Normally Lana Lang didn't get spooked working alone at the Talon late
at night. The coffeehouse had been her idea; she'd helped oversee
construction, and now she spent a good portion of her waking hours here.
The movie theater upstairs, sure, that was a little spooky in the dark, but that was due mainly to a frightening incident she'd had there a few months before.
However, like all the small business owners in Smallville she was only too aware of the recent string of thefts that had culminated in murder. The police still didn't have any leads, and though there hadn't been any more robberies Lana couldn't help but wish she'd asked Chloe or Clark to stay and help her close.
Especially when she heard a weird metallic scraping as she wiped down tables.
As she listened carefully, however, she realized that the sound was coming from the back of the building, not from anywhere inside.
She eased open the swinging door to the storage room behind the main counter: the lights were still on there, and the sight of neatly lined up coffee tins and a tray of unsold baked goods comforted her.
When she heard the noise again she pressed her ear to the back door, but couldn't make out anything clearly through the metal plate. There were security lights in the alley that should have come on if someone was out there, but then downtown Smallville was so dead this time of night no one would notice them anyway.
Lana grabbed a sturdy broom in one hand, wishing the new security system Lex Luthor had ordered after the robberies had already been installed.
Feeling frightened, and more than a little silly for being frightened, she carefully opened the back door and peeked out into the alley.
At first she didn't see anything. There weren't any cars; no hulking figures lurked in the shadows. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Then looking to the right she saw the source of the noise-one of the large dumpsters was open on its squeaky hinges, and the one next to it stood open as well. A slightly built figure was rifling through the garbage.
Lana winced at the pathetic sight. She knew some local business owners padlocked their dumpsters to prevent such activities, but she hadn't thought it necessary. Smallville didn't really have any street people.
She didn't put her makeshift weapon down, but she lowered it to her side so she looked less threatening, and cleared her throat.
"Hey."
Lana hadn't raised her voice, but the other person was startled nonetheless. The lid slammed shut and Lana found herself face to face with a girl about her own age. In the dim lighting she could see the girl was jacketless in the cold night. She looked poised to run.
"I didn't mean to frighten you, I sorry," Lana said quickly. "But if you're hungry I can give you something to eat. There's nothing in there but paper cups and coffee grounds anyway."
The girl stared at her suspiciously, as if still trying to decide whether to run or not. She was thin and small, and spiky hair stuck out from her head in several different directions, but Lana still couldn't get a good look at her face.
"Look, I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I manage this place, so it's OK about the dumpsters, really. Hang on a sec." Lana kept the door propped open with her foot but reached back into the storage room. Finding a paper bag she hastily filled it with day-old muffins and bagels. She also grabbed the pink sweater she had hung on the pegboard next to her purse.
"If you're hungry you should eat something." Lana held out the bag, and after a moment the other girl snatched it out of her hands. She didn't open it, though.
Wondering if she was doing the right thing Lana then held out her sweater.
"It's cold out here, so why don't you take this."
"Can't." The voice was flat and empty, not at all like a young girl should sound.
"Yes, you can. You shouldn't catch cold. Please." Lana tried to smile winningly, and after a moment the other girl stepped forward slightly and took the sweater from her hand.
In doing so, however, she came more fully into the light, and Lana gasped.
The girl had a large, swollen lump on one side of her forehead. It looked like she had tried to clean the wound, but there were still flecks of dried blood against her pale skin. She also had a black eye and a split lip, which looked recent, too.
Lana's reaction was the worse thing she could have done-the other girl instantly recognized the horror in her expression and, before Lana could stop her, bolted away into the night.
Feeling a little dizzy, Lana briefly contemplated running after her. She reluctantly decided against it. There was no telling where the girl might be headed, or if whoever had inflicted the damage might be waiting for her.
Lana stepped back into the Talon and carefully closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it.
Then she did what she usually did when she needed help.
She called Clark.
Clark refilled the coffee mug from the urn on the counter and walked back over to where Lana was sitting.
"Here. I think it's still hot."
Lana smiled at him. "Thank, Clark. Good thing I hadn't emptied that yet."
While she drank he watched his ex-girlfriend closely. She looked none the worse for her experience: in fact, even on the phone she'd sounded much more concerned about the girl than about herself. But Clark was still worried. Lana didn't always handle crises well.
