Degrees of Separation: 7/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
Clark and Lois appeared suddenly beside CJ. They looked down at the men rushing toward the front door of the private investigator's office. Clark clutched a crumpled paper bag in one hand. "Interesting," he said mildly.
"Very," Lois said. "Why all the muscle? Why not just call the police?"
Behind the small army of eight men now descending on the building, the car made an odd hiccoughing noise, and smoke began to puff from beneath the hood. There was a sharp sizzling sound, at least to CJ's ears, and the smoke was joined by the lick of flames, succeeded by cusswords from the men.
"Let's get out of here," Clark said quietly.
Together, the three of them lifted quietly from the roof and glided away in the opposite direction until they were some distance from the vicinity of the office. Then they changed direction and headed for the townhouse.
And now, Part 7:
**********
Flying through the air next to his father and mother, CJ looked guiltily at Lois. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to set their car on fire. All I meant to do was set off the car horn."
To his surprise, his mother laughed. "Don't worry about it," she advised. "It's no worse than some of the things I've done while I was on a job. You gave us a second's distraction, and that was what mattered."
"What took you so long to get out?" CJ asked.
"We had to put everything back the way it was," his father said. "We didn't want to leave any traces that we were there."
"Oh," CJ said. "One of them was saying it might be a mouse or something on the motion sensor."
"A motion sensor?" his father said. "That explains how they caught on. If we have to go back for any reason, we'll have to be sure to take that out."
"Are you going to have to go back?" CJ asked.
"Don't know yet," Lois said. "It depends on what we find in the stuff we got. This whole thing stinks to high Heaven. Who do you suppose those guys were?"
Since CJ had no possible way of knowing, he stayed silent. His dad frowned.
"Good question. I'm starting to wonder if Jersey has some idea there might be something important about Benjamin. And there's always the other question."
"What question?" CJ asked.
His father smiled at him. "Does Morris Myers suspect that Ben might be half-Kryptonian? Luthor and Arianna Carlin haven't been exactly reticent on the subject. The press hasn't given it much credibility, but the rumors are out there. And there's always the possibility that others besides Bureau 39 and the Luthors might be interested, you know."
"Yeah," CJ said, shaking off the chill that tried to run up his spine. What if that was what this was all about? Maybe Ben's father suspected that Ben might have super powers. And maybe someone else did, too. If that was what was going on, CJ hoped with everything he had that Ben Myers was smart enough to keep quiet about what was happening to him. If the wrong people found out, it could get really bad.
"Bureau 39?" he asked. "Didn't they get broken up?"
"Well, the group that we ran into did, but Bill Henderson is keeping an eye on them," Clark said. "If someone in the government was backing them, the arrest of some of their members might not necessarily stop them. On the other hand, it might be someone else completely."
"Who?"
"The list is pretty long," his mom said. "We're just going to have to find out."
"How?" CJ asked.
"Well," Clark said, "the first thing I'm going to do is drop you and your mom off, and then I'm going to go back and follow that remaining car, if those guys stay around long enough."
CJ looked away from his parents, to discover that they were hovering in front of the bedroom window. He hastened to shove it open and his dad set Lois on the floor inside. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, and vanished.
CJ glided through the window and settled to the floor. "He's still a lot faster than I am," he said.
"Well, he's older than you are," Lois said reasonably. "You're doing fine. By the time you're eighteen, you'll be able to do everything he does."
"I know. I just wish I could help more."
"Give it time," Lois said with a smile. "Right now, you need to head for bed, and I'm going to go copy the file on the flash drive onto the computer and see what we have."
"Will you tell me what you find?"
His mother nodded. "If there's anything worth telling, I will." She ruffled his hair. "You did good tonight, kiddo. I'm proud of you."
CJ found himself grinning at the unexpected praise. "Thanks, Mom."
"Tomorrow," she said, "have your dad show you how to set off a car horn without setting the car on fire. We can't have that happen too much."
"I'm sorry about that," CJ said, again.
"Don't be." Lois smiled at him, and winked. "I'm not worried about those guys and their car. Just be sure you don't do it again, unless you mean to. We don't want anyone getting suspicious."
"I get it," CJ said. "I'll ask Dad when I get home tomorrow night."
"Good," Lois said. "Scoot, now. It's time you were in bed."
**********
Cj was just opening the door of his bedroom when he was alerted by a hiss that made him turn his head. Marta was peering through her partially opened door. "What happened?"
"Huh?"
"What did you and Mom and Dad do?"
"Oh," CJ said. "We flew over to the office of the PI who's supposed to be trying to find Ally's brother. Mom and Dad went in and made copies of his files on the case while I stayed on the roof and kept watch." He went on to describe what had happened, while Marta's eyes slowly widened. "Mom and Dad don't think the guy's on the up-and-up. We'd better not say anything to Ally, though, unless they tell us we can," he added. "We don't *know* anything yet, but Dad went back to try to follow the other car when the guys leave. Maybe he'll be able to find out who they are."
