CHAPTER FOUR

Lex had taken Lana to his mansion and had her cleaned up. Lex had his butlers get a basin full of water so that Lana could wash her hands and had them bring the basin to his study.. This they did immediately as Lex and Lana went to the study inside the Luthor mansion. As soon as they got there, Lex directed Lana to the basin and Lana put down her purse and proceeded to wash her hands vigorously and furiously. Lex stood aside and let Lana wash her hands. But as Lana washed her hand, she was very much like Lady Macbeth when she had killed Duncan in the Shakespearean play, Macbeth.

Then, Lana startted to talk again since the incident. Lex knew why Genevieve had attacked Lana. Earlier that day, both Genevieve and her sin Jason had kidnapped Lex and his father for knowledge of the location of the crystals that the Teagues seemed to be so obsessed about. Lex's dad told Geneveieve that Lana had had the crystal that he stole from the Genevieve and she wanted it back. She also wanted the crystal that Jason got from China. But Lex believed that he had lied to save his own skin and that he had put Lana's life in danger. He hated his father for that. Finally, Lana spoke, and it was frantic.

""S-she was c-coming out me s-so fast. I-I-I don't even remember stabbing her," said Lana frantically, as she tried to rub her hands clean of the bloodstain from Genevieve's body.

Lex then got a pitcher and started pouring more water into the basin, and knew he had try and calm Lana down for a few minutes. "Lana, I want you to take a deep breath and try to relax."

But it seems that Lana wouldn't relax nor let this go. "Lex, a woman is dead because of me! I killed her!"

Lex then pulled out a towel and continued to calm Lana down from the incident, as she was still shaking very violently still even though it had been several hours since the incident. Lex then directed Lana to sit on the couch in the Luthor mansion study where they were. "No,no, Lana. You had no choice. You did what anyone else would do if their life was at stake."

Lana was srtill shaking a little bit, but not as much as she was a few minutes ago. She started to breath slowly and relax a little but more. But Lex could tell that Lana was a still a little on edge from the murder. "I have to tell Jason. She was his mother."

Lex just looked at Lana, unsure of that was a good idea, for Jason Teague was also dead. When the Teagues had kidnapped Lex and his dad, Lex and his dad escaped, and Jason tired to kill them., But Lex cornered Jason to a cliff's edge, and was about to kill him. Then, Jason informed Lex that Clark was more connected to the crystals than anybody in Smallville, more so than Lana. But before Jason could tell him more, Lex's father shot Jason. So, Jason was dead. So, all Lex could tell Lana was, "I'll deal with Jason."

But Lana wasn't satisfied with Lex's answer, as she immediately resumed her hysterics and began walking out of the study room. "Lex, there's a DEAD BODY in my apartment! I - I have to go to the police, and tell them what happened!"

Then, Lex stood up and stopped her from doing so. "Lana, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Lana turned around and stopped dead in her tracks, wondering what Lex could possibly mean. "Genevieve Teague was a powerful woman," contineud Lex, "married to a extremely powerful lawyer. Even though it was clearly self-defense, Edward Teague is going to make sure that the jury sees otherwise."

Lex could see the look of perplexment on Lana's face. "Then what's going to happen to me? Am I going to go to prison?"

Lex only smiled at Lana and said, "No. I've retained one of the best defense attorneys in the country, and as soon as he arrives from New York, we'll go to the authorities."

Then, Lana sank deep into Lex's arms, in gratitude for what Lex was doing for her. Lex cared for Lana very much, and would do anything to help her. But he also knew that Lana had one of those crystals that the Teagues, and his father had sought. He wanted that, too. "Now, you have to trust me. Until the lawyer arrives, I want you to stay here and talk to no one."

As soon as Lex said that, Lana had a look of desperartion on her face, as if she had just remembered something immediately. "My purse. Where's my purse?"

She started to search frantically for it until she found it at the floor, where she obviously dropped it when she came in. She then proiceeded to open it very quickly, as if to see somethign was still there.

