Lex drove in silence, as the car quickly ate up the miles to Smallville as
he pushed it to the limit. Chloe watched as the lines flashed by on the
road, or as the headlight occasionally lit up a tree or a fence. They were
moving fast.
She leaned over, and glanced at the speedometer. Ninety miles an hour seemed extreme but the road was empty as the time got later and later; and Chloe rationalized that the sooner they got to Smallville, the better.
"Lex?" Chloe asked into the silence.
"Hmm?" He didn't answer, just sort of grunted. Chloe didn't say anything more. "What is it Chloe?" He finally voiced.
"Nothing, just making sure you're awake over there. I would like to get to Smallville in one piece." She smiled in the darkness. She knew Lex drove this fast all the time, she just wasn't used to it.
Catching on, Lex said, "I'm a good driver Chloe. And the sooner we get to Smallville the better."
"I know."
"You should sleep now, we've still got forty-five minutes." Lex said.
~*~*~*~
Chloe stirred when she felt the car slow down. The racing hum of the engine had lulled her to sleep, and as it slowed, she woke up.
She sat up straighter, as she saw the edge of Smallville flash by. Lex was driving the speed limit now. Chloe watched to see if she saw anyone that she knew, although it was too late for anyone to be out. Smallville was like every other small town in the world. Everything closes up around nine, and stays that way till six. She suddenly realized that maybe she didn't hate the small town as much as she sometimes thought she did.
She watched as they drove past the turn to go to her house, and felt a lump in her throat. She realized she must have made a sound, because Lex turned to look at her just then.
"Do you want to drive by?" He asked gently. "You can't go in."
Chloe shook her head. To be that close but not able to see her father, wasn't something she was sure she could handle. She swallowed. "No. That's okay. Let's just get this done instead."
Lex nodded. The strangled sound in her throat when they had driven by the turn-off had suddenly made him aware that she wasn't as hardened as she wanted to make him, and maybe herself, believe. She wasn't used to this, Lex reminded himself. The duplicity and uncertainty, the treachery and dirty deals; Lex shook his head, wondering at his own thoughts. We he used to it? He thought. Was that what he was implying? Refusing to think about it any longer he accelerated and turned the car towards the plant.
Chloe noticed the direction that Lex was taking them. "We're going in tonight?" Chloe asked, a little surprised. She'd thought she'd have a little more prep time.
"Element of surprise." Lex said simply. "We have to assume that Mac is going to talk, and the sooner we get in there, the better. Wake Adams up."
Chloe twisted in her seat, to look at the still figure in the backseat. Nervously, she reached out and tapped him on the knee. He didn't stir. She cleared her throat and tapped him again, a little harder. He still didn't move.
She faced Lex. "I think he's dead." She said, trying to keep what was a hopeful tone out of her voice.
Lex smiled. "Adams, show time." He said.
Adams opened his eyes. Chloe narrowed hers. He had been awake all along, which meant that he had felt her tapping him. Creepy jerk. She thought.
Lex pulled the car over to the side of the road, and yanked the parking brake on. Adams and Lex quickly got out of the car, and went around to the trunk. Chloe was a little slower.
Inside the trunk was the silver case Chloe had seen in Angie's bedroom. Adams handed Chloe the gun and holster that she had worn when they questioned Mac. She remembered the brief lesson that Adams had given her, and ejected the clip to make sure it was loaded. Then she loaded it again and slid it into her holster.
Lex smiled as she performed the act. She was a natural and a quick study, and he felt a momentary flash of guilt to realize he was the one that was exposing her to it. She was supposed to graduate, and go on to journalism without having been exposed to the likes of Adams. Without having to learn how to handle a gun and intimidate people. Although, he thought with a smirk, the skills could come in handy as an investigative reporter.
Adams shut his case, and shoved it to the back of the trunk. While Lex wore a gun on his hip, Adams had several, plus some smoke grenades, and something else that Chloe didn't recognize. She waited, since neither man was getting back into the car.
They seemed be staring each other down. Finally, Lex nodded. "Okay." He turned to Chloe. "This is the plan. Adams is an employee at the plant and so far is not under suspicion, so he's going to drive us in and use his key pass, since obviously using mine would create a problem."
Chloe nodded. "That makes sense. But you don't think that the guard seeing you wouldn't be just as much of a dead give away?"
Lex smiled, "He won't see us." He replied, as Adams took the keys.
