Recruiting

Day 7, Monday, 5:00PM (Pacific Time), Henderson, Nevada

The heat of the summer Nevada sun was showing no signs of waning as it bore down on an attractive young woman enjoying the large pool of an upscale suburban Las Vegas home. Set on two acres of property and surrounded by a high masonry wall, the occupants were afforded considerable privacy. She was observed by the man inside the house as he read that day's Las Vegas Review Journal, intent on keeping up with the manhunt that had recently consumed the nation. According to the reports, the trail had ended in Baton Rouge, where there had been frequent sightings of Superman flying over the area throughout the day Sunday. Though the news had been repeated continuously on the cable news channels the day before, the man preferred the depth of detail that only print media provided. The speculation was that the Man of Steel was scanning the city searching for the fugitives. We got out of there just in time, Lex Luthor thought to himself as he read the story.

Lex was pleased with himself for avoiding the net that the Man of Steel had cast for them. Mind over muscle, Lex thought to himself as he finally allowed himself to gloat. They'd arrived at the house in Henderson early Sunday evening, and had then finally allowed themselves to relax and recover from the odyssey. Lex had to delay his planning for Superman's end, however. As much as he wanted to begin the end of the Man of Steel, he knew that he first had to placate Kitty who was still jittery from both the harrowing journey and from the Lex's violence. After she dyed her hair blonde and he donned a long curly wig, the two had hit the town Sunday and Monday, shopping, seeing shows, and enjoying luxurious meals out. Under normal circumstances, he would have eliminated her rather than indulge her, but he would still need her until he rebuilt the staff for his organization, and thus had to endure the ordeal. Lex wasn't sure which had been worse: the hectic flight across the south in stolen cars, or shopping with Kitty.

Lex returned to his newspaper, searching through it for any other information on the manhunt when he encountered the op-ed piece by Lois Lane, 'No Bounty is High Enough,' which strongly advocated a twenty-five million dollar bounty on the man that she insisted was the most dangerous man on the planet. She'd gone to great lengths to prove that as she cited his history. Lex frowned as he considered that. While there was no guarantee that they'd place the bounty that high, there would certainly be pressure to increase it, especially now that the couple he'd killed on the Wayward Wanderer had been identified and his prints found on the boat. He'd have to change tactics again, given the opportunistic and greedy nature of the thugs he'd recruited in the past.

"Lex?" Kitty called, as she walked through the back door, "where are you take –"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Lex chastised her, interrupting and waving his index finger in front of him. "What did we talk about earlier?"

"We're not supposed to use our real names," she recited back to him.

"Right, it's Steve and Betty Dawson until further notice," Lex reiterated.

"But, 'Steve', there's nobody around here to hear me," she complained.

"He hears everything, and he's probably listening for my name!" Lex shouted back at her.

"Whatever," Kitty countered, rolling her eyes. "Where are you taking me for dinner?"

Lex looked at his watch. After two days of treating Kitty lavishly, he was anxious to get to work on Superman's demise. "I thought we'd have something delivered this time. I need to get back to work."

"Fine, I'll order Chinese," she huffed as she spun around and walked into the kitchen. Confident that he once again had Kitty under control, Lex walked back to the office to begin searching profiles on his laptop for his new lieutenants: men that dared not betray him. The lackeys he recruited would report to them, never knowing that the man calling the shots was Lex Luthor.

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Day 9, Wednesday, 6:00PM (Central Time), Chicago, Illinois

Roger Pruitt glared at his fellow passengers on the commuter train as he rode home from what he considered a demeaning job stocking dairy products at a grocery store. The halfway house had found him that job upon his parole, and he'd had no choice but to accept it if he wanted to remain free on parole and eventually move out of the halfway house, as he had done earlier in the week. Roger was waiting for the right opportunity to hit it big, but he couldn't risk his parole by quitting the job. Someday soon, he told himself as he walked the short distance from the train to the low-rent apartment he had found.

If anything, Roger's scowl grew as he approached the building, another reminder of the spectacular failure that had landed him behind bars after what had seemed to be the perfect bank robbery. They had gotten away clean, but when one of his partners-in-crime foolishly shot off his mouth, bragging at a strip club, the police hadn't been far behind. He'd served seven years of a ten year sentence before being paroled. That fool is going to pay for this, Roger thought to himself, as he walked towards the stairs of his apartment building. His angry demeanor frightened the young girls jumping rope in front of the building, and they scrambled out of his way. Someday soon, he promised himself.

As he approached his third floor apartment, he noticed the sound of the television blaring from behind the door. It was one of the cable news channels – a station that he never watched. He put his ear up to the door, attempted to detect other voices in the room. Hearing none, he cautiously tried the unlocked door, attempting to make as little noise as possible as he opened it. Peering into the ramshackle room, he noticed an attractive, well-dressed blonde sitting on his couch, her feet up and legs crossed as she stared at the television. Roger confidently stepped into his apartment, no longer concerned about intruders. "Well, Blondie, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he said to her lecherously.

As the woman stood up and turned to him, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind, and he felt the muzzle of a gun pressed to his temple. "Well, Rog, long time, no see," the voice behind him said bitterly. "We have some unfinished business to take care of."

Roger immediately recognized the voice. "Lex Luthor," he said quietly.

"Never say that name aloud again!" Lex commanded him, as he pushed him to the floor. "I see that you've come a long way since we last saw each other," Lex mocked.

"It's temporary," Roger replied defensively.

"Well, then, if everything is under control, then I guess we can leave and let you go back to your job at Kroger," Lex continued derisively. "Or, we can come up with a more agreeable arrangement."

"What have you got in mind?" Roger inquired, now interested in his visitors.

"Before I tell you, there something you should know," Lex told him. "I've put a contract out on you."

"What?" Roger exclaimed. "But I haven't done anything to you!"

"The contract is on hold," Lex explained. "But I've paid the contractor a retainer to take care of business if I should be arrested or anything else unpleasant should happen to me. We wouldn't want you tempted by that reward, or any foolishness like that."

"I'd never rat you out!" Roger complained.

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Lex said simply. "Here's the deal: I have a little project I need to take care of in Metropolis. However, since my freedom of movement there is, shall we say, 'limited,' I need a lieutenant to run the project for me. You'll build a team, they'll report to you, you report to me. And, Roger… nobody else there can know that I'm the one calling the shots. You'll just refer to me as Mr. Big."

"Or Mr. Bald…" suggested Kitty.

"Not now!" Lex commanded. Kitty rolled her eyes and returned to her attention to the news show on the television as Lex returned his attention to Roger. Lex began, "So, what's it going to –" Lex interrupted himself as he recognized the voice from the television. "What is she up to now?" he asked rhetorically. His attention focused on the television as Lois Lane spoke, explaining to the show's host why Lex Luthor was so dangerous and warranted such a large reward. Lex frowned as he listened to Lois' well-prepared arguments. The woman was almost as tenacious as her alien lover in coming after him. After a moment's pause, Lex turned back to Roger and continued, "As I was saying, what's it going to be Rog? Kroger and this hell-hole, or work for me in Metropolis?"

"I'll need some cash up front to cover expenses," Roger told him.

"Sounds like we have a deal," Lex confirmed, as he smiled menacingly. Lex put away his gun, opened up the laptop he had brought with him, and showed Roger what he wanted the man to do.

Author's Note:

Time to reiterate my thanks again to htbthomas for tirelessly betaing my work.