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 23
The corpses were piled high along the sidewalk as Sapphire Angel walked past them, taking it all in. Disbelief numbed her body as she tried to remember how it had come to this. How she had failed to protect the city.
Weeping people crouched over the bodies, and looked up at her as one.
You're a fraud! one person said.
You're nothing without that trinket around your neck! said another.
You're not worthy to wear it! said a third.
Fraud! several more joined in.
Unworthy! the entire crowd chanted.
Fraud! they repeated.
But I beat him! she implored, reaching up to touch her necklace.
No, you let him escape, they replied in unison, before pointing at the bodies. And he did this!
Fraud! Unworthy! Fraud!
And on it went, as the stunned superheroine stood frozen in her tracks, the chants cascading down on her. She buried her face in her gloved hands.
"Stop!" she sobbed.
And then she was sitting up in her bed, the morning sunlight streaming through her open curtains. Beth Harper took a deep breath, staring at the wall across from her. She gritted her teeth and threw off the covers, before swinging her legs off the bed and hopping to her feet.
I beat him! she told herself. I'm Sapphire Angel! I beat him!
But she couldn't push the thought of the bodies from her mind, and as she moved toward the kitchen, the chant stayed with her.
Fraud! Unworthy!
Olivia Lockheed hurried down the hallway of the safe house, iPad in hand, and rushed into the room at the far end. A curtain hung over the room's sole window, blocking the morning sun. Four chairs sat about the room, facing a television. On the screen, a movie played, complete with car crashes and explosions.
Rocco Lynch sat in one chair. Chains ran from manacles on his arms and legs to eyebolts in the floor.
Lockheed moved to one chair and lowered herself into it. Lynch looked at her with a raised eyebrow but said nothing.
"You need to earn your keep," Lockheed said, meeting Lynch's gaze. "I can return you to the police station. And there's a good chance Savage will find you there, right?"
Lynch's jaw tightened. "I've told you what I know. You promised you'd protect me, and that you'd keep him away from me if I cooperated."
"I promised I'd protect you if you helped me find the gang. Your information hasn't helped me yet."
"It's not my fault!" Lynch protested. "Savage wasn't even planning to come here, so I have no way to know where he is."
Lockheed stared at Lynch, trying to get a read on him. Below his tough exterior, she saw fear. Fear of Maximus Savage. Lynch would help her if it saved his skin. And his answer made sense. Savage wouldn't care enough about a small city like Harrisburg to come here. But once Sapphire Angel got the best of the gang, he had no choice.
"I believe you," Lockheed replied. "But you still need to prove your worth. You're lucky you still have a chance to do it. Remember your buddy T.L. Grim, the guy who owned the gun shop? The one you blew up?"
"Of course," Lynch muttered.
"When you blew it up, you were trying to kill me. But you also tried to destroy any evidence Grim had, pointing to the gang. Neither worked. I'm still alive, and I just heard from our crime lab," she said, giving a short wave of her iPad. "They retrieved some data from the hard drives in his computer."
Lynch stared at her, showing no emotion. He said nothing.
"Savage and Grim were old buddies, or at least acquaintances," she continued. "Savage and Grim were talking about a possible location for your hideout, before you came to this city. I'm sure you realize that?"
Lynch raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "That's news to me. Me and my guys found the old schoolhouse on our own. Savage never said he was talking to anyone about it."
"I'm not talking about the schoolhouse. They were talking about another place."
"Like I said, news to me."
"Maybe they didn't tell you about it. But maybe Savage remembered it, and that's where they are now."
"That would be pretty dumb of him, wouldn't it?" Lynch asked. "And Savage ain't dumb."
Lockheed shook her head.
"Savage has no reason to realize that Grim kept a record of their talk," she said. "And he doesn't know that we salvaged that record after the explosion. Look at this and tell me if it rings a bell."
Lockheed extended the iPad toward Lynch, who took it with his manacled hands. He held it in front of his face and stared at the screen as Lockheed spoke.
