the isolated building could also act a base of operations for her, with how isolated the whole area is.....anyways, let's press on!
No weapons on the car to be revealed, at least in this story.
The garage will play a pretty big role at some point.