Chapter 13 – Not Again

Chloe and the group brainstorm a few ideas while sitting in the office. None of them noticed the shadow outside the door listening to their conversation.

"Where would you hide someone in a place like Smallville?" Pete asked to no one in particular.

Chloe pondered for a few seconds. Then, an idea came to her. "You always hide it in the place people are least likely to suspect." She whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"And where is that exactly?" Clark asked. A bit confused at Chloe's line of thought.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Victoria is probably hiding Lila right under Lex's nose."

"The mansion? The Plant?" Lana chipped in.

"No, no." Chloe shakes her head in frustration. "Way too dangerous."

"LuthorCorp has a lot of properties in Smallville." Clark suggested.

Chloe was lost in thought. Suddenly and idea came to her. She wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Clark. "You guys check out these two places." She checked her watch. "We'll meet back in three hours at Clark's house." With that Chloe headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Clark yelled.

"The abandoned barn outside Smallville." Was all Chloe said before running out the door.

The three of them rushed out the door after her, but she was already gone. Pete threw up hands in despair. "Just great!"

* * * * *

Chloe had left the Talon for about 15 minutes when she noticed someone following her. 'Damn.' She muttered. A series of thoughts popped into Chloe's head. 'Why are they following me? Do you work for Victoria? Do they know where I'm going? How the hell would they know where I'm going?'

She kept on driving, trying to figure out how to lose them in this flat Kansas road. All of the sudden the car following her hit her from behind. Chloe was unprepared for this and her car swirled toward the side of the street and crashed into a tree. Chloe felt herself thrown forward. Her head came in contact with something hard and she lost consciousness at the dashboard.

When she came to, her head was pounding and she felt dizzy. All she could see was black. She heard a voice calling to her. "Chloe, wake up." As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out a figure kneeling beside her. "Lila?" Chloe asked in confusion. "Yeah, it's me." Lila answered back. "And I think you might have a concussion."

"Ouch." She winced.

"And you have a cut on your forehead too." Lila explained.

"I'm going to kill Victoria when I get out of here." Chloe replied angrily.

"I haven't seen Victoria, but I have seen Sir Harry." Lila offered.

"No Victoria?" Chloe asked in amazement.

"Nope." Replied Lila. "But she still could be involved. Maybe she doesn't want to be tied to this whole thing."

Chloe looked around, noticing both of them were tied up.

"No pun intended." Lila replied, smiling a bit, realizing her use of metaphor.

"So how is everyone doing?" Lila asked carefully.

Chloe let out a small chuckle. "You mean how are Lex and Lionel holding up without you there to play mediator."

"Yeah." Replied Lila with a small smile.

Chloe looked at Lila seriously. "I think they're putting away their differences in order to find you."

Lila smiled sadly. "I wish Lex and Dad had stop their mind games a long time ago." She replied quietly.

Chloe looked at Lila in shock. "You knew?"

Lila looked at Chloe and smiled. "I see my brother has confided in you. I hope this means you two are getting closer." She teased.

Chloe blushed. "Well, you could say that."

Lila smirked. "When we get out of here I'm going to have a nice long talk with that brother of mine."

"You think they'll find us soon?" Chloe frowned.

"If Victoria or Sir Harry kidnapped you. Then you must have been close to discovering something." Lila said confidently. "That means Lex will probably figure it out soon too."

Lila shifted her position of the ground to get more comfortable. "So what did you find out to make you a threat to them?" inquired Lila.

"Well, I thought maybe Victoria put you somewhere Lex least expected. And where but right underneath his nose? On his own property?"

Lila's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Lex owns a barn?" She asked in amusement.

"Wel……" Chloe stammered. "This barn isn't actually his."

Lila was more confused than before. "And whose is it?"

"It belongs or should I say belonged to Dr. Hamilton, he worked for Lex for awhile."

Lila's eyes light up in recognition. "I've heard of him. Lex told me he worked for him at Cadmus Labs."

"And Cadmus Labs is what brought down Sir Harry and Victoria." Chloe said in affirmation.

"So you just came here by yourself out on a theory?" Lila asked in amazement.

Chloe nodded her head in response. And Lila just shook her head in dismay. "I don't know how Lex put up with you sometimes."

* * * * *

Lex called Chloe's cell phone for the hundredth time that afternoon. Still, no one answered. Lex was beginning to get worried. He dialled the Sullivan house.

"Hello." Gabe answered on the other line.

 "Gabe, it's Lex." He replied. "Have you heard from Chloe?"

Gabe frowned. "Haven't seen her since she left the house this afternoon. Is something wrong? I know she's investigating Lila's kidnapping."

Lex rubbed his temple. "I'm sure she just forgot to turn on her cell phone or something. Just want to check if she was home yet."

"Alright." Answered Gabe, not totally convinced that Chloe didn't get into trouble. "You'll let me know if she's in trouble?" asked a concerned Gabe.

"Of course." Lex answered. "You'll be the first to know."

Lex hanged up the phone and stared at the file before him. His investigators still haven't found a likely place Victoria had taken Lila. He picked up the phone again and called Clark.

"Hey Lex" Clark greeted.

"Have you seen Chloe?"

"Yeah, saw her about two hours ago. Said she was going to follow a lead."

"And you let her go alone?" Lex asked, almost angry.

"We agree to split up so more work can be done, and meet up at my house after three hours." Clark defended. "Besides, you know how stubborn she can be."

Lex let out a frustrating sigh. "I'm sorry. What did you guys find out?"

"Chloe thought Victoria might be hiding Lila right under your nose, in a LuthorCorp or LexCorp property." Clark replied. "So we split up to check out a few of the possible locations. But none of us found anything, and we still haven't heard from Chloe." Clark glanced over to Lana and Pete sitting at the dinner table, with worried looks on their faces.

"Where was she headed?" Lex asked quickly.

"She was going to check out this abandoned barn right outside of Smallville." Clark answered weakly. "But I don't know what she was referring to since she left in such a hurry."

Lex's eye shot up. "Meet me at Dr. Hamilton's abandoned barn." Lex said, and quickly hang up the phone.

"What was that about?" Lana asked with curiosity.

"Lex wants me to meet him at Dr. Hamliton's barn." Clark replied, still holding the telephone. "I think that where Chloe was headed. She probably thinks that's where Victoria has Lila."

"Well?" Lana stood up from her chair. "Let's go."

Pete and Clark glanced at her with widened eyes. "Lana." Clark began. "I think you should stay here. Where it's save."

Lana glared at Clark. "I can handle it." She replied. "I want to help Lila too."

Pete gave him a look that told him not to mess with her.

"Alright." Clark gave in. "But you're staying right behind me."

Lana smiled at Clark.

"Pete. Why don't you stay here." Clark suggested. "If we don't call you in two hour, call the Sheriff."

Pete nodded, and patted Clark on the back. "Be careful man."

Clark gave him a small smile. He took Lana's hand in his and headed for his truck.

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A/N: I have no idea where Dr Hamilton's barn is …… so if anybody knows, please tell me so I can change it.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading. : )