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 50
Rocco Lynch glared into the camera, his anger rising. He was here because of Sapphire Angel’s interference.
“Sapphire Angel,” he snarled. “Unless you’re afraid, it’s time for us to meet again face-to-face, for a little old-fashioned showdown. Our gathering must be private, so here is what you need to do. Do you remember where you were poking around on Wednesday night? You were there at about ten o’clock, just before our little encounter at the parking garage. You didn’t see us, but we saw you.”
Lynch paused as the female anchor, regaining consciousness, let out a loud moan from her spot sprawled across the desk. He scowled, glanced down, and looked back up at the camera.
“Come there alone, tomorrow night at midnight. We’ll know if you’ve brought anyone, well before you arrive. If you do bring someone, you’ll have lost your chance. And don’t try scouting the area in advance. We’re taking this lovely woman here to make sure you can follow instructions,” Lynch said, grabbing the hair of the anchorwoman and lifting her head. She yelped in pain. “If you aren’t alone, it won’t go well for her.”
Lynch released the woman’s hair, and as her head flopped onto the table, he leaned forward toward the camera.
“For all of you out there wondering what will happen — tomorrow night is when your beloved heroine meets her match. You won’t hear from her again after we’re through with her.”
When Lynch finished speaking, he bent down, grabbed the anchorwoman from the desk, and slung her over his shoulder. He and his men marched toward the door.
After an excruciating two days of relaxation, doing absolutely nothing, Beth was back home. It had taken the remainder of Saturday and most of Sunday for her to improve enough for Stanley and Mrs. Devor to believe she was completely healed. Which was almost true. Her headaches were gone and her dizzy spells were practically nonexistent, but she still had the rare unsteady spell. But a little white lie wouldn’t hurt, especially because she should be one-hundred percent by tomorrow.
Not that it mattered, since she had no leads to pursue in finding the Savage Gang. Stanley had yet to restore the audio from the jailhouse bug — or so he told her — and Olivia Lockheed hadn’t reached out to her with information, either. It looked like an overwhelming force would descend upon the town in two days, and she was powerless to stop it. At least the Savage Gang had been quiet, although perhaps only because it was gearing up for something big. If the gang had been active, making hits, Beth would have lost her mind.
Beth stood by the stove in her kitchen, stirring a bowl of pasta. She hadn’t been to the grocery store since before the Savage Gang came to town, and the refrigerator was getting bare, so pasta was the best she could do.
As she stirred sauce from the jar into the pan, her iPhone vibrated on the table in the corner. She set the jar down and ambled over to the device, hoping for a message from Conner. They hadn’t spoken since their latest spat. Instead, she spotted a text message from one of her friends, Grace Sommers.
Holy shit! Are you watching channel ten?!!!!!?
Beth didn’t answer, but scurried down the hall toward the living room. She found the remote and turned on the television. A weather report came up, discussing an impending winter storm, but she ignored it and tapped the numbers on the remote for channel ten. When the channel changed, her jaw dropped. The weekend anchorman, Rick Stone, lay sprawled across the news desk, blood around his head. A few feet from him lay the meteorologist, who looked no better.
It was a surreal situation. If it weren’t for the blood oozing from below Stone, Beth would have thought it to be a static image. There was no other movement on the screen, and nobody was coming to the aid of either person. Nothing at all was happening. A moment later, the image went black, before an “Off the Air” message filled the screen.
Beth tapped the rewind button on the remote. Her DVR recorded the local and national evening news from each network, in the event she needed information as Sapphire Angel. She hit the key to jump back in thirty-second increments, and her heart jumped into her throat as three members of the Savage Gang arrived on the screen. Beth kept jumping back until she reached a point just before the gang’s appearance. She hit the play button. A third anchor, wearing a bright red blouse and with her dark hair perfectly coifed, sat behind the anchor desk next to Stone. It was Megan Lawlor, who spent much of her time investigating and reporting on Sapphire Angel. Tonight, though, she had fill-in anchor duties.
As the scene unfolded before her, Beth shook her head in disbelief. She watched as the anchors looked up at commotion off screen, and moments later tried to scramble backward, tripping over their chairs. The gangsters came into view, flying over the newsdesk, seizing the anchors and meteorologist, and slamming them into the desk. The brutes deposited them there, like trophies on display, before the leader leaned forward to address the camera.
“We’re here today to deliver a message. To Sapphire Angel.” Beth's head jerked back at the mention of her alter ego. She listened as he continued. “Unless you’re afraid, it’s time for us to meet again face-to-face. Our gathering needs to stay private, so here is what you need to do. Do you remember where you were poking around on Wednesday night? You were there at about ten o’clock, just before our little encounter at the parking garage. You didn’t see us, but we saw you.”
Beth's mind raced as the man paused. Wednesday night. That was the night she had visited Italian Lake as Sapphire Angel. Her heart leapt — her theory about the men’s boots and pant legs had been right. It hadn’t led to the discovery of the gang’s location, but had gotten her close enough to trigger this challenge.
“Come alone, tomorrow night at midnight,” the man continued. The eyeholes of his mask revealed deep gray eyes gleaming with maliciousness. “We’ll know if you’ve brought anyone, well before you arrive. If you do bring someone, you’ll have lost your chance. And don’t try scouting the area in advance. We’re taking this lovely woman here to make sure you can follow instructions.” He took Lawlor’s hair and lifted her head, causing her to cry out in pain. Blood trickled from her forehead, matching her bright red blouse. “If you aren’t alone, it won’t go well for her.”
