Clark dug around in his pocket until he realized he threw his cell phone
through a barn wall, shattering it into a million pieces. He needed to
find a phone and quick. Going back up to Lana's was out of the question
as it would lead to many other unanswerable things. It was times like
these he knew his relationship with Lana was a sham. Clark couldn't tell
her the truth and Lana would accept nothing less. He owed Lana his best
and until he could tell her the truth, Clark couldn't give her that. It
wasn't fair to her and it wasn't fair to him. Lana deserved better,
even it meant he wasn't in the better category.
Clark
shook his head. All these questions could be answered later. Ah, a pay
phone. Just inside the building's lobby. Reaching into a pocket of his
jacket, he came up with sixty-three cents. He fed two quarters into the slot
and dialed a number. The phone rang and rang and just when Clark
thought voice-mail would pick up, a male voice answered, heavy with
sleep.
"What is it, Kent?
"Pete!" Clark exclaimed. "How did you know it was me?"
"Because
there are only two people who call me this late and they are Chloe and
you. Since I already talked to Chloe I went with the next obvious
choice." Pete replied, snapping on a light in efforts to wake up.
"You spoke to Chloe? When? What time?" Clark asked.
"I
don't know. Maybe around two or three?" Pete sat up, alert now upon
picking up the urgency in Clark's voice as he asked about Chloe. "Why,
Clark?"
"Chloe was abducted around eleven, tonight." Clark waited for Pete to speak, but heard only silence. "Pete?"
"I'm still here Clark. What happened? Have you found her yet?"
"It's
not that simple, Pete. I got here too late. Can you meet me at the
Metropolis Police Station or do I need to come get you?"
"Dude, I can be there in ten minutes. I'm at my Uncle and Aunts' for the Radical Ross Family Reunion this weekend. Have you told Lana yet?" Pete's voice was muffled as he pulled on a shirt.
"Yeah and that why I need you. I'll explain the police station."
"All right. See ya, man."
"Hey, Pete? Thanks," Clark said quietly.
"No sweat, Clark. You're my boy and Chloe's my girl. What else am I supposed to do?"
Smiling,
Clark replaced the receiver in the cradle and raced off to the police
station. He waited outside of the station for five minutes before Pete
Ross pulled up in another one of his famous old souped up cars, this one
a midnight black Corvette. Pete stumbled out of the car after parking
it slightly crooked and despite the situation, Clark laughed. Dressed in
a long sleeve long john shirt with a puffed vest slung over it and a
pair of checkered pajama pants tucked into his hiking boots, Pete looked
exactly like a teenage hooligan. Except for the car.
"Anything yet?" Pete asked as Clark stood from the stoop out front to meet him.
"No.
After we hung up I came straight here. Been waiting only five minutes.
You're almost as fast as me," Clark quipped with a smile.
"Oh,
yeah. I've been practicing. Take ya on anytime, Kent." Pete returned
the smile as he punched Clark in the stomach. Clark playfully doubled
over.
"I'm glad you came, Pete. With you here it doesn't seem so serious, although I know it is," Clark said.
"So, uh, fill me in, dude. What's with the reinforcement call?" Pete asked.
"This is what I told Lana…" Clark quickly brought Pete up to speed on what had transpired.
"So I'm your alibi with Lana. Anything else new?" Pete joked.
"Yeah, I know," Clark replied sheepishly. "But you and Chloe are friends, too. You needed to know."
"Yeah, no problem. I'll do whatever it takes to get Chloe back in one piece. You think you'll be able to find her?"
"I
have nothing to go on." Clark shrugged his shoulders, hating this odd
helplessness he wasn't used to feeling. "Lana is back at the dorm going
through Chloe's things, maybe getting an idea of what Chloe was doing.
You know Chloe-"
"Always into something," Pete finished with a shake of his head. "Well, let's do this." And Pete followed Clark into the police station.
To read Ch. 5, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment