Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
VIOLENCE WARNING: The two stories in the Savage Gang saga, and especially the second story, involve a gang practicing extreme violence toward everyone — women, the elderly, the protagonist, etc. The stories contain mature sexual content and violence as well. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 12
The tempting smell of Mrs. Devor's famous lasagna wafted from the kitchen, reaching Beth's nose as she sat in Stanley's office, watching a television in the corner. A slender television newsman with wavy hair stood outside the Thompson Center, speaking into a microphone and staring into the camera with intelligent eyes. Beth recognized him as Ryan Addington, a young correspondent who had reported almost daily on Sapphire Angel since her first appearance in Harrisburg.
Addington was one of two reporters in the city trying to build a reputation as an expert on the superheroine. Beth preferred him to his competitor, Megan Lawlor, who worked for another station. Lawlor left no stone unturned in her coverage of Beth's alter ego, almost to the point of hassling her. The newswoman also didn't hesitate to badmouth the superheroine, and questioned whether she was helpful to the city, or a vigilante operating outside the law. Addington's style, by contrast, was one of rapt and respectful admiration.
Addington carried himself with a serious, almost stressful air as he recapped the assault on the Thompson Center. Beth's heart sank when Addington mentioned the guards had died from their wounds. A server was also in serious condition at a local hospital, after stumbling upon the invasion. Beth swallowed hard at this news and blinked back tears. She hadn't been fast enough.
Addington moved on to Sapphire Angel's appearance, telling viewers she had defeated an attacker on the loading dock, before overcoming the three gangsters in Lena Erb's dressing room. After describing how the heroine had saved Erb, he cut to his interview with the violinist, recorded a few hours earlier at her hotel.
Erb appeared on screen, seeming much more relaxed than when Sapphire Angel had seen her. Still, her voice carried an excited edge as she raved about Sapphire Angel, describing how the costumed heroine had pummeled the gang members like they were rag dolls, and how Erb owed her life to the mysterious woman. Erb explained how Sapphire Angel had been like an angel, appearing from nowhere to save her, and disappearing when all was safe.
The image on the television switched away from Lena Erb and back to Addington, the reporter. He explained how the police were being tight-lipped, but his sources had told him the captured gangsters weren't talking.
He closed by saying, "This is bad news for Harrisburg, as it appears to be the work of the dreaded Savage Gang. But the gang is no match for Sapphire Angel, who took down four of the brutal gangsters by herself. There is reason for hope, Harrisburg."
The newscast switched to another story as Stanley used the remote to turn off the television. He turned to Beth, his face grim.
"Well, they're here," Stanley said.
Beth nodded. "They are, and I've got to get rid of them."
"No, you don't," Stanley said, giving Beth a serious look. She stared back at him, unblinking. They locked eyes for a few moments before Stanley sighed and shook his head. "I'm wasting my breath trying to talk you out of this, aren't I?"
Beth grimaced. "I can't ignore this, Stanley."
"I guess not," he said with another sigh. "If you're going to go after them regardless of what I say, then I can at least make it easier for you. How can I help?"
"I guess I need information, for starters. I need to know about this gang."
"I've already done some digging on this man, their leader," Stanley said, punching a key on his keyboard, before the image of an angry-looking man appeared on the television screen. His eyes stood out, as one was pale blue, with an orange discoloration in the outer corner of the iris, while the other was brown. His jaw, which was clenched as if in a rage, was solid and square, covered with a few day's worth of stubble, and contained a large dimple in the chin. He kept his brown hair trimmed close, and he had cut the outline of a snake cut into the top of it.
"Maximus Savage, of course," Stanley said. "A U.S. intelligence operative got the photo, and it might be the only known shot of his face, without a mask. This next photo is how you've probably seen him."
Stanley advanced to another photo, showing a man wearing one of the telltale half masks of the Savage Gang. It appeared identical to the other gangsters' masks, except for the red-rimmed eyeholes highlighting the man's strange eyes.
"Just like their failure to get more good photographs of him," Stanley said, "law enforcement hasn't uncovered much about his past, beyond his service. It's been driving them nuts."
"His service?" Beth asked.
"His military service, if in fact that's what it was. I've tried to piece it together from what I could access, but the records contained major, major gaps. They might not look like gaps to most people, but if you know what you're looking for, it is pretty clear somebody whitewashed his record. Reconstructed it to tell a fake story. The official story is that he was an Army Ranger with a pretty nondescript service record, but the dots don't connect. Based on some things I saw, I suspect he was an operative for one of our intelligence services. Perhaps for one of their strike teams."
"What's a strike team?"
"Most intelligence services aren't just made up of spies sneaking around, like you see in the movies. They also have armed teams. The muscle, so to speak. I can't be sure Savage was in one of them, but if I had to guess, that's where I'd put my money."
"So that's why they reconstructed it?" Beth asked. " Because he worked for an intelligence service?"
