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 12
Savage leapt, sailing over the stairway treads, before his feet slammed down onto the landing. He lunged for the door as Lockheed, her eyes wide, grasped the door bar and pulled, trying to hasten its closing.
As Savage’s hands grazed the door, it slammed shut, and through a thin glass pane he locked eyes with Lockheed. Terror remained on her face, but a thin grin crossed her lips. She gave a nod before turning and darting down another hall, following Lynch and the other agent. Savage tried the handle, but the door didn’t open. It was locked.
He tugged, intent on ripping it from its hinges. It held fast. This was a police station, so the door was probably reinforced.
“Fuck!” Savage screamed, lashing out with a punch at the glass pane. It cracked, but didn’t shatter. Even if it had, it wouldn’t help. The opening was too small, even for a child, and certainly not big enough for a man of Savage’s size.
“Fuck!” he screamed again, drilling a punch into the metal door. His blow left a volleyball-sized dent, extending several inches inward, but the door held. “Why the fuck is this door locked?”
“They probably locked the place down after we got to the third floor,” Barnes replied. “They can do that sort of shit remotely now.”
“Head back up!” Savage yelled. “Or down! We’ll get to them through a different floor.”
“It won’t matter!” Barnes exclaimed. “I bet the only door that won’t need a swipe card is the exit to the street, and you can be damn sure they won’t be taking Rocco that way.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” the gang leader exclaimed. “Alert our guys outside. Tell them to keep their eyes open for Lynch and the agents.”
“Our men need to haul ass out of here, and so do we," Barnes said. "Reinforcements could be coming.”
Savage closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the ceiling before taking a deep breath. Barnes was right. Even if there were no reinforcements on the way, the FBI woman was too smart to walk right into the arms of his people. She would sneak out some other way.
“Let’s head down and get outside, so we can take off if we need to,” Savage growled. “But we’re still gonna look for them. This ain’t over yet.”
Olivia Lockheed and Dave Michaels burst out a concealed side door, which the police usually used to avoid the press. Each agent held an arm of Rocco Lynch as they stood in a parking lot at the side of the police station. The lot belonged to an adjacent business. They rushed forward toward a group of cars at one side of the lot, where Lockheed had parked her BMW. As they approached the cars, Lockheed stopped, her shoulders tense and her head swiveling.
“Shit,” she muttered.
Her car was gone.
“Somebody stole your car!” Michaels exclaimed, pacing left and right as if doing so would cause Lockheed’s BMW to materialize. Next to him, Rocco Lynch managed a snort.
Lockheed’s jaw tightened. She knew what had happened to her car, and it didn’t involve theft. A representative from the rental car company had left messages, informing her that her bank had denied the credit card charges for the vehicle. The man had given her a deadline for payment, after which he threatened to repossess the vehicle.
Lockheed couldn't make that payment, since her credit cards were almost maxed out. She had paid for the rental car and her hotel room out of her own pocket, rejecting the the standard-issue FBI vehicle, which was garbage, and the bureau’s arranged lodging, which wasn't good enough for her needs. What little credit she had left, she needed to pay for her hotel room.
Shit! This was the government’s fault. She was putting her life on the line, pursuing the gang. She deserved more than the meager salary the government paid her. The disrespect was galling.
Balling her fists at her side, her eyes darted about until she saw a driver behind the wheel of an old Toyota Corolla, idling in the alley.
“Let’s go!” Lockheed barked, rushing across the parking lot and toward the vehicle, with Michaels and Lynch hurrying behind her.
Lockheed fished out her badge and held it in front of her as they approached the car. When they got close, the driver, a young man with a bony face and stringy hair, whipped his head toward them and raised his hands in the air, as if surrendering.
“Open the door!” Lockheed commanded.
The man’s eyes shot open and he didn’t argue, throwing the driver’s door open.
“Don’t shoot!” he cried. “Don’t shoot! Whatever’s going on out there, I’ll do whatever you say!”
Lockheed frowned. The man probably had been hiding back here, afraid to move because of all the commotion on two sides of the station.
