Home Vendetta -- 8/Probably 10
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Fred Harkin was the copyboy and general gofer at the Daily Planet, two years ago," Meriel said. "I saw him a few times and recognized him right away. The cops think he's the one that kidnapped Lori. They've been looking for him."
"You must have some memory for faces," Carla said.
"Well -- yeah," Meriel said, looking almost embarrassed. "I have a photographic memory. Don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want them to think I'm weird or anything."
"Sure," Carla said, enviously. "I wish mine was that good, though."
They were dropping toward the ground again. Fred Harkin groaned once more and pushed himself painfully up from his crumpled position in the passenger seat. "What the --"
Titan set the car down on the street and pulled open the passenger door. "Come along, Mr. Harkin. There's somebody that wants to talk to you."
And now: Part 8:
**********
Oliver Brent got suddenly to his feet. "They have him!"
"Who?" Velma also stood up.
"Harkin! He tried to carjack Meriel Olsen and she called for help."
"How did --" Velma broke off, feeling silly. John Olsen was a telepath. It stood to reason that his daughter might be one also. "Oh."
"Titan's bringing them in now." Oliver stood back to let Velma exit the office first and then followed, crowding her heels.
A tiny subcompact Hummingbird, that must be Meriel Olsen's car, was sitting neatly in a parking space directly across the street from the station, Velma saw, but her attention was mostly on the four persons entering the station when she and Inspector Brent arrived. Two attractive young women, one of whom strongly resembled the Managing Editor of the Metropolis Daily Planet, preceded the imposing, white-clad figure of Titan, who gently but firmly shoved a man, that she recognized instantly from his photo, through the doors of the Precinct. Fred Harkin looked somewhat the worse for wear. His nose and mouth were bleeding and he had what promised to be a spectacular bruise that began at his hairline, encompassed his right eye and cheek and ended at the bottom of the cheekbone.
"What happened?" she asked, raising her brows.
"He tried to carjack us." The girl that resembled John Olsen spoke up. "Titan landed on the street in front of us and my car hit him. This guy wasn't wearing his safety belt."
"So I see." Velma moved forward to face the man that Titan held by the arm. "Mr. Harkin, I have just one question for you. Where is Lori Lyons?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Harkin said.
"Really." Velma set her jaw. "If anything happens to Ms. Lyons, I warn you, Mr. Harkin, you'll regret it. We have a witness that saw you abduct her at stunner point. Speaking of which --" She glanced at Titan.
The superhero extended the stunner he held in one hand. "He had this. It's empty, and there's a power cell in his pocket. It's what's in the other pocket that might interest you more, however."
"Oh?" Velma asked.
"Yes. There's a wrist talker, engraved 'To Lori, Love Brad,' a pair of gold earrings, a wedding set and a gold pin shaped like a four-leafed clover. The wedding set is also engraved with the words, 'To Lori, I have loved you since the beginning and will love you to the end. Clark.' I think that pretty much clinches it."
"I'd say so," Velma said briefly, "since those are the things she was wearing when she was abducted." She fixed Fred Harkin with a cold expression. "Mr. Harkin, if that girl dies, do you really want to take all the blame for what Gaia's Children has done?"
She was interrupted by a commotion in the entrance and Velma glanced around. Several of the supermen were there and each had a prisoner. Accompanying them was Clark Kent, and the look on his face made Velma Chow extremely glad that it wasn't turned on her.
"We heard Mr. Kent calling for help," Superwoman said briefly. "He was imprisoned in one of the bomb shelters in the Hobs Ocean View Estates. These people were in the house where he was being held and he accuses them of abducting him at stunner point."
"I guess the bomb shelters aren't as soundproof as they're supposed to be," Velma said dryly.
"Not for us," Superwoman said. "Do you have a place to stash these people? They're all asking for their lawyers."
That, of course, was predictable. Still, it might be a little difficult for them to wiggle out of the fact that Kent had been a prisoner in their bomb shelter, Velma thought.
"These people burst into my house without a warrant!" one of the men protested. "They had no right!"
"If they heard Mr. Kent calling for help, they didn't need one," Velma said. She glanced at the crowd of police officers that was gathering to watch the spectacle. "Lock them up. They get one vid call apiece." She turned back to Fred Harkin. "Well, Mr. Harkin? Are you going to tell us what we need to know, or should I give you and Mr. Kent a little privacy so he can have a heart to heart talk with you?" That last was a bluff, of course, but Harkin didn't seem so sure.
Clark stepped forward, and it amazed Velma at how large and threatening he seemed to have become. "Where's my wife, Fred? Believe me; Gaia's Children can't possibly do more to you than I can if something happens to her and that baby."
Fred's face had assumed the color of chalk and Velma lifted an eyebrow when she noted the damp stain spreading down the legs of his jeans. He glanced frantically at Velma. "You can't leave me alone with him!"
"Pete," Velma said casually, "please escort Mr. Kent and Mr. Harkin to Conference Room Three. Be sure to lock the door behind you."
"Right away, Lieutenant." Pete's expression was a study in indifference as he reached out to take Harkin's arm. "This way."
