Author's Note: Real life has been interfering with the writing process and
actually caused me to make some decisions regarding the story that are
meant to help bring it to a logical conclusion. I hope this still works and
am looking forward to any feedback.
Thankyou again to my beta reader who points a finger at all the stupid stuff so I can remove it without embarassing myself. :D
Chapter 15
Pete doubled over in exhaustion as he reached the door of the Talon. Hands on knees, blowing dirt off the sidewalk with the force of his breath, he took a moment to slow his heart rate. He walked in and realised Chloe was not there. Pulling out his cell phone, gratified to see it was working at last, he hit the speed dial.
"Yeh!" came the loud reply.
"Chloe, where are you?"
"Just finished at the Torch and heading to my car. What's up?"
"I think Clark might be in trouble but I need to find out where he is and fast. Pick me up at the Talon and step on it. This could be important." Pete's voice held fear. Chloe took a moment to look at her cell in consternation before rushing to her car. She knew Pete was supposed to be walking home with Clark for security reasons, and if Pete had lost him somehow...
Pete hung up and stared out the door of the Talon willing Chloe to appear faster.
"What's wrong, Pete?" Lana Lang approached him gracefully with a look of genuine concern. "I thought you were supposed to be walking home with Clark?" Pete knew Lana and Clark had become friends but he doubted Clark had included her in this.
"Well, Clark went ahead without me." He shrugged one shoulder up, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Then why are you holding his backpack?"
"Ummm" Alright Pete, face the fact that you'll never have a career in espionage. "I found it on the path. Chloe's gonna pick me up and we're going to look for Clark." Pete saw Lana's concern, looked into her big liquid eyes, and the confession was out before he could stop it. "I think he might be in trouble."
"Shouldn't you call his folks?"
"And tell them I lost him?!" Pete almost squeaked. Lex Luthor was not the only one with a healthy respect for Jonathan Kent. "Geez, I was supposed to keep an eye on him."
Whitney took this moment to join in and asked in confusion, "Who's lost?"
Lana turned back with an affectionate smile. "Clark."
"Kinda big to lose isn't he?" Whitney was half smiling. Pete was getting annoyed.
"OK, look, Clark is involved in some kind of a fight between Lex and his dad. Clark's been threatened and I was supposed to stay with him to prevent anything happening. I'm a little bit late and the big, dumb jerk leaves without me! Now I found his backpack on the path and that's awfully suspicious. He may be OK but I've got to find him to be sure. I don't want to scare his folks if it's nothing." Pete's shifted restlessly from foot to foot looking again out the door.
Just then, Chloe's red car came into view. Pete was about to escape when Lana elbowed Whitney in the ribs. Looking at him meaningfully and nodding towards Pete, Whitney reluctantly understood.
"I'll go with you."
Pete hesitated but Whitney didn't give him a chance to protest. "Look, I owe Clark anyway. If I can help, I want to, and besides a little extra muscle may come in handy." Whitney smiled, warming up to the idea as he spoke. Pete looked at the tall muscular blond, considering the possible need for backup and agreed.
Lana wished them luck then changed her mind. "I'll come too. We'll take Whitney's truck and follow you. If we have to split up to search, no one will have to go alone. I'll just ask Zoe to call Clark's parents if she doesn't hear back from us in half an hour. If he's safe, we should know by then, if not, they'll want to search too."
Pete nodded, then ran to Chloe's car and jumped in. Pete filled Chloe in on the details as they drove down the Foundry road. Lana and Whitney followed in Fordman's latest bright red truck. Both vehicles pulled over well before the newly built gate that blocked the drive into the foundy. By mutual consent, they parked off the road near Greg Arkin's old treehouse. They left them there and ran to the much older fence that actually surrounded the site. A long black limousine was pulling out of the gate.
The black car that Pete had seen was nowhere in sight. This was the only destination on this road. It had to be here.
"Are you sure they came this way?" Chloe hissed as Lana and Whitney joined them.
"Yes. We won't know if he's in there if we don't look. Come on." Pete motioned for them to follow as he snuck through a hole in the fence. The others followed.
"How'd you..." Chloe pointed to the hole.
