HAPTER TWELVE: LEADS

Eduardo Santiago woke up.

The wind rushed at his hair.

For a moment, it did not register on him where he was. He was still groggy from the blow to the back of the head that had rendered him unconscious when…when…what was if that had happened exactly? He recalled opening fire and a blast of wind(?) that had been flying through the air and against the wall. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious but there was an odd taste in his mouth, ironically, an experience shared by scores of his victims, making him believe he had been drugged with something made his return to coherence all the more difficult.

There was something else as well, a rush of blood to his head that made him slightly nauseas and his ankles were hurting. Eduardo's eyes fluttered open uncertainly as the wind kissed his cheeks in its journey past him and suddenly, awareness brought to mind the awful realization of where he was. With a start, he started to struggle and shout for help but none was forthcoming and with each struggle to move, he jerked about as desperately as a fish on a hook.

"It's good to see you are awake Eduardo," a voice, maddeningly calm in the face of his blind panic, spoke to him. It was a low voice, shrouded in all kinds of shadow, like brittle glass, it scraped his ears and made his shudder.

Eyes wide, Eduardo looked at the stranger in the dark he could not see, save what the full moon were allowed. The man was white, dressed in black, was standing on the ledge of a building. Next to him was one of the metal struts resident of the building had attached aerial devices and other receiving equipment for whatever electronics they wanted to network. However, attached to this strut was not an antenna but a pulley for rope and the rope was tied around Eduardo's own ankle, as he was suspended over the ledge, from what appeared to be ten floors up.

"What do you want!" Eduardo demanded, frightened as he saw the concrete below him and the city around him. "Let me down!"

"I'll let you down," the man said, "after you answer a few questions for me."

"f**k you man! Let me down now!"

"Such language," the stranger returned without any appearance of annoyance. "What would Huitzilopochtli say?"

Eduardo froze and looked at the man sharply. He strained to see the face but it was not meant to be. The man knew how to hide in the shadows, how to take advantage of the dark.

"You know nothing of Huitzilopochtli!" Eduardo said defiantly, beginning to guess why he was here.

"I know that this is the first year of fifty two. The ceremony of binding should have taken place last year but it has not and because it has not, there has been much chaos. Dark Thursdays, Ash Wednesday, natural disasters that cannot be explained, even by science. Huitzilopochtli is hungry isn't he? He has not been fed and he cannot fight the darkness unless he feeds."

Eduardo was not sure what to do because the man's insight into Eduardo's purpose was remarkably accurate. "The world is going to be destroyed if we do not offer the proper sacrifices."

Like all religious men, even the misguided ones, the urge to spread the faith was almost overwhelming and Eduardo, even in his present unfortunate circumstances were as prone to this behavior as any other.

"Why foreigners?" His interrogator asked. "Its not about wealth is it? Its about those that matter least to you."

"And why not?" Eduardo snorted gleefully. "They have money and power. They come to our lands like it is their private playground. What are we to them but their waiters, their valets or their dishwashers? In OUR country, they treat us as if we were put on this Earth for their amusement!"

"Better to sacrifice others than your own people," the stranger nodded in understanding. "Where are they?"

"Dead!" Eduardo hissed, wanting to make this puta realize that it was already too late. If he had loved ones who were taken as sacrifices, it was too late! "You can threaten me all you like but you won't like the answers I give!"

"Probably not," the man said and reached for the pulley.

Eduardo had just enough time to register the handle being released before he was plunging to the ground. Concrete rushed up to greet him as he screamed all the way down, seeing windows as he fell, seeing the ground waiting for him to die. His throat was hoarse from the blind terror of his scream and he clamped his eyes shut, waiting for death.

But it did not come.

Instead there was a sudden jerk that forced his eyes open and Eduardo saw the dirty granite behind him. Suspended like a marionette, he was shaking with fright when he realized he had paused inches from death. Before he had a chance to register this, he was swept up again, dragged by his ankles into the air before finding himself at the same place again, dangling.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Eduardo screamed in fury and fear, "whoever you want is already dead!"

