Superheroine - Chapter 29
“It’s just over that ridge,” Stanley said, pointing off to their right. He had pulled the SUV off to the shoulder, under the canopy of a copse of trees. “This is probably the safest spot to check things out. We can’t risk them watching the main drive. We can go on foot from here.”
“No offense, Stanley, but you’ll never make it up that hill,” Ethan said. The hill rose at a steep angle and was filled with rocks and rough brush. The climb would be easy for an experienced climber, but impossible for an old man well past his prime.
Stanley sighed. “That’s why I brought you, Ethan. In case we ran into something like this.”
Ethan wrinkled his brow as he studied the hill, before nodding. “I can do it.”
“Here’s a two-way radio, and a camera with a zoom lens,” Stanley said, extending a small bag. “Just see what’s happening over the ridge. Find out if Beth is here. Don’t play hero. Find out, get a few photos, and get back down here.”
Ethan didn’t argue, but took the bag. After testing the radio, he exited the car, gave Stanley a nod, and started his climb.
The way was rough, and he nearly tumbled down on more than one occasion. By the time he reached the top his jeans were torn, and his knees were cut. But in 20 minutes he had reached the summit.
He crept forward through some thick growth, staying low to the ground. His heart pounded with excitement. He was afraid, but he hadn’t felt this alive in as long as he could remember. He was doing something real, and not sitting at a computer or doing schoolwork. He didn’t have to remind himself, though, that this was serious. Beth was in trouble and counting on him.
The growth parted to afford Ethan a view of a small clearing below. An expanse of forest surrounded the clearing on three sides, with the hill on the other. A field covered in weeds sat to one side of the clearing. Ethan saw an old farmhouse, with faded paint, sitting across from a low structure that looked like a covered animal pen of some sort. A decrepit barn sat off to the left. Long grass, well in need of a cut, lay between the buildings.
He saw movement, too. Six men were in view, and at least some of them appeared to be carrying weapons. He needed to get closer to determine if there were more.
As he edged forward, a click sounded near his right ear. He froze and glanced sideways to see the end of a barrel of a shotgun, inches away. He looked up from a pair of black boots to a man in jeans and a black t-shirt, with a thick beard almost as dark as the shirt.
“Doing some spying on us, boy?” the man said. “We’ll see about that.”
As she inched the door open and looked down the hallway, Sapphire Angel looked for the two men she had seen upon her arrival at the house. Three men, not two, stood down the hall to her left. A tall, lanky man in the middle was speaking, while a bald man and a bearded man laughed at his words. The bald man’s head was covered in tattoos, while the other man’s beard was so thick and unkempt, he looked like he had come straight out of the wilderness.
The front door was to her right, unguarded, and the men hadn’t noticed her. She could easily flee now if she so chose. But she wasn’t here to flee.
The men’s heads jerked up in surprise as she burst from the room and darted down the hall at them. They raised their handguns, but Sapphire Angel was among them before they could shoot. The stunning heroine batted one weapon away with her left hand and threw a punch at the bearded man with her right. She suppressed her full strength, throwing off her timing. She still landed a glancing blow to his face, which was enough to send him to the ground.
Before the men knew what was happening, the costumed woman spun and swung at the tall man. As her first smashed into his face, the man’s eyes went blank, and he dropped to the ground. A smile crossed the blond beauty’s face. She was slowly getting the hang of how to control her strength.
She turned to the bald man, who was only now getting his arms up. As she swung her forearm, intent on whipping it into his face, arms wrapped around her ankles and pulled. It was the bearded man. She had hit him hard enough to knock him down, but not out. She toppled toward the bald man, and his fist shot toward her face. They met with a crunch. It was a one in a thousand blow, thanks to her fall forward and the angle of his punch. Even with the power of her necklace, her head snapped back, and her vision went black for a moment. She slumped forward directly into the bald man’s grasp, as he wrapped his arms around her torso.
“Gotcha!” he said and lifted her off her feet with a fierce squeeze.
“Ahh!” she cried out. The man was thick and strong, and she dangled and squirmed in his arms, unable in her dazed condition to break free. Although her necklace seemed to protect her from the full effect of his onslaught, she still felt it.
“Hold her for me!” the bearded man yelled. The bald man spun the stunned woman without letting go. He seized her in a chicken wing and pulled back on her arms, exposing her flat stomach. The bearded man was on his feet, but wobbly. He reared back and drilled Sapphire Angel in the stomach. Her body convulsed and she let out a feminine cry.
The attacker drew back and swung again, even harder, and the impact crushed Sapphire Angel’s slender body into the man holding her. Before she could recover, the bearded man lashed out with a jab to her face, snapping her head back. He came up with the other fist, again drilling her in the face. She sagged even more in the bald man’s grasp as the beating started to overwhelm the necklace’s protection. One more blow and she might be done.
The bearded man reared back, taking two step backs, getting ready to tee off again. He roared and leapt forward. Sapphire Angel gritted her teeth, fighting past the pain, and lashed out with her feet before his blow reached her. Her feet drove past the man’s punch, into his chest. He flew back, slammed into the wall, and slid to the floor.
Sapphire Angel tensed, pulling her arms forward with all her strength, and broke the hold of the man behind her. As she dropped, she threw an elbow, connecting with the man’s stomach. As he gasped, she spun and jabbed a punch into his face. This time she used more force, no longer worrying about the damage she might do. His face slackened and he fell to the floor.
Sapphire Angel’s eyes darted about, trying to find the next target, but all three men were down. She bent at the waist, hands on her knees, wincing and breathing heavily. That should have been easier. If she had measured her initial blows properly, she would have taken all three men down with three punches. Instead, they had gotten in some shots and made it a fight. She still had much to learn, including how to take a punch.
