We last read Chapter 35, in which Sapphire Angel pays a surprise late-night visit to Conner Bennett, so she can give him the photos she took of the mystery building in the woods on Xavier Wheldon’s land. She finds him sleeping, and leans in to wake him. He surprises her with a kiss, flustering her. She gives him the photographs and makes a hasty exit.
Meanwhile, Wheldon issues a warning to Bud Tanner, telling him not to contact Beth Harper again, and not to count on another rescue by Sapphire Angel, as she is in the CEO’s crosshairs now. Wheldon also tells Tanner he needs to see results soon.
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!
Although Beth Harper's morning flight to Florida had arrived behind schedule, she couldn't use it as an excuse for running late for the conference's welcome reception. She would have been tardy anyway, since she was late for almost everything. With a sigh of annoyance at herself, she put down her lipstick and checked her makeup one last time in the mirror of the hotel bathroom. Satisfied, the young woman rushed to the bedroom, slipped on her shoes, and hurried to the door.
Beth paused and looked back at the shoulder bag sitting on the bed. Inside the bag, a thin compartment hid Sapphire Angel's gloves and the main part of her costume. Going through airport security, the TSA's screening devices had not flagged the items, which Stanley's bag had disguised to be mistaken as part of the lining. He had described his work using scientific terms. Something about lining causing a slight diffusion during the imaging process, and the costume being thin enough for it not to be detected. Her necklace rested in a jewelry box in the bag, looking like any other expensive diamond necklace. She had worn Sapphire Angel's boots for the flight, but the boots were camouflaged by zippered brown suede covers.
She was tempted to take her costume from the bag, slip into it, and attempt to transform from her superheroine identity back to her non-super persona. If it worked, she should thereafter be able to summon her costume as usual. But her whole reason for packing the costume was because of uncertainty over the transformation process, this far from home. What if the transformation worked to send her costume away, and she was unable to summon it back until she returned home? Or ever? She couldn't risk it, just for the sake of convenience.
She took the jewelry box containing Sapphire Angel's necklace and placed it into the room's small safe. Her shoulder bag wouldn't fit, so she stuffed it into the bottom drawer of the dresser.
After glancing at the clock and realizing she had already missed half of the reception, she hurried from her room and to the elevator.
Raven Tristan stood in the middle of the crowd at the convention's welcome reception, holding a tray filled with various foods. Prior to her arrival, she had hacked into the hotel's server and set up a phony employee profile for herself. As far as the resort was concerned, she was gainfully employed as a banquet server.
As she moved among the crowd, allowing the spoiled guests to pick at the food on the tray, she kept a discrete but watchful eye on Beth Harper. The woman's tardiness had scuttled Tristan's plans. During the flight from Pennsylvania, Tristan had stalked Harper from a seat two rows away, watching the blond girl cling to her shoulder bag like a lifeline. Tristan needed to know what was in the bag, but Harper's tardiness meant the blond girl might not be present at the reception long enough for Tristan to take the necessary steps to get into her room.
Harper wore a simple grey dress that flattered her figure, ending at her knees and revealing her slender legs. There was a faint hint of sequins or glitter woven into the fabric, causing it to shimmer in the light. Harper also wore a black shawl off one shoulder. That shoulder revealed the short sleeves of the dress and showed Harper's toned arms. Otherwise, the shawl covered almost her entire upper body. Tristan scowled as she noticed several guests casting furtive glances in Harper's direction. The lithe woman seemed unaware of the gazes, which only deepened Tristan's scowl.
Xavier Wheldon was also there. He would never notice Tristan. She was wearing a blond wig, and had removed her piercings and covered her tattoos. Part of Tristan wished she could break away from Harper and spy on her boss. She needed to learn of his plans, so she could protect herself from any fallout. But her psyche needed his approval, and solving Beth Harper was the key to that approval. It was time to move closer and learn more.
Beth stood in the reception hall, scanning the crowd for Xavier Wheldon and spotting him talking to three middle-aged men near the bar. As Beth stepped closer, she caught movement approaching from her side, and turned to see Conner Bennett heading her way.
