Superheroine - Chapter 27
“Beth Harper,” O’Shea said with an amused smile as Beth walked to the bars separating their cells. The stubble on his face was thicker than in the photograph Stanley had shown her, adding to his rugged good looks.
“Dirk O’Shea,” she replied.
He raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised she knew his name.
“Stanley showed me your photo,” she explained.
“Same,” he said with a slight grin as he climbed to his feet, still holding her gaze. She found it hard to pull away from the twinkle in his eyes.
“How did you end up here?” he asked, moving closer to the bars separating them.
“Grabbed in a parking garage. You?”
“Jumped outside my car, near Philip Gruden’s home,” he said, his face turning sour. “Totally careless, and too focused on what was in front of me. Stanley probably thinks I’m dead. When did you last talk to him?”
Beth bit her lip and looked away for a moment to compose herself. After a few seconds she turned back toward O’Shea.
“Last night, I think. I can‘t be sure because I was unconscious. I last saw Stanley at the hospital, when John died.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she looked away again.
“Damn,” O’Shea murmured. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he didn’t make it.”
She took a deep breath, composing herself. “We need to stop these people.”
“Obviously. But to do that, we need to get out of here. That will take some doing. But it can be done.”
“How?” she asked. “The key is out of reach, I’ve got these handcuffs on, and we’re behind steel bars.”
“Yea, what’s up with the handcuffs? Why you and nobody else?”
Beth shrugged and shook her head. He worked for Stanley, but she wasn’t ready to tell him her secret.
O’Shea moved toward the lock to his cell.
“These things are pretty basic,” he said. “It wouldn’t take much for me to pick it.”
Beth’s head jerked up. “You can pick that?”
O’Shea shrugged. “I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. But I can’t just use my fingers. A couple of paperclips would be a good start. I just don’t know where we’re going to get anything like that. I’ve only been here and the outhouse.”
“They’ve had me in the farmhouse,” she said.
“For what?”
“They want me to tell them what I’ve learned about their operation. I didn’t talk. But I think they will try again soon.”
“They won’t let you out of their sight in there.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I can be persuasive. We have to give it a shot.”
O’Shea nodded, but said nothing.
“Have you learned anything about what‘s going on here?” Beth asked.
O’Shea shrugged. “Not really. Just that the people in here are being used for something. An experiment, maybe? That’s a guess. But everybody in here is around the same age. Maybe they satisfy a demographic or something.”
“You don’t,” Beth observed.
“Yea, I thought about that. I’m probably not as old as you think, but I get your point. It could be they just had nowhere else to hold me and didn’t want to kill me. Or, if they’re doing some sort of medical experiment, they’re keeping me around in case they run out of ideal candidates. I did hear them call me a ‘last resort,’ whatever that means.”
“That sounds scary.”
“Yea, it does. And I think it’s the more likely explanation, as opposed to them keeping me here because there’s nowhere else. I don’t put murder past these people. The other prisoners never come back, after they’re taken from here.”
Beth balled her fists at her side. “How many of them are there?”
“The prisoners, or the goons holding us? There are 12 of us now, and I haven’t seen more than six people come in here to watch over us. But there could be more.”
Beth nodded and scanned her surroundings. She looked closely at the bars, the floor, and even the ceiling.
“Don’t worry,” O’Shea said, noticing her actions. “They haven’t bugged this place. Or if they did, it’s state-of-the-art stuff. There’s not much to do here to pass the time, so I’ve been over this place with a fine-tooth comb.”
Even with his assurances, Beth came closer to the bars, leaned forward, and spoke in a hushed tone.
“They‘ll pay for what they’ve done. I’ll get back into the farmhouse and find something for you to use on the lock. Then you’ll break us out of here.”
Beth also hoped she’d be able to recover her necklace and costume. If she didn’t, her career as a superheroine would be a short one.
Demarco Dominick watched as the small plane taxied down the grass runway, coming to a stop thirty yards away. A few moments later the stairs descended, and the robed man climbed out. The man gave a nod toward the pilot and started off toward Dominick’s car. Even at this distance, Dominick could feel the man’s silver eyes boring through him.
The Fizzure CEO shifted uncomfortably as the man stalked toward him. Dominick only looked up to meet the gaze from those eyes for a moment before the man slid into the rear of the car with him.