Three down, but how many more to go? When they had taken her from the cells, she had counted six men outside, two men inside, plus the man leading her. That was nine total, meaning there might only be six opponents left. She didn’t know if there were more men she hadn’t spotted, though. She had a feeling she would find out.
Her pain was already subsiding. She allowed herself a slight smile, marveling at the power of the necklace, before darting for the front door. The men on the ground wouldn’t be rejoining the fight soon.
When she opened the door, she spotted two more men at the bottom of the rickety stairs. She launched off the porch at them as they turned toward her, smashing into the closest man’s face with the heels of her boots. She landed, whirled, and sent the other man flying with a punch before he had a chance to react.
“Sapphire Angel!” a voice from her right yelled.
She spun, her hair and skirt twirling about her trim figure, and saw a man holding a handgun. He looked to be about forty, with thinning brown hair and a missing tooth in the front of his mouth.
He didn’t point the gun at her. He pointed it at Ethan, who stood in front of the man with his hands raised. She opened her mouth in shock at the sight of her friend.
“Make another move and he gets a bullet,” the man said in a nasal voice.
Her eyes darted from the gun to Ethan, who was looking at her with wide eyes. Not a trace of recognition was on his face. Only a mix of awe and fear.
There was no way she could reach the man before he fired. If he did, at that range, Ethan was dead.
Sapphire Angel held up her hands. “Let’s be calm,” she said. Her voice was steady, but inside her stomach was turning. She couldn’t let the man harm Ethan.
Two more men rushed around the corner of the house and came into view. They aimed weapons at her, although they also looked at her with unmistakable lust in their eyes.
“Holy shit, Vince, it’s that super babe. Sapphire Angel,” one of them said.
“Yes, it is,” the gunman, Vince, said with a grin. “We’ve nabbed ourselves the city’s new superstar.”
Sapphire Angel gritted her teeth, wishing she could pummel the man. But then she considered Vince’s words. Neither he nor the others seemed to realize that Beth and Sapphire Angel were the same person. Dominick and the stocky man must not have told the other men her secret. Yet.
“Don’t bother with the guns, fellas,” Vince said. “She’s bulletproof from what I hear.”
“What should we do with her, then?” one of the men asked.
“Do either of you have your handcuffs?” Vince asked.
“I do,” they both said in unison, all too eager for her liking.
“Sapphire Angel, put your wrists together behind your back. Try anything, and he’s dead,” Vince said, nodding at Ethan. “Jerry, cuff her.”
“Don’t listen to them, Sapphire Angel,” Ethan said sharply. It seemed strange to Sapphire Angel to have Ethan call her by other than her real name. It seemed even stranger he didn’t recognize her. That was probably for the best. If these men knew that Ethan was her friend, they’d have even more leverage over her.
“Shut up, boy, or I’ll shoot you now,” Vince said. “Do what I said, girl.”
Sapphire Angel set her jaw and balled her fists. She needed to keep them occupied, so she could find a way to defeat them that wouldn’t endanger the lives of any prisoners.
“You guys are done,” she said. “I rescued the girl in the house. She’s going for help as we speak.”
Vince narrowed his eyes and set his jaw. He grabbed a radio from his belt.
“One of the prisoners might be loose,” he said, speaking into the device. “Search outside the perimeter, too.”
He clicked off the radio and turned his attention back to Sapphire Angel, not realizing that the object of their search was standing right before him.
“Now put your hands behind your back,” he said, with more urgency in his tone.
She saw no way out, at least right now, without risking Ethan’s life. She needed to hope her bluff worked. She put her arms behind her back. Jerry came forward, a rusty pair of handcuffs in hand, with a grin on his face. His eyes traveled over Sapphire Angel’s body as he got closer. He moved behind her and held one of her gloved wrists as he clicked the handcuff into place on the other. He finished by cuffing her other wrist.
“Now let’s take her and this guy to the cells,” Vince said. “Boss man will be here soon. He can decide what to do with them.”
“I say we have fun with this one first, Vince,” Jerry said. He was standing close now, and she felt his breath in her ear. She pulled away as one of his hands ran down her bare upper arm, and the other rested at her waist.
“I wish we could,” Vince said. “We need to find the other girl. Her chances of making it where somebody can find her are slim, but we can’t chance it. We need everyone on alert, and a few men to make a sweep of the perimeter.”
“I bet I could make this one talk,” Jerry said into Sapphire Angel’s ear. “She’d tell me which way the girl headed.”
“I doubt the girl even knows where’s she’s going. Let’s get our costumed captive, and this guy here, to the pen.”
With a grumble, Jerry took Sapphire Angel by the arm and pushed her forward in front of him. The other man took Ethan and fell in behind them, with Vince bringing up the rear.
Sapphire Angel’s eyes darted left and right, trying to find something, anything, that might provide salvation. She needed to get the men away from Ethan. But even if she did, could she fight three men with her hands cuffed behind her back? Perhaps she could snap the cuffs. She still didn’t know the limits to her strength.
Vince moved in front of them when they reached the cell building. He opened the door and waited as Jerry and the other men led their captives inside.
A murmur went up from the prisoners as they entered. Sapphire Angel heard a few of them say the words, “Sapphire Angel.” They couldn‘t have been here as long as some of the others, if they knew of her.
They shoved Sapphire Angel and Ethan into the only empty cell, which was Beth’s cell from earlier. The door slammed shut after them, and moments later Vince locked it.
“Jerry, keep an eye on them,” Vince said. “And no funny business with her. The boss will be back soon.”
Sapphire Angel watched as Vince returned the key to its spot by the door and left the building with the other man. She was with the prisoners again, right back where she started. But she was no longer helpless.
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