CHAPTER 5

As Clark walked out of the barn, he was surprised to see Lex standing outside.

"Checking up on me, Lex?" Clark asked sarcastically.

"Of course not. But I was hoping you had done some thinking since last time we talked. I know you probably don't believe me, Clark, but I'm trying to help you. My father already knows about Bradin being missing and that you might know where he is, so there's only a matter of time before you will be getting a visit from him. Now, I'm hoping to find Bradin first and be able to help him," Lex said.

"Well I hate to disappoint you, Lex, but I don't know where Brad is. And how can I be so sure that you wanna help him? Your father might as well get a hold of him anyway," Clark said.

"I will see to it that my father won't find out anything about it. Now, from what my sources tell me, Brad has been spending quite a lot of time at the Talon. It couldn't possibly have something to do with a certain Lois Lane?" Lex asked.

"I got the feeling you already know the answer to that, Lex. So your sources haven't informed you where Brad is?" Clark asked and Lex slowly shook his head.

"I wouldn't be here if they had. Now, I was hoping I could have a chat with Lois. Do you happen to know where she is?" he asked.

"In Metropolis, visiting Chloe. And she doesn't really talk about Brad," Clark said.

"So I'm assuming you've already tried?" Lex asked and Clark nodded.

"You can always try but I don't think she will give you anything," Clark said with a shrug. A smirk spread across Lex's face and he opened the car door.

"We'll see about that. Goodbye, Clark," Lex said and got into the car, quickly starting the engine.

Clark had a strong feeling that Lex's reasons as to finding Brad wasn't much more innocent than Lionel's was. He headed back towards the house as Lex's silver Mercedes drove off down the road. Just as Clark reached for the doorknob, his cell phone began ringing. He glanced down at the caller I.D. before answering.

"Chloe?" he asked, a bit surprised to hear from her so soon.

"Clark, you better get over here quick! It's Brad… I think he's got Lois!" Chloe shouted at the other end and Clark stopped dead in his tracks.

"Chloe, calm down. I'll be right there," Clark said and hung up.

When there was a knock at the door, Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't expected Clark to arrive that quickly, even though considering his super human speed. She rushed over and opened up the door, relieved to see Clark's face. Chloe quickly let him in and shut the door behind her.

"What happened here?" Clark asked as he stared at the mess in the room.

"I'm asking myself the same thing, believe me! One minute I'm talking to Lois about Brad and the next I'm all by myself; no Lois anywhere. And judging from this mess I think it's pretty safe to say that Brad was here. Explains why I don't remember anything," Chloe said, gesturing at all the things spread out across the floor.

"He must've frozen you. Luckily it doesn't seem to last very long," Clark said.

"Clark, the guy has the power to freeze time! Time! How can we even compete with that?" she cried out.

Clark suddenly saw Lois' jacket lying on the bed and came to think of something.

"Chloe, calm down," he said. "Do you know if Lois' cell phone is still here?"

Chloe took a deep breath, calming herself down before answering.

"I've already checked and from what I can tell, it's gone. Along with Lois."

"Right, so how about you try tracking it? Hopefully they brought it with them for some reason," Clark said. Chloe nodded silently and took a seat at her computer.

"I sure hope so. For Lois' sake," she said and started typing away.

Lois started getting the feeling back in her arms and legs again, but she found that she still couldn't move her arms and her legs felt like jelly. Everything was just a blur and all she could hear was inconsistent murmur.

She began trying to focus her eyes on the hardwood floor she was standing on, her steady vision slowly returning. After a few minutes she was able to make out the surroundings and that's when she noticed Brad staring back at her.

"Welcome back," he said with a smirk and Lois glared at him.

"What are we doing here?" she asked and Brad took a few steps closer.

"Waiting. I'm sure Clark will be back soon enough," he said, looking very smug.

Lois tried to back up as he got closer but she was stuck. She glanced over her shoulder at the wooden pole, realizing that she was tied up and silently cursed Brad.

"Well, do you mind waiting outside then? Because I have this thing about not being around people who kidnaps me. After they've lied to me!" she snapped and gave Brad an evil glare, but it didn't do any good.

"Ah, you really do have a way with words. Too bad it won't help you now," Brad said and disappeared.

Lois sighed and started trying to wiggle out of the ropes. She knew there was a slim chance that she would succeed before Brad returned, but she refused to be standing there like a damsel in distress.

"I'm so gonna get him for this…!" she muttered.

"Ha! Am I great or what?" Chloe exclaimed with a proud smile and leaned back in her chair. Clark walked over to her and looked at the computer screen.

"Chloe, why is it moving?" he asked and the blinking light started moving around on the map.

"Oh. Well that means…"

Chloe trailed off and looked up at Clark.

"That Brad is the one with the phone," Clark said and sighed.

"Great. How are we ever going to find him? Or Lois for that matter!" Chloe complained and walked over to her bed, looking down at Lois' jacket and bag.

Clark looked down at the computer screen again, realizing the light had stopped moving around. And he could hardly believe it when he saw where Brad was now located.

In the blink of an eye he was out the door and Chloe was left alone in the room.

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~

(COMING UP: THE FINALE CHAPTER!)