Stanley shook his head. "No, that's not it. If that was it, they would just classify it. Which they did. But I got into their systems and accessed the classified documents, and I saw records that someone seemed to have fabricated. So there's more going on here. Perhaps a cover-up of some sort. And that's all there is on him. He's a mystery beyond that."
Stanley grimaced, as if embarrassed he didn't have more to offer about Savage's past. Beth gave him an understanding smile.
"If there were more to find, you would have found it," she said. "I'm not surprised you're already looking into this. What you found is a good start. Maybe something from his past makes him tick."
"That's possible. After his discharge six years ago, he went off the radar until two years ago, when he showed up leading the gang in Columbus, the first city they moved into. And you know the story from there. They're now in many cities of various sizes, and have the FBI and the rest of law enforcement stretched thin."
"This doesn't seem like your typical gang," Beth said.
"It's not. Lots of gangs out there are bad, but they're often made up of unskilled knuckleheads, with only a few skilled members. These guys are different. Any one of them might rank up there with the toughest opponents you've faced. They're all skilled fighters, and strong as hell. Think of a tough supervillain from one of John's comic books, but now imagine an entire gang of them."
Beth frowned. "And now they're here."
"They are. And it will get worse, before too long. By all signs, they start out slowly, probably learning about a town and finding potential targets. And some intelligence reports talk about extensive training they do for their recruits back at their home base, before sending them into a town when they're ready."
"How long until they are at full strength?" she asked.
"As best I can tell, about ten days after their debut in a town. They make more frequent trouble after that, conducting multiple operations at once. I suspect by then they know more about a city, and their reinforcements have arrived."
"Ten days," she murmured. "The Thompson Center hit was two days ago. That means I only have eight days to drive them out of town, before they get a foothold."
"Yes. It will get much harder after that. Maybe impossible. They might have twenty members here now, but based on evidence from other similar-sized cities, that would grow to fifty or more."
"I took down the Red Scorpions, who were bigger than that."
"Bigger, yes, but one of these Savage Gang guys could crush five or more of the Scorpions. And these guys are vicious. They kill when they must, but it almost seems like they get sadistic pleasure out of hurting people instead."
"Then there's no time to waste," she said. "I've got to get these guys out of town."
"Easier said than done," Stanley said. "And I'm not even sure where to start."
"I'm on it," she replied. "Sapphire Angel has already set up a meeting tonight with Mick, my contact with the Harrisburg police, to see if he has any leads for me. I also want to see if he can get me into the jail to see the gang members who I took down at the Thompson Center."
Stanley sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "You've faced nothing like this, Beth. Be careful."
Beth smiled. "Aren't I always?"
Rocco Lynch slammed the side of his fist into the wall, sending chunks of stone flying as the television in the corner replayed a news report from the Thompson Center two nights earlier. He had watched the report at least ten times over the past two days, and his anger increased with each viewing.
Anger wasn't the only emotion growing inside him. Fear gnawed at him, too — not of Sapphire Angel, but of Maximus Savage. The gang leader had been busy with other operations for the past two days, but was due to call in a few minutes. He would be pissed off. Savage preached the importance of intimidation, and how it made the gang's job much easier, but this city's residents already had one reason not to fear the gang. That reason was Sapphire Angel.
As he closed his eyes and clenched his fists in frustration, his encrypted phone vibrated in his pocket. His chest tightened, and he pulled it out to look at the number on the screen. It was Savage, right on schedule. This would not be pleasant.
"Yes," he answered, his eyes closed.
"Are you trying to destroy everything we've done?" Maximus Savage growled.
Rocco Lynch squeezed the phone in his meaty hand. He couldn't see Savage's face, but he could picture the man's scowl. The gang leader normally watched his organization's operations with glee, devouring the unfolding chaos with the enthusiasm of a dog gnawing on a meaty bone. For an unknown reason, Savage took pleasure not just in the gang's financial accomplishments, but in hurting the country and its people. And when a failure interfered with that pleasure, Savage held his men responsible.
Lynch frowned and shook his head. He had come to the Savage Gang from a prominent gang in the Bronx, where he had been the leader, so he didn't enjoy taking crap from anyone. But even he recognized Max Savage as the alpha dog, which was why he had joined him when the Savage Gang had moved into the Bronx almost two years ago. It was either join him, or get crushed by him. He had joined, and in time became one of Savage's most trusted lieutenants. But Savage wasn't beyond insulting Lynch when a job went bad.
"There were unusual circumstances," Lynch said, trying to stay calm.
"You're talking about Sapphire Angel?"
"Yes, Sapphire Angel," Lynch answered as he paced about the dimly lit room in the gang's hideout.
"Maybe I'm just being dense, but I thought we talked about her before you left," Savage said, emphasizing each word.
Lynch peered into a mirror leaning against the stone wall and saw fear and worry creased on his face.
"We did," Lynch murmured.
"What was that?" Savage said, his voice rising. "I couldn't hear you."
"I said we did," Lynch repeated.
"Then what was the problem?" Savage asked. "You and your crew should have been able to handle one chick, even if you hadn't known she might show up. But fuck — you knew this was her turf!"
