Chapter 3

Chloe found Trafalgar Square eventually. It may have been a weekday, but the place was still crawling with people, tourists mostly. She took a couple of pictures of the monuments and one of the Victoria and Albert Museum. She contemplated going inside, but her head really was pounding, and eventually decided to stay outside and get some fresh air. Or as much fresh air as one could get in a city the size of London.

Pulling out her trusty map, she began to search for her next route. Finally deciding, she put the map away again and set off to find Piccadilly Circus.

Randy watched the girl from his spot by one of the lion statues in the square. The sun was shining brightly overhead and the black suit that he wore was making him hot. He was also pretty sure that he'd have sunburn on his head later, because his bald scalp was starting to heat up.

The girl was moving again, hopefully this time to somewhere less public...
Chloe walked swiftly in the direction of the circus. She passed a sign telling her that it was up ahead; so she was on the right track. A faint ringing sound registered over the commotion around her, but she paid it no mind; every other person here seemed to have a cell phone. When the ringing seemed to follow her she looked behind her, to see if someone was ignoring his or her phone. Seeing only a group of old ladies –tourists—behind her and a large bald man a little ways back, she realized that the sound was coming from her.

Chloe riffled through her purse curiously, trying to find the source of the ringing. She'd just found a small silver flip phone at the bottom of her bag – when the ringing stopped. She pulled the phone out and stared at it in confusion.

Not wanting to get in the way of all of the people on the street, Chloe moved over to the side and stood in front of a store window. The phone display read "1 missed call" and she knew immediately whom it was from. She jumped slightly when the phone rang again. Sure enough the display read "Lex".

"Hello?" she answered, trying not to smirk at the very idea of him having to hide a phone for her to take it.

"So you finally found it," Lex greeted over the line. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I wish you'd have told me," she sighed dramatically. "I kept hearing ringing and didn't know where it was coming from. Now I feel like an idiot."

"Sorry," he said, not sounding at all sorry. "Where are you?"

Chloe looked up at the name printed on the store window. "I'm in front of..." her voice trailed off as she noticed a reflection in the window. Actually, she noticed someone in the reflection.

"Chloe?" Lex asked.

"Lex, you didn't get security to follow me around today did you?" she asked him anxiously, knowing that he wouldn't really do that without telling her, but rather hoping that he had.

"No, why?" Lex sounded concerned now.

"Oh, it's just there's this guy," Chloe explained, feeling stupid as she did so. "He was behind me before when I was walking...and he's still there."

"What do you mean?" Lex definitely sounded worried now.

"I mean he's standing a few stores down, just looking around," Chloe was beginning to worry. "You seriously didn't send him?"

"No, I didn't," Lex replied. "What does he look like? Do you recognize him?"

"I don't thinks do," she turned to the reflection again. "He's bald, maybe mid-thirties, and he's wearing a black suit..."

"He's one of my father's lackeys," Lex told her seriously. "He's the one who put the magnesium sulfate in your IV bag in Metropolis."

Chloe's breathing increased. "What's he doing here?" she cried, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"I don't know," Lex told her, clearly lying. They both knew what he was doing there. "Does he know that you've seen him yet?"

"I don't think so," Chloe shook her head. "I haven't turned around yet."

"Okay, don't," Lex told her forcefully. "If he thinks you haven't seen him yet he'll probably just keep following you until you go somewhere less public. Hail a taxi, right now."

Chloe looked around as casually as she could, considering how nervous she was. "There are no taxi's around," she told him shakily. "I'm near Piccadilly Circus, there's and Underground station."

"Stay where there are plenty of people," Lex told her. "Do the lines go to Victoria Station?" She glanced at her Underground map.

"No I have to transfer."

"Is there another station close by? One that gets more than one line?" Lex asked her. Chloe looked at the map again. "Stay above ground as long as possible."

"Oxford Circus is close," she told him, finding a direct path to the station and trying desperately not to cry. "It has the Victoria line."

"Start walking there," Lex told her. Chloe nodded, though he couldn't see, and began to walk; she had to force herself not to run. "Keep an eye out for a taxi."

"Okay," she breathed, trying to keep from looking backwards. She locked her eyes on the map instead, careful to not take a wrong turn.

"It's going to be okay Chloe," he tried to reassure her. "Just take a deep breath." She did but it didn't help much. "How's your head?"

"Still sore," she confessed, eyes roaming for a taxi. "You should have warned me about the downfalls of alcohol."

"I thought you'd know already," he teased nervously.

"I do now," she sighed. "Why is there never a taxi when you need one. I must have seen fifty of them earlier today and now when I need just one, I can't find any!"

"Where did you go today?" Lex asked her.

"Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square," Chloe began listing. "I saw a Bentley dealership and thought of you...oh, I went to Hamley's."

"The toy store?" Lex asked.

"Yeah, do you know it has six floors," she told him, biting at one of her nails. "Biggest damn toy store I've ever seen. They had this huge Lego giant from Harry Potter. It was like nine feet tall—oh hey! I can see Oxford Circus."

"You thought it was an actual Circus didn't you," he teased.

"No," Chloe protested. "You're crazy."

"So I've been told," he remarked dryly.

"Well, if you'd give up the scotch..." she trailed off suggestively, making it to the stairway into the Underground station. "I'm at the ticket thing," she told him, holding the phone with her shoulder and fishing through her purse. "Am I going to loose the signal?"