"What?" Chloe asked, realizing what Lex was suggesting.
Lex motioned to the trunk and smiled. "Unless things have changed dramatically in three days I don't think they'll search the car."
"In the trunk?" Chloe asked, realizing her voice was squeaking a little. She cleared her throat. "You know that's not very safe?" She asked. "I've read a lot about carbon monoxide poison..." She trailed off. Lex was smirking at her. His face seemed shadowed, lit only by reflected light from the headlights. The shadows seemed to make his face more dangerous, which made his smirk more aggravating somehow.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared!" Lex goaded.
"I don't think so." Chloe said. "The last time you told me I was afraid, I ended up hypothermic!" She pointed out.
Lex's smiled dropped a little. "We need to get into the plant, and this is the best way to do it. Don't *make* me man-handle you in there." He said quietly.
The truth was that Chloe wasn't all that worried about CO2 poisoning. It was simply that the trunk wasn't that big, and she knew close proximity to Lex wasn't going to help her to focus on the situation at hand.
Lex watched emotions flashed across her face as she thought. Sighed, because they didn't really have the time for her to make up her mind. He stepped towards her, intentionally making like he was going to grab her and throw her into the trunk.
"All right, all right!" Chloe said, jumping away from his grasp. "I'm going."
She walked around to the trunk, looking at its size dubiously, before stepping in and crouching down, settling herself on her side with her back to the outside. She glanced over her shoulder. There wasn't room for Lex. She scooted closer to the silver weapons case, hugging herself to it, to give Lex room.
Lex followed, levering himself into the trunk behind Chloe. As soon as his head was down and he was comfortable on his side, Adams shut the trunk.
The darkness wasn't as black as she had thought it would be. Some light from the taillights shone in. She could feel Lex against her back. His legs curling behind hers, so that if they were upright, she would have been sitting on his lap.
"Comfortable?" he asked quietly.
Chloe jumped at the quiet question, asked right by her ear. She nodded, her mouth dry. She swallowed. "You?" she managed.
"Not quite." Lex answered, before draping an arm around her waist and pulling himself closer to her. "The latch was digging into my back." Lex said, as he heard her breathing speed up.
"Oh. Better?" Her voice sounded breathy even to herself. Pull yourself together Chloe. She reprimanded silently. Lex just wants to solve this thing. Keep your mind on the game. Then unbidden, the image of Lex kissing her in the hallway of Angie's mansion floated through her mind's eyes. She shook her head, trying to dispel the warm feeling suffusing her body at Lex's proximity.
"Much better." Lex said, even he could hear the smile in his voice. He knew Chloe was rattled by him and in a good way, and he liked her reactions to him. "We'll be there soon. Adams will drive around to the staff parking and park on the far side. Then he'll let us out, and we'll see about breaking into my own plant." He paused. "Got any ideas?" He asked.
"Uh, not really?" Chloe breathed, as she felt Lex move his other arm, gently pulled her hair off her neck and behind her head.
"Was tickling." He explained as his breath did to the same to Chloe's now exposed neck.
She shuddered. And forced her mind to remember what Lex had asked. Did she have any breaking and entering ideas? Not really, she thought, then bent her mind to coming up with something so that she wasn't a completely useless member of the team.
She felt the car slow, and heard the muffled sound of speech as Adams drove through the gate to the plant. She felt herself calming. This was it. Hopefully they would find out exactly what was going on, and Lex could fix the problem with the plant, and then Chloe could go home, to her Dad.
The car came to a stop, and Chloe waited for Adams to open the trunk. The latch popped, and some light filtered in again. Chloe glanced over her shoulder, to see that Lex was still looking at her. His eyes were hooded and Chloe couldn't even begin to guess what he was thinking.
Then he rolled away from her, and she realized that he'd had enough room. And there was no latch that could have been digging into his back. Smiling slightly to herself, she took Lex's offered hand, and got out of the trunk.
They were parked on the far end of the lot, against the chain link fence, and as far from the floodlights at the doors as they could get.
"So how are we going to get by the cameras?" Chloe asked finally. Watching as the one mounted by the entrance swiveled back and forth.
Without speaking, Adams pulled an object off his belt, and twisted a few knobs. Then he handed the box to Lex.
Lex hooked it to his own belt, grabbed Chloe's hand, and followed as Adams set off across the parking lot.
"We're going in the front door?" Chloe asked skeptically.
