Superheroine - Chapter 34
Sapphire Angel had expected Dominick’s home to be larger. It was big, but not the sprawling mansion she had imagined. Brick, with four tall white pillars framing the front porch, the structure reminded her of fraternity houses that lined the streets of her college town.
The house was immaculate, with a crisply painted facade and pristine bricks devoid of ivy or other growth. The grounds around the structure were meticulously maintained, with neatly trimmed grass and bushes. Large copses of trees surrounded the home on three sides. In the front, a circular driveway ran past front wide steps, climbing up to a brick porch. A detached garage sat twenty yards off to one side.
The petite woman crouched on a thick tree branch in a wooded area to one side of the house, waiting for the darkness to deepen and for Stanley to finish hacking into the home’s security system. She watched the windows of the building for any signs of life. A single car, a late model Chevrolet sedan, sat in front of the home. Certainly not Dominick‘s, but whose?
She brushed her radiant blond hair over one shoulder and made sure her white gloves were pulled up her arms. Clad in her costume, a quiet confidence had settled over her.
As she studied the home, Sapphire Angel considered the name given her by the press. It was growing on her. In a way, it helped her make sense of her existence. It allowed her to see herself as someone else — as having a true alter ego. Beth Harper wouldn’t do what she was doing now. But Sapphire Angel would.
She couldn’t believe it had only been three days since she had donned the costume for the first time. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Then she had planned to wear the costume to a Halloween party. Now it was recognizable to everyone in the city and allowed her to become something she wasn’t.
As she scanned the home again, Beth heard Stanley’s voice in a tiny earpiece hidden in her ear.
“You should be good,” he said. “The security system is down.”
Sapphire Angel dropped from the tree branch, her short skirt fluttering around her. She flexed her knees as she hit the ground, before she darted off toward the side of the house.
A room extended from the right side of the home, looking like it had been added to the main structure after its initial construction. The room was constructed of brick like the rest of the home, but the bricks were slightly more vibrant in color, and the enclosure was only one story tall. An exterior door sat between two large windows. The heroine darted to the enclosure, stopping at one of the tall windows. She put her face to the glass and peered into a sitting area. A sofa and three chairs surrounded a coffee table, and paintings of nature scenes hung on the walls. Dim light from a nearby hallway cast shadows about the room.
Sapphire Angel crept to the door. She held Stanley’s cylindrical device to the lock, and moments later heard a quiet click as the lock disengaged. She put a gloved hand to the handle and turned it.
Holding her breath, she pushed the door inward. The costumed woman paused, waiting for the sound of an alarm countdown, but none came. She stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind her. She paused again before moving past the sofa and chairs and stopping at the entrance to the hallway.
The floor of the hall was made of hardwood that gleamed even in the dim light provided by sconces along the wall. Beth pulled her hair back with a gloved hand and listened. A sound came from down the hall but didn’t seem to be close. The hall ran the width of the home, with the spotless hardwood glinting the entire distance.
She crept down the hall, putting one slender leg forward at a time, taking care that her boots didn’t thump on the floor. The stealthy woman saw a bright light through an opening at the opposite end, and a shadow playing on the wall in the room beyond.
Someone was there. Probably the person whose car was in the driveway. A caregiver for Dominick’s daughter, perhaps.
Sapphire Angel wasn’t afraid, but didn’t want her presence to be discovered. She eyed two openings in the hall, halfway down, to the left and right. She made her way to them and glanced both ways. To her right sat another sitting area, even larger than the first, looking out over an expansive back yard of manicured grass.
To her left was a short hallway opening into a large foyer, containing the massive front door and a stairway winding upstairs. The floor of the foyer was made of light-colored tile, with handsome wood paneling extending halfway up the walls.
She crept into the foyer, passing two closed doors in the hall, and made her way to the stairs. The runner on the stairs muted her footfalls as she ascended. The stairs ended at the start of another hallway, with two closed doors midway down on either side, and one door open at the far end. A blue glow came from the far doorway.
Intrigued by the light, Sapphire Angel moved down the hall, again taking care with her steps. When she reached the doorway, her jaw dropped in surprise.
A young woman, or perhaps even a girl, lay in a bed. Beth was uncertain of the girl’s age because of the ventilator mask covering her mouth, but her condition was unmistakable. Even at a glance, it was obvious this girl was dying.
She was frail and skeletal, and her face was gaunt. Machines lined each side of the bed, and tubes ran from some of them into her body. Her eyes were closed, and her hair had either been cut thin, or large amounts of it had fallen out. In a way, the girl before her reminded the heroine of John in his final hours.
This had to be Dominick’s daughter. Sapphire Angel had come here to see her, but the girl’s appearance still surprised her. John at least had moments of lucidity before his death. This girl didn’t appear ready to speak with anyone.
Beth felt herself drawn to the girl. She moved to the bed and stared down at her. Standing there, looking down at the sickly figure, the costumed woman couldn’t help but feel a connection to Dominick. Beth had lost John, and Dominick was losing his daughter. What would Beth have done to save John? Would she have gone as far as Dominick had gone?
The blond woman shook her head and focused on the girl’s bony hands. No. She would never kill, not even to save a loved one. But the thought lingered.
As Sapphire Angel watched the girl's hands, they moved. One of them inched slowly to the respirator mask, fumbling for an edge, until it grabbed it and pulled it aside.