"Maybe," he sighed. "I've never used a phone in the Underground."

She looked at the ticket machine. "Where am I going? Victoria Station?" she asked him, pushing the button for a one-way ticket.

"I'm going out the door right now," Lex told her. She could make out the sound of keys jingling as he spoke. "I'll meet you at the station."

"It's a big station Lex," she reminded him and dropped the coins into the machine.

"Out front, where we got on the tour bus," he clarified. Chloe got her ticket once it printed and turned around. She almost jumped when she saw Lionel's guy in the line behind her. Forcing herself to tear her eyes away, she hurried through the ticket corrals and followed the signs to the escalators.

She could feel eyes on her back and knew that he was following. "Lex?" she asked into her phone. The only response was the static that greeted her, nothing else. Swearing under her breath, she snapped the phone shut and kept it clutched tightly in her hand. The hallway forked and she went left, hoping that he wouldn't try anything.
Randy took a left, following the girl as casually as he could. She was weaving between the handfuls of people in the hallway, heading towards her platform. He was pretty sure that she suspected something, after the way she'd looked at him in the ticket line. He couldn't do much with all of those people around, so he kept following, hoping that she'd get into an empty train car. She looked back over her shoulder at him quickly before speeding it.

"Damn it," he swore quietly. She knew.
Lex hit the redial button on his phone again, hoping to get through to Chloe's cell. She must have still been on the train, because he was getting no answer. The taxi he was riding in came to a stop and Lex looked out the window, wondering why. Traffic jam.

"How much further?" he asked the driver.

"Jus' around the block," the driver told him. Lex pulled a 100 pound note out of his wallet and shoved it into the man's hand. Without another word he climbed out of the car and took off in the direction of the station.
Chloe got to the platform just in time to slip into the train before it pulled away. She broke into a run, hurrying towards the nearest car. She was relieved to find it at least half full of people when she climbed on. The man hopped on right behind her, just as the doors slid shut. She made her way to the opposite end of the car, hoping he wouldn't follow. He didn't.
Randy sat down on the end seat, not wanting the other passengers to suspect that he was following her. She knew, obviously, but there wasn't much that she could do without drawing attention to herself. He waited.
Lex rounded a corner and looked up at the large building in front of him. The sign read Victoria Coach Station. He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his head, wiping sweat away. The train station was just down the block...
Chloe bit her lip nervously as the train stopped to pick up more passengers. The next stop was hers, and Baldy was eyeing her pointedly.
Lex was running, full force. He was almost to the train station. Catching sight of several busses parked in a bus loop, he knew that he was close. He waited impatiently at a crosswalk with several other pedestrians, not able to cut across the busy street.
The train stopped and the girl jumped to her feet. She was swept out of the car with the wave of other passengers. Randy hurried out as well, pushing his way through the enormous crowd waiting to get on the train. He could just make out a flash of blonde hurrying towards the exit. He followed.
Chloe pushed her way through the crowd as best she could, weaving and elbowing as necessary. She made it to the escalators and stuck to the left side, running up the steep flights as quickly as she could. Her phone rang.
"Lex?" Chloe asked over the line, sounding out of breath. He sighed in relief, waiting for his chance to cross yet another street.

"Are you here yet?" he asked. The walk sign lit up and he pushed his way through.

"Just got off of the—"

"Chloe?" Lex yelled into the phone. He could hear only the sounds of hundreds of footsteps. Now across the street, he hung up the phone and broke into a run again, towards the tour buses.
Chloe didn't stop to pick up the phone she'd dropped. 'Lex can buy another,' she thought, pushing her way up the last of the stairs and onto the ground level. She took a sharp right and followed the route she knew would take her to the meeting place.
He couldn't see the girl; there were too many people. Randy pushed roughly now, eyes searching the crowd for any signs of the blonde. He caught sight of her finally, going through the ticket corrals and heading towards the shops.
Chloe took advantage of the extra open space and broke into a run, past the Swatch stand, past the magazine racks outside, until she spotted the tour buses. She ran towards the closest one, just as Lex came running around the other side, straight towards her. There was no describing the immense relief that she felt at seeing him.

"Are you okay?" he grabbed her arm quickly.

"He's right behind me," Chloe cried, throwing a glance over her shoulder to see how close he'd gotten. Lex grabbed her hand and they ran towards the streets, jumping into the nearest taxi that they found.

"St. Paul," Lex barked at the driver and locked the doors. The old driver looked surprised but nodded. He pulled away from the curb immediately. Lex and Chloe looked out the window behind them and saw Lionel's guy run up to the tour busses. He looked around desperately, face red from exertion, and swore loudly at the fact that he'd lost her.

Knowing that he was gone for now, Chloe sank back into her seat and buried her face in her hands. Lex leaned forward and instructed the driver where in St. Paul he was to take them, Bruce's office building. Then he leaned back beside her and she pulled her hands from her face. Lex put an arm around her shoulders and she allowed herself to give in to the desire to lean against him. She willed herself not to cry and took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I want to go home," she whispered, sorry to have to say it. Lex didn't reply; he nodded and rested his cheek against her hair. Chloe allowed couple of tears to track their way down her cheeks.

TBC...