Lex nodded. "It's a jammer." He said, indicating the box on his belt. Stick close to me, and hopefully neither of us will get caught on film."
"What about Adams?" Chloe asked. Not really caring about his fate, but wondering if he'd keep his mouth shut if he was caught.
"He's supposed to be on night shift tonight anyway." Lex said as they walked. "That's part of the reason why we're doing this tonight. He has a reason to be here."
Adams slid his key card into the lock, which beeped and turned green. The three of them slipped in, and the door clicked shut behind them.
Adams went first, about five feet in front of Lex and Chloe, so that the cameras would record him, and everything would appear legitimate. Lex and Chloe followed; hoping the jammer was working, as the walked deeper into the plant. They came to an area Chloe had never seen before. Not that it was surprising, since she hadn't ever really seen much of the plant.
At the end of the corridor was an elevator with a card-lock and no buttons. Adams slid his security card through, and they waited while the elevator rose to their level. The doors slid open silently.
Lex pushed Chloe in ahead of him, and hit the button for the basement as soon as the doors closed. The elevator was smooth, descending so that Chloe didn't even feel the drop. Neither man spoke, so Chloe did likewise, not asking where they were going, and why they weren't going up, where Chloe knew her father's office was, and where is stood to reason, Lex's was as well.
The doors slid open on a cavernous floor. She looked across to where she could see offices across from the elevator.
They headed towards them. There were a few lights on, but they looked like they had simply been forgotten, as there didn't seem to be anybody down there.
They reached the offices without being stopped, and Chloe followed as the walked to the door furthest from the elevator. The door was shut, and the lights were off.
"So, how do you open a door that doesn't want to be opened?" Lex asked Chloe quietly. "And without setting the alarm off?"
She looked at the door, and realized that it was simply locked by the doorknob. No deadbolt, and no card access.
She sniffed and little, and pulled her lower lip into her mouth. "Well, I could try to pick it." She said quietly. "I've had a little luck at that, sometimes." She trailed off at the smile in Lex's eyes, and the disbelief in Adams.
"Can you do it?" Lex asked. "For real?"
"Well, I only tried it once. And it was to get into the Torch when I'd locked the door and forgot my key." She explained.
"But you did it?"
"Well, yeah. But I had bobby pins in my hair, y'know."
Adams looked at her stoically, then pulled two pieces of slim metal out of a vest pocket and handed them to her.
She realized that picking the lock had been the plan all along, but that they had intended for Adams to do it. Adams skeptical look was all the motivation she needed. Jerk.
She took the bits of metal from him, and looked them over. They weren't bobby pins, but they'd probably work better. She knelt in front of the door, and began fiddling with it.
Lex stood back, keeping an eye on the elevator, as Chloe knelt in front of the door, fiddling with the door. At one point, Adams took a step to take over. Lex stopped him, shaking his head. He knew that Adams would have had the door open quicker, but if Chloe could do it, then she'd feel much more in control, and he figured that it was important that she try.
Then there was a quiet snick sound, and Chloe stood up smiling widely, before handing the tools back to Adams. She turned the knob, and pushed the door open slowly.
Lex grabbed her hand and squeezed, before moving into the dark room. Adams and Lex both spread out, and Chloe saw where they were. It was archives of some sort. There were masses of filing cabinets. All arranged so that there were aisles in-between them.
She walked over to see what Lex was looking at. Shipping Records. She nodded to herself, mentally tallying what all they needed to find in the room. They needed proof, and they needed to know who signed the orders for those shipments to go out. She sidled over to Adams, to see what he was looking through. Personnel. He gave her a dirty look and she moved away.
She stood for a moment, trying to think. If she had been smuggling, and using a genuine corporation to do it, she wouldn't want it to be easily discovered, but easy enough to access, if she needed to. She began walking down the aisles, reading the labels on the outsides of the cabinets. Then one caught her eye. She had almost missed it.
It read: Shipping Records; 1895. She had passed it because it was stuck in- between the shipping records for 1994 and 1996, so she was surprised she'd noticed at all. But her eye had caught the date and it had just taken her brain a little longer to realize what she'd seen.
She walked back to the cabinet, to double check. Sure enough, it said *eighteen* ninety-five. The writing was clearly printed. It wasn't a written mistake. She pulled the drawers out, and began flipping through the papers. Most of the records were dated 1995. She had almost convinced herself that it was simply a neatly written typo, when she noticed a file stuck in the middle. She noticed because while most of the shipping records were yellow carbon copies of the original, these were not. She pulled the file out, and shut the drawer.