Before he could bring up the subject again, however, Sheriff Adams pushed open the kitchen door and stepped into the dining area.
Lana stood abruptly. "Did you find anything?"
The older woman shook her head. "Nope. You really should have had locks on those dumpsters, you know."
Lana looked away, but not before Clark saw her roll her green eyes. He cleared his throat.
"What about fingerprints?"
"Fingerprints? On a dumpster accessible to the public? That would be a waste of time, don't you think, Mr. Kent?"
Clark sighed. He knew Adams was a good cop, but truth be told he wished she were willing to think outside the box more often.
One of the deputies appeared behind the sheriff, holding up a crumbled paper bag with the Talon logo on it. "We found this two blocks away. It's full of crumbs."
Adams looked at Lana with raised eyebrows. "That what you gave her?"
"Yes. She looked so hungry."
"I know you meant well, Miss Lang, but you shouldn't have taken the risk, not with a murderer on the loose. You sure you don't want me to contact Mr. Luthor?"
"No. I'm fine and the Talon's fine. No need for Lex to rush back from Metropolis. Frankly I'm a lot more worried about the girl. What if someone's hurting her? You didn't see her face."
Clark laid a hand on Lana's shoulder as the sheriff stepped back outside with her deputy. Before he could think of something comforting to say, however, Lana looked at him sharply.
"Clark, I didn't want to say anything while the sheriff was here because she probably wouldn't believe me. But I don't think she was just some street kid. I think she might have been Rose's mother."
"Rose's.why?"
Lana shook her head. "I don't know. She just looked so young, and so scared.I just have this feeling. And why else would she be running even though she's hurt?
"I don't know, Lana." Clark chewed his lip. "But I promise you we'll find out."
"Well, if Lana is right Rose's mom wouldn't be the first teenage girl to dump her baby." Chloe was once again sitting behind her computer, but this time only she and Clark occupied the Talon office. Pete had wanted to come, but the baby was colicky and he didn't want to leave her alone.
"God, that's horrible," Clark told her.
"It is, but it's understandable. They're young, they're alone, they panic. You know, some cities have programs now where women can leave their babies at a hospital or a church with no questions asked."
"But who beat her up? Her parents?"
"Who knows?" Chloe typed quickly as she sorted through her files. "I ran Lana's description back through my sources."
Clark grabbed the other office chair and sat down. "Did you get a hit?"
"I'm not sure." She waited for a moment while the printer spit out a page, then handed it to her friend.
"I found a Jane Doe who delivered a baby girl at Metropolis General six weeks ago. She checked herself out the next day against doctors' advice and disappeared. The address she gave was fake."
Clark arched his eyebrows as he read. "And no one filed a missing person report?"
"The hospital staff wanted to, but they couldn't prove she was a minor. If she wasn't, then the police don't have a case. Adults can check themselves in and out of the hospital at will, even if it risks their health."
"But teenagers can't." Clark thought for a moment. "What do we do next?"
Chloe stood and stretched. "We can't do much without a name. But tomorrow I'm going to start calling Metropolis halfway houses and shelters, see if anyone is missing a teenage girl and a baby."
"Do you think they'd tell us if they are?"
"I think I can make a convincing case she might be in danger. Someone gave her that black eye, Clark. Even if she isn't Rose's mother, we need to find her and make sure she's OK."
"Yeah, we do." Clark paused and picked up that morning's copy of the Smallville Ledger. Chloe's story had indeed made the front page, although not the headline. But there was a nice photo of the baby in the lower left- hand corner. On Sheriff Adams' orders Chloe had left out specific details of how the baby was found, but there was contact information and news of the LuthorCorp reward.
"Well, if your story doesn't shake more information loose I don't know what to do next."
"Oh, don't worry Clark-the editor said he'd going to put Rose's story out on the AP wire service. Lots of people will hear about it."
"I sure hope so. I don't know how Pete will react if lots of people start coming forward, though. He doesn't even believe Lana's story."
Chloe crinkled her nose. "He's really attached to Rose, isn't he?"
"You know Pete-way too soft-hearted for his own good."
Chloe smiled gently. "I could say the same about you, Clark."
"Mom and Dad are making sure I stay realistic about the whole thing, though. If we can find Rose a good, safe home, even if it's not with her biological family, then we'll have to do it."
"Don't forget-you were adopted and you turned out OK. I only had one parent and I turned out OK. Rose will be, too."