"Clark and I used to come here as kids but he never stayed long. Clark always got sick around this place and when Greg started to dare him to go in, we stopped coming." Pete shrugged. They walked along the bushes then dashed through the long uncut grass to look in a broken window. Clark, a blonde man, and what looked like a bodyguard were at the other end of the long open building in an old wooden office. The door was open and there was a large window that looked out on the workroom floor. Lana gasped when she saw that Clark was barely standing. His arms were tied to a post above his head. Pete signalled for them to follow and they moved to a torn opening near the end of the building. They crawled through and approached the end of the office, looking through the plank siding that made up the walls of the rickety structure.
Chloe gripped Pete's arm and Lana leaned slightly into Whitney for comfort as they looked inside. Clark looked sick. He was putting considerable effort into standing upright and swayed drunkenly as he tried to focus on the room. His arms were held above his head but his weight was not on them. If he could just keep standing his position would not be too uncomfortable. He rubbed his forehead on his upper arm trying to clear his eyes of sweat and almost lost his footing. Chloe's grip on Pete's arm began to hurt as she felt outrage begin to burn in her chest. This was her friend Clark and someone was hurting him.
"We need to go get the police." Lana whispered, her eyes were large with worry. Whitney held her hand and agreed with her completely, looking for confirmation from the other two.
Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes then looked to Pete for backup.
"We can't leave Clark like this. What if they decide to move him? We wouldn't be able to stop them and we'd never find him again. Besides, he looks like he's dying. We've got to do something fast." Looking back in, Chloe saw that Clark seemed to have rallied a bit and was arguing with the blonde. Chloe had never seen Clark look that mad. She felt a surge of pride at his bravery but it didn't last long as the blonde moved in close and hit him. Whitney started forward instinctively but Lana pulled him back. Chloe felt tears in her eyes to see Clark so helpless. They had to get him now.
"Chloe.." Pete could see his anger mirrored in Chloe's look. While they watched, Clark sagged and hung limply by his wrists while his assailant merely walked a distance away looking for a comfortable place to sit while he waited. Apparently keeping him undamaged wasn't necessary. Clark was obviously suffering. His breathing seemed to be an effort and his hair was matted with sweat.
Chloe turned away from the sight and grimaced with determination. "I have a plan."
"Chloe.." Pete tugged at her shoulder so she had to face him.
"Look, Pete, there's four of us and two of them."
"I don't like the sound of this." Pete was sceptical. Chloe straightened and looked at him with determination. "Clark has saved us all countless times. Are you going to take the chance and leave him here?" Lana nodded in agreement.
Pete looked hard at the blonde in front of him. "All right, what's the plan?"
"We'll distract them while you sneak up from behind."
"Oh. That's intricate and well thought out." Sarcasm dripped from these words. Pete was always the practical one when Chloe had a scheme.
"You got a better one?" Chloe had her hands on her hips her whispered voice becoming louder.
"How do you know they don't have guns?" Pete mimicked her gesture. Chloe generally travelled in straight lines when trying to get something done. Pete knew how to throw in a curve, often keeping them out of trouble. This situation was more frightening but the dynamic stayed the same.
Chloe considered this, knowing Pete. "We don't." She looked at the ground in defeat. "I just can't stand to leave him like this."
Pete put his hand on her chin to look in her eyes. Smiling a little, he tried to reassure her despite his own doubts. "It won't help him to get us killed. We need to consider everything." Pete looked to Whitney. "We need to be somewhere we can jump them before the girls get too close." Pete looked up remembering past dares in the girders above. "Give us two minutes, I know a way above that office. Go around the building to the other entrance and come in when you see me. I'll give a thumbs up when we're ready. You need to get them to come out of the door so we'll be behind them.
"Let's do this." Chloe was already removing the leggings she wore under her short skirt, giving Pete a lovely view of long shapely legs.
Pete put a hand on Whitney's shoulder, finding the other boy's solidness to be comforting. This crazy scheme just might work. Pete set his shoulders, taking charge. "Alright. Come on." A quick smile. "Time's wasting." The two ran further down the side of the building.
Chloe looked at them with a her eyebrows raised in surprise. Pete Ross in action gave her an interesting new perspective on her otherwise chronically cheerful best friend.
