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 32
Sapphire Angel’s entire body ached, and she raised a gloved hand to her tender jaw as she navigated her vehicle through Harrisburg’s dark and empty streets. Never before had she lost a fight so badly. No, that wasn’t right. Never before had she lost a fight. Period. Or at least, she hadn't lost a fight when she possessed her powers. But the gang members had defeated her, and she would be in their clutches if it weren’t for her car.
She swallowed, and her face reddened at the thought of the gangsters pummeling her senseless. At least the throbbing in her head was subsiding. Perhaps the necklace would work its magic soon, and rid her of her remaining pains, but she suspected that wouldn’t be the case. It might take a day or two, or even longer, for her pain to disappear. She was in uncharted territory, so couldn’t know for sure.
Again, her thoughts turned to Lockheed. The gang wouldn’t have caught the heroine off guard if she hadn’t been so distracted by the FBI woman’s conduct. Those first blows took her off her game, scrambling her senses and slowing her reflexes. She thought back to each moment of the fight and convinced herself she would have prevailed if she hadn’t suffered the early blow to her head. That blow had been Lockheed’s fault. She had to believe it, because the alternative was to believe the gang was too powerful, and its members too strong. Stronger than her, perhaps, if that was even possible.
She wouldn’t let Lockheed’s behavior distract her again, regardless of how the FBI woman might act in the future. She wouldn’t allow for other distractions, either. That included Altor Unitas and any investigation into the secrets behind her powers. Such drama could wait for another day. This gang was formidable — tougher than any opponent she had faced — and needed her full attention.
She shook her head and gritted her teeth. She needed to shake off her pain and focus on the job ahead. Under normal circumstances, she might postpone the evening's last stop for a day or two, to give herself time to recover. She didn't have that luxury, though, with the clock counting down to the day when the gang’s reinforcements arrived in town. So, in a few minutes, she would be face to face with more gangsters in the cell block at the police station, hoping to execute on a scheme she and Stanley had concocted. The brutes would be behind bars, and the idea had seemed safe when she and Stanley had hatched it, but that had been before the humiliating beatdown in the alley.
Sapphire Angel shook her head and steered her car into an alley three blocks from the police station, turning right at the end of the alley and pulling to a stop inside the shell of a crumbling building. This was one of several locations Stanley had identified around the city, for her to park her car and operate in secrecy. She was still within walking distance of the ambush site, but the gang wouldn't find her car this time, unless they knew where to look. She should have parked here prior to surprising Lockheed in the garage, but had been too eager for the encounter with the FBI woman. The heroine wouldn't make the same mistake, since one fiasco was enough for the night.
Sapphire Angel winced when she stepped from the car, with the pain in her abdomen and the throbbing in her shoulder screaming at her the most. The leader’s punches and the blow from the crowbar had been horrific. She raised her fingers to where her costume stretched over her flat stomach, and she bit her lip. She closed her eyes and moved her shoulder in a circular motion, before vowing to ignore the pain for the next thirty minutes. The heroine opened her eyes and hurried down the alley, before slipping into a narrow opening between two buildings.
It took her only three minutes of creeping from shadow to shadow to reach the alley behind the station. Unlike other alleys in the city, this one was empty of trash or other clutter, but the walls on both sides provided a reminder of the age of these buildings. Wide swathes of cement held large sections of brick together, and much of the brick didn’t match, the result of various repairs over the years.
Mick Mullen’s hulking figure appeared in the mist in front of the steel door at the rear of the building, illuminated by a single light mounted above the door. He wore a heavy police-issue coat, and his hands were in his pockets to guard against the cold. He paced from side to side, looking down the alley in each direction, as his breath hung in the chilly March air.
Sapphire Angel approached him, slipping out of the shadows. He nodded when he saw her, but paused, raising an eyebrow.
“You okay, Angel?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re moving like some of my old football teammates moved after a rough game.”
