Chapter
6: Angels and Motorcycles
Ian
spotted the bright green Mustang that pulled out of the Candy Store quickly, but
decided not to follow considering Sara wasn’t in it (only the driver’s seat
was occupied). He continued to stare out at the warehouse knowing that Sara was
still inside talking to her new circle of friends, minus one. It was hard to
tell what had happened, but from what Ian could see, Van Ray had left
unexpectedly in what appeared to be blind rage.
But before
Ian could contemplate anything further, he spotted another car begin to follow
the Mustang, a black Jaguar S-Type. Almost immediately, he leapt from his
position on the roof to his waiting black Escalade EXT hidden in the empty
warehouse below the rooftop. Ian sped off, following the Jaguar, his gut telling
him that something bad was about to happen to Van Ray.
*~*~*
Sara
aimlessly walked through the Candy Store, checking out all the cars, her tastes
bring her to the several custom racing bikes that were lined up in the far
corner. She stood there, staring at them until she felt someone walk up behind
her. Sara turned, not knowing who to expect. As it turned out, Deaq had been the
one following her.
“Hey,”
Sara said, turning her attention back to the bikes.
“Like
‘em?” Deaq asked as he stood beside her and looked on.
“Yeah,
too bad I’ve never really been into motor cross. I love the classics,” she
replied, her gaze still locked on them.
“That
Buell you rode in on was a piece of work. I hope one of these days you’ll let
me ride it,” he said almost too hopefully.
“Not a
chance,” Sara retorted with a sly grin. She began to walk again, this time
stopping in front of a forest green Mustang. As she put her hand on the hood,
the Witchblade suddenly came to life. Sara was trapped in a vision involving
Van. He was at a beach, sitting on the sand and looking out at the ocean when
someone came up behind him. Sara couldn’t see who the person was, but a shot
rang out, and Van slumped over. Sara gasped when the Witchblade let her go,
prompting Deaq to stare at her awkwardly.
“What?”
he asked, seeing the sudden change in her expression.
“Van’s
in trouble,” Sara said with an urgent tone to her voice as she met Deaq’s
gaze.
“How do
you know?” he questioned, a little skeptically.
“Don’t
ask questions. Just tell me where he went,” she replied, her voice demanding
and straightforward.
“
“I’m
in charge, remember?” Sara called as the engine of her motorcycle roared to
life. “Come on, you’re getting that ride you asked me for.”
Deaq
hopped onto the bike behind her and wrapped his arms around Sara’s waist.
‘Nice,’ she thought, but didn’t dwell on it. She had more important things
to worry about, like saving her new partner’s ass. “Just give me directions
so I know where I’m going,” Sara yelled over her shoulder.
“Take a
left up here onto the
The trip
was relatively quick, considering she was going almost a hundred miles per hour
down the freeway. After a few more left and right turns, they made it to the
beach where Deaq said they could find Van. His car was parked in the parking
lot, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
‘Shit,’
Sara thought as she dismounted her bike and began to scan the area. ‘Where the
hell is he?’
“Come
on,” Deaq called to her. He was already cantering down the beach, searching
the waves. He stopped at the edge of the water, his eyes continuing to scan the
breaking surf until he said, “Over there!” and pointed to a small figure
riding a wave back to shore. “Van!” he began yelling.
“Van!”
Sara joined him, frantically waving her arms to get his attention.
Out on the
wave, Van could see the two people that had just shown up on the shore. He lost
his concentration and fell into the water. He swam back to shore, taking his
time and letting them wait for him. He didn’t know what they wanted, but it
was probably to yell at him. That’s until he heard Deaq yell, “Van! Get out
of the water! Sara says someone’s out to kill you!”
Van
didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but it did prompt him to get out of
the water faster than he wanted to. “What do you mean someone’s out to kill
me?” Van asked as he plodded towards them, dripping wet.
“I had
this really bad feeling just a few minutes ago and thought that someone was
going to kill you. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but I had to come out
here and warn you,” Sara lied as she tried to make up a good excuse for her
behavior.
