Ben Carls, Faith Reed, and Jean Rex stormed off the elevator of the Smallville Hotel. The man behind the desk detected their anger from across the room and looked frightened as they approached. He didn't care for the impression that they made yesterday. He wished the other one were there instead; Rhone was nice.
Ben Carls spoke when they reached the desk, "Could you leave a message for Ms. Chade, when she decides to get up?" He gestured toward the ceiling with a frown. "Could you tell her…" he was cut off.
"Actually, Mr. Carls, Ms. Chade left a message for you," he grinned. "At 6 this morning she came downstairs and politely," he made a point to say politely, "…asked me to tell you that she, quote: "Couldn't wait around for you anymore and would see you there," end quote."
The three walked outside and, sure enough, the black sports car was missing. They were surprised and angry. The surprise made them even angrier. They piled into Jean's van and drove off.
Rhone had already used her trained charisma to become friendly with the staff that her team would have to work with and some they wouldn't work with.
She was surprised to find that they had arrived there so early. Not as early as her, but early nonetheless. They needed more help in their department; at least one other person, maybe two. They didn't have everything sorted the way that they should have, so Rhone was happy she had come early to help them. They seemed grateful for the help, but surprised at the source. They knew she wasn't paid to do their job, and she worked really fast.
At 8 her co-workers arrived, and they didn't look too happy to see her. She knew in their hearts that they wanted her back in bed at the hotel, just so they could give her a hard time about it. She thought to herself; too bad, Suckers. She had her hair tied back and her dark pants suit on before most people even think about getting up in the morning. Some would still call it night. She also wondered if all of this animosity came from her age or if there was something else? One thing was for sure; there was a reason that no one else would work with these people. There was a reason the government had to call in a favor, a very expensive favor, to get a supervisor for them.
"Why aren't these sorted?" Faith Reed asked.
"We didn't have time," a young girl that worked in the office answered.
"This should have been done before we got here," Jean said in an exasperated tone.
"We're almost done," Rhone said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the young girl that spoke before. "Aren't we, Beth?" she encouraged. Beth nodded.
"Ten minutes," Beth assured. There was a pause. The office workers and Rhone had gone back to work.
Carls spoke to Beth, "What time does your boss get here?" Beth pointed to a woman in the corner now talking to Rhone. "I mean," he said in an agitated voice, "what time does Mr. Luthor get here?"
Beth desperately looked to Rhone but she wasn't paying attention. She stammered, "Usually about 9 or so, I think." Beth worried; she needed this job. Not to mention, the Luthors scared the hell out of her. She didn't want to have to face him and explain why things weren't ready. …At least she probably wouldn't have to see him. Really, her boss would have to answer to him.
Rhone cast a glance in their direction a few moments later. With her acute hearing, she heard every word.
Lex squealed his tires as he pulled into the crowded parking lot of his office entirely too fast. Not too surprisingly, he didn't sleep well. By the time he drove to town and grabbed a coffee it was, -- he checked his watch, a little after 10. If he didn't run this plant, he would have been late.
He pulled his Porsche into a parking space at the front of the lot with the ever present squealing of tires. He placed his car into park as he read the sign in front of his parking space, he always did. "Reserved for Lex Luthor," was written on the sign in bold black letters.
He grabbed his coffee and got out of the car. While shutting the door, he noticed the shinny black car that was next to his. He stopped and looked at it for a moment before shutting the door. He sauntered over to the black car with a crooked smile and his coffee in his right hand. It was a new – corvette? He didn't even know that the new model had been released yet. He slowly circled the car, one hand in his pocket and the other brining his coffee to his lips. He went up and looked into the driver's side window. Nice. He noticed some of the dials and gauges didn't match exactly; it was a custom job. Very nice.
He looked around. Who did this belong to? He sure as hell knew that none of his employees could afford this. He slowly backed up, still looking at the car and holding his coffee to his lips. He turned and headed for the door of the office.
Rhone looked around and listened for any noises. She knew she was alone but she checked each of the doors on all of the bathroom stalls. She was pleased that the bathrooms were clean. Actually, they were very clean.
Despite the cleanliness, she hated women's bathrooms. Who needed all of those cosmetic mirrors and acres of counter space anyway? She had never worn makeup so she never needed to spend that much time in front of a mirror. And ever since she lost Bishop, she cared even less for mirrors.
The last few hours had been quite -- educational. She had to confirm the newly formed suspicions that she had about what was going on at this plant. She had to make sure; it was her obligation. If it was true, Lex Luthor was a man to be reckoned with in more than just business. He was good; anyone else would have missed it. They wouldn't know what they were looking at, only a handful of people would. His employees didn't know, and they danced around it every day.
She felt bad that the workers in the office with Beth would have to suffer for a little while. She knew her co-workers would go over her head, most likely to Lex Luthor himself and cause problems.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed and waited for a moment. "Speedy Joe's Pizza Delivery," a male voice came on the line.
"D, get me Griff," Rhone replied.
"I hope you are having as much fun as it sounds like you're having, Rhone," the male voice said.
"It just got a hell of a lot more interesting," Rhone replied.
"Need help?" D asked.
"I don't think it will come to that, at least I hope not," Rhone sighed. There was brief scuffling on the other end.
"Rhone," a different male voice was on the line.
"Griff, I need you to dig something up. Then I need you to meet me half way here so I can pick it up without it being noticed that I'm gone," she wasted no time.
On the other end of the line, Griffin smiled, "There is no rest for the wicked, is there?"
"You knew that when you signed up for this line of work," she turned his comment around on him.
"Hey, I've been doing this longer than you have," he retorted.
She smiled even though no one could see her, "And I am your EX-O, go figure."
He laughed out loud this time, "What do you need?"
"Mr. Luthor, there are some people in your office waiting to see you," Lex's secretary said immediately upon seeing him. "They are -- displeased," she finished.
The way she said it and the way she hesitated conveyed that there were some very unhappy people in his office. He stopped and looked at her, coffee still in one hand.
"Three of the invoice verifiers are in there waiting for you," she clarified.
He thought quickly, "Just three of them?" The secretary didn't reply, she knew her boss was just thinking out loud. Lex had turned and started walking toward his office. He stole a quick glance out the window to the parking lot; the custom car was gone.
Rhone pulled into the rest stop; it was virtually empty. There was already a lone cobalt blue Viper waiting there for her. A man with black spiky hair and wrap around sunglasses was waiting for her, leaning against the car. He was holding a long piece of paper, rolled up and tied with a rubber band.
Rhone got out of the car. "You made good time," she joked. Certain license plate numbers didn't get pulled over.
"Even if this is what you think it is, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is doing anything wrong," Griffin stated.
"That is what we are for," Rhone started, "we have to make sure."
"How are you going to find out for sure?" Griffin asked.
"I'll ask him," Rhone replied.
"You would," he smiled.
She smiled back at him and held out her hand. He gave her the paper. She took out her artist's tube and started hitting some unseen buttons. The lid popped open and she started to carefully put the paper inside.
"I'm surprised there is room for that in there," he observed.
She looked at him and shut the lid. "I will destroy them when I am done with them," she ignored his comment. He didn't understand why she carried it so – religiously the way she did, no one did. She started to open her car door again and threw her tube inside.
He was preparing to leave, "We'll keep our ears open." He would have told her to be careful, but he didn't need to. Not only was she always careful, she was the best.
She nodded, "Thank you, Griff. I always know I can count on you." They both got into their cars and went in opposite directions.