"I hope so," Marta said. "That's pretty rotten, keeping Ben away from his mom and sister, and maybe knowing where he is all along."
"Well, we don't know that, either," CJ said. "Mom and Dad will find out, and they'll find Ben, too. You'll see. Dad's going to ask Uncle Jim to do some computer research for him, tomorrow."
"Oh, cool!" Marta said. "Uncle Jimmy can find out anything!"
"Well, maybe not anything, but a lot," CJ said. "I want to know who those guys were."
"Yeah," Marta agreed. She laughed. "I'd sure like to have seen their faces when their car started to smoke!"
"It *was* kinda funny," CJ admitted. "I just hope they don't figure out what really happened."
"I don't see how they could. Superman doesn't set cars on fire and they don't know about you."
"You're probably right," CJ said. "I hope so, anyway." He yawned. "I'm ready for bed, though. See you in the morning, sis."
**********
Lois finished transferring the files from the flash drive, and the pictures from her digital camera onto the Kent computer when there was a gust of air and Clark stepped into the room. "How did we do?"
"You startled me," she said. "I haven't had a chance to look at them yet. Did you find out anything?"
"The other car was gone by the time I got back but the burned up one was still there, along with a bunch of police and the fire department. The driver was still there, too, and he was explaining that they'd had an alarm that they think was caused by mice and he'd come over to check it out. He'd called a cab, and I followed it."
"And?"
"It dropped him off over by Cost Mart and he went there. There were several people there, including the driver from the *other* car."
"Oh? That's interesting."
"I thought so. They'd pretty much decided that the problem was mice, but I listened in for a bit. You know our investigation into Intergang, when we got the goods on Mindy Church and her pals?"
"Yes," Lois said. A prickle was running along the back of her neck.
"Well," Clark said, sounding, she thought, philosophical, "very few of these things really go away when you bring them down. Think back to Elliot Ness and the Untouchables during Prohibition. They cut down on the gang activity, but it never really went away. They just got a bit more discreet, changed tactics and carried on with business. Intergang was an international syndicate."
"Don't tell me. They're back."
"Got it in one. The group that 'bought' the Cost Mart chain is apparently just another arm of Intergang, trying to regain lost ground."
"What do you suppose the connection is with the Myers family?" Lois asked.
"Good question. Let's take a look at what we have here and see what's been going on. Maybe it's just a crooked PI making money on the side by scamming poor Tanya for as long as he can. Or maybe Intergang has been listening to the Luthors and decided to hunt down kids from the right area, born at the right time, and try to find out if there really are superkids around. If they could get a couple working for them, it would put them in a much better position than Mindy Church ever was."
"That," Lois said, "is what I was afraid you were going to say." She glanced at her watch. "I'm going to give Bobby a call."
**********
Wednesday morning dawned clear and cool. It was a day out of October by mistake, Marta thought as she went out the door with CJ. Maybe even November. The sky was cloudy and the dampness of the air promised rain.
They stopped to pick up Wyatt and again to collect Ally on the walk to school. Marta was quiet, thinking over what their parents had told them this morning at breakfast.
"Graham Jersey," their father had said, "is connected with a crime syndicate. Have either of you ever heard of Intergang?"
CJ nodded. "I read about them online while I was looking up stuff about Superman," he said.
Marta hadn't. "Who are they?" she asked.
"They're an international criminal organization," their mother told them. "Your Uncle Jim, your dad and I did them a lot of damage a few years ago, but they're apparently making a comeback. Now this is very important. We don't know if Jersey is just taking Tanya Myers for all the money he can get from her by stringing out this investigation, or if Intergang has decided to try to find out if the rumors about half-Kryptonian kids are true. You two be very careful. We've already called Bill Henderson with what we know, and he's going to warn Valerie and Alex. You warn Ally, Wyatt and Linda. We'll talk to Ally's mom this afternoon. And if our favorite trio of bullies make any trouble, Marta, just make sure that anything you do can be explained by your martial arts training. Got it?"
CJ and Marta both nodded.
"Good. I think," Lois added, "that I'm going to make a point of teaching all your special students some basic moves so anything unusual that they do can be passed off as Tai Kwon Do training. It will give them a little more cover."
"I think that's a good idea," Clark said. "You'll find that they're fast learners."
"I don't doubt it a bit," Lois said. "I just hope Ben Myers is sharp enough to have hidden anything that he can do from everyone."
"So do I," Clark said. "And one other thing."
"What?" CJ asked.
"Be sure Ally and Wyatt come home with you today. She's going to get her first lesson in telepathy and using her super powers. She may need it, if things get any more complicated."
And so, when Ally joined them for the walk to school, CJ said, "Dad wanted me to tell you and Wyatt something."