"Not all of them are dead," the stranger said without emotion and produced something that gleamed in the night. It was black, sharp and shaped almost like a….a bat? He placed the object against the rope and cut just enough so that on strand of rope was severed, sticking out untidily from the rest of the weave. "The festival of the binding takes place over eighteen days. You have eighteen victims but this night, this is only day fourteen, so I'm going to ask you again, where are they?"

"Where you will never….!"

He was falling again and the lack of warning made him unprepared for how violently he would react. The fear clenched at his stomach and he felt his bowels loosen. Acrid odours filled his ears as it felt warm fluid dribbling down his belly.

And once again, he came to a halt before he could splatter against the ground.

Almost unhinged with fear, he was brought to the top again and saw the ritual continue, each time with his assailant cutting just another piece of rope in warning.

He had to be strong! He could not tell the stranger what he wished to know! Huitzilopochtli needed to be fed! Their way of life depended on his ability to prevail! This demon would not force the truth from him! Even if he was to die!

"I'm running out of patience," the man said coldly as Eduardo had been reduced to loud sobs, his fear so thick he could barely make coherent speech. "Where are they?"

"GO TO THE HELL!"

"You first," the man answered in that same, cold voice, a voice that sounded like judgment given tangible, human form.

Eduardo screamed, certain that this was the moment where he would not pause but reach all the way to the bottom. His cry tore through the night and death was almost welcomed if it meant an end to this torture. However it appeared that Huitzilopochtli was watching over him because he jerked to a stop suddenly a few inches above the ground and then, then he landed. Rope fell around him and for a second, Eduardo thought that that his mind had gone and he was already dead.

He did not think that the afterlife would smell of piss in his clothes and as he looked up, saw his attacker disappearing off the ledge quickly. He was coming! Eduardo thought and quickly scrambled for the ropes around his ankle. Freeing his feet quickly, the servant of Huitzilopochtli realized that the rope had finally snapped after its abuse from the rapid descent and the minimal cutting. Whatever, the reason, he did not care, he was free and he had to get away before the demon from above found a way to take the truth from him. Scrambling to his feet and still somewhat shaky, Eduardo started running.

****************

"Were you really going to let him fall?" Clark asked when Bruce finally joined him in the alley where Eduardo had landed. With his enhanced vision, Clark was having little trouble tracking Eduardo's escape. He could see the man on a main street now, trying to hail a taxi, probably back to his apartment to get his car or better yet, straight to Lois and the others.

"Don't be silly," Bruce said with a smile, closing the back door to the building behind him. "I knew you were down here in case anything went wrong. Besides, I estimated just how much of the weave I could cut before it gave way finally. Have you got him?"

"Oh yeah," Clark remarked with a smirk, watching Eduardo with his x-ray vision. "I got him. He's just got a cab to pull up. I need to go or we might lose him."

"Right," Bruce nodded without argument and handed Clark a small, electronic device the size and shape of a cufflink.

"What's this?" Clark asked staring at it in his palm. "A bug?"

"Something like that," Bruce returned. "It's so I can follow you in the car. I follow you, you follow him, and hopefully we'll find Chloe and the others."

"Okay," Clark nodded, seeing the sense in that. "I hope its got range," he remarked putting it in the top pocket of his shirt. "I move pretty fast."

"Stop showing of and get going," Bruce retorted with a little smile. "I'm right behind you."

Clark threw him a returning smile and rushed off so fast that to Bruce it looked like he simply vanished.

As someone who was more than accustomed to pulling the same stunt on others, Bruce appreciated the irony.

*************

The water rushed all around her and Chloe didn't know what was worse, the fact that the current was so strong or that she could barely tell where she was heading. Were they heading into some deeper, darker place in the mountain, where escape would be impossible or were they going to keep traveling this underground river until there was nowhere left to go and they all suffocated? Chloe tried to gain some footing but all she managed was to bump her head against the low lying ceiling. If it were not for a scant gap of space between the water and the roof of the passage, they would be dead by now.

"LOIS!" She tried to call but each attempt only filled her mouth with more water and finally Chloe gave up trying all together.