Sapphire Angel reached a gloved hand forward, to pull it back in place, when the girl’s mouth moved.
“You’re her,” the girl said in a raspy whisper.
Sapphire Angel froze. It seemed like a voice coming from the dead. The heroine stared at the girl.
“You’re Sapphire Angel,” the girl said, her voice weak but audible.
Beth took a step back. The girl’s eyes didn’t even look to be open.
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m Ashley. Ashley Dominick.”
Ashley took a long breath, inhaling and exhaling. Sapphire Angel waited and didn’t reply.
“Sometimes my dad keeps the television on,” Ashley continued. Her words came in a halting, staccato manner, as if voicing each syllable took great effort. “I’ve seen the stories about you.”
“I’m sorry to be here like this,” Sapphire Angel replied, not sure what else to say.
“I didn’t think you were real.”
“I’m real,” the heroine replied with a grim smile. She doubted the girl could even see her expression.
“I’m glad,” the girl in the bed replied, pausing again to gulp in breaths of air. “People need someone like you to believe in. They need to believe there’s a hero to save the day.”
Sapphire Angel grimaced. She couldn’t explain to Ashley that she was no hero, that she was doing what she did for selfish reasons — first to try to save her boyfriend, and now to save her friend. She remained quiet.
“You’re here because of my father, aren’t you? Why else would a superhero be in our house?”
Sapphire Angel paused before nodding. “Yes. I’m here because of your father.”
Ashley remained silent for several moments, perhaps building up her strength, or perhaps thinking of her father. Finally, she turned her head toward the costumed woman.
“What has he done?” Ashley asked.
The question felt like a weight dropped on the superheroine. Ashley Dominick was dying. Could Beth destroy the girl’s image of her father? Beth paused, weighing the options in her mind. In the end, it was easy.
“Your father is trying to save you,” she said, and her voice trailed off. She couldn’t finish.
“And?” Ashley pressed, as if sensing her visitor wasn’t telling her everything.
Sapphire Angel took a deep breath.
“And to save you, he’s doing something that might hurt others,” she replied, before quickly adding, “but I don’t think he realizes it.”
Perhaps the lie would soften the blow. Beth couldn’t bear bringing more pain to the dying girl.
“And you’re trying to stop him?”
“I need to find him, because someone with him might be in trouble.”
Ashley’s head barely moved, in what might have been a nod.
“He’s not here. Hasn’t been all day. Well, I think it’s been a day. He doesn’t put clocks in here, so I lose track sometimes.”
“Do you know where he might be?” Sapphire Angel asked and held her breath. The superheroine’s gloved fists were clenched at her sides as tension built up inside her. She almost felt as if she were willing Ashley to know her father’s location.
“I do,” Ashely replied, and turned her head away.
The heroine exhaled, allowing a mix of tension and excitement to escape her body. It took all her willpower to remain quiet, so Ashley could continue at her own pace. After a moment, the sick girl turned back toward her.
“You don’t have to lie to me about my father. I know what he’s capable of.”
Sapphire Angel reached out, touching the girl’s arm softly with her gloved fingers. Even in the girl’s withered state, the heroine saw the pain in Ashley’s eyes. Not pain from her illness, but pain that comes from realizing the true nature of a loved one.
“I’m sorry,” the heroine said.
Ashely’s eyes were open now and staring up at her visitor. “Promise me something,” she said, her voice sounding stronger than it had been.
Without thinking, the heroine nodded. “Promise you what?”
“Make this easy on my father. When I die, it will be hard enough. I can’t bear the thought of him spending the rest of his life in prison.”
Sapphire Angel nearly stepped back, and her fingers fell away from the girl’s arm. How much did this girl know? Clearly, she knew something about what her father was doing. Or maybe Ashley knew her father well enough to sense it.
“I’ll . . . I’ll do what I can, but I probably won’t have any say in what happens to him. But if I don’t stop him, he’s only making things worse for himself. I need to discover where he is before it goes any further.”
The blond woman watched as an internal struggle took place in Ashley. The sick girl’s face twisted in a grimace, as if she fought to contain a pressure building inside her. Finally, it erupted.
“I’ll tell you,” she said, her voice cracking, and she looked away. She paused again to catch her breath, or to compose herself, before turning back to face Sapphire Angel. “But please do what you can to help him. I’m sure he has to be at the facility north of the city. An old warehouse. Outside Irving, a town that’s a tiny speck on the map. Fizzure owns it through a shell company.”
“Do you know exactly where?
“I heard my dad give directions over the phone. It’s the first exit off I-81 over the county line. Left at the end of the ramp, and then your second left. It’s at the end of the dead end.”
With the words “dead end,” Ashley’s eyes closed. For a moment, Sapphire Angel thought she was asleep or even dead. But then they flickered open, and they were filled with tears, and perhaps guilt.
“Please do what you can for my dad, Sapphire Angel.”
Sapphire Angel nodded.
“I will. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
Ashley paused before shaking her head.
“I would tell you if I knew anything,” she said, her voice cracking. Tears flowed down the side of her face. “I really would. Just please go, before it’s too late.”
Sapphire Angel nodded and hesitated, before turning and retracing her steps back through the home. The image of Ashley Dominick, laying sick and dying in bed, seared her brain. And so did Ashley’s request. Make this easy on my father. Sapphire Angel didn’t know how she could both save Ethan, and spare Demarco Dominick.
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