Chapter 18

Martha had started preparing for dinner. She wanted, no, needed something to do. The girl whom she had always thought of as a daughter was telling her son about the horrible twist of fate that had eventually brought her home. Being a parent, she understood and felt Gabe’s pain. As a woman she understood and felt Chloe’s as well. She could only pray that Clark would understand it too.

Jonathan Kent stood in the doorway of his kitchen, unsure of what to do. After Clark had sped for the house, he finished putting in the post his son has started. He stood and stared at his house for minutes before he, with a resigned sigh, packed up his tools in his truck and drove back. The fence needed to be finished, but it wouldn’t be today. His family needed to be together, and his family included Chloe.

He walked up behind Martha and put his arms around her waist. He knew a quiet war raged within her and knew that working in the kitchen was her outlet. He imagined that the house would be sparkling from top to bottom by the end of the day.

Martha leaned back against her husbands’ chest, grateful for his strength. No words were spoken, but their bond was strong and no words were needed.

They both looked out the window at the sound of cars approaching the house. The lead car they had not seen before, however, the second car was Gabe Sullivan’s. Both cars stopped and two gentleman got out of the first car and Gabe climbed out of his. Martha and Jonathan moved almost as one to meet them at the door.

“Good morning Gabe.” Martha said, “Is everything ok?”

“Is Chloe here?” Gabe asked.

“She’s upstairs with Clark. What’s going on Gabe?” Jonathan asked.

“Mr. and Mrs. Kent? I’m detective Collins and this is detective James from the Gotham police department. We need to speak with Miss. Sullivan.”

Jonathan had been looking at Gabe when the gentleman spoke. What he saw his face did not ease his sense of foreboding. “Gabe?”

“Can you get Chloe? She’s not in any trouble. Or at least not in the way you might think.”

Martha started toward the stairs, but stopped when she saw her son and Chloe come down the stairs. Her heart broke a little when she saw Chloe had been crying. Clark had a fierce determination on his face that she recognized all too well. She didn’t know what the detectives wanted, but they were obviously going to have to go through Clark too.

Clark felt the tension come off of Chloe in waves as they both spotted the men with Gabe. Chloe stopped abruptly at the bottom of the stairs, and Clark almost knocked her over. He put his hands on her waist to steady her and felt her body vibrate.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Gotham’s finest.” Chloe sneered, her eyes flashing bright with anger. “If you’ve come to try and discredit me some more, you’ve come to the wrong place. Smallville may not have a large police force, but at least they’re not owned by anyone. You’re in my hometown no gentleman and if you think that I can be swept under the rug or intimidated here, you are seriously mistaken. I know people here that make those bastards in Gotham look like poor country folk. I was kowtowed in Gotham, to my endless shame, but not here and not ever again.”

The room was dead silent. Gabe almost wept as he finally saw his little girl become the fireball she once had been. She had taken a step away from Clark during her tirade and her fisted hands were on her hips. She may be petite, but she looked like an Amazon warrior ready for battle. Her eyes blazed with a fury he had never seen before and her face was flushed with anger. This, this was the Chloe he raised, and yet she was something more.

She had no idea why the Gotham PD was in Smallville. She was scared, but she had Clark, the Kents, her family, so matter what they were there for, she knew nothing would happen. They were on her turf now, and Chloe now felt that she was in control of her life for the first time in a long time.

As she waited for the detectives to respond to her outburst, she watched them. The taller one, detective Collins, showed no emotion on his face, but the other one--- James, was distinctly uncomfortable. These were the two that “supposedly” took her report at the hospital.

Collins finally broke the silence. “Miss Sullivan, I don’t know if you remember us—“

“Oh, I remember, but I’m surprised that you do, with no record of my report and all.” Chloe’s snark was in full force.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “ Well, since you remember, there’s no need to introduce ourselves. Is there somewhere that we can go and talk in private?”

“Why? Anything you Keystone Cops have to say to me can be said in front of my family.” She felt rather than heard Clark move behind her in one of his classic protective gestures.

“Chlo- honey, hear them out ok?” Gabe interjected. The look that passed between them told her that she needed to pull back just a bit.

Chloe sighed and looked back at the police. “What do you want? What else can I possible have done to warrant this visit?”

Detective James answered her question. “Miss Sullivan, you’ve done nothing wrong.” He exchanged a glance with his partner. “Some things have come to light recently and we believe your life may be in danger. May we have a seat?”