Lynch put his hand over the mouthpiece and sighed, before removing his hand and answering. "It won't happen again. We'll be ready next time."
There was silence on the other end. Lynch expected Savage to threaten him, but his boss asked a question.
"What's your next job?"
"Tomorrow night, we're hitting the house of a Hollywood actor who keeps a place here in town. He's a local and gets back here often. He's here now, and his place is nice. We'll crash it tomorrow and get some good visibility."
"No." Savage's response was immediate and curt.
"No?" Lynch asked, running a hand across his bald head.
"No," Savage repeated. "That's too long after your fiasco. The media and people of that city already have had two days to dissect how Sapphire Angel got the best of you. Two days for people to decide the Savage Gang isn't so tough. Two days for law enforcement to get some backbone. Too long. We can't let it turn into three days. You need to do something tonight."
"Tonight? Aren't you always preaching about doing proper prep work? About how planning is half the key to success on these things?" Lynch started pacing, not believing what he was hearing. He was short four men, thanks to Sapphire Angel, and needed time for reinforcements to arrive in town.
"If I wanted your fucking opinion, I'd ask for it. Yes, in a world where you hadn't fucked up, you'd prep the hell out of your next mission. You can still do that with this actor's place. But you need to pick a simple target, and move tonight. End of discussion. And be ready for Sapphire Angel. Have a surprise for her if she shows up. Get the jump on her and eliminate her."
Forward to Chapter 13 (link works after Chapter 13 goes live)
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
Well, it looks as though action will be coming again, fast and furious. I wonder if we will see Olivia make an appearance in that battle? I like the touch of differing news caster points of view. So typical of today's media to report the same story and have extremely different versions. It was a nice touch, will see if there is more later.
I was a little surprised at Savage''s response. Its not like he was talking to a rookie, but at the same time, he does not accept failure. It will be interesting to see how this next mission pans out. If Sapphire Angel does show up, they do not seem ready at all to handle her. It will be interesting to see how Rocco handles it. My take is he will be more hands on this time, really out of necessity, but if he has to go toe to toe with her, I think right now she wins. If they are going to get the better of her in a battle, they will have to do some planning. I think throwing this next mission together too quickly already has it doomed to fail. That might change Maximus' travel schedule.
Looking forward til Thursday!! Thanks for the holiday post!!
Well, well, well.....it looks as though it’s time to start rolling out! I have to say, I can kind of see both sides of the newscasting, with Ryan Addington and Megan Lawlor. Addington seems as though he errs on the side of optimism, while Lawlor comes off as being a lot more cautious, however invasive she may appear. Or at least.....that’s what I WOULD be saying if Sapphire was still relatively new to the job and people still didn’t have a lot of time to get a good read on her. In actuality, she’s already been operating for quite some time, and most people already know she’s on the side of good. So I don’t get what Lawlor’s deal is. Still, when you’ve had to deal with that kind of behavior for as long as Sapphire Angel has, it’s not hard to get annoyed by it as time goes by. I’ll tell you something, though; had I been in her shoes, I would’ve greatly preferred Addington, too.
.....I really wrote an entire paragraph on two minor characters, huh?
Stanley’s here, yay! He’s really living up to his role as Sapphire’s “mission control”, though Sapphire herself is definitely no slouch when it comes to being knowledgable and productive, either. I know that, whenever someone tries to discourage Sapphire from going after the Savage Gang, it’s entirely out of concern and not anything else, like pessimism. It’s Anger/Refusal Born Of Worry, in other words. Stanley’s advised her to be cautious, as has Ethan and Conner, but like.....this is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; her home city! She’s definitely not going to take this lying down. Stanley still helped her, though, and that’s all that matters at the moment. Now, let’s hope that either Mick or the thugs from the Center can help in our investigation, too.
Well, umm.....I was sort of blindsided by how Maximus Savage reacted to Rocco Lynch’s failure at the Thompson Center. His fury was, upfront, solely targeted on Lynch, but something tells me he surely resents Sapphire Angel as well for causing his gang’s mess-up. I would say that he flies off the handle way too quickly, but like he said, they already knew Sapphire Angel was going to be a problem, so shouldn’t they have already had some kind of countermeasure in place? That’s like taking a boat out to sea on a day-long fishing trip and NOT bringing any life jackets or preservers on board to prevent drowning should the boat capsize or sink. Demanding Lynch to pull off another hit that night may have been a bit much, though. They won’t have a lot of time to plan, and not planning for Sapphire’s intervention was exactly why the last mission didn’t go as expected. Sapphire still has the meeting with Mick and the jail interrogation, but I think that takes place during the day. So she should have free time to try and stop the Savage Gang tonight.....right? Of course, that’s only if she knows where and when they’ll strike, and right now, only the readers know that stuff.
Also, when Rocco Lynch said that they would be ready next time, I legitimately laughed out loud, shook my head, and audibly (out loud, that’s what that means) said “Uh-huh. Yeah. You’re not gonna be ready next time.” I may have just tempted fate, though; we’ll see!