Beth's heart sped up and her palms got sweaty. She had not seen him since her passionate encounter with him as Sapphire Angel. He would brag, unknowingly reminding her she had become a quivering and helpless mess before him. She cursed him, but also chastised herself for reacting to his kiss. She wiped her palms on the side of her dress.
"Hey Beth," he said upon reaching her, a glint in his eyes.
"Hi Conner," she replied, unable to stop her frown.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're annoyed with me about something," he said, as he took a gulp from his drink and leveled his eyes over his glass.
"Don't be silly," she muttered, averting his gaze.
Conner continued to study her, a confused look on his face. When he spoke, his voice had lost some of its confident edge.
"So, I, um, got more information."
Beth braced herself, waiting for the gloating to begin.
"Sapphire Angel came again," he began. Beth remained silent.
"She gave me more information," Conner said.
Beth raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Conner cocked his head and studied her before continuing.
"She discovered a building in the woods, outside the fence around Wheldon's property. It contained only a pile of cinderblocks. Wheldon and Chief Biggins went there together." As he spoke, he kept his voice low, and looked around to make sure he wasn't being overheard.
"A building with cinderblocks? That's it?" Beth asked, scrunching her nose. She wished she could tell Conner about seeing Tanner again, but that had been Sapphire Angel, not Beth. "Any idea what it's for?"
Blake sighed. "I wish I could make sense of it. We have the building outside the fence and the tower inside the fence. And the shooting. Oh, and thanks to her, we know about the bogus suspension of Officer McGraw. It all must have something to do with StarPrime's purchase of that plant. I just wish we knew what."
Beth glanced over towards Wheldon. He was still talking to the same three men. She gave a nod towards him. "I guess we could ask him. Any idea who he's talking to?"
Conner turned. "No clue, but I'm ready to shake things up, since he wouldn't tell you anything during your meeting. Or shake him up, to be more precise. What do we have to lose?"
"Nothing, I guess. What did you have in mind?
"I haven't met him, so you can introduce me. I'll plant the seed that we suspect something or even have some evidence. And then we can keep an eye on him. See who he talks to. Where he goes. Maybe he'll slip up."
"And how exactly do we keep an eye on him?"
"Leave that to me," Conner said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm the professional, remember?"
"Of course you are," Beth deadpanned. "Aren't you worried that word will get back to Olivia? She's really raising hell with Richard. She hates me."
"I can handle Olivia," Conner said .
"Okay," she replied with a shrug. She half-expected the other shoe to drop, and for Conner to tell her how he had the beautiful Sapphire Angel quivering under his touch. Instead, though, he nodded toward Wheldon.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Sure, let's go talk to Wheldon," she answered.
Conner headed off towards Wheldon, with Beth a step behind him. When they got close, they stopped and feigned conversation. Her back was to Wheldon, and she tried to overhear his conversation.
She could make out only bits and pieces, none of which made sense. Beth heard some expected words like "nuclear," and "safety," along with "profits." She also, though, heard the phrase, "midnight, by the water wall." The words came from one of the three men around Wheldon. They were spoken softly, but she was sure she heard them correctly. She glanced at Conner, but he gave no indication he heard the conversation.
Wheldon's conversation ended, and he turned from the three men. Conner gave Beth a nod. She turned, stepping into Wheldon's path.
"Mr. Wheldon," she said, extending her hand. Wheldon arched his eyebrows as a look of surprise crossed his face. He composed himself quickly, taking her hand and holding it in both of his hands. He gave a slight blow.
"Ah, Ms. Harper," he said, a bit too loudly. "A pleasure to see you again. You look stunning this evening."
"Thank you, Mr. Wheldon. It's good to see you, too." Beth said in a steady voice, feeling less nervous talking to Wheldon than to Conner. Her alter ego hadn't shared a passionate kiss with Wheldon. "Mr. Wheldon, I'd like you to meet Conner Bennett. He's the OCO's investigator for StarPrime's purchase of Echo Energy."
Wheldon's eyes widened, just for a moment, before he turned and flashed Conner his trademark slimy smile. "Mr. Bennett," he said, extending his hand. Conner took it and the two stared at one another, as if sizing up the opposition.
"Mr. Wheldon, I'm glad to meet you. What brings you to the conference?"
