CHAPTER 2
The next morning Clark skipped breakfast and decided to leave for Metropolis after finishing his chores. Since Jonathan was still in Metropolis to check up on his heart problem, Clark knew it would be a good excuse to tell Martha before leaving. But even though she bought it, Lois didn't seem to believe him.
"So you're just gonna skip school again?" she asked and narrowed her eyes.
"Since when do you care if I skip school or not?" Clark asked, acting confused, trying to escape through the door as soon as possible.
But he didn't want Martha to become suspicious as well, and sadly she wouldn't leave the kitchen for some reason.
"I don't. But it's not very often you go to Metropolis unless…"
Lois trailed off and a smirk spread across her face, as if she had figured out the real reason. Clark swallowed hard and prayed that she hadn't figured it out, but knowing Lois it probably wouldn't take long before she did.
"Well I'd love to stay and chat, Lois, but I really gotta go. Bye!" Clark said with a nervous smile and did a quick wave before disappearing out the kitchen door.
Lois quickly followed him out onto the porch and watched him running towards his car.
"You can't keep running forever, Smallville!" Lois shouted from the porch.
Clark quickly got into the car, started the engine and within seconds Lois watched the dust as he drove off. She sighed and turned around, walking back into the kitchen. Martha stared at her with a confusion written all over her face and Lois froze.
"It's a little game of ours," she said with a nervous laugh.
"Right. Well, we better get going as well," Martha said and grabbed her things. Lois silently cursed Clark before walking out the kitchen door.
"Clark!" Chloe called out with a big grin and embraced Clark in a quick hug, before letting him inside.
"I hope I'm not too early? It's just that I need to be back before dinner or else they're gonna suspect something is up," Clark said and looked around the room.
"Lois already does," Chloe said as she took a seat in front of her laptop.
"What? How can you–"
"Please! This is Lois we're talking about! She called me just before you got here."
"What did you tell her?" he asked and sat down on the bed with a worried look.
"No need to worry; I denied everything. But you of all people should know that it's not exactly easy lying to her, because somehow she always manages to find out the truth. One cruel way or the other, trust me!" Chloe said and started typing away on the computer.
"I'm the one who lives with her, remember? So, did you manage to dig up something more on Brad?" Clark asked and walked over to Chloe.
"Yep. It seems that several banks here in Metropolis have been robbed almost daily in the last month. Every robbery is still unsolved and all together about $500.000 is missing," Chloe explained.
"Well it's kind of hard carrying around $500.000 in your backpack. He must have spend some of it or hidden it somewhere else," Clark said.
"Probably. But that's not even the weird part," Chloe said and started typing again.
After a few minutes a sequence from a surveillance camera was showing on the computer screen. The picture quality wasn't the best but Clark could see two women behind the register at a bank, talking to each other because their lips were moving and the way they interacted together.
"Look at the time in the right corner; 10:00 AM," Chloe said and pointed. Clark slowly nodded and Chloe pressed Play.
A few customers came and went, nothing out of the ordinarily. Until a man, dressed in black, walked over to the register. He exchanged a few words with one of the employees before being directed somewhere.
"Now, I don't know what that's all about, but after he walks off he also disappears out of sight for the cameras. And the next thing you know, these two women realizes that the bank have been robbed of $50.000" Chloe explained and pointed over at the time stamp down in the corner; 10:35 AM.
"When did this guy enter the bank?" Clark asked.
"According to this tape, at 10:30 AM and there's no evidence of him ever exiting the bank again. At least not through the main entrance, and that's the only possible way for him to exit since all the other doors are locked tight. Only the employees can access them," Chloe explained.
"Which bank is this from?" Clark asked and pulled up a chair next to Chloe.
"The first one; Metropolis United. And from I gather, all the other four banks have been robbed the exact same way. Their surveillance cameras didn't show anything new at all, which means either somebody altered the surveillance tapes or…"
Chloe trailed off and looked at Clark, both thinking the same thing.
"Or somebody froze time," Clark said.
"Yeah, somebody who has probably left Metropolis by now," Chloe said, although they both knew who could be the guilty one.
"Yeah, but why? I mean, if he actually does have the power to freeze time, there's no need for him to be on the run. Nobody can ever identify him as the robber and he can always hide the money for nobody to find," Clark said and Chloe leaned back in her chair and sighed.
"And we still don't have any real proof that could prove who the robber is. But something tells me the answer might lie at Summerholt," she said.
Chloe and Clark had luckily called ahead and booked an appointment with Dr. Palmer, whom had taken care of Brad while he was at the clinic.
"Ah, you must be Ms. Sullivan!" Dr. Palmer said with a polite smile from behind his desk when Chloe and Clark walked into the office.
They took a seat in the chairs in front of the desk and smiled nervously at the doctor.
"Yes I am. And this is my friend, Clark. Dr. Palmer, we're here to ask some questions," Chloe said, knowing it was best to get to the point right away.
"Yes I know. For some article, right?" Dr. Palmer asked and poured himself a glass of water. Chloe and Clark glanced at each other.
"Well, not technically," Chloe said and Dr. Palmer gave her a confused look.
"Not technically? Then what is this about?" he asked.
"Bradin Smith. Apparently he's a patient of yours," Clark said and Dr. Palmer sighed heavily before taking a swig of the water.
"You know I can't deny or verify that," he said.
"I know. But the thing is, we might know where you can find him," Chloe said.
"Really? And where would that be?" Dr. Palmer asked, playing dumb.
