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 15
Beth Harper, wearing jeans and a college sweatshirt, bent down in front of the lock on the door of her bedroom closet, gripping the square cover and sliding it to the left to reveal a keypad. Beth keyed in six digits and pressed the "Enter" button, and the door swung outward.
Skirts, dresses, and other garments hung by hangers from a rod spanning the four-foot wide space in front of her. Beth slid the clothes to the left, revealing a narrow area beyond, filled with the glimmer of shimmering fabric. Beth ducked under the rod and stepped into the hidden area, which contained more than a dozen pristine copies of Sapphire Angel's costume, including the famous blue and white minidress, gloves, and tights, all hanging from hangers on two garment racks. Several copies of her white boots rested on the floor. Only the necklace was absent.
A stool sat in the middle of the secret space, near a full-length mirror hanging from the back wall. A small shelf to the right of the mirror contained other odds and ends, including two pairs of diamond earrings.
Beth stepped to the middle of the area and raised a hand to the base of her neck. Anyone else would have seen nothing in the split second that followed. But Beth Harper visualized a tunnel of light, stretching far into the distance. Despite the distance, she saw a stone room at the end of the tunnel, containing a marble statute of a woman, standing proudly with her long hair flowing and her hands on her hips. A copy of Sapphire Angel's white boots sat at the feet of the statue, and the remaining the items of the costume, including the minidress, gloves, and necklace, rested in the crook of the statue's arm.
Beth focused, and a moment later a brilliant flash of light surrounded her. When it subsided, she wore the blue and white costume from her vision, with the necklace in place around her delicate throat. She was Sapphire Angel.
The young woman grasped the fingertips of one of her gloves between the thumb and forefinger of her opposite hand, and slid the smooth fabric from her hand. A moment later she removed the other glove, draping both gloves over a hanger on one of the garment racks. She bent down, untying her laces and removing each of her ankle boots, placing them to the side. When finished, she unfastened the clasps of her dress at the back of her neck, before sliding it down her lithe body, pulling it off, and hanging it from a hanger. After slipping out of her tights, she stood in the room, her firm body naked.
She grabbed a new pair of tights and slipped into them, before pulling a fresh copy of the sleek minidress up her body. She repeated the process with the rest of the items until she was clad in the radiant costume once more.
After every few outings, Sapphire Angel performed this ritual, swapping out her costume for a fresh version. It might be unnecessary, as the costume seemed impervious to normal wear and tear, but she still liked to appear as vibrant as possible.
"I have you now, Sapphire Angel," a voice whispered in her ear as an arm wrapped around her torso. She gasped as a man behind her pulled her back up against his body. "Now I just have to decide what to do with you." He was so close, she could feel his breath in her ear as he spoke.
Her heart pounded as she pondered how to react. She felt the man's hand on her stomach, and let out a small gasp that turned into a moan as his hand traveled up and cupped one of her breasts.
"Conner..." she whispered between another moan as passion coursed through her body. He still possessed the ability to set her senses on fire with his touch. "This isn't fair. You know I have to leave soon."
She bit her lip as he caressed her through the thin, smooth fabric of her costume. His hands shifted, with one hand taking her hair and lifting it off of her neck, while the other found the two clasps of her costume at the back of her neck and unfastened them, one after the other.
"Conner —"
Her protest stopped short as his lips found the bare skin of her neck. Her knees trembled as she bit her lip and tried to focus.
"I really need to get going, or I'll be late," she murmured.
Conner took her arms and turned her so she faced him. He leaned in and their lips met. His arms wrapped around the back of her head and neck, pulling her slender body against his.
After a few moments of kissing, she pulled her head back.
"Maybe we can finish this later," she whispered. "I need to go."
"Not fair," he growled, staring into her blue eyes with his hands draped over her shoulders and his fingers caressing the back of her neck. "You know you drive me crazy when you wear this."
She bit her lip and looked up at him with a playful bat of her eyelashes. "Maybe I'll have to stop wearing this around you, then."
