We last read Chapter 67, in which Wheldon confesses his motivation for wanting to cause a nuclear catastrophe. He wants to kill the President of the United States, who will be visiting the plant, and who, he feels, left Wheldon’s brother to die when they served in the military together. He also wants the disaster to be the nail in the coffin of a dying nuclear industry. He feels he will be helping the United States, by killing the nuclear industry before a major disaster occurs in the future. He also has hedged his company’s financial bets, by investing in industries that would benefit from a disaster, to soften the blow to StarPrime. While he tries to come up with a way to kill Beth and Harper without raising the suspicions of those who know their location, he orders his men to lock them in a room. The only piece of good news Beth receives is that Wheldon searched her luggage and didn’t find Sapphire Angel’s costume, mistakenly reinforcing his belief that Beth isn’t Sapphire Angel.
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!
The guards came forward, their weapons leveled. Beth and Conner didn't put up a fight as the guards took them by their forearms and led them from the room. Beth glared at Wheldon as she walked past him.
The guards led them to the stairs and moved in behind them. Conner took Beth's hand as they climbed the steps. After reaching the room next to Beth's room, one guard opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
"Stay here until told otherwise," the guard said. "And don't get any ideas about asking anyone here for help. If you open your mouth to anyone, you'll be sentencing them to death, too. Don't think we won't know."
Once the door was closed, Beth and Conner stared at each other for a moment, each giving a slow, despondent shake of the head. Beth opened her small purse and pulled out her phone.
"Still no signal," she said with a frown.
Conner dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Me, either. It can't be a coincidence. Wheldon wouldn't forget about our phones, and he wouldn't rely on the spotty coverage up here. He's probably jamming them."
"Probably, but it's not foolproof," Beth said. "I got a signal earlier, at least once. That's how I learned about Tanner's expertise with lasers. Keep checking, and let's hope we can get a message out. Maybe there's still a chance."
"Wheldon seemed pretty confident when he said we didn't have any hope of a rescue. And what was he talking about when he mentioned searching your luggage?"
"Uh... probably just the... uh... ravings of a madman," Beth stammered. The lying tore at her every time. "Or maybe he was worried I had a satellite phone or something like that in my suitcase."
"I wish you did," he said. "But we're on our own, and the clock is ticking. I'm sure right now he's figuring out how to make our deaths look like an accident. Or he's waiting to drop us off at the plant at the last minute, so we share everyone else's fate."
"That would explain why we're not dead already."
"But it's also why we have a chance," Conner said. "We just have to figure something out."
Beth's mind raced. There had to be a way out of this. Did Stanley have enough information to send in the calvary? Doubtful. In his mind, Sapphire Angel was the calvary. Beth had come here to learn about Wheldon's plan and to put a stop to it. Stanley had no way to know she had in fact discovered Wheldon's scheme, but had been taken prisoner minutes later. She couldn't give up hope, though. Perhaps Stanley would surprise her and would call in reinforcements, without waiting to hear from her.
Beth walked to the nightstand and picked up the landline. She held it to her ear and an impassive male voice greeted her. "Can I help you?"
Did she dare plead her case to the man and ask him to make a call to the outside for help? She couldn't risk it, after the guard's warning. She might be sentencing the man to death by talking to him. Beth would never forgive herself if that happened. Wheldon had probably disabled all communications to the outside world, anyway, so she might be risking his life for nothing.
"Uh, not right now, thanks," she replied, and hung up the receiver. She turned to Conner and shrugged.
Conner moved to the two chairs by the coffee table. He gestured for Beth to sit next to him.
The two slouched in the chairs, staring at each other. Normally, this is where Beth would become Sapphire Angel and save the day. It might come to that, if death and devastation were the alternative. Wheldon's laser may have already started boring through the containment building, to be ready for President Andrews' visit.
With a sigh, Beth rose and walked to the small refrigerator in the room. As she bent down to look inside, the slit in the dress gave Conner a view of her long leg. He watched, biting his lip.
"Don't stare," she chided with a grin.
"It's hard not to," he said.
She retrieved two bottles of water from the refrigerator and brought them to the table.
As they drank, Conner asked, "Any thoughts on how to get past armed guards?"
Beth put a finger to her lips. "Shhh. They might be listening."
"They're not," Conner said. "This is my room. I brought a device and scanned it when I first got here. No bugs."
"In that case, I might have an idea," she said. It was time to trust Conner with at least a little information, and hope he didn't ask too many questions. "I have a contact here at the lodge. Maybe she can help us somehow."
"A contact?" he asked, his voice rising. "Who? How did you get a contact here?"
"Someone who works for Wheldon and wants to turn over a new leaf. She suspected — correctly, it turns out — he was up to something big. She came to me about it."
A scowl crossed Conner's face. "When were you planning to tell me about her?"
"I'm sorry," Beth said, touching his hand. "We weren't exactly on great terms the last few days."
