Coming to a stop, Clark looked down at his watch. The device read one forty-five in the morning. He was starting to think that this was a hopeless search. He had covered a lot of ground, and had yet to find any trace of either of them.
Still, if his search had turned up nothing, the police search probably hadn't either. He was probably even further out than any of them were. Suddenly he spotted a van in the distance. It was an old cargo van and it was headed toward a building.
Curious, and having nothing else to go on, Clark headed in that direction. Hiding behind a tree as the van came to a stop, he watched two guys get out of the van. He didn't recognize them at all. As they disappeared into the building, whispering softly to each other Clark listened closely.
"Well that should take care of Luthor."
"Too bad it was so quick. Would have been fun to watch him suffer a little more."
"Well we still got the girl to take care of."
Clark had heard enough. He knew he had found the guys who had kidnaped Lex and Lana. From the sounds of it they had already done something with Lex but Lana was probably still in the building. Remembering his promise to his father, he quickly disappeared, rushing for the nearest payphone.
Reaching the payphone, Clark quickly dialed the police station.
"Smallville Police, how may I help you?"
"I've got some information concerning the Lana Lang disappearance," Clark told the dispatcher, quickly giving her the information about how to find the building.
"May I ask your name?" the dispatcher asked, as Clark hung up the phone.
Leaving her to wonder who had called in the tip, Clark hurried back to the building. He wanted to make sure they hadn't left already and also make sure nothing happened to Lana before the police got there. He knew where she was at and knew they were planning to do something to her. As much as he was worried about Lex, he didn't know where he was or even where to look. Clark didn't want to risk losing them both. As soon as he knew Lana was safe, then he would go looking for Lex.
It wasn't long before Clark was back at the building. He slowly made his way around the building, trying to find an inconspicious way into the building. As he reached the side of the building, he found a boarded up broken window. Easily ripping the boards from the window, Clark climbed through the window. He cringed as he knocked glass off in the process.
Crouching on the floor next to the window, he listened. Had the fallen glass been heard by anyone in the building? The van had still been out front, so he was assuming there were still people here. He heard voices in the distance but they didn't seem alarmed.
~They must not have heard me, ~ Clark thought to himself as he straightened up. Walking quietly, Clark crossed the room to the door.
The door creaked as he opened it. Clark cringed, hoping it was just his sensitive hearing that was making the sound seem so loud. Sticking his head out he peered in both directions. Not seeing anyone, he stepped into the hallway. Listening carefully, he tried to decide which direction the voices were in.
"It'll be awhile before anyone finds him, I think. If they ever do."
"Good. Now we need to do something with the girl."
"I thought you weren't going to kill her."
"I didn't want to. It's too much of a liability to keep her alive now, though."
Clark followed the sound of their voices. As much as he knew his Dad didn't want him to get involved, it was looking like he might have to. He knew he couldn't let them hurt Lana. If they tried anything before the police got here, then he was going to have to step in.
Staying alert, Clark made his way through the building following the sounds of the three men discussing their plans. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming in his direction. Looking around he looked around for somewhere to hide. Off to his left he spotted a doorway and slipped inside. It wasn't long before three men were passing the doorway he had ducked into.
"I don't care how you do it, just kill her and dump the body somewhere," a guy dressed in business clothes was saying.
"You got it," said a second man.
Clark got the feeling that all three men looked familiar and yet couldn't place any of them.
The man in the business suit stopped, allowing the other two to continue on. As the other two headed down the hallway, the guy who was giving the orders, turned and walked past the doorway Clark was peering out of. As he got a glimpse of the guy's face again, it hit him why the guy looked familiar. It was the guy from the Talon that Lana had a bad feeling awhile back. Apparently he had been hanging around the coffee shop in order to figure out the normal routine of the place and when it would be a good time to make his move. Given the normal slow business on Sundays, the guy must have chosen tonight. The question was why? What had he wanted with Lana?
As the man disappeared from sight, Clark realized that the answers to those questions were going to have to wait. Right now his first priority was making sure Lana stayed safe until the authorities could get here. Though he would prefer to do so in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion, Clark knew that he would do whatever it took to keep Lana alive.
Forgetting about the man with the business suit for now, Clark headed in the direction the other two guys had disappeared in.
Out of breath from his struggles with his relentless bonds, which had only managed to dislodge more dirt and rocks from the embankment he had been tossed down, Lex lay still. He fought against the panic that was welling up inside of him. Panicking wasn't going to get him anywhere nor was it going to help Lana. Whatever the guys had in mind for the raven haired teen, Lex knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant. Right now, he was the only one that had any idea where she was even if he wasn't in the position to use that knowledge to benefit her right now. Still, if someone should happen to find him then perhaps he could help Lana. It was the only positive thing he could think of to latch onto right now.