"Now that would be going too far," he said. "It won't hurt if you're a little late."
He put his hands on her shoulder and gave a gentle turn so she faced away from him again. He moved her hair to the side and fumbled at the back of her neck. This time his hands were at the clasp of her necklace.
She frowned and crossed her arms as several seconds passed and he continued to bumble with the clasp.
"Having a little trouble back there, hotshot?" she asked in a mocking voice.
"I, uh..." he stammered. "Damnit, this clasp is a bitch. Who the hell designed this thing?"
"Stanley, of course. He tweaked it to make the necklace hard for someone else to remove. Just to be safe. I don't think he had my clumsy boyfriend in mind, though."
Conner frowned. "Well, he did a good job."
"Does he ever not do a good job? He also made the clasp hard to break."
"Is that really a good thing? Aren't you worried you'll get hurt if it gets pulled and doesn't come free? That could really slice you up."
"It doesn't hang loose enough for it to be much of a concern, but he said if the pressure reaches that point, where there would be enough force to cut my neck, the clasp will release."
"I'm surprised he didn't worry about altering the clasp. How did he know it wouldn't mess up your powers or something?"
"I thought about that, too, but he seemed to know it wouldn't change anything."
"Don't you find it odd? Odd, I mean, that he didn't seem worried?"
Beth shrugged and gave a forced smile.
"Come on," Conner said. "Doesn't it make you wonder how he seems to have so many answers?"
"Of course it makes me wonder," Beth replied, an irritated edge to her voice. "But I can't think about that right now. I'm focused on this gang."
"On that topic..." he started, but she came to him, raised to her tiptoes, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
"I need to go," she said. She had scheduled a clandestine meeting with her one trusted contact in the police department, to find out what information the police had obtained from the gang members sitting in the city jail.
Conner watched as she stepped back and held a fist to the base of her neck. A moment later, another flash of light surrounded her, and when it subsided, Beth Harper was back, wearing her jeans and sweatshirt.
"This isn't your responsibility, you know," Conner said, as Beth finished pulling on a pair of Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers. His voice was more timid than normal.
They had been through this several times, and Beth wasn't in the mood to rehash it. It was turning into a bone of contention between them.
"I'm not getting into this again, Conner. I can't just stand by and do nothing, when I can stop these guys. Those guards are dead, and one person is hurt. It can't happen again."
"You could be the next one to get hurt!" Conner's voice rose in agitation as he stepped forward.
Beth's jaw set. "Tell that to the gang members who are in jail because of me," she said, raising her eyes to him. "Anyway, I'm only going to find out if the police have gotten these guys to talk. That's all for now."
"For now," Conner muttered.
"This is a chance to nip this in the bud," she said. "According to my research, the FBI believes the gang uses a medium-sized crew when they first move into a new city. They only ramp things up once they get a foothold."
"So now you're researching the gang?" Conner asked with a frown.
"Yes, I am. My best chance of stopping them is finding their base of operations, and hit them there before they build up their numbers."
"And you think they'll just quit after that? More likely they send in even more men with a vengeance."
"Or they could decide there are easier targets out there, and move on to another city," she replied.
"What makes you think you can find their hideout? The FBI has tried that in every city, with no luck."
"The FBI doesn't have my powers, and they don't have Stanley working with them. He's back in town now.”
"I don't know how much longer I can take this, Beth," Conner said, his voice trailing off. He looked at her with an intense gaze. "I know I promised I wouldn't interfere or worry about you, back when you told me your secret. But I didn't think it would be this hard. It's probably a good thing I'll be in Philly for the conference this weekend."
Beth held his stare before getting on her tiptoes and giving him another soft kiss. She touched his lips with a finger before slipping past him for the door.
Her trembling had subsided when Olivia Lockheed stepped into the conference room, but the attack in the cell block had darkened her already nasty mood, like someone throwing a match onto a pile of gasoline-soaked hay.