"No! You can't!"
Velma raised her brows. "Oh? You have something you'd like to tell us?"
"She's at 4516 West White Sands Avenue," Fred muttered. "In the bomb shelter."
"That's Fitzgerald's house!" Meriel exclaimed excitedly. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Do you know something about this?" Velma asked her.
"Not really," Meriel said quickly. "We saw the address on the list and since it's only about a mile from my house, we thought we'd check it out."
Velma didn't say anything but she thought she'd figured it out. Meriel Olsen and the other girl with her might very well be the ones that had supplied her with the all-important list. That, however, could be dealt with later. She glanced at Pete. "Lock him up. Clark, you're with me. The rest of you, get over there now and make sure no one leaves. Move!"
**********
Lori pressed back against the rough wall, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, biting her lower lip and closing her eyes as the clenching of muscles in her back came again. The pain radiated around her sides toward the front. It hurt, nearly cutting off her breath.
"Please, Clark," she whispered, as she had been doing for the last thirty minutes. "If you can hear me, I need you. Please come and find me."
She thought for a moment that the whoosh of air was her imagination. Then a pair of competent hands scooped her up.
"Easy, Lori," Rhonda Klein's voice said. "I've got you."
From somewhere, she heard the wail of a siren. A large hand enfolded one of hers. Clark's voice said, "I'm here, honey. We got them. Hold on. Vortex is bringing the paramedic van."
Perry Kent, AKA Vortex, was suddenly beside them as well. "We're here. Is she hurt?"
"She's in labor," Rhonda's voice said. Lori gripped her husband's hand, trying to concentrate on her breathing.
It didn't seem to be working. She gave a small cry.
"Lori." Clark's voice was suddenly businesslike. "Relax. Everything's under control. We're going to do this together. Breathe out. Don't hold your breath. Come on, now --"
Somehow, she managed to concentrate on her husband's voice. She was safe. They had found her, and she had something more important to do than worry about Gaia's idiotic Children.
"Breathe in," Clark's voice said firmly. "Now breathe out. Breathe with me, honey."
Lori obeyed. Rhonda's voice in the background retreated to a mumble of sound and she didn't notice that they were transferring her to a litter to lower her safely to the ground. Slowly, the pain retreated and she opened her eyes to discover that she was being lifted into the paramedic van. Clark climbed in beside her, smiling down at her, and there were tear tracks down his cheeks.
"Hi, honey," he whispered.
"Hi," she said back. She reached up her free hand, almost not noticing that someone was attaching an intravenous line to her left arm, and touched his face. "You came."
He nodded. "Always."
Lori started to speak but caught her breath as the muscles in her back began to tighten again.
"Five minutes," Rhonda's voice said. "Talk later, Clark. Your wife needs you now."
Clark gripped her hand. "Breathe," he commanded. "Come on, honey."
**********
Velma Chow watched as Vortex lifted the paramedic van bearing Lori, Clark and her doctor over his head and floated it away toward the hospital. From somewhere beyond the perimeter that was being maintained by a ring of the supermen, a vid camera was whirring and dozens of representatives of various news services had gathered. She glanced at Oliver Brent and for the first time in hours felt her tightly stretched nerves begin to relax. "It's over."
"It's just beginning," Oliver said. "I think Gaia's Children has stepped over the line big time."
"Yeah," Velma said. "And there are plenty of witnesses." In truth she was still slightly breathless at what she had seen.
As soon as they left the Precinct, Clark had scooped up the car bearing Oliver Brent and her, without bothering to change into his blue, red and yellow suit. They had been airborne at once and, almost as quickly, the car had been surrounded by men and women in bright-colored outfits as the super family raced to rescue one of its own. The army of super-powered beings swept down on the house in a solid, irresistible wave, and within seconds three persons had been brought out, protesting their sudden change of circumstances.
Ultra Woman and Clark had spotted Lori on the roof almost at once, and Vortex had flown in the paramedic van, complete with two white-faced paramedics in the front seat, and then he and Ultra Woman had brought Lori down on a litter. While the paramedics were loading Lori into the van, Clark had shown up, although Velma hadn't seen him leave the roof, and then a dark-haired woman appeared and climbed into the van as well. Velma heard her introduce herself as Dr. Klein, Lori's obstetrician. It had taken her several seconds to recognize Ultra Woman in this new guise.
She shook herself. "I wish I had this kind of help all the time," she said. "On the other hand, I'd rather not have the kind of circumstances that brought them here."
"I agree," Oliver said. "Superwoman reports that she, Puma and Titan just delivered our suspects to the station, and that Solar Flare brought in a fellow in a van that was parked behind John's house in the Estates. It seems to have been the one that was involved with Clark's abduction. This has all the earmarks of a major criminal case."
Velma nodded. "Yes; I suspect we're going to be very busy for a while," she said.
"Probably," Oliver said. "But you have to take a little time off occasionally." He was smiling at her. "I know we've just met, but now that the emergency is past, would you like to go grab some dinner with me later this evening, after the paperwork is finished? Even police lieutenants have to eat. I know a terrific restaurant in Houston that's open at all hours, and I think I could even get someone to fly you back, later."