"Oh?" Ally's expressive eyebrows went up.
"Yeah." He glanced at Wyatt. "Wyatt knows about us. He's helped us a few times with some stuff. Anyway, Dad and Mom did some investigation last night into your mom's private detective...."
He went on to give a description of what they had done, what had happened, and what his parents had passed along to them this morning. "So," he concluded, "be careful. Don't do *anything* that you can't explain with Tai Kwon Do, if Susie and her lapdogs show up and make any trouble. My dad is going to talk to your mom later, but he wants both of you to come over to our place this afternoon, too. He's going to teach Ally some stuff about telepathy. He says she might need it."
"Is that like what happened yesterday?" Ally inquired, looking interested.
"What do you mean?" Marta asked.
"During the fight, I heard you yell 'CJ,' really loud, but you didn't *say* it out loud. And then CJ and the others showed up."
"Yeah," Marta said. "Kryptonians can talk to each other that way. Wyatt can, too. He learned from us. I think Dad wants for you to practice it, so you'll be able to call somebody for help if you get in trouble. He might be going to teach you some stuff besides that, too."
"Probably," CJ said. "Ally's old enough to fly, just like Linda, Valerie and I can, and she's probably got all the other powers, too. He wants to be sure she knows how to use all of them."
"Fly?" Ally said, obviously astonished. "You mean I can *fly*?"
"Probably," CJ said. "I started floating when I was about eleven, and I'm only a few months older than you are, so you probably can, too. Dad can show you how. He's a pretty good teacher. He's taught all the others."
"Can you fly?" Ally asked, looking at Marta.
"A little," Marta said. "I can float pretty well, and I can move forward in the air -- just not very fast, yet."
"Don't worry," CJ said. "That won't last long." He looked at Wyatt. "I just wish Wyatt could learn that, too."
Wyatt shrugged. "Well, I can't," he said. "I'm not a super kid. But I can do the telepathy thing. That's pretty good, all by itself. Besides, when you and Marta get a little better at it, maybe you can take me places with you."
"You can bet on it," Marta said.
They dropped the conversation, then, as they were approaching the school and the number of children on the sidewalk was increasing. Valerie Henderson, Linda Lennox and Maria were waiting in front of the school and Linda waved as they approached. "What kept you?" she asked. "The bell's going to ring in a minute."
CJ glanced at Marta. "You guys better head for class," he said. "I'll fill Linda in on stuff. Remember what Dad said."
"We will," Marta said.
**********
After the children left, Lois gathered her nerve and spoke to Clark. "Do you think that when you give Ally her lesson, that you could include me?" she asked.
"Huh?"
"The telepathy," she said. "You've communicated with me a few times in the past, and Marta managed to teach Wyatt how to do it, so maybe I can learn, too. It would be a big advantage if I could call you for help when I needed to -- and if I can reach the others, it would be that much better. Do you think you can?"
Clark should learn to control his expressions better, she thought as she saw his face light up. "I thought you weren't interested."
"No, I've been meaning to ask you ever since I found out that Wyatt could communicate with Marta," she said. "It just -- well -- seemed kind of intimidating. And don't you dare say anything about that! I decided last night that it was time I stopped being timid and actually made an effort to learn."
"Well, I can try," Clark said. "We don't have a lot of time right now, but we sure can make the effort this afternoon when the kids get home. Look, let's head for work. I want to catch Jim before he takes off to some interview or something. I want him to see what he can find out about this Jersey character, online, and you need to get hold of Bobby Bigmouth as soon as you can, and see what he's found out, if anything." He got to his feet, and the breakfast dishes simply vanished. "I've wanted to suggest we try to teach you, but I knew you'd let me know if you were interested, so --"
"It may not work," Lois said, some of her doubts surfacing. "I'd hate it if I tried and couldn't do it."
"There isn't much that Mad Dog Lane can't do," Clark said with a slight grin. "Cooking excepted, of course."
She smacked him on the arm. "Don't put down my Eggs a la Katie Banks," she said.
"Oh, I'm not," he said. "Or your dark chocolate fudge, either."
"Or," Lois continued, as they went out the door, "my macaroni salad."
"I think," Clark said, "we're going to run out of Lois Lane cuisine pretty fast." He glanced up doubtfully at the gray sky. "Do you think you should bring an umbrella?"
"The forecasters are always wrong," Lois said, dismissing the weather report.
"Even a stopped clock is right twice a day," Clark reminded her.
"Clocks don't predict the weather," Lois said. "Come on. It's been at least two weeks since we had our teeth into a really juicy investigation. I want to get started. It's interesting that Jersey didn't have an address for Morris Myers in those notes of his. I wonder why."
"Good question," Clark said. "But he's most likely in Metropolis, somewhere, so we've got a good shot at finding him. I don't want to get Tanya's hopes up prematurely, though."
**********
tbc