She opened the file on top of the cabinet, and flipped through them. They were all legitimate shipping records, except that they contained the whole record. The original, with pink and yellow copies still stuck behind. Someone had kept a record, but it wasn't easily traced, since all the paper had stayed in one place.
She skimmed a couple of the records. The information seemed correct, but some of the blanks were left empty. She didn't really know what that meant, since she didn't really know what she was looking at. Chloe's indecision was overridden when she noticed five digits strung together at the top of the margin. There was no line or field to be filled in, just the numbers. Her mind thought back to the police codes. She flipped through some of the other records; they all had the code on the top. Different codes but always five digits.
"Lex!" She whispered hoarsely. Both Adams and Lex looked up, over to where she was. She motioned for Lex to get over there. Adams scowled at her, and turned back to the cabinet he was ransacking.
Lex moved over to where she was.
"Look." She pointed.
It took Lex barely three seconds to recognize what she had found. Mentally congratulating himself on deciding to include an investigative reporter in the fiasco, he grabbed three of the records off the top and set them aside, before pulling a large folded-up envelope out of his inside jacket pocket. He stuffed the rest of the records into the envelope, sealed it shut, and labeled it to C. Sullivan, general delivery Metropolis. Then he stuck the empty folder back inside the cabinet. He smiled, and pulled Chloe along with him, as he headed over to where Adams was still rooting through drawers.
As they passed by the only desk in the large room, Lex stuck the envelope in outgoing mail, underneath a couple of other letters. He winked at Chloe, and then moved over to Adams.
"Hey, we're done. I've found, well actually Chloe found what we were looking for." Lex said quietly. He waved the records in front of Adams face.
Slowly standing, Adams shut the drawer, and looked over the records that Lex held. He glanced at Chloe. "Good job." He said, and Chloe blinked, surprised. She wouldn't have thought that he would ever congratulate her.
Adams sneered as he continued, "But don't you ever take a hint?"
"What?" Chloe demanded, and then blanched as Adams pulled out his gun, waving it around in Chloe's general direction.
Lex practically growled, and was moving for his gun, when Adams swung around in his direction. "Don't move Luthor, or I will shoot you."
Chloe was astounded, not so much by the situation, although that did warrant shock, but by the fact that Adams had strung together eight words to form a sentence. "What are you doing?" She asked.
Adams ignored her. "Give me those." Adams growled, and Lex reluctantly handed the shipping records over to Adams. "Now both of you, walk to the door, and don't try anything funny."
Shock sent Chloe's system reeling, as she realized that she'd been trusting, well sort of trusting someone who wasn't even on their side. She swallowed, and then felt Lex's hand on her arm moving her forward, as Adams followed with the gun.
She looked over her shoulder at Lex, who was right behind her. "What are we gonna do?" She asked as quietly as possible. Lex just shook his head.
Then without warning, he flung Chloe aside, dropping to the ground, as he pulled his gun out and fired. Adams had been waiting for it, and managed to get off a shot. But not before Lex had.
Lex's bullet hit Adams in the arm, sending Adam's shot wild. Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Adams ducked and ran for the elevator, dodging behind pillars and desks, anything to avoid Lex's bullets.
Just as Adams reached the elevator, Lex ran out of bullets. He was about to run after Adams, when he noticed Chloe was still lying where he'd thrown her.
Adams breathed a sigh of relief when the bullets stopped. He clutched his arm to his stomach. It had been a glancing blow, but it was bleeding and he needed it looked at. He should have remembered how good a shot Lex was, considering he himself had taught him. He slid his card through the elevator access, keeping an eye on Lex. He knew that Chloe still had a gun.
The elevator arrived with a ding, and Adams stepped on quickly, smiling to himself when the doors slid shut. He looked at the papers in his hand. With luck, this was what his employer was looking for. And with luck, he'd be on his was to Mexico by noon the next day. He leaned against the wall sucking in breath as his arm throbbed, the elevator rising smoothly to the next level.
Lex heard the elevator ding, and clenched his teeth. Adams was getting away, but Chloe seemed to be unconscious. He shouldn't have thrown her so hard, he thought, as he let Adams go, and moved over to where Chloe lay.