Martha’s hostess instincts kicked in. “Please, have a seat at the kitchen table. I’ll make us some fresh coffee.” As she crossed the room to enter the kitchen, she met her son’s gaze. She saw the determined look that was in his eyes and matched with her own. No one was going to hurt Chloe again, both her and Gabe were a part of the Kent family, and that afforded all the love, faith, and protection they had.

As the group moved toward the kitchen, introductions were made with Clark. Chloe just stared at Clark as he introduced himself as her boyfriend. As their gazes met, Clark’s eyes became warm and a twinkle was evident when he looked at her. Looking at her like that made her feel as if they were the only two in the room. The moment was broken when Jonathan spoke.

“How exactly is Chloe’s life in danger?”

“Well, Miss Sullivan, have you noticed anything strange happen in the last few days?” James asked.

Chloe picked at the muffin that Martha had placed in front of her. She didn’t trust these two men and didn’t know how she should answer the question. She glanced at her dad and saw him nod at her. ‘Well, if he trusts them, I don’t have a choice.’ She took a breath. “Yes, I’ve received some flowers twice that had no card to them. No one I know had sent the flowers to me, so I contacted the florist who delivered them, and since they received the order via the internet, they couldn’t tell me who ordered them. The credit card was a one time use card and I haven’t been able to track it.” Chloe stopped. Even though these guys had screwed up before, they were still cops and giving any cop any indication of her hacking skills was NOT a good idea. No matter how incompetent they are. “I also have an unshakable feeling of being watched though.” She added a bit lamely. “Why?”

Collins took a breath. This girl had caused a house of cards to fall in Gotham. He had been forced to “lose” her report as well as many others. It had never set well with him, but he had a family, and it was made very clear to him that he was to play ball. Now everything had gone to hell and he may lose his job anyway. “Miss Sullivan there has been a murder of a young woman. Our suspect is Ryan Cane, the young man whom you accused of attacking you.” He raised his hand as he saw Chloe open her mouth to speak. “Please, let me finish. Upon searching his apartment we have come to the conclusion that Cane may be coming to Smallville to find you.”

“Miss Sullivan,” James interjected, “we are about to tell you information that is not to be released to the public. Because of what happened to you this past spring and what we have since found, we find it necessary to warn you and help in any way we can.” He leaned over the table and looked directly into her eyes. “Chloe, I am truly sorry about what happened. If I could go back and change things, I would. You need to know that there are several of us who regret the way things have gone. I need you to understand that for many of us, we had to play the game otherwise we had no way to support ourselves and our families. I’m not using this as an excuse, because frankly this whole thing is inexcusable, but I feel compelled to tell you this. Because you need to trust us now, and I know we have not given you a reason to.” He leaned back in his chair. “We found pictures of you Chloe, hundreds of them. It looks like he had been following you for quite some time in Gotham. There were articles you had written for the Torch, and a diary of sorts that he had kept. A diary that detailed what happened to you, as well as several others. The most disturbing evidence we found in the diary indicates that he had been following you after your attack and even to Smallville. He has become fixated on you and sees you as someone who needs to be punished, someone who has defied him. He is very descriptive as to what he plans to do if he succeeds in getting to you.”

“What do you mean by Chloe is someone who has defied him?” Jonathan asked. He imagined that Gabe already had asked these questions, other wise these men wouldn’t be talking to his daughter.

"From what we have been able to determine, Cane perceives women as inferior, weak and should always do a man's bidding. In his mind, Chloe has defied him by not doing what he told her to do. She went to the hospital and to the police to file a report. She even went a step further and went to the school to request a hearing. He feels that in doing these things, by not doing what he wanted her to do, she has defied him.” James looked at Chloe. “I’m sorry that I have to tell you these things Chloe. I’m sorry that this will be difficult for you and the pain it will bring to surface. But you must know that we are here to ensure that he does not succeed in getting to you. We have already spoken to the sheriff and she is aware of the situation. His family is stonewalling us at every turn, denying that anything like this has happened before. They have already contacted their attorneys, and of course, no one knows where he is.”

“Do you have any leads as to where he may be at? Where he is staying?” Clark asked.

