With the rest of the staff at Cacto having gone home for the night, it left the bullpen vacant for the three women to work in without distraction. Lena's lawyers emailed her all the materials her investigators uncovered during their delve into TITAN Industries and Maxwell Davies. Kara and Nia synced her to the network and printed out most of the paperwork so they could analyse everything old school style. Lena was a little apprehensive about scattering hard copies of potential evidence across the floor and desks, but she put her faith in the reporters as they added their own research to the pile. It was chaotic but they proved capable of organising so much madness, looking for connections they wouldn't usually find.
While they were looking through the research, Nia texted brainy to look into whatever the DEO had on Kronos Limited. She understood they hit a dead end once they realised it was a shell company, but maybe they had something for them to go on. Brainy emailed her back a few hours later, the sky pitch black when her laptop finally pings notifying her. She hopped up to her desk and downloaded the report, tailored by her boyfriend identifying all the noteworthy pieces of information.
"Anything helpful?" Kara asked, sitting cross legged on the floor with her tablet on her lap and paperwork surrounding her.
Nia furrowed her brow. "Maybe" she said, scrolling through the background sent to her. "You remember that phone call Carl Carlton took when we went to Axis for that interview?"
Kara thought back to that day. It felt like so long ago that sat in that office. Had had overheard half the conversation using her hearing. Thinking back she couldn't focused more intently and gotten the other voice too, but she must've been distracted that day. She'd been off her game for weeks since the memorial. She needed to do better. "I remember" she replied vaguely.
"The police attempted to trace the call back to the investors he was operating for" Nia said, reading from the laptop. "The number belonged to a landline that's been disconnected" she sighed. "They must've cut the line when they found out Axis had been compromised."
"Makes sense" Lena muttered. "They would want to cover their tracks after Carlton's arrest and the illegal enterprise exposed. I imagine all traces linking Kronos to the real culprit have been expunged since."
"It's still our best lead though" Kara said optimistically. "We just need one breadcrumb connecting TITAN to Kronos to prove our case. Are you sure we can't get the DEO to run a background check?" she asked again.
Nia shook her head, recalling the discussion with Brainy she had about that topic. "Apparently it came back clean. If they dig any deeper it'll raise red flags given how famous he's become."
"Sounds like more red tape" Lena complained.
They hung their heads and continued searching. Apparently it was up to them to find probable cause so an official investigation could begin. They dug through the mountain of records and receipts until Kara offered to read through the report with Nia. The girl was growing frustrated at scrolling though the screen finding nothing and stood up to pass it to her. The moment she was on her feet she became dizzy, prompting Kara to jump up and catch her before she fell over. "You okay" Lena asked, shooting her a concerned look from her desk.
"Yeah, I'm…I guess I stood up to fast" she joked, easing herself back to the chair. Kara examined her fighting her own dizzy spell from moving too fast. They were both still recovering from parasite and it was taking too long. They should've done as their doctors instructed and gone to bed. Kara waited until Nia convinced her she was okay before taking the laptop and dropping back to the floor, breathing slowly feeling her nausea come back and haunt her. She scrolled through the reports as super speed, praying to Rao it didn't trigger another dizzy spell.
She stopped at an attachment with a police report. "Huh, I didn't know about this" she said, drawing her friend's attention. "They found the driver of the Axis truck transporting that crate with the Metallo drone" she relayed.
Nia's hopes picked up. "That's good. They were taking it to their investors to work on. Did he say anything?"
Kara read the statement. "He was there when the truck was attacked. He ran from the scene because he was a…an illegal immigrant who didn't want to get deported. He's in custody awaiting transport back home. But he did give the police the address he was told to deliver the truck too, no questions asked."
Nia shuffled over to the nearest computer, switching on the monitor and logging in to use the work network. "What's the address?" she asked.
"42 west on Vermont" Kara replied, watching Nia as she typed in the address to search the public records. She went back to the file, feeling sorry for the driver. He didn't have anything to do with this yet he was being punished just as much as Axis was. Sometimes things didn't seem fair.
Nia got her results and stared at them. "Are you sure that's the right address?" she asked confused.
"That's what's in the report" Kara nodded, climbing up from the floor to return the laptop.
Nia read the address and double checked her search. "This doesn't make sense" she said, bringing Kara over to look at the computer. "There's nothing there except an old carpark." They scanned the listings as the records database confirmed it was just empty space leading to an old office building that had been demolished years ago. "Could the driver have been mistaken? Or given the wrong address?"
"No, I don't think he was mistaken" Lena said as she crawled over the floor searching through the statements scattered everywhere. The reporters looked down and found her on her knees fishing through the sea of paper until she pulled out a page she'd discarded a while ago. "I thought I'd read that address somewhere, or close" she explained, rising to her feet to show the others. She held up an acquisition form for a plot of land in National City, the site of an abandoned factory complex. Kara took the form and read it, narrowing her eyes. "It's a property TITAN Industries bought several months ago" Lena explained. "I was going through their acquisitions looking for a lead, but nothing about their spending seemed suspicious."
"TITAN owns an empty factory in the middle of the industrial district, and that's not suspicious?" Kara asks.
"It's not that uncommon" Lena told them. "Companies often buy land on the cheap and hold onto it for when they need it. For example, if they need a site for a new storage facility or science building, they choose a previous acquisition if it's suitable and develop it. More often it's a means of dodging some tax rebates. L-Corp even has a few vacant lots on the books. Of course, that was when my brother was in charge and using them to run his illicit projects" she added sombrely. She gestured to the form in Kara's hand. "That factory is across the street from that address."
"That can't be a coincidence" Nia said, looking up at Kara.