“I’m fine,” the blonde woman replied, forcing a smile and hoping he couldn’t see her face redden in the dim light. Mullen idolized her, and didn’t need to know the gang had gotten the best of her. “I slept the wrong way. Let’s get started.”
Mullen regarded her for a few moments longer, before nodding and motioning toward the door.
“Everything is all set,” he said. “But I can only give you about ten minutes. After that, some officers are due to come by, and I can’t vouch for what they might think of you being here.”
Sapphire Angel nodded. Ten minutes wasn’t long, but would be enough time if her plan worked and didn’t backfire on her. If it backfired, her awful night would continue.
“Thanks,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
As he opened the door, its hinges screeched, sending the sound bouncing off the walls of the alley. She stepped in after him, seeing a hallway ahead and stairs descending to their right. The paint on the walls may have been white at one point, but was chipping away in spots and was now a bland yellow. Mismatched black and white linoleum tiles covered the floor and stairs.
Mullen turned onto the stairs, taking them two at a time with his long strides. Sapphire Angel grimaced as she hurried to keep pace, each step sending a jolt of discomfort through her body. Discomfort, though. Not pain. Perhaps the necklace was already healing her.
When they came to a door at the bottom of the steps, Mullen swiped a plastic card in a scanner and pushed the door open. On the other side, a hall extended to her left and elevator doors loomed to her right. The upstairs may have looked outdated and poorly maintained, but the basement looked worse. The place looked like a dungeon, with the ceiling and walls hewn from rough rock, and light fixtures dangling from wires.
Mullen stalked down the hall, and she followed. Even though she trusted Mullen, her senses were on alert. Someone might be here without his knowledge. As she followed, her footsteps echoed off the stone floor and the rock walls. The air was damp, and moisture glistened on every surface.
Mullen led her down the hall to a thick metal door with a desk in front of it. A young officer stood behind the desk, nodding at Mullen with wide eyes that blinked at a rapid pace. He eyed Sapphire Angel, looking away and back again as he moved to the door, before again stealing a glance at the superheroine.
“She doesn’t bite, Joe,” Mullen scolded as the young officer took a set of keys from a chain around his neck. “Close it behind us and don’t let anyone in until we’re done.”
The officer nodded and slid a key into the door.
“He’s not used to being around celebrities,” Mullen explained to Sapphire Angel as the officer turned a heavy door handle. She smiled.
The officer pushed the door open, and Mullen walked past him. As Sapphire Angel passed the officer, she gave a nod of thanks, and he lit up as if someone had told him he’d won the lottery.
After she and Mullen stepped through the door, it clanged shut behind them. She was vulnerable now, if any unexpected surprises awaited her. Even with her strength, she might have a hard time making it through that door.
A dark hall stretched before her, with the sound of snoring coming from behind some of the seven cell doors on each side. Except for the prisoners, she and Mullen were alone, although cameras hung high on the walls, covering the area.
“The cameras are off, right?” she asked.
“Yep,” Mullen replied. “Not just to protect you. I also need to protect my guys who helped get you in here. They don’t want any evidence of what they did.”
“I understand.”
“Where do you want to start?” Mullen asked.
She tapped her lips. “Since we don’t have much time, is there one who seems to be in charge? Or at least who seems like the alpha dog?”
Mullen nodded and pointed. “Last one on the left,” he said. “The first couple cells hold our everyday criminals. The rest of the cells are for the gang. The guy on the end has his own cell.”
She nodded and marched down the corridor. Her heels clicked on the stone floor, and she could hear men in some cells stirring. As she expected, the catcalls started as she passed the cells of the regular prisoners.
“Sapphire Angel!” one voice called out. “I could make you feel reeaaally good!”
The other comments were equally crude, but no noise came from the cells toward the end of the hall. The men in those cells watched her, saying nothing. She turned her head to look at them, taking in their massive frames. She recognized some of them as the gangsters she had apprehended at the Thompson Center and at Chase Bentley's mansion. Even in their oversized prison jumpsuits, their muscular bulk was unmistakable. They watched her with hateful glares.