“No, I’m afraid we don’t. No credit cards have been used under his name or anyone in his family in the area, which indicates he is either using cash if he is staying at a motel, or he is camping out somewhere. We are having a news conference in about 2 hours at Lexcorp to see if we can flush him out.” James gave Chloe a wry grin. “You sure do have friends in high places Chloe. Lex Luthor himself insisted that the press conference be held there. He is also offering you and your father 24 hour protection and a reward of $50,000 for any information leading to Cane’s capture.”

“Gabe, do you know about this?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes. He called me early this morning. I’m not sure how he knew what was going on, but he tipped me off that this..this psycho had killed someone.” Gabe looked at his daughter. “Honey, are you alright?”

Chloe looked at her father and felt more terrified than she had ever felt in her life. She could not bear the thought that something might happen to him. “Detective James, do you think that my father or my friends are in any danger?”

“Nothing indicates that he wants to harm anyone but you Ms. Sullivan” Collins said. ‘Interesting question. Most people would be scared for themselves. She’s worried about her family.’

“The young woman. She looked like me didn’t she?”

Collins looked her square in the eye. “Yes” Chloe didn’t even flinch. His impression of her started to change.

“Did she have any previous connections to him?”

“From what we have been able to gather from her family and friends, she had been raped as well, shortly before you were.”

“Were there any indications that connected that murder to me? Other than what you found in his apartment?”

“There were indications…enough that brought us here to you.”

“So, it’s possible that she was killed because he wanted it to be me?”

‘This girl is going to go far as a reporter. Hell, she’d make a great cop’ Collins thought. “Yes, we think it’s possible.”

Chloe was silent for a few moments. She knew when the detectives began to tell her what had happened what the outcome would be. He had sent her another message, one that told her that he wanted to kill her and would stop at nothing.

“I need to make this perfectly clear. My family is to be kept safe at all times. I don’t care what it takes, who you have to clear it through, you will keep them safe. I will do whatever it is that you want me to do, but they will come first.” She could feel rather than see Clark and her father start to speak. “Dad, I mean this. He will hurt you or anyone else I love if he thinks it will get to me. I will not have someone else’s blood on my hands again and it sure as hell won’t be my family’s.”

There was silence in the kitchen. The sunlight came through the window and illuminated the kitchen with it’s bright and cheerful light. It did nothing to stave off the chill that Chloe felt in her soul. She shivered and felt Clark put his arm around her. She looked up to his face and found that he was staring out the window. She saw the anger that was in his eyes and his jaw clench. She felt her father’s eyes on her and looked at him. She saw in him the strength and support he had always given her.

“Miss Sullivan, we will be watching out for you and your father, but we will need a list of other family members that you think will need protection.” Collins asked, a bit puzzled.

Chloe looked at him as if he had two heads. “The people in this room. Pete Ross, Lana Lang. I imagine that Lex will be able to take care of himself.”

“Lex will be able to take care of the others as well Chloe” Lex said from the doorway of the Kent’s porch. He looked at Mr. Kent as if to ask for permission to enter the house. After seeing the older man nod his head, Lex opened the door and walked in.

“Lana has agreed to move into the mansion for the time being, and the Ross’s will have additional 24 protection in addition to what Judge Ross has already in place for her son. As long as the Kent’s permit it, I will have 24 protection here as well. I would like to offer a security system installed for the time being, and have it removed once this has been resolved.” Lex nodded to the detectives for the first time. “Gentleman. Chloe, I know you are not going to like this, but I want you and your father to move into the mansion as well. I have plenty of room and I think it will be easier on everyone to know that you are in a secure environment.”

“Well, good morning to you too Lex. Would you like to sit down and have some coffee before you start rearranging my life?” Chloe softened her sarcasm with a smile.

“Chloe, Lex talked to me about this before we came her this morning. I told him I thought it was good idea.” Gabe told his daughter.

“I know Dad, it is a good idea. One that, even though I’m not one for hiding, I’m inclined to agree with.” She looked at the detectives once again. “What else do you need me to do?”

“At this point, not much. Just keep you guard up and let us know if anything else suspicious happens. If you receive any packages, cards, etc, don’t touch them until you have contacted us and we have a look at it.” Collins nodded at Lex “It seems that Mr. Luthor seems to have your security well in hand. We will have his people checking in with us at several times during the day and night. In the meantime, we will be staying at the Smallville Inn in room 7 and 8 if you need to contact us.” With a glance to his partner, Collins rose from his seat, pulled out a card from his jacket pocket and jotted down a phone number. “He is my card with my cell as well as the number of the hotel. You’ll have to excuse us now, but we need to stop by the sheriff’s office and get her up to speed. Mr. Luthor, if you will please call me and let me know what security measures you have in place, and who your point person will be so that we can coordinate our efforts.” He reached for Chloe’s hand. “Ms. Sullivan, we’ll be in touch.”