Clark sighed heavily. "Now we just need to convince Pete."
The movie theater upstairs, sure, that was a little spooky in the dark, but that was due mainly to a frightening incident she'd had there a few months before.
However, like all the small business owners in Smallville she was only too aware of the recent string of thefts that had culminated in murder. The police still didn't have any leads, and though there hadn't been any more robberies Lana couldn't help but wish she'd asked Chloe or Clark to stay and help her close.
Especially when she heard a weird metallic scraping as she wiped down tables.
As she listened carefully, however, she realized that the sound was coming from the back of the building, not from anywhere inside.
She eased open the swinging door to the storage room behind the main counter: the lights were still on there, and the sight of neatly lined up coffee tins and a tray of unsold baked goods comforted her.
When she heard the noise again she pressed her ear to the back door, but couldn't make out anything clearly through the metal plate. There were security lights in the alley that should have come on if someone was out there, but then downtown Smallville was so dead this time of night no one would notice them anyway.
Lana grabbed a sturdy broom in one hand, wishing the new security system Lex Luthor had ordered after the robberies had already been installed.
Feeling frightened, and more than a little silly for being frightened, she carefully opened the back door and peeked out into the alley.
At first she didn't see anything. There weren't any cars; no hulking figures lurked in the shadows. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Then looking to the right she saw the source of the noise-one of the large dumpsters was open on its squeaky hinges, and the one next to it stood open as well. A slightly built figure was rifling through the garbage.
Lana winced at the pathetic sight. She knew some local business owners padlocked their dumpsters to prevent such activities, but she hadn't thought it necessary. Smallville didn't really have any street people.
She didn't put her makeshift weapon down, but she lowered it to her side so she looked less threatening, and cleared her throat.
"Hey."
Lana hadn't raised her voice, but the other person was startled nonetheless. The lid slammed shut and Lana found herself face to face with a girl about her own age. In the dim lighting she could see the girl was jacketless in the cold night. She looked poised to run.
"I didn't mean to frighten you, I sorry," Lana said quickly. "But if you're hungry I can give you something to eat. There's nothing in there but paper cups and coffee grounds anyway."
The girl stared at her suspiciously, as if still trying to decide whether to run or not. She was thin and small, and spiky hair stuck out from her head in several different directions, but Lana still couldn't get a good look at her face.
"Look, I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I manage this place, so it's OK about the dumpsters, really. Hang on a sec." Lana kept the door propped open with her foot but reached back into the storage room. Finding a paper bag she hastily filled it with day-old muffins and bagels. She also grabbed the pink sweater she had hung on the pegboard next to her purse.
"If you're hungry you should eat something." Lana held out the bag, and after a moment the other girl snatched it out of her hands. She didn't open it, though.
Wondering if she was doing the right thing Lana then held out her sweater.
"It's cold out here, so why don't you take this."
"Can't." The voice was flat and empty, not at all like a young girl should sound.
"Yes, you can. You shouldn't catch cold. Please." Lana tried to smile winningly, and after a moment the other girl stepped forward slightly and took the sweater from her hand.
In doing so, however, she came more fully into the light, and Lana gasped.
The girl had a large, swollen lump on one side of her forehead. It looked like she had tried to clean the wound, but there were still flecks of dried blood against her pale skin. She also had a black eye and a split lip, which looked recent, too.
Lana's reaction was the worse thing she could have done-the other girl instantly recognized the horror in her expression and, before Lana could stop her, bolted away into the night.
Feeling a little dizzy, Lana briefly contemplated running after her. She reluctantly decided against it. There was no telling where the girl might be headed, or if whoever had inflicted the damage might be waiting for her.
Lana stepped back into the Talon and carefully closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it.
Then she did what she usually did when she needed help.
She called Clark.
Clark refilled the coffee mug from the urn on the counter and walked back over to where Lana was sitting.
"Here. I think it's still hot."
Lana smiled at him. "Thank, Clark. Good thing I hadn't emptied that yet."
While she drank he watched his ex-girlfriend closely. She looked none the worse for her experience: in fact, even on the phone she'd sounded much more concerned about the girl than about herself. But Clark was still worried. Lana didn't always handle crises well.
Before he could bring up the subject again, however, Sheriff Adams pushed open the kitchen door and stepped into the dining area.