Her open eyes surprised him, as he had assumed the she'd hit her head. Then he noticed the ever-growing puddle of red seeping out from underneath her.
TBC...
She leaned over, and glanced at the speedometer. Ninety miles an hour seemed extreme but the road was empty as the time got later and later; and Chloe rationalized that the sooner they got to Smallville, the better.
"Lex?" Chloe asked into the silence.
"Hmm?" He didn't answer, just sort of grunted. Chloe didn't say anything more. "What is it Chloe?" He finally voiced.
"Nothing, just making sure you're awake over there. I would like to get to Smallville in one piece." She smiled in the darkness. She knew Lex drove this fast all the time, she just wasn't used to it.
Catching on, Lex said, "I'm a good driver Chloe. And the sooner we get to Smallville the better."
"I know."
"You should sleep now, we've still got forty-five minutes." Lex said.
~*~*~*~
Chloe stirred when she felt the car slow down. The racing hum of the engine had lulled her to sleep, and as it slowed, she woke up.
She sat up straighter, as she saw the edge of Smallville flash by. Lex was driving the speed limit now. Chloe watched to see if she saw anyone that she knew, although it was too late for anyone to be out. Smallville was like every other small town in the world. Everything closes up around nine, and stays that way till six. She suddenly realized that maybe she didn't hate the small town as much as she sometimes thought she did.
She watched as they drove past the turn to go to her house, and felt a lump in her throat. She realized she must have made a sound, because Lex turned to look at her just then.
"Do you want to drive by?" He asked gently. "You can't go in."
Chloe shook her head. To be that close but not able to see her father, wasn't something she was sure she could handle. She swallowed. "No. That's okay. Let's just get this done instead."
Lex nodded. The strangled sound in her throat when they had driven by the turn-off had suddenly made him aware that she wasn't as hardened as she wanted to make him, and maybe herself, believe. She wasn't used to this, Lex reminded himself. The duplicity and uncertainty, the treachery and dirty deals; Lex shook his head, wondering at his own thoughts. We he used to it? He thought. Was that what he was implying? Refusing to think about it any longer he accelerated and turned the car towards the plant.
Chloe noticed the direction that Lex was taking them. "We're going in tonight?" Chloe asked, a little surprised. She'd thought she'd have a little more prep time.
"Element of surprise." Lex said simply. "We have to assume that Mac is going to talk, and the sooner we get in there, the better. Wake Adams up."
Chloe twisted in her seat, to look at the still figure in the backseat. Nervously, she reached out and tapped him on the knee. He didn't stir. She cleared her throat and tapped him again, a little harder. He still didn't move.
She faced Lex. "I think he's dead." She said, trying to keep what was a hopeful tone out of her voice.
Lex smiled. "Adams, show time." He said.
Adams opened his eyes. Chloe narrowed hers. He had been awake all along, which meant that he had felt her tapping him. Creepy jerk. She thought.
Lex pulled the car over to the side of the road, and yanked the parking brake on. Adams and Lex quickly got out of the car, and went around to the trunk. Chloe was a little slower.
Inside the trunk was the silver case Chloe had seen in Angie's bedroom. Adams handed Chloe the gun and holster that she had worn when they questioned Mac. She remembered the brief lesson that Adams had given her, and ejected the clip to make sure it was loaded. Then she loaded it again and slid it into her holster.
Lex smiled as she performed the act. She was a natural and a quick study, and he felt a momentary flash of guilt to realize he was the one that was exposing her to it. She was supposed to graduate, and go on to journalism without having been exposed to the likes of Adams. Without having to learn how to handle a gun and intimidate people. Although, he thought with a smirk, the skills could come in handy as an investigative reporter.
Adams shut his case, and shoved it to the back of the trunk. While Lex wore a gun on his hip, Adams had several, plus some smoke grenades, and something else that Chloe didn't recognize. She waited, since neither man was getting back into the car.
They seemed be staring each other down. Finally, Lex nodded. "Okay." He turned to Chloe. "This is the plan. Adams is an employee at the plant and so far is not under suspicion, so he's going to drive us in and use his key pass, since obviously using mine would create a problem."
Chloe nodded. "That makes sense. But you don't think that the guard seeing you wouldn't be just as much of a dead give away?"
Lex smiled, "He won't see us." He replied, as Adams took the keys.
"What?" Chloe asked, realizing what Lex was suggesting.
