Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
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 10
Cold seeped into the bones of Olivia Lockheed — into her very being — but it wasn’t from the temperature. The cold came from the essence of the man sitting across from her in the interrogation room of the Harrisburg police station. Rocco Lynch, the disgraced lieutenant of the Savage Gang, stared back at her, with an expression devoid of any feeling. It was as if his body were an empty shell.
Lockheed boasted an impressive physique, with hard curves and solid muscles on her sculpted five foot, seven-inch frame. But she felt small next to Lynch. Even with a splint over his broken nose, he struck an intimidating presence. Muscles strained his prison jumpsuit. His face — except for his nose — appeared chiseled from rock. Sapphire Angel had broken his nose in a fight in a snowstorm almost a week earlier, taking down Lynch and his men.
A scar ran from the top of his skull to his left eyebrow, emphasizing his deep-set eyes, ringed with dark circles. Those eyes, lifeless and deep, gave him a ghoulish appearance. When Lynch’s eyes focused on Lockheed, the emptiness disappeared, just for a moment, and Lockheed saw something else. Fear. Lockheed had believed Rocco Lynch to be supremely confident, even cocky. But her brief glimpse of the man’s terror had been unmistakable. And when he spoke, any doubt was gone.
“You need to get me out of here,” he said, his voice trembling. “I’m as good as dead here. Savage will kill me. Or make me wish he killed me.”
Lockheed understood what he feared. Who he feared. Maximus Savage, the leader of the Savage Gang.
Good. Let this bastard suffer.
Lockheed snorted and made Lynch wait, taking a moment to reposition the clips holding her sandy brown tresses in a tight bun on her head. She gave an exaggerated yawn before replying.
“You’re too impressed with yourself,” she said. “And too paranoid. The world doesn’t know you’re here. Or care. They assume you’re getting medical treatment at a secret facility somewhere, after the ass-kicking Sapphire Angel gave you.”
Lockheed stared at him, letting her taunt sink in. Lynch said nothing.
“Is that why you’re worried?” she continued. “You’re afraid of Savage? That he's pissed off about you and your men getting taken down by a pretty little girl?”
Lynch’s jaw tightened and his breath caught, but he didn’t argue. He met Lockheed’s gaze before exhaling.
“Yes, Sapphire Angel got the best of us,” he replied. “But do you realize what she triggered by defeating us? Because of her, Savage is in town with even tougher men. And if you think he doesn’t know I’m here, you’re dumber than we thought. If he kills me, everything the superheroine accomplished during the fight at the lake will be for naught. You’re back to square one, trying to operate with no intel.”
Lockheed paused as Lynch finished speaking. She had expected him to be stupid, but as she studied the gangster, she sensed an intelligence behind his dull eyes. This surprised her. Perhaps, in her elitist way, she figured all criminals to be stupid.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said. “We have some of your other men in lockup. You guys don’t like to talk, but one of them will crack.”
Truth be told, she wasn’t so sure. They weren’t the first gang members she had questioned in town, thanks to the work of Sapphire Angel. None of the others had said a word.
But Lynch seemed different. Unlike the other men, he seemed scared. Unlike the other men, he had been in charge in this city, and he had failed spectacularly. Someone like Maximus Savage wouldn’t tolerate such public failures.
“I know stuff the other guys don’t know,” Lynch said. “You need me.”
“Perhaps you don’t understand,” Lockheed said with a smirk. “You believe you’re worth something just being alive. But you’re only worth something if you talk. Until that happens, you’re worthless to me. I don’t care if you die.”
Lockheed stared at him, waiting for him to answer. Desperate for him to answer. She needed a lead — something to help her take down Savage. Lynch needed to talk.
But she wasn’t in a hurry. She had all day.
Maximus Savage stood in the alley behind the Harrisburg police station, arms crossed, as one of his men, Duffy Edison, crouched a few feet away. Edison’s hands moved with precision, using duct tape to attach wires and a metal lunch box to the steel door at the rear of the building. Savage glanced up at the surveillance camera on the side of the building, making sure the red light was still out.
After several seconds, Edison rose and stood back from the door, pulling his mask into place over his bald head.
“All set,” Edison said.
Savage nodded, and he and Edison jogged twenty yards down the alley. The jarring of his feet on the pavement sent pain shooting through Savage’s teeth and jaw, and an image of Sapphire Angel formed in his mind. He ignored the thought as he followed Edison, stopping behind a dumpster. Crusher Barnes, the biggest member of the Savage Gang, stood there, waiting for them.