"What are you looking at?" she snapped at Dave Michaels as he glanced at her. The junior agent's freckled face reddened.
"I may have found something," he said.
Lockheed stopped at the end of the long table, folding her arms across her chest.
"Well?" she asked when Michaels didn't elaborate.
"I've been going over the weapons from the Thompson Center crime scene, like you asked. Someone may have gotten sloppy trying to sanitize them. A few of the guns had some faint markings."
"Enough to make out?"
"I can't see it with the naked eye, but if we send them out to the lab, maybe we'll get lucky."
Lockheed stared at Michaels for a moment, fighting back a smile. If she could make progress, where agents all over the country had failed...
"Don't just sit there!" she snapped at him.
Michaels didn't move, giving her a blank stare. Behind his eyes, she saw his brain churning, trying to guess what she wanted.
"Get these guns boxed up and get them shipped out to the lab!" Lockheed snarled before turning on her heel and marching from the room.
"Fucking idiot," she muttered under her breath as the door closed behind her.
Forward to Chapter 16 (link works after Chapter 16 goes live)
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
Loved the opening with Connor "sneaking up" on Sapphire Angel. This is clearly going to be a constant problem for him. That could make this shortlived, or it could just be the constant annoyance that she has to deal with. I am interested to see how he hanldes it with the coming peril that is surely going to happen. Even Sapphire Angel has her bad days, I am sure at some point she will be in a very perilous situation with this gang, and probably with Maximus himself.
I am also curious about what is going on with him and the drugs he is taking. What is that all about. I am sure that might have something to do with his downfall, but it also might be giving him the strength he will need to put Sapphire Angel in the battle of her life. I cannot wait to see what is in store this story.
I agree with the previous comment, these books would definitley sell. I know its crazy, but I could see a movie out of these, they are really good, really good!
Ugh.....that first sequence was SO hot. Conner’s quite the lucky guy! Happy for him! Besides that one chapter with Fritz Fornwright and Monica Drevis in “Powerhouse” (Chapter 16: A Newfound Love), I don’t think I’ve ever written any sequences remotely close to that. Now I’m kind of starting to understand the warning at the start of every single chapter. If you ask me, nothing’s been QUITE too violent as of yet; the only thing I’ve been particularly concerned about was Olivia Lockheed getting choked by the Savage Gang member. Even on Sapphire’s first outing against the Savage Gang---to protect that prized violin---she didn’t do too bad. I thought he might’ve been ticked that she left him hanging at the concert to save Erb, but he oddly reacted with less hostility than I thought he would.
Speaking of Olivia’s experience with the Savage Gang member, it surely seems to have done a number on her temperament. Then again, I wouldn’t be all too happy either at getting my hind end handed to me by someone whom my rival handled with ease. If I were her, I’d try to get on Sapphire’s level first before pursuing revenge or trying to one-up her. I know you mentioned before that it’s unlikely that Olivia would receive superpowers, but her getting abilities and then having a Spider-Man/Venom dynamic with Sapphire would’ve been how I saw things. Maybe in an alternate universe.
So it looks like both Sapphire Angel and Olivia Lockheed may be onto some things. Sapphire Angel’s going to meet with her police contact, and Olivia and Michaels have found cryptic markings on the weapons, to be sent to a lab for analysis. Is this whole novel just going to be a competition between Sapphire, Olivia, and their respective forces to see who can get the drop on the Savage Gang first? ‘Cause that would be entertaining as heck! I’ll be rooting for Sapphire, of course. Though I still hold a bit of sympathy for Olivia.
I would totally put money on this if it were a real thing. You ever tried making all of this a physical series that could be sold at an actual bookstore like Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million? Collecting Goosebumps novels was always a favored hobby of mine growing up; my parents and I would go to the store every three months or so and pick up the next entry in the HorrorLand series. Unfortunately, life got in the way.
Let’s see which one of these women will get to the bottom of this first! Winner gets bragging rights, city-wide (or even country-wide) recognition, and a boatload of cash!