Ignoring the catcalls from near the entrance, Sapphire Angel walked past the glaring men to the last cell on the left. Another enormous man stood behind the bars, his arms crossed, staring at the superheroine. The gang members in the other cells were big, but he dwarfed them all. The orange prison jumpsuit strained against his powerful shoulder muscles, and his rolled-up sleeves displayed his muscular arms.
“Enjoying your new digs?” Sapphire Angel asked as she flashed a coy smile. Underneath her cocky exterior, her heart pounded as thoughts of the ambush intruded.
“You made a mistake fucking with us, Sapphire Angel!” he hissed, contempt dripping from his words.
Sapphire Angel paused for a moment, surprised at hearing him speak. The gang members never spoke to law enforcement.
“I made a mistake?” she asked in a teasing tone. “Hmm. You’re in there, and I’m out here, so it doesn’t seem like I’m the one who made the mistake.”
“Savage will destroy you if you keep interfering with our plans, little girl.” His voice was deep and steady, and he maintained eye contact with her.
“It’s funny you say that,” Sapphire Angel replied, “because it sure seems like he’s sitting back, letting you guys do his dirty work and take the fall for him. It seems like he’s just got a group of dumb brutes working for him.”
The man sneered, curling a smile. “We have people in more places than you think.”
Sapphire Angel tapped her lips, pondering his words, and trying to gauge when to put her plan in motion. There wouldn’t be an ideal time.
“It seems like more and more of them are ending up behind bars,” she said. “So I’m thinking Savage needs to reevaluate his recruitment strategies, and shy away from the blockheads.” She leaned in to emphasize her point.
As she did, the prisoner lunged toward the cell door with lightening speed. His arm shot between the bars, toward Sapphire Angel's delicate throat.
He never reached his target. Her arm shot up even faster than his, and her gloved hand locked around his wrist, stopping his hand inches from her neck. She felt the massive force coming from the man, but in that instant, she realized she was stronger than these men. She hadn’t been sure after the ambush in the alley, but as she held his wrist, she knew. Relief washed over her as she felt a renewed confidence in her unrivaled strength. The sensation seemed to wash away her pain, too.
His eyes widened in surprise as she bent his wrist backward. It was an incongruous site, the much smaller woman dominating the larger man, and forcing him to cry out and sink to his knees as she stepped toward the bars of the cell.
Before his knees reached the floor, Sapphire Angel yanked his arm forward and extended her other arm, grabbing a fistful of his shirt through the bars. She slammed his face up against the bars and shifted her grip, holding both sleeves of his shirt. This kept him pressed against the bars and prevented him from getting any leverage with his arms.
“I’m tired of you goons in my city,” she said, steel in her voice. “It’s time for you to leave. If you don’t, I’ll take each and every one of you down myself.”
She gave him a shove, and he stumbled back from the cell door, falling onto his backside. He stared at her from the floor, his glare returning.
She shook her head. “You know, my boots are expensive. I didn’t want to get them wet coming after the rest of you goons, but I guess it would be worth it to bring you guys down.”
Sapphire Angel waited only an instant to see his reaction before turning and striding back toward the exit. The flash of his expression had been brief, but she had struck a mark with her comment. She hoped her plan worked.
She looked at Mullen and said, “Time to go.”
“You didn’t want to ask him anything?”
“Nope,” she said. There was no sense explaining her plan to Mullen, and there was no way these goons were going to tell her anything, based on what she knew of them.
Mullen nodded and led her back through the door after the young officer opened it for them. They climbed the stairs, went out the back door, and stepped into the alley.
“I’m guessing you had another purpose here tonight,” Mullen said. “Whatever it was, I hope it worked.”
“Time will tell,” she said with a smile. “I accomplished what I intended.”