Lex motioned to the trunk and smiled. "Unless things have changed dramatically in three days I don't think they'll search the car."
"In the trunk?" Chloe asked, realizing her voice was squeaking a little. She cleared her throat. "You know that's not very safe?" She asked. "I've read a lot about carbon monoxide poison..." She trailed off. Lex was smirking at her. His face seemed shadowed, lit only by reflected light from the headlights. The shadows seemed to make his face more dangerous, which made his smirk more aggravating somehow.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared!" Lex goaded.
"I don't think so." Chloe said. "The last time you told me I was afraid, I ended up hypothermic!" She pointed out.
Lex's smiled dropped a little. "We need to get into the plant, and this is the best way to do it. Don't *make* me man-handle you in there." He said quietly.
The truth was that Chloe wasn't all that worried about CO2 poisoning. It was simply that the trunk wasn't that big, and she knew close proximity to Lex wasn't going to help her to focus on the situation at hand.
Lex watched emotions flashed across her face as she thought. Sighed, because they didn't really have the time for her to make up her mind. He stepped towards her, intentionally making like he was going to grab her and throw her into the trunk.
"All right, all right!" Chloe said, jumping away from his grasp. "I'm going."
She walked around to the trunk, looking at its size dubiously, before stepping in and crouching down, settling herself on her side with her back to the outside. She glanced over her shoulder. There wasn't room for Lex. She scooted closer to the silver weapons case, hugging herself to it, to give Lex room.
Lex followed, levering himself into the trunk behind Chloe. As soon as his head was down and he was comfortable on his side, Adams shut the trunk.
The darkness wasn't as black as she had thought it would be. Some light from the taillights shone in. She could feel Lex against her back. His legs curling behind hers, so that if they were upright, she would have been sitting on his lap.
"Comfortable?" he asked quietly.
Chloe jumped at the quiet question, asked right by her ear. She nodded, her mouth dry. She swallowed. "You?" she managed.
"Not quite." Lex answered, before draping an arm around her waist and pulling himself closer to her. "The latch was digging into my back." Lex said, as he heard her breathing speed up.
"Oh. Better?" Her voice sounded breathy even to herself. Pull yourself together Chloe. She reprimanded silently. Lex just wants to solve this thing. Keep your mind on the game. Then unbidden, the image of Lex kissing her in the hallway of Angie's mansion floated through her mind's eyes. She shook her head, trying to dispel the warm feeling suffusing her body at Lex's proximity.
"Much better." Lex said, even he could hear the smile in his voice. He knew Chloe was rattled by him and in a good way, and he liked her reactions to him. "We'll be there soon. Adams will drive around to the staff parking and park on the far side. Then he'll let us out, and we'll see about breaking into my own plant." He paused. "Got any ideas?" He asked.
"Uh, not really?" Chloe breathed, as she felt Lex move his other arm, gently pulled her hair off her neck and behind her head.
"Was tickling." He explained as his breath did to the same to Chloe's now exposed neck.
She shuddered. And forced her mind to remember what Lex had asked. Did she have any breaking and entering ideas? Not really, she thought, then bent her mind to coming up with something so that she wasn't a completely useless member of the team.
She felt the car slow, and heard the muffled sound of speech as Adams drove through the gate to the plant. She felt herself calming. This was it. Hopefully they would find out exactly what was going on, and Lex could fix the problem with the plant, and then Chloe could go home, to her Dad.
The car came to a stop, and Chloe waited for Adams to open the trunk. The latch popped, and some light filtered in again. Chloe glanced over her shoulder, to see that Lex was still looking at her. His eyes were hooded and Chloe couldn't even begin to guess what he was thinking.
Then he rolled away from her, and she realized that he'd had enough room. And there was no latch that could have been digging into his back. Smiling slightly to herself, she took Lex's offered hand, and got out of the trunk.
They were parked on the far end of the lot, against the chain link fence, and as far from the floodlights at the doors as they could get.
"So how are we going to get by the cameras?" Chloe asked finally. Watching as the one mounted by the entrance swiveled back and forth.
Without speaking, Adams pulled an object off his belt, and twisted a few knobs. Then he handed the box to Lex.
Lex hooked it to his own belt, grabbed Chloe's hand, and followed as Adams set off across the parking lot.
"We're going in the front door?" Chloe asked skeptically.
Lex nodded. "It's a jammer." He said, indicating the box on his belt. Stick close to me, and hopefully neither of us will get caught on film."