Conner looked at her, his jaw tight. A moment later, he sighed and gave a slow shake of his head. "I guess it doesn't matter now. Is she here?"
"I think so, but I haven't seen her."
"What's her story?"
"I don't know much about her," Beth said, and felt her chest tighten. This conversation could veer too close to her secret, and might require more lies. "I just know she saw enough to get suspicious. She didn't even know what he was up to, just that there has been lots of secrecy over something going down tonight, involving some important people. Now we know. She gave me the name of a butler, Oliver, as someone who could help us. He greeted me when I got here. We need to get in touch with him again."
"Oliver?" Conner said. "He helped me when I got here, too."
"Well, he's our man."
Conner stared at her for several moments before speaking. "I won't be mad at you for keeping this from me, but no more secrets, okay? We had a rough few days, but that's behind us."
"Uh, sure," Beth said, and looked down, a pit forming in her stomach. "No secrets."
Conner reached for her hand, took it, and guided her to her feet. She looked up at him as he lowered his face to hers.
"Conner, my idea is..." she started to say, but their lips met. She forgot all about her dismay over keeping secrets, and kissed him like it might be the last time. Conner's right hand caressed her neck and shoulders, sending a tremble through her.
Conner scooped her up, one arm under her shoulder and the other under her knees. She gasped in surprise as he carried her to the bed. He laid her down and leaned in over her. They kissed again, even more hungrily than before. She felt his hand traveling up her side, until it slid over her chest and cupped her breast. She let out an involuntary moan. Nobody had touched her intimately since John's death, if she didn't count Bishop's drunken groping. It felt good. She reached up with her right arm and pulled Conner's face even closer.
Conner flayed his fingers gently over her breast, but only for a moment, as if teasing her, and then his hand was at her side, tracing up her bare leg, which was cocked up under her, extending out between the slit in her dress.
"Oh my..." she murmured. Then the reality of their situation hit home. She put a finger to Conner's lips.
"As much as I would love to continue this," she said between rapid breaths, "I really do have an idea. We can't wait."
Conner growled. "You're right," he muttered and leaned back. He stood, taking her arms and pulling her up into a sitting position.
Beth was flush and took a moment to gather herself, before moving to the landline phone in the room and dialing. The same male voice answered.
"Any chance we can get some food up here?" Beth asked. "Maybe some pizza and dessert?"
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, before he replied, "Let me check. I'll call you back."
Beth sat back down on the bed and took Conner's hand.
"What's your idea?" he asked, holding her hand and stroking it.
"I..." she began, but his touch distracted her. After a pause, she continued. "I'm hoping, if the workers aren't in on the plan, or even if they are, they'll send Oliver up with our food. He might not know they're holding us here. I don't want to risk asking him for help, but maybe if knows they have us, he or my other contact can figure out something."
"That's not much of a plan. Do you think he can make a call to the outside?"
"I thought of that," Beth replied, "but if we can't call out, I bet the workers can't, either. I'm sure Wheldon has this entire place locked down."
"I know you don't want to put anyone in danger, but we need to clue Oliver in. Tell him what's going on. Even if he can't get word out now, and stop Wheldon, he can make sure Wheldon pays the price later."
"That will be a last resort," Beth said. "I don't want the guards to find out, and end up getting Oliver killed. Even without him, don't you think the authorities will be able to piece this together when it's all done, and trace it back to Wheldon?"
"I would think so," Conner said. "And I have to think Wheldon is worried about that, too."
"Oliver heard him promise to be the fall guy, if things go wrong. So he's at least planned for it. But he's arrogant enough, he might think nobody will ever figure it out. Either that, or he hates the president so much he's not seeing things clearly."
"Who would he be the fall guy for?" Conner asked. "I'd love to find out who else is in on his conspiracy. Are all the guests part of it?"
"I'm not sure. Bishop has to be."
"I hope I broke his nose," Conner muttered.
They sat staring at the phone. Twenty minutes passed and Beth started to lose hope. It looked like they would ignore her request. Finally, though, the phone rang. Beth grabbed the receiver and answered.
"Someone will be up," the voice said, and hung up.
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.
I'm so jeaIous of these two's abiIity to come up with pIans on the fIy. If I'm put in charge of IiteraIIy anything, I turn into a stammering, fumbIing mess. Let's hope that person mentioned at the end of the chapter is indeed OIiver; or at Ieast, someone eIse who's friendIy.
Conner and Beth are sure getting cIose.....Nick was too invasive anyway, and Bishop was a fuII-on drunk. Ethan seems more Iike just a reaIIy good friend than anything eIse.
Sapphire's going to show up one more time before the noveI's end, I'm sure. Then again.....if she couId stop him as Beth, that'd be REALLY impressive.
(I need to make my own characters (yes, characterS, not characteR) smarter, to be on your IeveI.....this is Iegit insane..... xD)