“Has the mayor started his speech yet?” Savage asked.
Barnes looked down at a smartphone in his massive hands. The phone showed a livestream of the mayor of Harrisburg, who stood behind a podium, with the city skyline looming behind him. Mayor Thorpe’s arm was in a sling, and he wore a bandage around his head. He was lucky his injuries weren’t worse after the attack at the rally.
The mayor was on City Island, a mile-long island in the Susquehanna River. The island housed the stadium for the city’s minor league baseball team, and was a favorite recreation spot for people from around the area. It offered miniature golf, batting cages, a sports field, and other amenities. Two bridges — one for pedestrians and one for vehicles — connected the island to the city.
The mayor spoke to a small crowd as local television cameras rolled. His message was clear — the city and its people needed to be strong, and to resist the gang. Savage gritted his teeth and winced at the pain. He needed to see the dentist.
The mayor wouldn’t have so bold a week ago, when the people of the city, including law enforcement officials, cowered in their homes. He blamed one person for the situation. The same person responsible for the pain in his mouth — Sapphire Angel. The heroine’s defeat of the gang six days earlier, and her apparent victory over Savage himself yesterday, had given the people hope.
Mayor Thorpe’s speech might be bold, but it created an opportunity for Savage. A sizable portion of the police force patrolled City Island, keeping the mayor safe and ensuring that the city didn’t have a repeat of the previous day. Nothing would be more disastrous than having the gang show up in the middle of this galvanizing moment. But by protecting City Island, the mayor had left the police station vulnerable. He probably never thought Savage would strike in the middle of the city, in the middle of the day, at the heart of law enforcement. And the mayor had no way to know that Savage had discovered Rocco Lynch’s location.
“He just started speaking,” Barnes replied. “And I just jammed the rest of the building’s cameras and the phone lines.”
“Good,” Savage said. “Tell the men to start the diversion out front. That will distract whoever’s left inside.”
The behemoth nodded and raised his other hand, which held a radio with a short antenna.
“Go,” the giant said into the device.
A moment later, the ground shook and the air reverberated, as an explosion thundered in the distance. The echo of gunshots sounded from the front of the building. Three of Savage’s men, hiding in strategic spots, were shooting at the entrance.
The raid was on.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
Huh.....interesting! So it sounds like a few of these guys might not be as dead as I initially thought! Maybe Rocco Lynch will actually try and turn tail, attempt to ingratiate himself with Lockheed, and try to take down the Gang alongside her (assuming either of them even survive this upcoming raid)? Combined with Sapphire Angel and Wayne Steele's efforts, that'd make for a neat multi-angled attack against the entirety of the Gang for sure, if one of their members (Lynch) does end up betraying them!
I get that you wanted to leave the mayor's fate in the first few chapters ambiguous, but I honestly thought he was dead straight away during the Gang's first mission alongside Savage. Would've sent a neat message as to how powerful the Gang actually is with Savage personally taking the helm, but he (the mayor) lives for now, too!
I also had a feeling Olivia Lockheed wasn't quite done after the previous novel......or even the second novel, for that matter. I've liked that you've made sure to maintain numerous other major characters besides the main protagonist and also give said major characters story arcs of their own (I've been trying to do the same with characters from my own franchise other than The Viper); it makes it so that there's a bigger chance that readers will eventually meet someone whom they can relate to.
I think they're only spying on the mayor's livestream to ensure that he, his security detail, and the majority of the police force aren't around the station, and aren't actually intent on attacking them.....? Seemed like it. But at any rate, it's time to start the raid!
......Every time the word "raid" comes up, I sometimes can't help but think of the bug spray/insecticide and its brand commercials. The ones where the insects scream "RAAAAAAAAAAAID" shortly before being thoroughly eradicated.
As a last thought, it'd be cool if we were about to get a major action scene with Sapphire Angel actually being nowhere to be seen. So far, it looks like it'll be Olivia Lockheed, Rocco Lynch, and the remainder of the police force versus Maximus Savage, Duffy Edison, Crusher Barnes, and a few other hostiles. Part of me hopes that the police force can save Lynch (knowing how valuable of an asset he now is), but.....I don't know about that.
Time to find out!