"CHLOE!" She heard through the rush of frothing water and felt her heart surge with relief when she recognized her name.

"LANA!" Chloe called back. "Where…." She spat more water, "where are you?" She managed to say before going under again.

"Right….behind…you…" Lana answered in stutters.

Lois Lane could hear the others behind her but she had long given up trying to communicate because she was swimming with the current, instead of fighting it. She wanted to know where this nightmare would end because despite how disorientated she had been, Lois was quickly getting her bearings. Wherever, they were going, it was still allowing fresh air to reach them, which told Lois that there was an exit at the end of all this.

She surfaced just long enough to grab a lung full of air before going under again, finding it easier to move when you weren't fighting the current. A strong swimmer, something which had nothing to do with dating a guy whose code name was apparently Aquaman (so lame), Lois kept her ears tuned for Chloe and the others, feeling relief when she heard them speak. She knew she ought to signal her own well being but that didn't seem as important as getting to the end of this passage.

Suddenly, she noticed something upon surfacing again. A draft. There was a draft blowing through the tunnel and even better than that, the echoes of the voices was starting to diminish as if they were nearing the end. Her limbs were tired but Lois forced herself onward, the make up of her being refusing to let her quit until she had the outcome she desired or in this case, desperately needed.

And then it appeared.

As if the heavens itself had opened up. Lois Lane looked up and saw stars. She saw the night sky and never thought that dark canvas of velvet, sprinkled with diamond dust could look more beautiful. Even though she wanted to shout triumph for everyone to hear, she afforded herself a little smile. They were free of the cave but not out of danger. Somehow, they had to get to safety or find some way to tell Clark where they were. However, first things first.

Where were they?

The current did not abate but at least they were outside at last, Chloe thought when she saw the same thing that Lois did. Pushing her head above water, Chloe craned her neck to see her cousin actually swimming with the current.

Show off, Chloe thought with a smile of relief before looking to see if Lana and Tara was behind her. It was difficult to make anything out as it was still rather dark but at least Chloe could make out trees in the distance and what appeared to be embankment. She saw Lana doing the same thing as Lois, swimming but mostly keeping her head above water so she could keep sight of her friends. Good, as long as they all kept each other in the line of sight, they wouldn't lose each other.

Lois continued to swim ahead, wishing for the current to carry them as far away as possible from the kidnappers. Undoubtedly, they would be searching for the four escapees and considering what had happened to the other captives, Lois didn't plan on getting caught again. The current was not making it terribly easy for her to reach the shore anyway and Lois looked ahead, straining to see under the moonlight, anything that would give her a clue as to where they were headed.

The rush of water and the lack of light did not allow her to see what was coming until it was almost too late and when Lois did see, her eyes opened wide. She turned around and tried to scream a warning to the others.

"GET TO THE SHORE!" Lois screamed on top of her lungs. "NOW!"

"What?" Chloe looked ahead at Lois. "What? WHY?"

"JUST DO IT!" Lois Lane shouted and then closed her eyes as she went over the edge of the waterfall and fell herself plunging downwards.

"Oh my God! LOIS!" Chloe cried out as she saw her cousin go over the edge. "Lana, get to the shore! Get to the shore now!!!" She warned the women behind her and tried to make it herself. The current was powerful and it was unrelenting in its desire to let her go. Struggle as she might, Chloe couldn't keep herself from making it to the embankment and like Lois disappeared over the edge.

"Oh God!" Lana Lang exclaimed as she forced herself to the muddy shore. She had more time to make the effort and the additional time was exactly what was needed to make her way slowly to the embankment. Crawling out of the water, with her hand and knees deep in mud, she saw Tara emerge a few minute later, just as exhausted. Both women wanted nothing more than to collapse against the mud and sleep but couldn't.

"We have to find Chloe and Lois," Lana said panting, exhausted as she looked at Tara a few feet away through mangroves and other reeds. She heard a frog croaking somewhere and in the corner of her eye, she could see things scrambling about. "We have to get to the bottom of that waterfall."

Tara nodded weakly, "yes, yes," the older woman agreed but didn't move.

