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 26
“Do you have any idea why you’re here?” Lockheed asked, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at Harper like a hawk sizing up a mouse. Harper shifted but returned the stare, which only enthralled the FBI woman even more. She liked a challenge.
“Before I answer your question, Olivia,” Harper replied, “how did you end up where you are? As an FBI agent, I mean. Things didn’t exactly go well for you in the StarPrime case.”
“I always end up on my feet, Harper,” Lockheed replied with a frown, before narrowing her eyes as she took in the blond woman. “And I always get what I want. Always.”
Harper shifted on her feet again, but said nothing.
“Now answer my question,” Lockheed continued. “Do you know why you’re here?”
Harper shrugged. “You mentioned you needed me to grease the skids, to help you talk to someone. But beyond that, no.”
“Does the name T.L. Grim mean anything to you?” Lockheed asked. She noticed a glint of recognition in the smaller woman’s eyes, but Harper said nothing.
Lockheed gave her a thin smile. “Of course it does, Harper. You did some research on Grim for your big story. I need it. All of it. I want you to turn over any files pertaining to him and his shop by the end of the day.” Lockheed fished a business card from her inside breast pocket and handed it to Harper. “Call me when it’s ready.”
Harper frowned, and her jaw tightened, as if she were fighting a retort. After a few moments, she spoke.
“Listen,” Harper said with a sigh. “Since you’re asking about Grim’s gun shop, it doesn’t take much to guess that you traced some weapons to him. You need more than just my files. You need my relationship with him. He trusts me, and I know him and his shop pretty well. You need me.”
Lockheed smirked. The small blond girl was smart, having figured it out so quickly. Lockheed had counted on her request, but it was time to show her who was boss. She could leave Harper dangling.
“This reminds me of the StarPrime case, Harper. You seem to think you have a bigger role than you really do. You’re not a cop — you’re a civilian. Leave this to the professionals.”
“I’m not looking to arrest anyone, Olivia. I’m only saying I can give you more help than you’ll get from reviewing my files.”
“It’s not open to discussion. I expect you to call me by the end of the day once you have everything together. I’m sure I can go above your head to your publisher, if I need to.”
Harper opened her mouth and closed it before shaking her head.
“I’ll see what I have,” she said, expressionless. “I’ll need to check my records.”
Lockheed was pleased. Not only had she gotten the meeting to end with herself in command, but she had even gotten Beth Harper in line. Controlling this woman was exhilarating.
“Well, get on it, fast!” Lockheed snapped. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
When Harper didn’t reply, Lockheed spun and strode from the room, feeling Harper’s stare on her back.
Howard Vincent may have underestimated Olivia Lockheed. Her meeting with the law enforcement officials in York could blow the lid off the gang’s activities in Harrisburg, if she didn’t follow his instructions and keep her mouth shut about the guns. With a muttered curse, he grabbed his desk phone and dialed a number. Someone picked up after two rings.
“Hey, old man,” the voice of Maximus Savage growled on the other end of the line. From the background noise, it sounded like he was on an airplane. “Let me guess. You’re calling me about this gun trace bullshit.”
“Yes, I’m calling about the gun trace bullshit. They’ve traced them to the shop, unfortunately. I’ve done what I can to slow things down, but Olivia Lockheed is in a meeting right now with local law enforcement and a writer. The meeting was going to be about the guns, but I convinced Olivia to keep her mouth shut. I told her there might be a mole. But make sure your man Grim has no evidence at his shop, because she’s still planning to visit the shop tomorrow, and might have a warrant.”
Savage was silent for several moments, as if in thought. His tone was subdued when he spoke.
“You’re sure your bitch is going tomorrow?” the gang leader asked.
“Olivia is not my bitch, but yes. She said ‘probably’ tomorrow, but she won’t have the patience to wait beyond that. She’ll get on the road after the agency’s morning briefing. Probably by ten.”
“Who else knows about the fucking traces?” Savage asked.
“Just her and the other agent, Michaels. She might say something to the female writer she mentioned, who has some sort of relationship with the owner. Olivia tried being cute with her words and told me she wouldn’t say anything to law enforcement. That tells me she is going to loop in this writer and use her to get to the owner. The girl’s name is Beth Harper.”
“Can you get the gun trace crap out of your computer systems?”
“I need to be careful, but yes, I can do that. I can even remotely remove it from Olivia’s devices, although that might cause her to suspect something.”
“Don’t worry about that, Howie. Just get rid of it everywhere, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Vincent asked. He didn’t like the sound of Savage’s words.
“Don’t worry about it, old man. I’m just going to have my guys clean up this mess.”
An hour after leaving York, Beth was on the phone, speaking with Stanley.
“So you really think I should just turn over all my notes to Olivia?” she asked. “If I don’t turn them over, I could use them as leverage to get a front-row seat for this Savage Gang investigation.”
“Yes, I think you should turn them over,” Stanley replied in his booming voice. “You know what Olivia is like, and there’s no way you’re going to force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. And if your files give her a taste of your connection with Grim, she might realize she needs your help.”
Beth sighed. “I guess you 're right. I just hate letting her get her way. She is such a control freak.”