"First tell me why he was a patient here," Chloe said.
Clark glanced over at her. That wasn't what they had decided on right before arriving at the clinic, but he trusted that Chloe knew what she was doing. Otherwise things could end very badly for more people than just Brad.
"Well, this is a clinic, Ms. Sullivan. What do you think we treat people for in here? Brad suffered severe damage after his family died," Dr. Palmer explained.
"When was that?" Chloe asked, pushing for more information while it was possible.
"When the first meteors hit Smallville," Dr. Palmer said.
"And you didn't notice anything different about him?" Chloe asked.
"Exactly what are you hinting at, Ms. Sullivan?" Dr. Palmer snapped.
"Considering that plenty of people gained a few new 'abilities' after the first meteor shower, there's a great possibility that Brad did as well. So did he?" Chloe asked, ignoring the fact that Dr. Palmer was annoyed with her by now.
"I'm not allowed to discuss Brad's case any further, Ms. Sullivan," Dr. Palmer muttered.
"You already did, Doctor, so you might as go all the way. Before he perhaps hurts somebody else," Chloe said and Clark froze. He hadn't even considered that Lois' safety could be at stake, but now he was starting to get worried.
"Brad's power isn't dangerous. When I said that he had hurt himself and others, it wasn't with his newfound power," Dr. Palmer said and sighed.
"And what is his power, Dr. Palmer?" Chloe asked.
"Shimmering," Dr. Palmer said, getting out of his chair.
"Shimmering?" Chloe asked. Dr. Palmer walked over to them, slightly nodding.
"Dr. Palmer, we suspect that he also might have the power to freeze time. Do you know anything about that?" Clark asked and this time it was Dr. Palmer who froze. He stared at them without saying anything at first, making Clark believe that he did know something about it.
"I've answered all your questions already. Now where is Brad?" Dr. Palmer asked after a while. Clark and Chloe glanced at each other before standing up.
"You didn't answer all of them," Chloe said, crossing her arms.
"Look, Brad needs to return back here as soon as possible," Dr. Palmer snapped.
"Dr. Palmer, your next appointment is on line one!" Dr. Palmer's secretary shouted through the closed door.
"Thank you, Nancy! Now, I'm sure you two will do the right thing in the end," Dr. Palmer said as he walked back to his desk and grabbed the phone.
Chloe and Clark slowly exited the room and were greeted by the secretary on their way to the elevators. The feeling that Dr. Palmer was hiding something grew stronger as Clark managed to hear who was on the phone with him.
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked for the second time and glanced at Clark.
"Well it's kind of hard mixing up the names, Chloe. How many Luthors do you know that lives in Metropolis?" Clark asked sarcastically and Chloe sighed.
"God, I was so hoping this wasn't going to lead back to them. Do you know which one it was? I mean, Lex has been acting really weird ever since the second meteor shower," Chloe said.
"I don't know. Dr. Palmer said 'Mr. Luthor' so it could be either Lex or Lionel," Clark said as Chloe stopped at a traffic light again.
"Well I think it's safe to say that this Mr. Luthor definitely has something to do with the treatment going on at Summerholt, and probably is the one who wants Brad back," Chloe said and Clark nodded along.
"Which means Brad might not be such a bad guy after all. Maybe we should try and talk to him?" he said.
"We? Clark, in case you have forgotten, I'm swamped with work for weeks to come," Chloe said and Clark sighed, annoyed with himself for actually forgetting this.
"Right. So I guess I should talk to him then," he said and Chloe turned left after the light turned green.
"Well, from what I've heard maybe that's not such a good idea. If Brad doesn't hurt you then Lois sure will, and she'll definitely show no mercy," she said.
"That's a chance I have to take, Chloe. What if Brad is dangerous? What happens then? We both know that Lois has a gift of sometimes saying the wrong things," Clark said and Chloe couldn't help but laugh at this.
"That's an understatement! But you don't really think he'll do anything to her, right? I mean, from what I've heard it sounds like he really likes her," Chloe said.
"Lois told you that?" Clark asked.
Chloe was quiet for a moment and glanced over at him. She knew he was also very concerned, but she also knew it was more behind his question. Every since Lois had come to Smallville and moved in with the Kent's, Chloe couldn't help but feel jealous from time to time.
Even though Lois and Clark seemed to fight almost all the time, there was something about their so-called friendship that made Chloe envy Lois sometimes.
"Well, she is my cousin. And just because I've moved from Smallville, doesn't mean we don't keep in touch. We talk on the phone and she sometimes comes over here," Chloe said and Clark felt stupid for asking such a dumb question.
"Right. So what has she said about Brad?" he asked hesitantly.
"Not much. I didn't even know his name actually until you called. She just mentioned this guy with no name and that they were hanging out together. If you ask me, it doesn't sound like the romance of the year exactly. And besides, Lois is known for sometimes being quite impulsive when it comes to relationships," Chloe explained.
"Why am I not surprised?" Clark said sarcastically and looked out the window.
"You seem to care an awfully lot about this, Clark," Chloe said.
"Well, why shouldn't I? Lois is my friend and she could be in danger," Clark said.
"We both know that Lois has no problem taking care of herself, and besides, Brad seems like a good guy. Who knows what Dr. Palmer has done to him at that clinic? He might even not have had any powers until he came there," Chloe said.
"I don't know, Chloe, I've got a bad feeling about him that I can't seem to shake," Clark sighed.
~ TO BE CONTINUED ~