"Some of it is garbled," Lockheed explained. "They only restored a small portion of the data from the damaged drives. And much of the info is worthless and has nothing to do with the gang. But there's one part where Grim mentions a hideout location he suggested to Savage. It was before you guys arrived in the city. Maybe you can make sense of the fragments the bureau salvaged? Do you see where it says 'parallel to Penn Street,' and then some unintelligible stuff, and then it mentions both Calder and Reilly streets?"
"Yes," Lynch replied. "What's your question?"
"I think those were parts of step-by-step directions. Does anything ring a bell with you? Maybe you can link those places together into coherent directions? I have a few trusted police officers scouring the buildings in that area, but so far, we've found nothing."
Lockheed didn't tell him she only trusted a few police officers. The rest of the members of the police force detested her.
Lynch took a long breath. "Listen," he said. "I want to live, so if I had something, I'd tell you. But I can't make sense of this."
Lockheed glared at the gangster, wanting to reach out and smack him. But she believed him.
Even if he couldn't help, though, all hope wasn't lost. The FBI lab was still working on the damaged drives, trying to retrieve data. If they succeeded, the additional information might complete the puzzle. Perhaps, with Lynch's help, she could track down the gang.
There was one other person who might make sense of the clue. Sapphire Angel. The superheroine seemed to be one step ahead of her at every turn, at least regarding the gang. Somehow, almost like magic, the blond bombshell had been in the right place at the right time on multiple occasions. Lockheed needed to latch onto the heroine's resourcefulness, and prevent the costumed woman from stealing all the glory. Perhaps Lockheed's information would be enough of an enticement for Sapphire Angel to forgive how the FBI woman had ensnared and taken advantage of her.
Lockheed at least needed to try. If she found the gang, someone else needed to take the risk. The FBI woman had already experienced one close call with Maximus Savage, and would never put herself in such a position again. The police would be the logical choice, but she had burned too many bridges to count on them. Sapphire Angel would be the perfect candidate -- if she would help. The heroine might steal Lockheed's thunder and take all the glory, but perhaps, with the right enticement, she might share any accolades.
Lockheed needed leverage, though. Or enticement. She pulled out a burner phone and sent a message to her contact at the FBI lab. She could trust him not to trace the message to her location. Put every resource possible into getting more data from the drives, was the emphasis of the message.
While she waited, she would reach out to Sapphire Angel. Lockheed's information might be enough to get the superheroine to help. And then the superheroine would be the one to face Maximus Savage when the time came.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
Oh, HECK no……something tells me that if Lockheed wants Sapphire’s forgiveness for all the stuff she put her through towards the end of the last novel, she’s going to have to try a bit harder than this. Then again, Sapphire does seem to be at one of her most lowest points against the Savage Gang, having caused the leader to escape at least twice; maybe Sapphire will just willingly take the information from Lockheed as a way of “restoring” her honor and credibility (which I assume is unfounded up to this point) and just move on from there. Kind of like a “I’ll take any lead I can get, even from the person who tried to violate me” type of situation.
But oh, boy…..Savage better never find out where Lynch is, or he’s REALLY going to kill the latter now that he’s actively working with an FBI contact against the Gang. Or maybe Howard Vincent will find out first and either make Lynch “disappear” or stealthily convince Lockheed to end her partnership with him. He (Lynch) is in a safe house right now, and those are usually said to be one of the most secure places on Earth for high-ranking officials and their affiliates, so…..I don’t know; I guess I could hope.
This is certainly going to be an interesting meeting between Sapphire and Lockheed, if one is indeed coming up. With Sapphire (in her mind, at least) having been “bested” by Savage twice, and Lockheed increasingly desperate to get to the Gang, maybe Sapphire can put her hate (and Lockheed her lust) aside so that they can collaborate? Even just a little bit?
I’m hoping they do! The Savage Gang is way too much of a threat for there to be infighting now!