We last read Chapter 3, in which our protagonist, Beth Harper, made an amazing transformation, bursting into action as Sapphire Angel, a real-life superheroine, and thwarting three men who were kidnapping a whistleblower. Before she could get information from the whistleblower, though, he fled.
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. Thanks for reading!
The ringing coming from the nightstand jarred Olivia Lockheed from her sleep. The sculpted woman took a moment to gather her senses before reaching for her mobile phone. "Caller ID Blocked" appeared on the screen. She glanced at the time as she did so. 5:30 a.m. A call at this hour had to be business related.
"Olivia Lockheed, Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of Corporate Oversight," she said into her the phone. Despite having just awoken, her voice was commanding and steady. She listened to the voice on the other end and replied, "Give me two minutes to wake up, Father, and I'll call you back."
Lockheed pulled back the sheet and slid out of bed, standing naked on the cold hardwood floor and arching her back. Her five foot, seven inch body was muscular and defined, with hard but graceful curves, and full and firm breasts. Her Crossfit regimen gave her a statuesque but feminine appearance, leaving no doubt she was serious about strength and fitness. Even her sandy brown hair, pulled back tight, suggested she was all business.
She turned back to the bed and ripped back the sheet, revealing another naked woman, sleeping in what had to be a very uncomfortable position. The woman's black hair was cut very short, and a piercing adorned her nose. Her hands were handcuffed together above her head and attached to the headboard. Her ankles were pulled back above her head and similarly fastened. She was short and almost scrawny, with small breasts.
"Wake up!" Lockheed barked. The bound woman's eyelashes fluttered, and she focused on the statuesque woman above her.
"Wha—" the woman began, but Lockheed interrupted her.
"Time for you to leave," Lockheed snapped. She grabbed a key off the nightstand and leaned in to release the woman's bonds.
"I've hardly slept," the woman protested with a yawn.
"You weren't here to sleep," Lockheed said, finishing with the woman's ankles and moving to her wrists.
As Lockheed leaned across the woman's body to unfasten the final handcuff, the woman strained forward to attempt a kiss. Lockheed unfastened the cuff and stood back. The woman gave Lockheed a pouting look.
Lockheed frowned. "You were nice. Very limber. But don't mistake this for more than it was."
The woman continued staring with a hurt expression on her face. Lockheed shook her head.
"I don't want to tell you again. Get moving!"
The thin woman muttered under her breath and slid off the bed. She gathered her jeans and t-shirt from a chair and dressed, before pulling on black leather boots.
Lockheed placed a hand on the woman's back and guided her to the door.
"Remember, stairway to the Fifth Floor and take the walkway to the shops. Exit there."
The woman rolled her eyes.
"Just do it!" Lockheed snapped and opened the door, using it to shield her body. The woman stormed out of the apartment and Lockheed closed the door.
Still naked, Lockheed made her way back to the bed for her phone. She retrieved her phone, and dialed the number of her father, MacGregor Lockheed.
"Olivia? Why the delay?" her father answered, speaking with an aristocratic, precise tone.
"Because you woke me, Father," Olivia replied, not attempting to hide her annoyance.
"You're going to sleep the day away, my daughter. You complain about your job, but how do you expect to advance with the schedule you keep?"
Olivia rolled her eyes. Her father was right. She did complain about her job as a supervising attorney with the state's Office of Corporate Oversight. The OCO was Pennsylvania's corporate watchdog, created in the wake of expensive corporate scandals across the country. The job with the OCO was below her, and she deserved better. But even if she had been in the office at 4 a.m., it wouldn't satisfy MacGregor Lockheed. She was a disappointment to him and always would be.
Her father had always wanted a son, and when that son finally came a few weeks after her tenth birthday, she had never seen her father so happy. From that point on, Olivia Lockheed had been an afterthought in her father's eyes. He wasn't mean-spirited toward her, but it was her brother who received his devotion. From baseball games to hunting expeditions, her father became involved in her brother's life in a way she could only hope for herself.
Olivia didn't resent her brother for this. In fact, even at a young age, her sibling seemed to sense the unfairness of the situation, and tried to involve her whenever he could. Her mother overcompensated as well. That didn't lessen the blow to Olivia's psyche, though, or make her any less determined to prove herself worthy to her father.
"Can we get to the point, Father? What do you need?"
"How is approval for the StarPrime deal coming?"
StarPrime was purchasing Echo Energy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had given the OCO an outsized say on the deal. The NRC had given tentative approval to the deal, but was bowing to the OCO's review of the purchase. Echo Energy had a nuclear power plant, and Pennsylvania was where the Three Mile Island near-disaster had occurred.
"As I told you the last five times you asked, there's nothing to report. This is well beyond our expertise, or even our resources, so it will sit until just before the deadline, when it will receive perfunctory approval."
"Let's make sure it happens that way. I can't tell you why, but I want to make sure some eager bureaucrat doesn't interfere. You are in a position to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Why do you care about the sale of a power company?" Olivia asked. "Is this your political nonsense again? Why can't you spend your time fishing, like other retired old men?"
"Politics makes the world go round, Olivia," her father said, with mock sadness in his voice. "And families like ours must use their wealth and influence to steer the country in the proper direction. That's all I'm doing."
"Of course it is, Father."
Her father sighed. "Just let me know if you see any snags in the StarPrime and Echo deal."
"I will, Father. Now I have to get ready for work."
As Olivia ended the call and moved toward the bathroom, she knew she hadn't heard the last from her father on this deal.
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Awww, YEAH! Looks like we have another player in this “deal” of ours. Was that second woman some kind of prisoner, or....?