"What about Adams?" Chloe asked. Not really caring about his fate, but wondering if he'd keep his mouth shut if he was caught.
"He's supposed to be on night shift tonight anyway." Lex said as they walked. "That's part of the reason why we're doing this tonight. He has a reason to be here."
Adams slid his key card into the lock, which beeped and turned green. The three of them slipped in, and the door clicked shut behind them.
Adams went first, about five feet in front of Lex and Chloe, so that the cameras would record him, and everything would appear legitimate. Lex and Chloe followed; hoping the jammer was working, as the walked deeper into the plant. They came to an area Chloe had never seen before. Not that it was surprising, since she hadn't ever really seen much of the plant.
At the end of the corridor was an elevator with a card-lock and no buttons. Adams slid his security card through, and they waited while the elevator rose to their level. The doors slid open silently.
Lex pushed Chloe in ahead of him, and hit the button for the basement as soon as the doors closed. The elevator was smooth, descending so that Chloe didn't even feel the drop. Neither man spoke, so Chloe did likewise, not asking where they were going, and why they weren't going up, where Chloe knew her father's office was, and where is stood to reason, Lex's was as well.
The doors slid open on a cavernous floor. She looked across to where she could see offices across from the elevator.
They headed towards them. There were a few lights on, but they looked like they had simply been forgotten, as there didn't seem to be anybody down there.
They reached the offices without being stopped, and Chloe followed as the walked to the door furthest from the elevator. The door was shut, and the lights were off.
"So, how do you open a door that doesn't want to be opened?" Lex asked Chloe quietly. "And without setting the alarm off?"
She looked at the door, and realized that it was simply locked by the doorknob. No deadbolt, and no card access.
She sniffed and little, and pulled her lower lip into her mouth. "Well, I could try to pick it." She said quietly. "I've had a little luck at that, sometimes." She trailed off at the smile in Lex's eyes, and the disbelief in Adams.
"Can you do it?" Lex asked. "For real?"
"Well, I only tried it once. And it was to get into the Torch when I'd locked the door and forgot my key." She explained.
"But you did it?"
"Well, yeah. But I had bobby pins in my hair, y'know."
Adams looked at her stoically, then pulled two pieces of slim metal out of a vest pocket and handed them to her.
She realized that picking the lock had been the plan all along, but that they had intended for Adams to do it. Adams skeptical look was all the motivation she needed. Jerk.
She took the bits of metal from him, and looked them over. They weren't bobby pins, but they'd probably work better. She knelt in front of the door, and began fiddling with it.
Lex stood back, keeping an eye on the elevator, as Chloe knelt in front of the door, fiddling with the door. At one point, Adams took a step to take over. Lex stopped him, shaking his head. He knew that Adams would have had the door open quicker, but if Chloe could do it, then she'd feel much more in control, and he figured that it was important that she try.
Then there was a quiet snick sound, and Chloe stood up smiling widely, before handing the tools back to Adams. She turned the knob, and pushed the door open slowly.
Lex grabbed her hand and squeezed, before moving into the dark room. Adams and Lex both spread out, and Chloe saw where they were. It was archives of some sort. There were masses of filing cabinets. All arranged so that there were aisles in-between them.
She walked over to see what Lex was looking at. Shipping Records. She nodded to herself, mentally tallying what all they needed to find in the room. They needed proof, and they needed to know who signed the orders for those shipments to go out. She sidled over to Adams, to see what he was looking through. Personnel. He gave her a dirty look and she moved away.
She stood for a moment, trying to think. If she had been smuggling, and using a genuine corporation to do it, she wouldn't want it to be easily discovered, but easy enough to access, if she needed to. She began walking down the aisles, reading the labels on the outsides of the cabinets. Then one caught her eye. She had almost missed it.
It read: Shipping Records; 1895. She had passed it because it was stuck in- between the shipping records for 1994 and 1996, so she was surprised she'd noticed at all. But her eye had caught the date and it had just taken her brain a little longer to realize what she'd seen.
She walked back to the cabinet, to double check. Sure enough, it said *eighteen* ninety-five. The writing was clearly printed. It wasn't a written mistake. She pulled the drawers out, and began flipping through the papers. Most of the records were dated 1995. She had almost convinced herself that it was simply a neatly written typo, when she noticed a file stuck in the middle. She noticed because while most of the shipping records were yellow carbon copies of the original, these were not. She pulled the file out, and shut the drawer.