“You still have her?” the robed man asked Dominick as the car moved.
“We do,” Dominick said. “I need to learn who she’s told about our plans. But what do you want from her?”
“She showed up as your project got closer to the finish line. Do you think that’s a coincidence? It isn’t. She could be a key to us taking the next step and getting the results we need. But she could also bring this entire endeavor crashing down.”
Dominick wasn’t sure which part to touch first. “She’s locked up in a cage. How can she bring this thing crashing down?”
“Don’t underestimate her. She can be very dangerous.”
“I know she can, under normal circumstances,” Dominick said, exasperation creeping into his voice. “But she’s not a threat now.”
“Don’t assume anything.”
“Fine. I won’t,” the Fizzure CEO said. He moved on to the more important question. “What do you mean, that she can be a key to a breakthrough for our work?”
“Like I said, you think it is a coincidence she is here now? It’s possible that whatever gives this girl her powers, could also be what we need to achieve our goals. Or at least point us in the right direction.”
Dominick chewed on the man‘s words for a moment. “Possible doesn‘t help. How will we know?”
“Once I see the girl, and confirm it is her, we need to take her to the facility, and run some tests.”
“Tests on her?”
“Yes, tests on her. We need to find out just what makes Sapphire Angel tick, and unravel all her secrets. That could get you over the finish line.”
Dominick smiled. He liked the sound of it.
“Tell me what tests we need to run,” Dominick said, his hands tightening on the front of the leather seat as he leaned forward.
“In due time. I need to keep some leverage, don’t I?”
Dominick sat back, deflated. The robed man’s words sounded almost like a threat. Of course they did. If Sapphire Angel held the key to their success, the robed man couldn't reveal it all to Dominick now. Once Dominick saw a certain path to success, the Fizzure CEO might have less of a need for his help and his funding. Especially if the only tool Dominick needed was Sapphire Angel.
They didn’t speak as the countryside rolled past, and the car was silent until Dominick’s iPhone rang. He glanced at the screen on his dashboard and saw it was the man in charge at the farm. Dominick tapped a button on his screen to answer the call on his phone, instead of over the car’s speaker.
“What’s up?” Dominick asked.
“She said she’s ready to talk, with a condition,” his man at the farm said.
Dominick fought back a scowl. He didn’t like conditions being dictated to him.
“Which is?”
“Pretty simple, actually. She’s been cooped up in that barn for hours. She said she wants to ‘freshen up,’ and get a shower. She also wants a nice meal for herself and the other prisoners.”
This made no sense. She had leverage, and all she wanted was a shower and a meal? There had to be something more to this. An escape attempt, perhaps. Still, she was just one girl, and he had several men at the farm.
Dominick glanced over at his passenger, being careful not to turn his head. The robed man’s goals didn’t align perfectly with Dominick’s. Dominick needed to look out for his company and find out who the Harper girl — Sapphire Angel — had told about his operation. The man with silver eyes wouldn’t see the point in meeting Harper’s demands to achieve that goal. He didn’t need to know.
“Those terms are agreeable,” he said, choosing his words carefully so as not to tip off the man with silver eyes. “Get started now, so this is ready when I’m done driving. Just take all precautions, using all resources. I don’t want any surprises. I there in under an hour.”
“Uh, okay,” his man replied, sounded confused by the cryptic words.
Dominick ended the call and glanced over at his passenger.
“Regular work must go on,” he said, eying the man for any sign he knew the call had concerned Harper. A thin smile crossed the man’s face, and he gave a slight nod in reply.
“Just make sure you make smart business decisions,” he said, as his eyes pierced straight through Dominick’s core.
The rental car was not made for these kinds of roads, but it would have to do. Stanley pushed it to the limit, causing the car to bounce over the dirt road. In the passenger seat, Ethan held one hand against the dashboard, while the other hand held Stanley’s iPhone.
“This says it’s another 20 minutes,” Ethan said. “Are you sure it’s right?”
“It’s our best bet,” Stanley said. “According to GPS and cell tower data on the thug’s phone, he came here each evening.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Me too,” Stanley said. “Make sure you have the State Police number ready on your phone and mine, so we can get the word out, once we know Beth is here.”
Stanley felt a clock ticking down in his head, and stepped on the accelerator.
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