“Some might say that about you, Beth,” Stanley replied with a chuckle.
“I’m not a —” she replied, but stopped herself. “Whatever. Olivia is going to go into that gun shop, alienate everyone, and find nothing. I can get more information than she can.”
“I’m sure you can. And if I thought withholding your files would help put you in that spot, I’d have a different opinion. But this is Olivia we’re talking about.”
“She’s such a…” Beth’s voice trailed off. “I wish I knew what info she had about Grim, so I could beat her to him, and talk to him myself.”
“If he’s involved, that might not be the best play. You could need the authority of the FBI behind you. Let’s just see how this unfolds, Beth. We’re in the first act of this play.”
Stanley was right. He was always right, it seemed. She would turn over her file, but it didn’t mean she would give up on the issue. She might need to pay a visit to the shop, either as herself or as Sapphire Angel.
“Fine,” Beth said. “I’ll tell her I have my file ready for her.”
“Have you heard from Sergeant Mullen about getting Sapphire Angel into the lockup to visit the prisoners?” Stanley asked.
“Not yet. I’ll check my secret phone after I get this file together for Olivia.”
“Very well,” Stanley replied. “Just contact me if he comes through for you, and we can see if my idea works, and we can get a prisoner to spill the location of their hideout, without knowing it.”
“I’ll let you know, Stanley.”
After ending the call, Beth glanced over at a mess of notes, newspaper clippings, thumb drives, and other material strewn about the other end of the sofa. It contained information about T.L. Grim and his gun shop, including research, interviews, and notes. She wished she had taken the time to digitize it, as it might have helped her avoid seeing Lockheed again, but organization wasn’t her strong suit.
She slid to the end of the sofa and started placing the materials into an expandable folder. As she did so, she become more agitated, each piece of her file reminding her of Lockheed's control. She stopped, shaking her head. She would not rush for Lockheed's sake.
Beth rose from the sofa and walked to her bedroom, retrieving a phone from a hiding spot underneath the bottom of her dresser. It was the phone she used for Sapphire Angel’s messages, and, thanks to Stanley, it routed its encrypted traffic through several secure proxy servers, making it impossible for anyone to trace her.
One message awaited her, with the subject of “Meeting.” She tapped it and read the full contents.
People I trust are manning the station overnight tonight. Be at the rear door at midnight, and I can get you in.
Beth smiled upon reading Mick Mullen’s message. She hadn’t doubted the police sergeant would come through for her, but she hadn’t been sure how long he would take. His timing was perfect. If she came up empty tonight after scouting Italian Lake for the gang’s hideout, she would go to the police station to visit the prisoners, and hope Stanley’s plan worked. That would give her two chances to remain one step ahead of Olivia Lockheed.
With a sigh, she grabbed her regular phone. This would not get any easier, so she keyed in a message to the FBI woman.
Just finishing getting the file together now.
Lockheed’s reply came a few seconds later.
Bring them by my room at the Hilton at seven. Room 1501.
Now Beth would have a very busy night. She would meet with Olivia Lockheed first, and then Sapphire Angel would scout the area around Italian Lake to discover where the gang members got their boots wet. She would end the night with a visit to the cell block, courtesy of Sergeant Mick Mullen. Somewhere during the night, luck would shine on her and put her on the trail of the Savage Gang.
Forward to Chapter 27 (link works after Chapter 27 goes live)
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
I.....guess Harper and Lockheed are now working together, to an extent? It all seems very teeth-clenched, though, and I can kind of see both sides. Harper dislikes Lockheed’s extremely controlling nature, but Lockheed also has to feel like she’s in a position of power to be valued. Whatever; they’re now in tandem and against the Savage Gang, so that’s something. Maybe their dynamic will improve with time. Stanley isn’t wrong about Beth wanting everything to go HER way, too, like Lockheed; after all, she’s the one who insisted on continuing to fight the Savage Gang as Sapphire Angel even when Conner and Ethan were both trying to discourage it. It’s still not quite the same thing---Beth never grew up with disappointed parents or been in a job that she needed to exit in disgrace from---but I can still draw a few parallels.
I’m legit worried, though, about what Maximus Savage and Howard Vincent are going to do about the gun trace evidence. Olivia Lockheed obviously knows, as does Detective Michaels and now, Beth Harper. Beth can’t die ‘cause plot armor. Detective Michaels......meh. He doesn’t seem like too much of a major character at the moment.....mostly just a rather unfortunate assistant to Olivia. Lockheed.....I don’t know, I personally think it would be way too much if she died. Knowing what she went through in her past just kind of makes me wish things get better for her; my opinion’s changed quite a bit since Power Play.
I like the neat recap at the end of the chapter about the busy night Beth Harper/Sapphire Angel currently has ahead of her; gives me an idea of what events to look forward to. Speaking of that, didn’t you use to begin every chapter with a quick, italicized recap of the previous one? To get readers up to speed in case it’s been a bit? I’ve started doing that for my novels (starting with Phase 2, Book #5), but I noticed you haven’t been doing that anymore.....? Getting to live Sapphire’s adventures with her all over again is still amazing, though.....it’s been ages since I’ve sunk my eyes into a good novel---or series, for that matter---and right now, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.