She opened the file on top of the cabinet, and flipped through them. They were all legitimate shipping records, except that they contained the whole record. The original, with pink and yellow copies still stuck behind. Someone had kept a record, but it wasn't easily traced, since all the paper had stayed in one place.
She skimmed a couple of the records. The information seemed correct, but some of the blanks were left empty. She didn't really know what that meant, since she didn't really know what she was looking at. Chloe's indecision was overridden when she noticed five digits strung together at the top of the margin. There was no line or field to be filled in, just the numbers. Her mind thought back to the police codes. She flipped through some of the other records; they all had the code on the top. Different codes but always five digits.
"Lex!" She whispered hoarsely. Both Adams and Lex looked up, over to where she was. She motioned for Lex to get over there. Adams scowled at her, and turned back to the cabinet he was ransacking.
Lex moved over to where she was.
"Look." She pointed.
It took Lex barely three seconds to recognize what she had found. Mentally congratulating himself on deciding to include an investigative reporter in the fiasco, he grabbed three of the records off the top and set them aside, before pulling a large folded-up envelope out of his inside jacket pocket. He stuffed the rest of the records into the envelope, sealed it shut, and labeled it to C. Sullivan, general delivery Metropolis. Then he stuck the empty folder back inside the cabinet. He smiled, and pulled Chloe along with him, as he headed over to where Adams was still rooting through drawers.
As they passed by the only desk in the large room, Lex stuck the envelope in outgoing mail, underneath a couple of other letters. He winked at Chloe, and then moved over to Adams.
"Hey, we're done. I've found, well actually Chloe found what we were looking for." Lex said quietly. He waved the records in front of Adams face.
Slowly standing, Adams shut the drawer, and looked over the records that Lex held. He glanced at Chloe. "Good job." He said, and Chloe blinked, surprised. She wouldn't have thought that he would ever congratulate her.
Adams sneered as he continued, "But don't you ever take a hint?"
"What?" Chloe demanded, and then blanched as Adams pulled out his gun, waving it around in Chloe's general direction.
Lex practically growled, and was moving for his gun, when Adams swung around in his direction. "Don't move Luthor, or I will shoot you."
Chloe was astounded, not so much by the situation, although that did warrant shock, but by the fact that Adams had strung together eight words to form a sentence. "What are you doing?" She asked.
Adams ignored her. "Give me those." Adams growled, and Lex reluctantly handed the shipping records over to Adams. "Now both of you, walk to the door, and don't try anything funny."
Shock sent Chloe's system reeling, as she realized that she'd been trusting, well sort of trusting someone who wasn't even on their side. She swallowed, and then felt Lex's hand on her arm moving her forward, as Adams followed with the gun.
She looked over her shoulder at Lex, who was right behind her. "What are we gonna do?" She asked as quietly as possible. Lex just shook his head.
Then without warning, he flung Chloe aside, dropping to the ground, as he pulled his gun out and fired. Adams had been waiting for it, and managed to get off a shot. But not before Lex had.
Lex's bullet hit Adams in the arm, sending Adam's shot wild. Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Adams ducked and ran for the elevator, dodging behind pillars and desks, anything to avoid Lex's bullets.
Just as Adams reached the elevator, Lex ran out of bullets. He was about to run after Adams, when he noticed Chloe was still lying where he'd thrown her.
Adams breathed a sigh of relief when the bullets stopped. He clutched his arm to his stomach. It had been a glancing blow, but it was bleeding and he needed it looked at. He should have remembered how good a shot Lex was, considering he himself had taught him. He slid his card through the elevator access, keeping an eye on Lex. He knew that Chloe still had a gun.
The elevator arrived with a ding, and Adams stepped on quickly, smiling to himself when the doors slid shut. He looked at the papers in his hand. With luck, this was what his employer was looking for. And with luck, he'd be on his was to Mexico by noon the next day. He leaned against the wall sucking in breath as his arm throbbed, the elevator rising smoothly to the next level.
Lex heard the elevator ding, and clenched his teeth. Adams was getting away, but Chloe seemed to be unconscious. He shouldn't have thrown her so hard, he thought, as he let Adams go, and moved over to where Chloe lay.
Her open eyes surprised him, as he had assumed the she'd hit her head. Then he noticed the ever-growing puddle of red seeping out from underneath her.
TBC...