"Don't worry. It's still there," said Lex, as she looked at him with a look of distrust. "I'd never take it from you."

Then, suddenly, the door in the study room opened, and it was one of the Luthor mansion security people. He stood and went to Lex and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Luthor, we have a situation."

Lex just looked at Lana and only smiled. "Don't worry, Lana. It's going to be okay."

Lana just sat hereslf at the couch, after removing a small object covered by a red handkerchef, that Lex knew was the crystal. But he didn't get to see it again before he left.

Lex walked out of the Luthor mansion study room and followed his guard out into the hallway and stopped him. "What's the situation, guard?"

"It's the body, Mr. Luthor," said the guard.

"The body of Genevieve Teague?" asked Lex.

The guard then nodded, as if to confirm it.

"What about it?" asked Lex.

"It's gone, sir. Cleaned up and removed from the sight."

Lex couldn't believe this. Who would take a body in the middle of the night? thought Lex. Besides, he needed that body. That body was his leverage to Lana so she could trust him to give him that crystal.

"I'm going to downtown Smallville to investigate. Keep an eye on Ms. Lang. Make sure she doesn't leave the mansion and taks to no one but me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The guard went down the hall to keep an eye on Lana, while Lex went the other way down the hall to get his Mercedes-Benz and take it to downtown Smallville to investigate what had happened to Genevieve's body. He had an inkling who might've taken it. But it was only an inkling.

Lana was left alone inside the Luthor mansion study room, holding the object in her purse that she feared might've been lost in the frantics of the murder. It was a crystal that Jason had obtained in China. She felt she was somehow connected to these ancient crystals. She didn't know how but she was connected to them somehow. She felt it in her bones. That was why she had stolen the crystal from Jason shortly after he got it.

She opened the handkerchief to reveal the triangular-shaped crystal that she had. The tip and most of the crystal was drenched in blood. She had not cleaned the blood, and she didn't know if she was going to. It was a reminder of the deadly sin that she had committed earlier that night. She was unsure if she was willing to let that go just yet.

She observed the crystal carefully. She saw the symbol on the front of the crystal. The cymbol was a triangular-shaped crest with what looked the number eight in the center. She stared at that symbol for a long while. Just looking at the symbol made her feel good. The way she felt when Clark was around.

Clark, she thought. How would she explain this to him? How she needed Clark. She cared for Clark very much. But whether Clark card back was a mystery to her. He seemed to, but Clark had these other sides to him that made it difficult for her to know the real Clark Kent. He had so many secrets in his life. But she loved him just the same. Even when she was with Jason, those feelings for Clark were still there. She didn't know if Clark would still love her now that she had done this.

She continued to observe the crystal and noticed that it was not the only of its kind, but everyone knew that. Even she did. But the interlocking part of the crystal seemed to glow a white color. She touched the interlocking part to see what that glow was. She touched it and then - -

"LANA!"

Lana jumped out of her seat on the couch, startled by the flash that she just saw, dropped the crystal on the floor. She then moved over to pick it up. She was still jumping from that flash, and then picked up the crystal and covered it in the red handkerchief she had in her purse.

She still couldn't believe what she had just saw. She tried to piece together what she saw, as it happened so fast. It was a person was the first thought that came to her. She felt the person she saw was the one whom these crystals were truly meant for. Lana's eyes widened. She began to tell herself that it was impossible. The person she saw was one she was very well-acquainted with. If the person she saw was meant to have the crystals, she had to give the crystals she had to the person she saw. But she just could not believe it.

The person she saw in that brief flash was her dear friend, Clark Kent.

Lex walked into Lana's apartment above the Talon, the hottest coffeeshop this side of Smallville. Lex normally didn't like coffeeshops, as they were not good for business. But Lex kept it running, as it was Lana's dream to revitalize the old Talon Theater-coffeeshop of the 50's. He liked Lana's enthusiasm for it, so he kept it, because he did care for Lana.