The muscular man leaned forward toward the camera, sneering.
“For all of you out there wondering what will happen — tomorrow night is when your beloved heroine meets her match. You won’t hear from her again after we’re through with her.”
Beth frowned at the threat directed toward Sapphire Angel, and watched in horror as the man slung the anchorwoman over his shoulder and disappeared off camera with his men in tow.
Just as the screen darkened, the sound of ringing from her iPhone came from the kitchen. She trotted down the hall, expecting to discover a call from Grace, but Conner’s name was on the screen.
She reached for the phone, but pulled her hand back and put a finger to her lips. He would only be calling for one reason. After another moment of hesitation, she answered.
“Hi, Conner.”
“Don’t even think about it,” he said in an urgent and forceful tone.
“Think about what?” she asked, keeping her voice level.
“Unless you haven’t seen it, you know damn well what I’m talking about. Don’t even think about going after the gang tomorrow night, wherever it might be. This is obviously a trap.”
“I’m not stupid, Conner. Of course it will be a trap.”
“Good. So you’re not going, right?”
She closed her eyes before answering. She hated arguing over this. “I didn’t say that,” she responded. “I just said I know it will be a trap.”
She winced as Conner’s sigh of exasperation filled the line.
“If you know it’s a trap, why the hell would you go?” he asked. “And that TV woman, Lawlor, drives you nuts anyway! They’ll have you outnumbered, and will have the advantage of surprise.”
“Outnumbered, yes. I’m always outnumbered. But don’t assume they’ll have the advantage of surprise. If I know they’re waiting, they won't surprise me. And my opinions on Megan Lawlor don't matter. She doesn’t deserve this.”
“You’re impossible, Beth. Stupid, too,” he said, his voice just shy of a shout. She felt tears coming — not because his tone was loud, but because his attitude served as a reminder of just how far their relationship had fallen.
“Thanks,” she murmured, her voice trembling.
“Beth,” he said, his voice softening. “I don’t mean to be a jerk, but they’ve obviously decided they’ve had enough of being shown up by Sapphire Angel. The sole purpose of this will be for them to put an end to you. They want to send a message to the public that even the mighty Sapphire Angel is no match for them.”
“Conner, I have to go,” Beth mumbled, hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply. She couldn’t start crying with him on the line. She slid down into a chair at the kitchen table, put her face in her hands, and fought back her tears.
Beth struggled to compose herself for over a minute before forcing herself to focus on the situation. There was too much to do before her rendezvous with the gang tomorrow night, if she wanted to make sure Conner’s warnings didn’t come true.
From the moment she saw the gang leader’s challenge, her plans were sealed. She couldn’t hide. At least she should be fully healed by tomorrow night. She was almost better now and had another day to heal and prepare. The big question, though — what was she preparing for? The entire gang could be waiting at the lake. She would be ready, though. She had to.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
Yep, uhhh.....about what I expected to hear, to be honest. Freaking Rocco Lynch, man.....and this isn’t even the head of the Savage Gang!
Oh, and it was good to see Megan Lawlor “in-person” (or at least, as much “in-person” as a novel can convey) after she’d only been mentioned in passing before. Maybe if this showdown against the Savage Gang with Sapphire Angel can go off without a hitch AND Megan gets to see it and survive to the end, perhaps that’ll make her change her views on Sapphire Angel as a whole, like her partner anchor.
But, of course, Conner just HAS to come in with all of his overprotectiveness, his “love” and “devotion” (despite him actively getting in the way of her job), his paranoia, and his uncertainty on full display. If anything, he’s only making Beth MORE anxious about.....whatever this is going to be, really. Perhaps if he hadn’t bothered to give her a call.....
Bet Beth really regrets letting Conner in on her secret now, hmmm? At least he hasn’t gone full baddie and just leaked her identity to everyone by this point just to shut down her superhero career and “force” her to return to normalcy. It doesn’t quite sound like something he’d do (at least not yet), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he stooped that low later. I’d hate Conner forever if that was the case (unless he has some kind of freaking awesome death scene) and officially start becoming a Beth x Ethan shipper. We’ll call them “Bethan”!
Wait. Wait. WAIT. What if Olivia Lockheed and her forces also get wind of this meeting? We know Lockheed’s obsessed with Sapphire, so how can she possibly pass up this chance to get at her again? Sure, the Savage Gang’s going to be there, which could discourage her (Lockheed), but if she and her forces are there, it’d more than likely lead to a three-faction scuffle between Sapphire Angel, the Savage Gang, and Lockheed and her forces. That’d be one heck of a climax. Isn’t she, like, an FBI player? (gasp) Or maybe she’ll have the Savage Gang apprehended early, before they even get to fight Sapphire. And instead, it’ll be LOCKHEED ambushing Sapphire at the parking garage.
.....And then Sapphire just knocks her out with her sentient car before Lockheed can even get her hands on her. I’d love to see that!
If this “trap” isn’t the climax of the novel, I’d be somewhat shocked. Then again, Lockheed exists. So.....there’s that.
Catch you on Thursday! (The day after that is Friday the 13th. Darn it.....)