Kara looked at the paper in her hand. It did seem like a lead. But it wouldn't be enough to take to the police. "Owning property near a suspect delivery site won't be enough for a warrant, or probable cause" she warned.
"Plus if Maxwell realises the police are looking into his holdings he could clear them out before the warrant arrives" Lena nodded. She turned on her heel and picked up her bag. "I guess we'll have to investigate ourselves" she said.
The two women blinked as Lena headed towards the door. "Wait, you sure that's a good idea?" Kara asked, jogging up to stop Lena from marching blindly to the exit.
"Isn't it? We have a lead that could connect TITAN Industries to Kronos, maybe even to Axis Environmental. If we can prove that then the police will be forced to investigate the company and cut through that red tape they're hiding behind."
"I know, but wouldn't it be safer if we called Alex and brainy and got some backup?" Kara asked.
"And how long will it take for that warrant to come through? As you said, none of this is probable cause" Lena echoed. She saw Kara was unconvinced and suddenly asked her "is this any different to what you would do?" Kara opened her mouth but was forced to relent when she saw Nia's expression conflict too. This was exactly the sort of investigative route they would conduct. Before they could argue that it would be dangerous and risky, Lena interrupted them saying "I've you think I'm going to sit here and wait for that scumbag to destroy whatever evidence he has hiding in that factory, then you clearly don't know me as well as I thought you did."
No, I do know you Kara sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to talk her out of this. "Fine, I guess we'd better come with you" she said, looking over Lena's shoulder to see Nia already groaning.
Lena smiled, glad to have the back up. "Come on. We shouldn't waste any more time" she said, marching to the exit ready to unravel this plot. Kara and Nia picked up their stuff and trudged behind, casting worried glances between them as they followed the determined young woman.
They pulled up in Lena's car at the exact address the truck driver gave the police. As Nia confirmed, they pulled up beside an empty carpark with what was left of an old office building. A row of dim street lights illuminated the pavement in either direction. The street was empty this time of night. Across the road, as Lena had said, the abandoned factory sat in the darkness silent and foreboding. There was a fence surrounding the property but it was rusted and falling apart. It appeared TITAN hadn't done anything to fix the security.
They sat in the car for a few minutes observing the factory, reviewing the acquisition details Lena brought up on her phone. Supposedly TITAN purchased the building when the last owners fell out of business, a common trend when companies housing alien refugees giving them work started cropping up. This was unfortunately one of them who fell into disrepair and were forced to foreclose. TITAN bought it for tax purposes, though notes were made of it being a viable option should they chose to build a new production centre. The girls imagined this could be the site where more Samaritan suits would be manufactured. Nia shivered the thought of this place dispensing a readymade army of supermen. Lena pictured a world invaded by her brother's Lex bots.
"For such a viable location, you'd think they would've fixed the security cameras" Kara noted, lowering her glasses to scan the infrastructure. Too many of the walls inside still had lead paint, which played havoc with her x-ray vision. But she did count the number of broken cameras and smashed windows, plenty of holes in the fence. The doors appeared locked. And while she couldn't exactly say what was inside, it didn't look as empty as the outside claimed. She saw outlines of machines, computers, vague shapes of cabinets and a workshop. This factory was being used. "Maybe they found another use for it?" she told the other, code for there's something in there.
"I idea what use that might be?" Lena asked, also code for what do you see?
Kara shrugged. "Workshop. Off the books factory? Can't say for sure."
Lena grumbled. "I guess we'll have to continue you old school approach and find a way in" she said, opening her door and stepping outside.
Kara waited for her to close the door before turning back to Nia in the backseat. "There's too much lead in there to see clearly. You think your astral projection could do better."
Nia's skin suddenly looked rather green as she leaned forward. "Not without feeling like I'm going to throw up" she said queasily. She'd already tried to close her eyes and project her image inside. But the moment she did her body got sick and she was forced to abort. Her powers were out of action for a while it seemed.
Kara sighed, examining Nia's ill state with great concern. "Maybe you should wait in the car" she suggested.
Nia shook her head, already climbing to the door. "I'll be okay" she said. But when she opened the car door her head swam and she vomited out onto the road. Kara leapt out the passenger seat and around to her friend. Lena appeared beside they watching as Nia fell back into the car. "Okay, I'll stay in the car" she relented, her eyelids fluttering closed feeling very sleepy.
"Good. Get some rest. We'll be right back" Kara assured her, helping her roll onto the backseat curled into a ball before closing the door.
Lena locked the vehicle and peered at her through the window. "That's one hell of a stomach bug" Lena noted. She then cast her eye to Kara and saw her pale skin take on a green tint. "Are you up for this?" she asked.
"I'll manage" Kara told her, turning to the factory in front of them.
"So not as abandoned as we thought?" Lena checked more openly.
"It doesn't seem so" she agreed, leading the way to a gap in the fence. "I don't hear any activity inside, but the lead is preventing be for being clear. But there is no security that I can see."
"That in itself is odd" Lena mused, ducking under a gap in the fence and following Kara into the darkness. She brings out her phone and turns on the flashlight, shining it along the graffiti walls and smashed windows seeing no signs of life. They reach a door and find it locked with a brand new padlock. "Certainly in use" Lena said, casting a wary eye around the area while Kara grabs the padlock crushing it in her palm. The door opens with a creak and they exchange a nervous glance before entering the dark factory.
Unbeknownst to either of them, opening the door triggered a carefully placed motion sensor by the entrance sending an alert to a mobile device elsewhere in the city. The device buzzed flashing with the alert drawing its owner back to the desk. They picked it up and examined the alert, a snapshot of the dimly lit entrance coming up on their screen. The faces of the intruders were obscured by shadows, but the fact someone was breaking into the factory was cause enough for alarm as they rushed out to grab their stuff.