Chloe shook his hand. “Thank you Detective.” She turned and shook Detective James’ hand as well. “Thank you.”

James watched his partner make his way to the door. The group had all taken this a their cue to rise and start conversation again. “Chloe,” he said as quietly as he could, “I’m truly sorry that this has happened. Please do whatever Mr. Luthor and his team ask you to do and stay safe. We are having a hard time tracking this guy, but I promise you, I will not give up until we have him.”

Chloe considered him for a moment. For some reason, she believed him. She understood corruption, and knew that sometimes good people make bad choices, not because the want to but because they had to. “I have no reason to believe you Detective James, but I do. Ryan is crazy, and he is more violent than you give him credit for.” Chloe laid a hand on the sleeve of his jacket. “I’ll be careful, but I hope that you will be as well. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt because of me.” He put his hand over Chloe’s and gave it a squeeze and nodded his head. “Thank you Chloe. Take care.”

With a minimum amount of fuss and confusion the detectives left the house, while Gabe stayed behind. All of a sudden, Chloe felt like a fish in a bowl because everyone in the room were focusing their attention on her. ‘Lord, I can’t take this much longer.’ She looked at Lex and asked, “Well, Mr. Luthor, when do we move in?”

“Today if you can gather what you will need. Chloe, I’m sorry you think that your father and I have rearranged your life without you. There was no time to contact you before..”

“It’s ok Lex. I’m a little pissed off, no make that a lot, but not at you or dad. I’m sorry I sounded so sarcastic earlier. You’re right,I don’t like this and I’m not happy about it, but I know that you want what’s best and I appreciate everything your doing Lex. Maybe I can make the best of this and finally get that interview you’ve always been promising me.”

Lex smiled and turned to the Kent’s. “If you would like, I can have that security system installed by the end of the day. It would be temporary and I will have it removed any time you wish.”

Martha and Jonathan looked at each other. “We appreciate the offer Lex, but I think we will be ok.” Jonathan said.

“Are you sure Mr. Kent? It really is no trouble. Chloe’s right, Ryan Cane will hurt anyone he has to in order to get to Chloe. The information that I have been able to gather suggests that he has been violent and unstable for quite some time.”

Before Jonathan had a chance to reply, Clark said, “How can he have been like this and no one has ever done anything about it?”

“Money, Clark. It all comes down to money. One of the first things I learned in Gotham is that it’s a corrupt city. Families like the Cane’s practically own the city and cover up anything they want too.”, Chloe replied.

“It appears that they can buy whomever they want as well. I have a friend in Gotham who is trying to change that tide, but it’s a slow battle.”

Chloe looked at Lex. “Bruce Wayne, right?”

Lex grinned. “How did you guess?”

“Because he seems to be the only one in Gotham who gives a damn about it’s citizens. I’ve read several articles and interviews on the web and in the Planet. He is making waves and I imagine this will help his cause.”

“Yes, he has been trying to find out the depth of the corruption of the police department for months. It unfortunately took a murder that couldn’t be swept under the rug to give him the break he needed. By the reports I’m getting and what’s coming out on the news, it sounds like the backlash from the public is quite strong. I’m sorry you’re not there Chloe to get the story.”

“For once Lex, I’m glad about that. So, Dad, are ready to live the life of the rich and famous?”

Gabe chuckled. His daughter was an amazing creature. “I’m ready, but I hope that when this is over, you don’t become a, what’s the word, diva?”

Clark snorted and Chloe gave him an elbow in the stomach. “Funny. I’m sure it’s a lifestyle I could become used to, but I’ll just have to resist.” She turned to the Kent’s. “Thanks for letting us doing this here. We seem to have invaded and took over for a while. It meant a lot to me that you stayed with me.”

Martha smiled and reached out to hug Chloe. “You and your father are family honey. We stick together.”

Chloe fought the tears that stung her eyes. “Well, it looks like it’s moving day. Can I borrow your son to help us?”