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 26
Moonlight shimmered off Sapphire Angel’s costume as she crept under the trees. She stalked in the shadows near the north end of Italian Lake, a small body of water in uptown Harrisburg. The tranquil area around the lake featured antique light posts, meandering walkways, and manicured gardens. Quaint cottages sat near the opposite end of the lake, their dim lights reflecting on the water.
Sapphire Angel did not miss the significance of Lockheed’s choice of locations. The heroine’s greatest victory over the Savage Gang had occurred here, during a crippling blizzard. Now she would meet here to discuss hunting the gang.
The lithe superheroine moved from tree to tree in the wooded area north of the lake. She was on high alert, wary of any tricks the FBI woman might spring upon her. Nothing was out of the question after their last encounter.
She approached the designated meeting location — a small wooden stage in a clearing among the trees. The stage sat under a ray of moonlight coming through the canopy of leaves above.
There was no sign of Lockheed, but Sapphire Angel was early. She slowed and retrieved a small metal cylinder from her boot, aimed it at a tree branch shrouded in darkness, and pressed a button. A split second later, a cable shot from the end of the device, accelerating into the canopy and looping around the branch. The petite heroine pressed another button, and the cable pulled taut, before retracting and tugging the heroine up through the night sky, as if she had been launched from a cannon.
When she reached the canopy, Sapphire Angel grabbed a narrow branch and swung out onto a larger one, pressing a button to retract the cable. She lowered herself to a sitting position on the thick branch and slid the device back into her boot.
The heroine looked out over the stage and at the grassy area in front of it. She still had a few minutes until Lockheed was due to appear, but before her thoughts could drift, a female figure appeared in the crisp night air, approaching the stage. Olivia Lockheed.
Lockheed was alone, and unlike their last meeting, wore professional attire — jeans and a blue FBI jacket. Sapphire Angel’s piercing blue eyes scanned the area around the stage as she looked for any activity out of the ordinary. The night air was quiet, though, and devoid of movement.
After another minute lapsed, she sprang from the branch, crossing the clearing and landing on the stage, her booted feet clunking down on the wooden surface. Lockheed had been facing in the opposite direction, and her entire body whipped around at the sound.
Sapphire Angel looked down on the muscular woman from atop the stage. The heroine stood with her legs slightly spread and her hands on her hips. A slow grin spread across Lockheed’s face.
“Just as exquisite as a remember when I was running my hands over your body,” the FBI woman said.
Sapphire Angel’s face flushed red, and she gritted her teeth. Lockheed moved her eyes over the superheroine’s body, much how Conner often did. No. Much how Conner often had done.
“You asked for this meeting,” the superheroine said, annoyed with herself for getting distracted. She didn’t break eye contact with Lockheed. “What’s the information you have, and why do you suddenly want to share it with me?”
“Aww, no foreplay first?” Lockheed asked, turning down her lower lip into a pout. Sapphire Angel didn’t respond.
“Fine, fine,” Lockheed said. “But you’re missing out on some fun.”
Sapphire Angel still didn’t respond, standing frozen with her hands on her hips. Lockheed sighed.
“I might be able to find the gang,” the FBI woman said.
“Might?” Sapphire Angel replied with a raised eyebrow.
“I have a clue. And you seem to be rather resourceful, so I thought you might make sense of it.”
Sapphire Angel’s heart fluttered, but she tried to keep any emotion from her face. Could Lockheed really help her locate the gang?
“What’s the clue?” the costumed woman asked.
“Oh,” Lockheed said with a wave of the hand. “It can’t be that easy.”
Sapphire Angel narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I’m doing something for you. You need to do something for me.”
“I am,” Sapphire Angel replied with an annoyed edge to her voice. “I’m helping you with your clue.”
“You need to do more than that,” Lockheed replied. “Because I’d eventually figure it out. I want something else.”
Sapphire Angel’s jaw tightened, and her gloved fists clenched. Lockheed was playing games. The superheroine raised an eyebrow, signaling for the FBI woman to continue. Lockheed’s smile grew and her eyes traveled up Sapphire Angel’s body.
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Lockheed said. “Strip.”
Sapphire Angel’s head jerk back and her eyes opened wide. A moment later, though, she leveled her eyes in a glare.
“I was foolish to think you were serious about working together,” the heroine said, irritation in her voice.
“I am serious about it,” Lockheed said. “But we need to balance both sides of the ledger. I think that’s a fair price, especially since I have a piece of leverage over you. You haven’t forgotten about the video from our last meeting, have you? So we make a trade. I let you in on finding the gang, and you let me in on seeing that fantastic body in all its glory.”
Sapphire Angel stood rock solid, her jaw tight, trying to gauge how badly Lockheed needed her help. There was no way the heroine would agree to the FBI woman’s demands. It had to be a bluff. She hoped.