It was that care for Lana that drove him to the Talon now, as he received word from his security guard that the body of Genevieve Teague was missing. The disappearance of Genevieve Teague's body would ensure Lana's guilt before a jury. It was also his leverage to obtain Lana's crystal for himself.

He looked around Lana's apartment and saw the place was empty. No body, no nothing. Lex then leaned down where the body was. He felt where the blood shoud've been. The blood was gone. Whoever evacuated the body had cleaned the place . . . clean.

As Lex was investigating the crime scene, he heard a voice that made him shudder. It was a voice he recognized too, which made him cringe even more.

"I thought I'd do Miss Lang a favor and tidy up the place a bit. She left the place in quite a mess."

The figure in the dark who the voice belonged to was sitting on a couch in the middle of the room. He turned on a lamp to reveal who he was. He was a man in a black suit, with a white shirt, and purple tie. The man was elegantly dressed in the suit. He had a scruffy beard and bushy brown hair with some gray linings in between. Lex knew who the man was. It was his father, Lionel Luthor.

So his father had cleaned the body from Lana's apartment. Once again, Lex was pushed against his father.

"What are you looking for, dad? The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval?"

Lex's dad seemed unaffected by Lex's snide question. "You know, Lex, for a woman without a heart, Genevieve Teague certainly had a lot of blood"

Lex was very angry with his dad for going behind his back on this. So he decided to get straight to the point on why his father was so generous to clean up Lana's apartment. His dad always had an ulterior motive for things. Always, and just when you think he had none, he always had something up his sleeve. "You didn't come here to do a postmortem on Genevieve Teague, dad. What is it you want?"

Lex's dad stopped his tirade for a minute, and crossed his hands, looking directly at Lex thoughtfully. "I'd like to offer a trade, Lex."

Lionel Luthor walked up to his son, Lex, to deal with him. Lex was very skeptiocal of this trade. Whatever it was, Lex had a very bad feeling about it. "Lana Lang's freedom for the artifact she has in her possession." proposed Lionel, and he smiled after he proposed the trade.

Lex knew his dad wanted those crystals just as badly as he did. But he wasn't about to let him have them. "Dad, don't you think your search for these three ancient crystals are starting to border on the fanatical?"

Lex's dad smiled and chuckled a bit at Lex's remark. "Is that what you think? Well, let me remind you, Lex. It was you who looted the ruins of Egypt to get your hands on one of those crystals. Who's more fanatical, you or me?" Lionel said, as he continued to tidy up, picking up an apple that obviously fell during the murder.

Lex turned around to face his father and firmly said, "Trust me. Lana Lang has nothing to do with this, despite what you think, dad."

Lionel smiled, and went up to Lex's face and said, "Oh, how chivalrous of you. You are the gallant hero trying to protect the damsel in distress but - - "

Lex interupted his dad's tirade and said, "Dad, I'm warning you. Leave her alone."

Lionel Luthor continued, as if not hearing Lex, "--but all your life you've had a tendency to let the damsel lead you straight into the mouth of the dragon. Your feelings for Miss Lang, don't let them cripple your common sense, son." Lionel smiled at his son, hoping he would see past his son's love for Lana Lang and do what was necessary to succeed. Lionel then turned to walk out the door, which was still open from when Lex entered. "Lex, I expect to see that crystal in my hands by noon tomorrow."

Lex was not too happy about his dad's proposal, and was not sure he wanted to agree with it. "Oh, Lex," his father said, "in case you're having second thoughts about my trade, just remember I have the evidence that points to Miss Lang's guilt. It would be a shame if the corpse of Genevieve Teague were delivered to the sheriff with Lana Lang's DNA as postage." Lionel chuckled as he left.

Lex would try to double-squeeze out of his father's trade, as best as he could. He would not give in to his father's demand. But, now he knew what bhe had to do. He would protect Lana from his father's maniacal treasure hunt, but he would see to it that he would get the crystal before his father ever could. He, after all, had Lana Lang in his mansion this very moment.

Lex smiled at himself. His father thought he had the upper hand, but it was really he, Lex Luthor, who was on top of things.