As his breathing began to become more regular, Lex became more aware of the pain in his right arm which was pinned by his body. Despite the pain though, Lex was afraid to try shifting to relieve it as the last attempt at moving into a more comfortable position had caused him to roll further away from the road, which was his only possible source of help. No one would be tramping around these woods this late at night and as there was no sign of the stars in the sky above him, Lex knew that the canopy of leaves above him would block him from any search attempt from the air.
The only real chance of someone finding him was if they heard his yells but that meant someone had to be going by on the road at the exact time he was yelling. He had heard a car or two pass above him already but despite yelling as loud as he could, they hadn't slowed let alone stopped. Still there was no other hope and right now he was the only one with any idea as to where Lana was. He had to hang on for Lana because even though he hadn't been the one to drag her into this situation this time, Lana, Clark and their friends had sure gotten dragged into enough trouble that was related to him somehow since he had come to Smallville.
Hearing sirens in the distance, Lex started yelling for help again. If the other cars hadn't heard him, he had no chance of being heard over the sirens. However he couldn't just lie there and do nothing when he knew those guys still had Lana. Lex knew the odds were that they planned on killing her now that both she and he had seen their face. They wouldn't risk being caught by witnesses no matter what the original intent of the kidnaping had been.
Even after the sound of the sirens were fading away again, Lex kept calling out for help. He continued the pointless plea until his throat began to get to hoarse to continue.
From a safe hiding place some distance from the abandoned building, Clark watched as the police led the two guys who had been holding Lana out of the building. The two thugs were busy arguing amongst themselves at whose fault the series of mishaps that had kept them from carrying out their last orders were. If it wasn't for the fact that Lana was still unconscious and Lex was still missing, Clark would have found the confused criminals amusing, especially as he was the cause of it.
Seeing the paramedics finally leave the building with Lana, Clark left the scene. Lana was in good hands now, and two of her captors were in custody. The third had already fled the building by the time the police had entered the building, but right now that wasn't Clark's main concern. The third guy, the guy in charge of the operation, hadn't been with the two when they dumped Lex. Clark doubted the guy knew exactly where his friend was, and so searching for him would be the waste of his time. He would let the authorities worry about him. Right now, he wanted to search for Lex. Unless the two criminals taken into custody talked, Clark knew he was Lex's best chance.
An hour later Clark had decided to take a break from the seemingly futile search and headed for the Smallville Medical Center. As anticipated he found his parents there. The two of them were walking back toward the waiting room area from down the hallway.
"How's Lana?" Clark asked, as he joined his parents.
"A concussion and some bruises are her only injuries, and she's stable, but the doctors are concerned because she hasn't yet regained consciousness," his mom told him.
Clark sighed. He was worried both for Lana and disappointed as Lana might know something about Lex's whereabouts but she couldn't tell them if she was unconscious. "I can't find any trace of Lex. You don't appreciate how much area Smallville really covers until your searching for someone. Have the police gotten any leads?" he asked hopefully.
Jonathan Kent shook his head slowly. "I talked to Sheriff Adams. The two guys they apprehended aren't talking and there were no clues as to what they may have done with him. The most they admitted to was that they were following someone's orders but they're not giving that person up."
"Perhaps I should go back to looking for him," Clark said, worried about his friend.
"I don't think that will be safe," Jonathan told him. "Sheriff Adams said they're calling in help from surrounding areas to help with the search which means the chances of someone spotting you are going to get greater. I think it's best that we let the authorities handle things for now. If they haven't found him by the morning, you and I will join the search together."
Clark wanted to protest, but glancing toward his mother he could see the worry written on her face. Worry that echoed his father's words. He sighed. "Okay. Do you think I could see Lana?" he asked, resignedly.
"Nell's with her now but I'm sure Nell won't mind you stopping in. She's in room 22," Martha replied, relieved that her son was giving in to Jonathan's warning. As worried as she was about Lex, Martha didn't want her son getting spotted by the authorities. That would only compound their problems.
"We were going to head home and try to get some rest," Jonathan added. "Do you want us to wait for you?"
"No. The two of you go on ahead. I'll be along after I see Lana," Clark told him.
"Okay," Martha said, raising up on tip toes to hug him. "Don't do anything foolish," she whispered as she held him tight.
"I won't. I promise," Clark assured her.
Jonathan Kent gave Clark's shoulder a squeeze before looping his arm around Martha's shoulders and leading her toward the exit. Clark watched his parents disappear from sight before heading back the way they had come from. His Dad was right, as much as he wanted to use his powers to keep looking for Lex, the increasing police presence in the area was too great of a risk. He could only hope that Cecily saw it that way as well, especially if something happened to Lex.