Lana interrupted her thoughts. " I think I know what you have in mind..."
Thankyou again to my beta reader who points a finger at all the stupid stuff so I can remove it without embarassing myself. :D
Chapter 15
Pete doubled over in exhaustion as he reached the door of the Talon. Hands on knees, blowing dirt off the sidewalk with the force of his breath, he took a moment to slow his heart rate. He walked in and realised Chloe was not there. Pulling out his cell phone, gratified to see it was working at last, he hit the speed dial.
"Yeh!" came the loud reply.
"Chloe, where are you?"
"Just finished at the Torch and heading to my car. What's up?"
"I think Clark might be in trouble but I need to find out where he is and fast. Pick me up at the Talon and step on it. This could be important." Pete's voice held fear. Chloe took a moment to look at her cell in consternation before rushing to her car. She knew Pete was supposed to be walking home with Clark for security reasons, and if Pete had lost him somehow...
Pete hung up and stared out the door of the Talon willing Chloe to appear faster.
"What's wrong, Pete?" Lana Lang approached him gracefully with a look of genuine concern. "I thought you were supposed to be walking home with Clark?" Pete knew Lana and Clark had become friends but he doubted Clark had included her in this.
"Well, Clark went ahead without me." He shrugged one shoulder up, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Then why are you holding his backpack?"
"Ummm" Alright Pete, face the fact that you'll never have a career in espionage. "I found it on the path. Chloe's gonna pick me up and we're going to look for Clark." Pete saw Lana's concern, looked into her big liquid eyes, and the confession was out before he could stop it. "I think he might be in trouble."
"Shouldn't you call his folks?"
"And tell them I lost him?!" Pete almost squeaked. Lex Luthor was not the only one with a healthy respect for Jonathan Kent. "Geez, I was supposed to keep an eye on him."
Whitney took this moment to join in and asked in confusion, "Who's lost?"
Lana turned back with an affectionate smile. "Clark."
"Kinda big to lose isn't he?" Whitney was half smiling. Pete was getting annoyed.
"OK, look, Clark is involved in some kind of a fight between Lex and his dad. Clark's been threatened and I was supposed to stay with him to prevent anything happening. I'm a little bit late and the big, dumb jerk leaves without me! Now I found his backpack on the path and that's awfully suspicious. He may be OK but I've got to find him to be sure. I don't want to scare his folks if it's nothing." Pete's shifted restlessly from foot to foot looking again out the door.
Just then, Chloe's red car came into view. Pete was about to escape when Lana elbowed Whitney in the ribs. Looking at him meaningfully and nodding towards Pete, Whitney reluctantly understood.
"I'll go with you."
Pete hesitated but Whitney didn't give him a chance to protest. "Look, I owe Clark anyway. If I can help, I want to, and besides a little extra muscle may come in handy." Whitney smiled, warming up to the idea as he spoke. Pete looked at the tall muscular blond, considering the possible need for backup and agreed.
Lana wished them luck then changed her mind. "I'll come too. We'll take Whitney's truck and follow you. If we have to split up to search, no one will have to go alone. I'll just ask Zoe to call Clark's parents if she doesn't hear back from us in half an hour. If he's safe, we should know by then, if not, they'll want to search too."
Pete nodded, then ran to Chloe's car and jumped in. Pete filled Chloe in on the details as they drove down the Foundry road. Lana and Whitney followed in Fordman's latest bright red truck. Both vehicles pulled over well before the newly built gate that blocked the drive into the foundy. By mutual consent, they parked off the road near Greg Arkin's old treehouse. They left them there and ran to the much older fence that actually surrounded the site. A long black limousine was pulling out of the gate.
The black car that Pete had seen was nowhere in sight. This was the only destination on this road. It had to be here.
"Are you sure they came this way?" Chloe hissed as Lana and Whitney joined them.
"Yes. We won't know if he's in there if we don't look. Come on." Pete motioned for them to follow as he snuck through a hole in the fence. The others followed.
"How'd you..." Chloe pointed to the hole.