The two released hands, and Conner settled back into his relaxed pose, hands in his pockets, head titled to the side.
Wheldon gestured around him. "The people, of course. My company has dealings with many of them, such as the beautiful Ms. Harper here, so it seemed fitting for me to be here." Wheldon turned back to Conner and crossed his arms. "I guess I should ask you the same thing. I think you're the first government investigator I've seen at one of these things."
Conner's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Well, you never know what you might learn at one of these events," he said. "I have many active investigations going on, some involving the people in this room. Including some people who never come to events like this."
"I see," Wheldon replied, looking first to Conner then to Beth.
"And since we're talking, perhaps you can satisfy my curiosity," Conner continued, "I'm fascinated by how companies make decisions. What made you so interested in Echo Energy?"
Wheldon furrowed his brow as he stared at Conner. "Nuclear energy is the way of the future," he intoned, like he was reading from a script. "Fossil fuels have certain environmental costs to them and have their limits. Nuclear energy is cleaner and practically limitless."
"But you were a fierce opponent of nuclear power, weren't you?" Conner cocked his head back as he asked, looking closely at Wheldon. "You lobbied your former squad mate, President Andrews, back in his congressional days when he chaired the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. You wanted laws tightened to make it much harder to open new plants, even though there had been no new ones since the Three Mile Island disaster."
Wheldon's face tightened, but only for a moment. He regained his composure, and his phony smile returned to his face.
"Ah," he said, spreading his hands, "but times have changed. Plant design, such as what we see in China, has come a long way. Things are much safer now, especially after the advances following the Fukushima catastrophe. Why all the questions?"
"It's my job," Conner said, a smirk on his face. "It's amazing what evidence you can find if you look hard enough."
Wheldon flashed Conner a brief glare before raising a hand. "I'm sorry. I wish I could continue this talk, but I see someone expecting to meet with me." Wheldon's eyes settled on another man in a suit, halfway across the room.
"Sure," Conner replied, a grin forming at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe some other time."
Wheldon smiled and nodded at both Beth and Conner. He started to walk away, but stopped, as if interrupted by a thought. He turned back to them.
"I'll tell you what," he said. "My lawyers don't let me talk to the OCO alone, but we should indeed talk after the deal has been consummated. I'm having a formal dinner and dance at my lodge on the Saturday before Labor Day, to celebrate the deal. I would be honored if both of you could come."
"A bit confident in the sale going through, aren't you?" Conner asked.
"I have no reason not to be," Wheldon answered, a twinkle in his eyes. "I'll have my secretary send you the details." With that, Wheldon turned and headed toward the man in the suit.
Beth faced Conner and gave him a soft punch in the arm.
"You've been holding out on me," she said, a fake whine in her voice.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Conner replied with mock indignation.
"The whole thing about Wheldon, and the steps he took against nuclear power, and lobbying President Andrews when he was in Congress. It would have been nice if you had filled me in."
Conner shrugged. "It didn't seem important. We already knew he opposed nuclear power back then."
"You never know," Beth said. "What else have you been holding out on me?" She had a hard time getting angry, knowing she was holding out on him.
"Just more of the same," Conner replied. "He didn't just oppose nuclear power. He fought strenuously against it for years. Spent lots of money lobbying Congress. His family is heavily invested in other sources of energy, like coal and oil, even beyond what the company has going on. Anyway, I think we've found what we can from Wheldon tonight. At least directly. We'll have to see if we shook the tree enough."
Beth and Conner spent the next twenty minutes mostly discussing the conference schedule, lowering their voices whenever they talked about the case. Conner acted less arrogant than normal and even asked Beth about herself. He queried her about her family, friends, and education, and listened with a furrowed brow as she answered. His interest was a nice break from his normal bluster. Normally she didn't enjoy talking about herself, given how many secrets she carried, but it kept him from mentioning his romantic encounter with Sapphire Angel.
They were interrupted when she noticed Nick Marks, Conner's coworker, approaching. What was he doing here? She hoped he wouldn't ask her out on a date yet again. Beth looked left and right, trying to find a plausible escape, but there was none.
"Hey Beth," he said, not even acknowledging Conner. "I'm going to get a drink at the bar, if you're interested. They will be shutting this thing down soon."