“Forget it,” Sapphire Angel said. “Our talk is over.”
The superheroine turned, ready to disappear into the darkness. Or at least pretending to.
“Wait!” Lockheed called out. Sapphire Angel turned back to her.
“I had to try, didn’t I?” Lockheed asked with a playful grin.
Sapphire Angel said nothing.
“Fine, fine,” Lockheed said with a sigh. “Here’s the deal.”
As Sapphire Angel listened, alert for any signs of deception, Lockheed told her about the hard drives damaged in the explosion at the gun shop, and how the FBI lab could only restore a small portion of the data from the damaged drives.
“Grim suggested a hideout location to Savage himself,” Lockheed continued, after reciting the background. “This was about a month ago, just before Rocco Lynch came to the city with the first wave of gang members. We know Lynch didn’t pick that location, but, if we’re lucky, Savage decided to use it himself.”
“Would Savage risk using that location?” the costumed woman asked.
“Maybe. Maybe not. He couldn’t know that Grim memorialized his recommendation on the computer. The gun dealer saved everything.”
“Where is the hideout located?” Sapphire Angel asked, unable to conceal the excitement in her voice.
“That's the problem. Our lab only restored part of the data. The rest is corrupted, or unsalvageable. Which is why I asked to meet with you. The part they recovered said, ‘parallel to Penn Street,’ and then amidst some unintelligible stuff, it mentions both Calder and Reilly streets. Do you see a way to connect any of that? I think they were part of step-by-step directions, but without the rest of the data, I can’t make any sense of it.”
“You could have just texted this to me, you know,” Sapphire Angel commented with a frown.
“And miss the chance to see…” Lockheed replied, gesturing with an upturned palm, up and down toward Sapphire Angel, “… this?”
Sapphire Angel frowned again and shook her head. “Send the exact wording to me, anyway. I’ll give it some thought. And send me what your people couldn’t salvage. The corrupted data.”
“What, you’re a computer geek now?” Lockheed asked with a smirk. “Fine, I’ll send it. But promise me that if you figure something out, you’ll share it in person. If you don’t share it with me, then I’ll share something else with the world — a video of a masked woman tying up the amazing Sapphire Angel, putting her hands in that famous costume, and enjoying the feel of that perfect body.”
Sapphire Angel stared, her mouth agape, as Lockheed grinned. The heroine spoke, her voice trembling in anger.
“Send it in the next hour, and I’ll loop you in,” Sapphire Angel said, her cylinder already in her hand.
She lifted her arm, aimed the cylinder at a tree branch at the edge of the darkness, and pressed a button. A cable shot from the cylinder, and a moment later she trailed behind it, flying off into the night.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
The exact moment Lockheed requested Sapphire Angel to take the costume down, I literally segued into the “WHAT?! WHAT THE F***?!” meme that circulated around the Internet many years back. I think it was JonTron or someone like that who first publicized it. But that’s beside the point.
Gosh…..Lockheed is helpful, no doubt, but she really, REALLY needs some help/counseling. And I’m not just saying that ‘cause she’s a woman, either; I’d say the exact same thing if she were a guy, and not write “him” off as an irredeemable monster. But knowing how good Sapphire is, she’s going to make use of that clue she’s been given, and I worry for the second “in-person” meeting between Sapphire and Lockheed if that’s the case. Then again, Sapphire choosing to open the meeting all authoritative-like while on that stage definitely didn’t do her any favors either.
This dynamic DEFINES the trope “Teeth-Clenched Teamwork” (I don’t know if you surf TV Tropes a lot, but that’s one of them); we know how much of a pervert and creep Lockheed is, but at this point, it doesn’t look like we can defeat the Gang without her or the FBI. And maybe Wayne Steele and the Justice Seekers, except they’re yet to have any kind of extremely major victory over the foes.
Imagine if Sapphire goes for the second in-person meeting with Lockheed later, and then she sees a team of Justice Seekers already attacking and pinning Lockheed down while Steele threatens her for the information instead. I mean…..she’d probably give it to him anyway ‘cause she’s the hero and she saves lives, but something tells me she’d want to be the one to personally take the Gang down after how many times she’s allegedly “lost” to Savage himself. She’d want to avenge/restore herself, in other words.
Whatever. Let’s just hope we can get further with Lockheed’s help and not have to deal with…..whatever the heck that FBI woman just said at that stage. (gasp) Maybe Sapphire can anonymously request mental help for Lockheed, as a bit of a “thank-you” for her investigation assistance! Like, say “hey, I don’t know what happened to you or where you’re coming from, but you need help, and I’m going to give it to you” or something like that.
At any rate, let’s go check it out, then!