"Clark and I used to come here as kids but he never stayed long. Clark always got sick around this place and when Greg started to dare him to go in, we stopped coming." Pete shrugged. They walked along the bushes then dashed through the long uncut grass to look in a broken window. Clark, a blonde man, and what looked like a bodyguard were at the other end of the long open building in an old wooden office. The door was open and there was a large window that looked out on the workroom floor. Lana gasped when she saw that Clark was barely standing. His arms were tied to a post above his head. Pete signalled for them to follow and they moved to a torn opening near the end of the building. They crawled through and approached the end of the office, looking through the plank siding that made up the walls of the rickety structure.
Chloe gripped Pete's arm and Lana leaned slightly into Whitney for comfort as they looked inside. Clark looked sick. He was putting considerable effort into standing upright and swayed drunkenly as he tried to focus on the room. His arms were held above his head but his weight was not on them. If he could just keep standing his position would not be too uncomfortable. He rubbed his forehead on his upper arm trying to clear his eyes of sweat and almost lost his footing. Chloe's grip on Pete's arm began to hurt as she felt outrage begin to burn in her chest. This was her friend Clark and someone was hurting him.
"We need to go get the police." Lana whispered, her eyes were large with worry. Whitney held her hand and agreed with her completely, looking for confirmation from the other two.
Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes then looked to Pete for backup.
"We can't leave Clark like this. What if they decide to move him? We wouldn't be able to stop them and we'd never find him again. Besides, he looks like he's dying. We've got to do something fast." Looking back in, Chloe saw that Clark seemed to have rallied a bit and was arguing with the blonde. Chloe had never seen Clark look that mad. She felt a surge of pride at his bravery but it didn't last long as the blonde moved in close and hit him. Whitney started forward instinctively but Lana pulled him back. Chloe felt tears in her eyes to see Clark so helpless. They had to get him now.
"Chloe.." Pete could see his anger mirrored in Chloe's look. While they watched, Clark sagged and hung limply by his wrists while his assailant merely walked a distance away looking for a comfortable place to sit while he waited. Apparently keeping him undamaged wasn't necessary. Clark was obviously suffering. His breathing seemed to be an effort and his hair was matted with sweat.
Chloe turned away from the sight and grimaced with determination. "I have a plan."
"Chloe.." Pete tugged at her shoulder so she had to face him.
"Look, Pete, there's four of us and two of them."
"I don't like the sound of this." Pete was sceptical. Chloe straightened and looked at him with determination. "Clark has saved us all countless times. Are you going to take the chance and leave him here?" Lana nodded in agreement.
Pete looked hard at the blonde in front of him. "All right, what's the plan?"
"We'll distract them while you sneak up from behind."
"Oh. That's intricate and well thought out." Sarcasm dripped from these words. Pete was always the practical one when Chloe had a scheme.
"You got a better one?" Chloe had her hands on her hips her whispered voice becoming louder.
"How do you know they don't have guns?" Pete mimicked her gesture. Chloe generally travelled in straight lines when trying to get something done. Pete knew how to throw in a curve, often keeping them out of trouble. This situation was more frightening but the dynamic stayed the same.
Chloe considered this, knowing Pete. "We don't." She looked at the ground in defeat. "I just can't stand to leave him like this."
Pete put his hand on her chin to look in her eyes. Smiling a little, he tried to reassure her despite his own doubts. "It won't help him to get us killed. We need to consider everything." Pete looked to Whitney. "We need to be somewhere we can jump them before the girls get too close." Pete looked up remembering past dares in the girders above. "Give us two minutes, I know a way above that office. Go around the building to the other entrance and come in when you see me. I'll give a thumbs up when we're ready. You need to get them to come out of the door so we'll be behind them.
"Let's do this." Chloe was already removing the leggings she wore under her short skirt, giving Pete a lovely view of long shapely legs.
Pete put a hand on Whitney's shoulder, finding the other boy's solidness to be comforting. This crazy scheme just might work. Pete set his shoulders, taking charge. "Alright. Come on." A quick smile. "Time's wasting." The two ran further down the side of the building.
Chloe looked at them with a her eyebrows raised in surprise. Pete Ross in action gave her an interesting new perspective on her otherwise chronically cheerful best friend.
Lana interrupted her thoughts. " I think I know what you have in mind..."