Beth looked around and realized he was right. Somehow it was already 10:10 p.m., which was ten minutes past the cocktail reception's scheduled closing.
"Uhhh... " Beth stumbled over her words as she glanced at Conner.
Conner glanced at Nick and a troubled looked crossed his face. But he smiled, and said, "Go ahead, I've had a long day and should get some rest." He added a yawn for punctuation.
Beth paused. She dreaded giving Nick the wrong idea, but she needed to get back in control of the situation with Conner. She had spent too much time recently being the bumbling fool.
Beth nodded. "See you tomorrow, I guess."
Conner smiled, turned, and headed for the exit. Beth bit her lip and turned back to Nick, already wondering if she had made a mistake. He frowned as he watched Conner leave.
"I don't trust that guy," Nick muttered. "Be careful."
Beth glanced back towards Conner, who was almost out the door. "He's actually not that bad," she commented, "once you get past all the bluster."
Nick gave a dismissive wave of his hand, before motioning to her. "Let's go. The hotel bar is this way."
He led her out of the ballroom and down two halls until they were near the foyer. As she followed Nick, she was already regretting her decision, which would only encourage his interest in her. It wasn't fair to Nick, or to her. Plus, she didn't have much time until the meeting that she had overheard Wheldon mention. Midnight, by the water wall.
"You know, Nick, I'm so sorry, but I just realized how exhausted I am. I think I'm going to call it a night."
To her surprise, he didn't seem disappointed. He gave her a thin smile.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's been a long week."
"That's okay," Nick said. "I'll walk you back to your room"
Now she understood. There was no way she was letting him near her room. Even if she hadn't feared giving him the wrong idea, that would put a crimp on Sapphire Angel's plans for the night.
"No, that's okay," she said. "I'll see you at the big breakfast in the morning."
He frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but her stare left little room for argument.
"Sure thing," he said, turning his frown into a forced smile.
Beth headed for the door without turning back and a few minutes later was back in her room. After dead-bolting the door and grabbing her iPad, she did a Google search for the name of the resort and "water wall," and found her answer. The water wall was a tall stone wall, with water cascading from it. It stood in the middle of a lush and massive outdoor courtyard surrounded by the balconies of several rooms, including her own. Beth spent the next hour researching the layout of the hotel and committing it to memory.
When finished, she shut the cover on her iPad and did a once over of the room, making sure the curtain was closed. She retrieved a pair of tweezers from her suitcase and pulled her shoulder bag from the dresser. After opening the bag and dumping the contents onto the bed, she poked around on the inside, finding the end of a thread stitched to the bottom of the bag. She used the tweezers to pull back the thread, little by little, until it was free. She set down the tweezers and removed the lining from inside the bag.
Sapphire Angel's costume gleamed from inside the bag. She took it and spread it out on the bed, admiring the smooth fabric with a tender touch. She grabbed the soft, white gloves and placed them next to the costume.
After stripping off her clothes and tossing them onto the bed, she slipped into tights retrieved from her suitcase and pulled the costume over her slender body. When the costume was snug against her figure, she grabbed her boots from the floor and removed the suede covers, revealing the pristine white leather. After putting the boots on her feet, she retrieved her necklace from the drawer and fastened it behind her neck. For her final step, she took her gloves from the bed and slid them onto her hands and pulled them up her slender arms.
The blond bombshell walked over to the full-length mirror on the closet door and examined herself. She turned left and right, hands on her hips, pleased with her flat stomach and slender arms and legs. Confidence flowed through her.
Beth, now feeling like a different person, walked over to the balcony door, flicked the switch to turn off the balcony light, and pulled back the curtain far enough to peek out. The courtyard, one floor below, looked empty, as did the adjacent balconies. She slid the door open, stepped out, and pulled the door closed behind her.
Narrow walls stood at each end of the balcony, hiding Sapphire Angel from anyone who might stumble onto an adjacent balcony. After steeling a peak around each wall, the radiant superheroine took two running steps and leapt out into the darkness.
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!
Okay, time to go check out that water wall!
“Her alter ego hadn’t shared a passionate kiss with Wheldon.” I’m gonna have fun getting THAT image out of my head. 🤮