Lana did not rouse her for a few minutes, aware that Tara's age wasn't making this any easier. For her part, Lana was just grateful she had managed to reach the shore. She had no idea how the baby would have been affected by such a fall but she knew she had no desire to find out. After those minutes had passed, Lana pushed herself up to her feet and turned to Tara. "We've got to keep moving. We have to find Lois and Chloe if we can or get help."

"Alright," Tara answered, shaking her weary head and standing up. "Which way should we go?"

Lana looked at the waterfall and the brush before it. "The only way we can, we follow the waterfall."

***************

Following Eduardo as Bruce had instructed, Clark tailed the man all the way back to his apartment keeping a discreet distance behind to remain out of sight. Keeping in contact with Bruce through his cell phone, Clark waited outside the risked waiting outside the buildings main entrance to keep watch while the billionaire had parked in a similarly concealed location nearby. Bruce was certain Eduardo, fearing that capture was eminent, would take the sensible course of leaving while he still could. With eighteen victims already captured, there was no longer any reason for the man to maintain his cover as waiter at the hotel.

Bruce's assertion was confirmed when Clark spied Eduardo packing up his belongings after the man had showered and gotten into fresh clothes. Watching him through the walls of the building, Clark saw Eduardo pick up the phone and was all set to focus his hearing to listen in on that conversation when suddenly; he saw something that made forget all about Eduardo for the moment.

"We've got problems," Clark said calling Bruce up as he hurried towards the lobby.

"Lex has arrived?"

Clark paused, gave the cell a glare before retorting. "Did you know he would show up?"

"I assumed he would," Bruce returned smoothly. "You might want to stop talking to me and go stop him." The playboy declared offered helpfully.

"Right," Clark grumbled, having no idea how he was going to explain himself to Lex before arriving at the firm conclusion he really didn't give a rat's ass whether or not Lex believed him. Eduardo Santiago was their only lead to the girls and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. No doubt Lex had questioned the hotel concierge who had undoubtedly told Lex about Santiago.

Lex emerged from his car with two men in attendance. Bodyguards or worse, Clark came to the firm conclusion. The two men did not follow their employer into the building and Clark supposed he ought to be grateful for that as he hurried forward.

"Lex!" Clark called out as he stepped through the doors of the front entrance. Looking up, he could see Santiago through the ceiling, finishing the last of his packing. It wouldn't be long before he was making the elevator ride to the lobby. Clark had to get Lex out of there before that.

Lex Luthor had spent the better part of the day traveling across country to arrive in Acapulco after receiving Chloe's phone call earlier that day. Convinced that he had done the right thing by leaving immediately having heard nothing from the young woman since her call not had he been able to reach her, Lex was somehow unsurprised to find Clark Kent standing behind him.

"Clark," Lex stared at him, "why am I not surprised to see you here?" He asked almost with resignation. It figures that Chloe would call Clark probably before she called him, the billionaire thought with resentment.

"Lex, there's no time to talk, you need to get out of the lobby right now," Clark said brushing over the formalities.

"And why would I do that Clark?" Lex asked suspiciously, "since the only clue to Lana's disappearance seems to be Santiago."

"Because he's not doing it for the money Lex," Clark insisted, thinking that if the man didn't cooperate, he was going to risk using his powers and dragging him out of there. "He's a fanatic. He'd rather die than give them up. The only way we have to find where he's taken them is to follow him and he won't do that if he sees you down here."

Lex's first impulse was to ignore Clark because after all these years, he had become naturally inclined to disbelieve everything that came out of the farm boy's mouth. Being deceived one too many times, tended to have that effect on Lex. However, there was just enough edge in Clark's voice for Lex to believe that he might be sincere and furthermore, if Clark was right, if this guy was a fanatic, then no amount of coercion that Lex could inflict upon him would make him reveal Lana's whereabouts.

For Lana Lang, Lex Luthor was not about to take that chance.

"You better not be screwing with me, Clark." Lex warned as he let out a deep breath.

"You're not my type," Clark growled and started out the building, with Lex following close behind.

This was going to be a long night.