“Right,
someone is going to kill me,” Van laughed in her face. He held his arms out in
the air and began to yell, “Come on, take your best shot! I’m ready for
you!” As if by queue, a shot rang out from a stand of trees near the beach,
barely grazing Van’s left side as he swerved and hit the sand. “Shit!” he
panted, looking over to Sara who was also on the ground beside him.
“Come
on!” she yelled, motioning for them to follow her as she stood up and began to
run back towards the car. Several more shots rang out as the three of them
sprinted to the Mustang. Now behind the car, Sara stole a peek over the hood to
try and see where the shots were coming from and who the suspected gunman was.
Her eyes scanned the trees and barely made out the figure of a man holding a
high powered rifle, his aim straight for her forehead. She ducked before the
bullet could hit her and began formulating a plan in her head.
“You two
stay here!” Sara ordered as she began to sneak over to the rear of the car.
“Sara,
wait!” Deaq yelled to her, but she was already sprinting towards her bike,
bullets flying left and right around her. He kept his head down, avoiding any
chance of being seen.
Once Sara
had reached her bike, she let the Witchblade take control of the situation. It
morphed from the simple bracelet on her wrist to the gauntlet form, sword
included. She stepped out into the open, fearless, the bullets flying around her
body or striking the Witchblade, which deflected them away from her as she got
closer to the intended target. She could now easily see the man and quickly
recognized him as being one of Gallo’s goons. Sara effortlessly continued to
deflect the bullets he shot at her until finally he ran out and had to reload.
That was when Sara saw her chance to attack.
She ran up
to the tree and swung the Witchblade towards him, the gun getting knocked out of
his hands. The Blade quickly changed its form to the “brass knuckles” that
Sara preferred to use during fights with defenseless attackers. Now face to face
with each other, the man could barely conceal his fright. “Bye, bye,” Sara
said as she swung her fist at him and knocked him unconscious.
“Sara!”
came the calls from behind her. The Witchblade retracted to its bracelet form as
she turned around to find Van and Deaq running towards her.
“I’m
right here. Don’t worry, I knocked him out,” she replied nonchalantly. They
stopped and stared at her in confusion.
“How the
hell did you do that?” Deaq asked as he looked at the unconscious man behind
her. “And isn’t he one of Gallo’s men?”
“Yeah, I
let him spend his bullets before I made my move. Once he was distracted in
trying to reload his weapon, I knocked him out,” she explained.
“But…
But… But…” Van tried muttering something, but soon gave up.
“I’m a
girl?” Sara finished for him, her eyebrow raised. “Never underestimate the
power of women. They might surprise you.” She began walking back to her bike
when she noticed the black Escalade EXT that was parked at the far end of the
lot, engine running. When the person behind the wheel discovered Sara’s gaze,
he, or she, sped off away from the scene. Sara hopped on her bike and started
the engine. “I’ll be right back,” she called to Van and Deaq as they
stared speechlessly at the body that lay before their feet.
“Sara,
where are you going?” Deaq called to her, but his voice was lost in the roar
of her engine as she sped past them in a hurry. “Man, that girl does have a
problem with authority.”
Sara
closely followed the black Escalade down the
“Shit,
now I’m lost,” Sara swore out loud as she pulled over to the side of the
road and hopped off her bike. She looked around for anything that could help her
discern her location, but this was all new territory to her. She pulled out her
cell phone and dialed Billie to see if she could help her get back to the Candy
Store again.
Billie
picked up the phone by saying, “What the hell just happened? I heard you, Van,
and Deaq got into a shootout just a few minutes ago. Where the hell did you go?
And why the hell didn’t you tell me you left?”
“I went
chasing after a potential witness to the shootout, but lost the vehicle on the
freeway. I called to ask you for some help because I’m lost. And I didn’t
tell you because if I took anymore time, Van would be dead right now,” Sara
yelled back.
“You’re
not the boss yet, sweetie,” Billie retorted in an angry tone. “So until I
actually get on that plane to
Sara was
ready to go off into a tempter tantrum, but held back and replied, “Yes,
sir.”
“Van and Deaq are on their way to find you. Follow them back, then I want a full report on what happened this afternoon and how you knew Van was in danger,” Billie said then hung up the phone, leaving Sara high, dry, and strand. She sat down on her bike and waited, her mind spinning with ideas about what she was going to tell Billie.