Lana stood abruptly. "Did you find anything?"
The older woman shook her head. "Nope. You really should have had locks on those dumpsters, you know."
Lana looked away, but not before Clark saw her roll her green eyes. He cleared his throat.
"What about fingerprints?"
"Fingerprints? On a dumpster accessible to the public? That would be a waste of time, don't you think, Mr. Kent?"
Clark sighed. He knew Adams was a good cop, but truth be told he wished she were willing to think outside the box more often.
One of the deputies appeared behind the sheriff, holding up a crumbled paper bag with the Talon logo on it. "We found this two blocks away. It's full of crumbs."
Adams looked at Lana with raised eyebrows. "That what you gave her?"
"Yes. She looked so hungry."
"I know you meant well, Miss Lang, but you shouldn't have taken the risk, not with a murderer on the loose. You sure you don't want me to contact Mr. Luthor?"
"No. I'm fine and the Talon's fine. No need for Lex to rush back from Metropolis. Frankly I'm a lot more worried about the girl. What if someone's hurting her? You didn't see her face."
Clark laid a hand on Lana's shoulder as the sheriff stepped back outside with her deputy. Before he could think of something comforting to say, however, Lana looked at him sharply.
"Clark, I didn't want to say anything while the sheriff was here because she probably wouldn't believe me. But I don't think she was just some street kid. I think she might have been Rose's mother."
"Rose's.why?"
Lana shook her head. "I don't know. She just looked so young, and so scared.I just have this feeling. And why else would she be running even though she's hurt?
"I don't know, Lana." Clark chewed his lip. "But I promise you we'll find out."
"Well, if Lana is right Rose's mom wouldn't be the first teenage girl to dump her baby." Chloe was once again sitting behind her computer, but this time only she and Clark occupied the Talon office. Pete had wanted to come, but the baby was colicky and he didn't want to leave her alone.
"God, that's horrible," Clark told her.
"It is, but it's understandable. They're young, they're alone, they panic. You know, some cities have programs now where women can leave their babies at a hospital or a church with no questions asked."
"But who beat her up? Her parents?"
"Who knows?" Chloe typed quickly as she sorted through her files. "I ran Lana's description back through my sources."
Clark grabbed the other office chair and sat down. "Did you get a hit?"
"I'm not sure." She waited for a moment while the printer spit out a page, then handed it to her friend.
"I found a Jane Doe who delivered a baby girl at Metropolis General six weeks ago. She checked herself out the next day against doctors' advice and disappeared. The address she gave was fake."
Clark arched his eyebrows as he read. "And no one filed a missing person report?"
"The hospital staff wanted to, but they couldn't prove she was a minor. If she wasn't, then the police don't have a case. Adults can check themselves in and out of the hospital at will, even if it risks their health."
"But teenagers can't." Clark thought for a moment. "What do we do next?"
Chloe stood and stretched. "We can't do much without a name. But tomorrow I'm going to start calling Metropolis halfway houses and shelters, see if anyone is missing a teenage girl and a baby."
"Do you think they'd tell us if they are?"
"I think I can make a convincing case she might be in danger. Someone gave her that black eye, Clark. Even if she isn't Rose's mother, we need to find her and make sure she's OK."
"Yeah, we do." Clark paused and picked up that morning's copy of the Smallville Ledger. Chloe's story had indeed made the front page, although not the headline. But there was a nice photo of the baby in the lower left- hand corner. On Sheriff Adams' orders Chloe had left out specific details of how the baby was found, but there was contact information and news of the LuthorCorp reward.
"Well, if your story doesn't shake more information loose I don't know what to do next."
"Oh, don't worry Clark-the editor said he'd going to put Rose's story out on the AP wire service. Lots of people will hear about it."
"I sure hope so. I don't know how Pete will react if lots of people start coming forward, though. He doesn't even believe Lana's story."
Chloe crinkled her nose. "He's really attached to Rose, isn't he?"
"You know Pete-way too soft-hearted for his own good."
Chloe smiled gently. "I could say the same about you, Clark."
"Mom and Dad are making sure I stay realistic about the whole thing, though. If we can find Rose a good, safe home, even if it's not with her biological family, then we'll have to do it."
"Don't forget-you were adopted and you turned out OK. I only had one parent and I turned out OK. Rose will be, too."
Clark sighed heavily. "Now we just need to convince Pete."