He nodded.
“Thanks again,” she said, before spinning and darting down the alley. She turned the corner and stopped, jumping onto a fire escape and ascending to the roof. She moved from rooftop to rooftop until she was across from the back door of the police station once again. The alley was silent.
Sapphire Angel reached into her boot and pulled out a thin device. It looked like a cell phone, minus the screen. She flicked a switch on the side, and crouched to set it down on the roof, before rising and making her way across the rooftops until she reached the alley near her car. She jumped down to the ground, forgetting all about her pain, at least for now.
Once inside her car, she tapped a button on the dashboard screen. A phone rang, and a voice answered.
“Hello, Angel,” the voice of Stanley Devor came over the line. “You did well. I’m picking up a strong signal. Did everything go okay?”
“Yep,” she replied. “I provoked him to come at me, which gave me an excuse to get close enough to plant the mini transmitter in what I hope is a discrete place on the cell door. After I left, I placed the relay device on the roof of an adjacent building. Are you getting the audio?”
“I am,” Mr. Devor answered. “He hasn’t said anything, but I can hear him breathing and moving around his cell.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “I made a comment to him about wet feet. With luck, he’ll worry that I know the location of their hideout, and he’ll try to get word back to the gang.”
“And our microphone is much higher quality than whatever surveillance the police are using. It will focus on sounds in the cell, and adjust accordingly. The police surveillance equipment might pick up any slips of information. Maybe not. Ours certainly will.”
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
I mean......initially, from the previous chapter, I thought that the aftermath of her encounter with the Savage Gang resulted in yet another “victory”, but the beginning of this chapter made it clear just how lucky she was to get out of that situation unharmed. Thank goodness the car had been there......it alerted Lynch and the others to her location, but also saved her, so I mean......kind of a double-edged sword there. (Is that even the right usage for that phrase? I don’t flipping know anymore......)
And oh my gosh......here I was thinking that Sapphire was going to be at the jail for an extended period of time interrogating the inmates of the prison, but dang......she had something else up her sleeve (or up her.....boot.....I guess) that even I couldn’t have possibly thought of. This is like, Nick Fury levels of spying and I am LIVING for it. The whole thing about the prisoner bragging that they have people in more places than Sapphire is aware of also gave off that kind of “Secret Invasion”-type vibe. Like, you would never know who’s secretly aligned with the Savage Gang. To most, Augustus Bell would just be a prison owner. And T.L. “Tip” Grim would just be a gun salesman. Kind of like you never know who around you is actually loyal to the United States and who is actually a spy for Russia, China, or any of the U.S.’s other enemies. Two U.S. sailors were recently brought in for sharing vital U.S. intel with China, but that’s besides the point.
Pond investigated, Olivia Lockheed talked to, Savage Gang attacked (or rather.....attacked BY the Savage Gang.....), prisoners visited.....I think the next thing is to go with Lockheed to the gun shop in the morning with Beth Harper.....? And that’s apparently when everything’s going to go downhill and the gun shop’s apparently going to explode and kill everyone in it? Still not sure of how well that’s going to off, especially since I feel like at least two out of three people in that shop (Olivia Lockheed and Beth Harper/Sapphire Angel) are still protected by what I like to call “plot armor”.
(gasp) Maybe Beth and Lockheed can get ahold of the detonation system, trick Lynch and his crew into going inside the gun shop themselves, and THEN blow it up, taking Grim, Lynch, Smash, Mitchell, and the others to the Shadow Realm in one fell swoop. ......But they can’t go down that early in a two-novel saga, so......
We’ll see, then! Can’t wait for when Lockheed’s just cowering behind Beth the entire time ‘cause Beth’s immune to firearms. Grim just tries to shoot at her but fails miserably ‘cause guns are a non-entity against Sapphire. xD Still thinking that he’s the weakest (so far) of the Savage Gang’s associates for that reason.
Let’s do it! .....On Thursday!