We last read Chapter 50, in which Ethan receives a text message from Beth’s phone, leading him to find a barely-conscious Sapphire Angel chained to her car in her secret garage. Recognizing that she is in bad shape, he carries her to his car and speeds off into the night.
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 should have been ecstatic as she pulled to a stop behind Beth Harper's townhouse in the early morning hours. She had laid bare Harper's greatest secret and squeezed every last mystery out of her. Harper had been strong. Stronger than anyone Tristan had ever interrogated. But eventually Tristan had broken the superheroine, and Sapphire Angel had crumbled and revealed all.
But Tristan wasn't smiling. Her worries over the great unknown — Wheldon and his plans — were back, threatening to diminish the enjoyment of her crowning achievement. Tristan had furthered Wheldon's plans, whatever they might be, by removing the single-biggest threat to him. But her worries wouldn't stop her. She would spill Beth Harper's fantastic secret to him. It was unavoidable, and not because Wheldon wouldn't accept failure.
It was unavoidable because she knew herself. She needed affirmation from powerful men. From those who remotely resembled father figures in her life. Psychologists and psychiatrists would have had a field day with her, if she had believed in such mushy gobbledygook. They would probably chalk it up to her absentee father as a child, and to her strange past. She didn't know the reason. She just knew her win over Sapphire Angel would be hollow if she kept it to herself. Tristan hated herself for her weakness.
But that didn't mean she wouldn't have a plan. A plan to protect herself. Raven Tristan would report her findings to Wheldon, but she would be ready in case his plot was as sinister as she feared. She didn't know yet what the plan would be, but she would concoct something.
She was here, at Harper's home, to get into Harper's closet. Tristan had forced Harper to reveal the combination to the lock, to make sure the girl was being truthful about the closet's contents. What if the closet hid some other great secret instead? A secret that called into question what Harper had confessed? Tristan doubted it, but she needed to know. The closet would be the final piece of the puzzle.
Tristan never shared her findings with Wheldon in the midst of any investigation. This case was no exception, despite his pleas during their first meeting. She wanted time to perfect her data and its presentation. But, more importantly, later-acquired evidence could change the perception of earlier evidence. She had learned that hard reality several years earlier, when she bent her own rules and made hasty disclosures to another powerful man. A man she had been eager to please. That case had gone sideways when additional information destroyed her credibility. She would never look like a fool in front of a strong man again.
Her requirements had bothered Wheldon early in Tristan's employment, but she had not backed down. She enjoyed having sole possession of inside information, and she loved crafting the narrative with the information. She always presented it in a way to best gain standing in Wheldon's eyes. He had told her she had control issues — a "control freak" were his words — but he had relented and agreed to her conditions at the onset of her employment.
As she crept up onto the rear steps of Harper's townhouse, another worry hit her. What if her ruse with the tattoo hadn't worked, and Sapphire Angel didn't blame the Red Scorpions for her downfall? What if she somehow discovered Tristan's identity and came after her? Tristan gritted her teeth, hating her chronic paranoia. Harper would never learn her identity, even if she learned of the ruse through Wheldon. Wheldon would never reveal Tristan. She was too valuable to him.
She entered the townhouse as easily as she had on her first visit. Once inside, the moonlight through the windows provided enough light for her to march to the closet, slide aside the fake cover, and key in the combination extracted from Harper. Tristan wasn't in a hurry. Sapphire Angel's rescuer should be getting to the garage right about now, and the shattered heroine wouldn't be saying much of anything for at least a few more hours, if not a few days.
As she entered the last number into the keypad, the door swung outward. Tristan frowned at what she saw. A rod with clothes hung in front of her, like in any other closet. Skirts, dresses, and other clothes of a slender, fit woman. Tristan shook her head. There had to be more here. She slid the clothes to either side, as far as space would allow, and was rewarded.
The closet extended back behind the clothes into a narrow sitting area. Tristan ducked past the hanging garments and whistled softly. Even in the dim light, the shimmer of Sapphire Angel's costumes was unmistakable. There were at least 15 costumes here, each identical to the others. It was the entire ensemble, too, from the minidresses hanging on hangers, to the gloves and tights draped over the rods. Seven pairs of white ankle boots sat on the floor.
A stool sat in the middle of the area, with a full-length mirror against the back wall. A shelf was there, with some makeup and a hairbrush. Diamond earrings sat in an open jewelry box on the shelf. Tristan felt almost in awe, as if she were in a shrine of some sort.
Tristan spent a few minutes surveying the closet, making sure she wasn't missing anything. She wasn't. Her investigation was finally complete. She knew all she'd ever know about Harper, and about Sapphire Angel. She knew as much as the superheroine knew about herself. Tristan could prepare her final report.
As she turned to leave the closet she paused. She thought about the mind-bending power of Sapphire Angel's necklace on people, making them unable to perceive or believe the heroine's true identity. The ultimate mind fuck. She remembered her own past doubts about Harper's identity. Those doubts had kept rising up. They reminded her of a fire that was thought to be extinguished, but was lit anew by hot embers hidden in the ashes. She had destroyed her own embers once and for all in her total dismantling of Sapphire Angel, but what if Wheldon needed more? She couldn't tolerate the thought of him doubting her work.
Tristan turned back to the shimmering garments behind her. She reached out and methodically grabbed one of each piece of the costume. Tristan stuffed a pair of gloves, tights, and earrings into her backpack. She turned to the main part of the costume, the short minidresses hanging in a row, and removed one from its hanger. Tristan was amazed again at just how soft and smooth the fabric of the costume felt under her fingers, and how it shined even in this dim light. She remembered palming Sapphire Angel's flat stomach through the amazing fabric, and grasping the skirt between her fingers. Exquisite.
In hindsight, she should have stripped the costume off of Sapphire Angel's body when she finished interrogating her. But unlike Wheldon, who ruined people for the sport of it, she was just doing a job and felt no need to destroy the superheroine's life and end her career. She had even texted Harper's friend, to assuage her own conscience. But perhaps she had assumed wrong, thinking she had ample evidence to support her investigation. It was too late to go back and take the costume and necklace from the beaten woman now, though. Ethan Moore would be almost there.
It didn't matter. Even without the necklace, the costume in her hands would be more than enough. Coupled with her other evidence, it would leave no doubt in Wheldon's mind.
As Tristan held the costume, she thought back to Harper wearing it, chained down to the hood of the car. She wondered how Wheldon would react when she shared the information she had forced from superheroine. Even more, she wondered what he planned to do with the information. She was sure Harper would find out soon enough.
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!
I appreciate any comments or email.
Part of me feels like Raven’s going to turn against Wheldon soon. But still…..unless something mind-boggling happens, Sapphire Angel’s identity is no longer secret; Raven in particular is VERY high-risk. Interested to see how they’re dealt with by the end of this.
Just realized that I’m officially over 2/3rds of the way done with this book (Chapter 51 out of 75). It’s….kind of….starting to wind down now! I’ve enjoyed the ride, and will definitely be sticking around for Book 3! I’ve heard there’s at least 5 books in the series, though!
Does this EVER get better? I'm all for realism but this is MURDER!!!!! How can you be a super heroine if people know your secret identity? This is killing me!!!!1