“I’m commandeering this vehicle,” Lockheed barked. “Leave the keys in the ignition and get out.”
The man paused, but a shout of “Now!” from Lockheed spurred him into action. He jumped from the car, wrapping his arms around his torso in the cold air.
Michaels opened the back door and pushed Lynch in, as Lockheed jumped into the front street and slammed the door shut. Once everyone was inside, she threw the gearshift into reverse and backed down the alley. At the intersection with another alley, she braked to a stop, shifted, and sped forward, away from the station. To safety.
News 6, the number two station in the local market, broke away from its normal programming to cover the attack on the police station. Its young reporter, Ryan Addington, filled the screen.
Megan Lawlor, the reporter for Channel Ten, the market leader, clenched her fists. She scowled at the little twerp on her television screen. Once again, Addington was getting the limelight. He was positioning himself not just as an expert on Sapphire Angel, but as the local authority on the Savage Gang.
Television ratings for all stations had jumped seventeen months ago, after Sapphire Angel’s first appearance in the city. They shot even higher when the Savage Gang had appeared in town. Although bad for the city, the events had breathed life into a troubled local news industry.
Lawlor had capitalized on the trouble and gained some level of fame herself. She was the one the gang had kidnapped. She was the one rescued by Sapphire Angel. But now she was missing it all, as even more viewers tuned in to see how their beloved superheroine would dispose of the gang.
She grabbed her phone and dialed her agent, Curtis Reznick.
“Megan?” Reznick answered.
“You need to call Douglas!” Lawlor snapped, referencing the station manager at Channel Ten. “Tell him I’ll be there tonight to anchor the late news. Jesse is out sick, so they need someone.”
There was a pause on the line. When he spoke, Reznick used a soothing tone.
“Megan, you know it doesn’t work that way. They’re going to want some health clearances before allowing you to come back. Your frostbite needs more time. Also, there are others with seniority over you. Those people will want the fill-in anchor role. And tonight’s lineup is already set. If you truly are better, it will take a couple of days to get you back.”
“Well, get moving! You’re my agent, right? Talk to my doctor and get me my health clearances. Get me behind the desk. Two days is too long. I need to be back tomorrow.”
Reznick sighed. “Let me see what I can do, Megan.”
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
Seeing the big, massive, intimidating Savage struggle to get through a glass paned door even after selling several punches to its surface painted quite the amusing picture in my head; still, I'm somewhat(?) happy that Lockheed and Lynch are safe for the time being. That whole scenario about the government repossessing her vehicle even after all she's done on behalf of the FBI, the force, and effectively the country.....it isn't quite the same thing, but it gave me harrowing memories of how horrible this country actually treats its veterans and service members when they're actually done serving; it's as though they only care about the value you have in the moment. Veteran suicides are up, it's a large batch of hurdles to jump over in order to obtain benefits, you often end up living alone and prone to scammers.....it's sad, really. And even as unscrupulous, overbearing, and needlessly dominant Lockheed is, I couldn't help but feel for her a little bit there.
So we're twelve chapters in, and Savage has indirectly lost to Sapphire Angel once (having to flee), and it looks like his attempt to barge into the department and kill Rocco Lynch for his failure might also end up failing. Certainly not what I was expecting, but the villain of "The Paragons" and his team do also take a while to become legitimate threats, so I suppose I don't have too much room to talk.
The whole Lawlor/Addington arc reminds me of workplace rivalry. Like how one person may think that the other is getting paid more or is receiving more recognition than them even though they do relatively the same job. It's kind of like that Wheel of Fortune controversy that happened for a while, where Vanna White complained that Pat Sajak was getting paid more than her and assumed it was a gender thing.....when it was actually just that he does all the talking and she just walks, turns letters, and claps, so the two should be paid accordingly. I don't know if it's been dropped yet.....
Looks like we're really in for it now! Maybe there'll be some kind of car chase.....? Lockheed had to hijack someone else's, and the Savage Gang decided to take a different route.