He probably could, Velma thought. She looked up at him, and felt her heart flutter nervously in a way that it hadn't done in years. Or ever, actually. Maybe she wasn't too old for a few girlish dreams after all. Especially with someone like Oliver Brent.
"I'd like that," she said.
**********
"No one has given an explanation for this unusual event yet," the LNN newscaster said. The picture of the incredible swarm of super men and women replayed on the vidscreen for the third time. Mariann Lyons held her breath, hoping against hope that it meant that her daughter had been found. "The police have established a perimeter about the house replacing the one initially set up by the supermen, and investigators are currently inside. It is believed that this incident has some sort of connection with the bombing of the Daily Planet, this morning --" The voice broke off and the logo presaging an unscheduled announcement appeared on the screen. The face of a young woman replaced it. "Breaking news! Lieutenant Chow of the Metropolis Police Department has informed us that Lori Lyons, of the Daily Planet, who was abducted this morning after the bombing of the news service's headquarters in Metropolis, has been found. She was apparently being held here in this home's obsolete bomb shelter. No further details have been forthcoming, except a statement by Superwoman that her family was very pleased that they were able to locate Ms. Lyons while searching for the perpetrators of this morning's terror attack...."
"They found her!" Rob said.
Roger Olsen, one of John and Marilyn’s teenage sons, raised a cheer. The other son, who had just graduated from high school this summer, and was looking forward to attending Metropolis City College in the fall, got to his feet. “I hope that whole bunch of whackos gets sent to the lunar mines. It can’t help but raise the general IQ of the planet.”
"They didn't show her," Mariann said. "Is she all right? Who do we call to find out?"
John Olsen stepped into the room. "Lori's all right," he said. "I just got word from Clark that she's in labor and that they're taking her to Metropolis General Hospital. Rhonda's with her, and she's in good condition." He was silent a moment. "She'd managed to get out of the bomb shelter on her own and was hiding on the roof." He smiled, shaking his head slowly. "Your daughter is going to give me grey hairs yet, but she doesn’t lack for determination. You should be proud of her. I certainly am."
"Thank God," Marilyn said softly.
"Can we see her?" Mariann asked.
"If you'd like, I can drive you over to the hospital, but it's likely to be a few hours yet," John said." He sat down suddenly on the sofa and Mariann saw that he was trying to conceal the fact that his hands were shaking.
"Are you all right, honey?" Marilyn asked quickly.
John nodded. "Yeah. But if I get my hands on Fred, so help me I'm going to make mincemeat out of him."
"Why? What happened?"
"He apparently tried to carjack Meriel. She called Jonas for help, and rammed her car into him. Knocked Fred out, apparently."
"*Meriel* did this?"
"Yeah. I think I'm pretty proud of our daughter. Jonas took him to Velma and they got the truth out of him with a little help from Clark."
"What did he do?"
"Apparently Clark scared him so badly that Fred literally wet his pants. But I'm still going to make Fred regret the day he was born. Even if he gets out on a plea bargain, he'll never work in the news business again."
Rob leaned forward and put his face in his hands. Mariann put an arm around him.
Mariann felt Rob slip his hand around hers. She tightened her hold oh his while watching Lori's boss with sudden understanding. John Olsen cared a great deal about her daughter. He had been as afraid for Lori’s safety as she and Rob had been. As a matter of fact, the way the entire super family had come together to find Lori had left her a little stunned. “Why did everyone come to help when Lori was kidnapped?” she asked suddenly. “What’s so special about her? I mean -- when there’s trouble, your family members help each other, but I’ve never seen this kind of thing -- ever.”
“I know,” Marilyn said. “You’ll have to ask Clark and Lori about it. It’s not our place to give out that kind of personal information.”
Rob and Mariann looked at each other. “Does it have something to do with her baby?” Mariann asked.
“Partly,” Marilyn said. “Ask them.”
“All right.” Rob let go of Mariann’s hand and got to his feet. “I just realized. I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Is anyone else hungry?”
John also stood up. “Starved. Now that the emergency’s over, shall we eat? I can call for takeout.”
“How about pizza?” Roger Olsen suggested.
Marilyn was smiling. “I have plenty of sandwiches in the kitchen. It was something to do while we were waiting for news.”
“I hope there’s plenty,” John said. “Meriel’s coming, with a couple of guests. I guess we can get part of the story from her. Then maybe we can head over to the hospital and see how things are going.”
Mariann got to her feet. The thought of the sandwiches in the kitchen was suddenly very attractive. There was still a mystery to solve, but she could wait. It was enough to know that Lori was safe and apparently relatively unhurt.
Through the wide, front window, she saw the headlights of a small car pull up into the driveway. A moment or two later, the door opened, revealing Meriel Olsen, a small, dark-haired girl and a tall blond man with a handlebar mustache. At the same instant, John Olsen and Marilyn emerged from the kitchen with two enormous trays of sandwiches. “Come on in,” he invited them. “You’re just in time for dinner.”
**********
tbc
