Degrees of Separation: 13/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
She resisted the urge to peek into the living room. There was nothing to see, after all. If Ally was talking to her brother, she wouldn't be able to tell by looking, and trying to eavesdrop would be rude.
Jimmy looked over his shoulder, toward the living room. "Who's Ally talking to?" he inquired.
"Never mind," Lois said, hastily. "Finish your dinner. I want to serve the ice cream in the freezer before it melts."
**********
Leaving Ally in the back yard of the townhouse, CJ leaped into the air and set a swift pace back to the apartment complex.
It had been bare minutes, and Graham Jersey had not finished searching the apartment, he saw when he arrived. CJ remained stationary in the air, hovering invisibly as the man finished checking the coat closet and under Tanya Myers' bed with his flashlight. He could hear the private investigator swearing softly under his breath.
Finally Jersey appeared to give up. He opened the front door, shining his light here and there, covering the landscaped area below him, and then hurried down the steps to the ground floor. He stood indecisively for a moment, flashing his light around, paying particular attention to the dense bushes that grew close to the building, as if expecting Ally to be hiding there, but, of course, he found nothing. At last he gave up, with a muffled cussword, and strode toward the gate. CJ followed, floating two hundred feet above his head, secure in the knowledge that even if the private investigator looked up he wouldn't see anything. The darkness was intense. Even the stars, which would have been visible without the city's normal light pollution, were obscured by the layer of clouds that had covered the sky since this morning. Jersey didn't look up, however. He stepped out of the apartment grounds onto the sidewalk and turned left, moving at a businesslike pace, never glancing at the rows of stopped vehicles that still jammed the street.
CJ wondered how he planned on getting anywhere in the massed traffic, but the mystery was soon solved. A golf cart was parked in a nearby lot and he headed for it without hesitation. For an instant, CJ wondered why he hadn't chosen a motorcycle, but it only took a second to figure out the reason. Assuming that he had captured Ally and managed to handcuff her -- or even if he had just persuaded her to come with him -- transporting her on the back seat of a motorcycle would have been pretty impractical, to say the least. A golf cart could travel in places that the larger automobiles couldn't, too. This one trundled along at about fifteen miles an hour on the sidewalk. The occasional pedestrian got quickly out of his way, some of them with less than kind remarks, but no one disputed his right to be on the sidewalk. CJ figured the guy felt pretty safe. Even the police would have difficulty getting around very fast in the jammed traffic. The vehicles were still inching forward a little bit at a time, and as he flew, CJ noted that many cars had been parked along the street and in roadside parking lots, alleys and anywhere else that offered a clear spot, legal or not, and simply left. He could hardly blame the drivers. Sitting in a car for hours, burning up gas to no purpose, would have to be pretty exasperating.
After perhaps twenty-five minutes or so, Graham Jersey turned down an alleyway, maneuvering past parked cars along one side, and still CJ followed. The private investigator was obviously heading somewhere specific. Maybe he would be able to find out more about the mysterious Graham Jersey and who he really worked for, CJ thought. If the man were indeed working for Intergang, CJ's mom and dad would know what to do.
The cart emerged onto the neighboring street and headed south. In a very few minutes they entered a section of town where CJ had never been.
It looked like a pretty upscale part of the business section of town, he thought, taking in the businesses that lined the street. He spotted two jewelry stores with mannequins wearing a small fortune in gems around their necks. The doors of the establishments, and the windows in which they were displayed, were protected by heavy metal bars, and, CJ suspected, equally heavy duty alarm systems.
There was a very snooty-looking clothing store as well, and one of the biggest drugstores he'd ever seen. There was a theater, and a fancy-looking restaurant, as well as an establishment that had to be a nightclub. Oddly enough, it seemed to still have customers, and as CJ got closer, he saw that pale light illuminated the windows, and the strains of music from what must be a live band floated on the night air, along with the laughter and conversation of quite a few people. Across the street, about half a block further on, a police car was parked at the curb, and two police officers were sitting in the front seat, watching the line of slowly creeping traffic. From the conversation that CJ overheard, it appeared that the men were keeping an eye on the high-end establishments in the general area in the eventuality that some of Metropolis's less upstanding citizens might attempt to take advantage of the current situation. CJ figured that it was a pretty good bet that someone would try.
The music from the nightclub became louder as two persons pushed their way through the front doors. The place was definitely open, CJ thought. Maybe they hadn't needed to close. With music and dancing, and live entertainment, even if their sound equipment wouldn't work, it was probably a pretty good idea for the place to stay open. With nowhere else to go, people were bound to hang around and spend money.
Graham Jersey piloted his little cart through the space between the nightclub and the building beside it. CJ followed, letting the man put a little more distance between them. Jersey came to a stop in the narrow alley and turned off the engine. CJ moved a little closer, watching him.
Jersey got out of the cart, walked around it and continued on another fifteen feet before he stopped by a door that broke the solid, featureless side of the building. Without hesitation, he knocked once and then twice more in quick succession.
The door opened and a voice said, "Where's the girl?"
"She wouldn't let me in," Jersey said.
"Why didn't you break in, you idiot?"
"I did. While I was coming in the back, she must have gone out the front."
"Didn't you look for her?"
"Sure, I looked! She must have taken off like a rabbit!"
"Well, then, I guess we're going to have to ask her mommy where she'd go," the voice said. CJ pricked up his ears.
Ally's mother? Could this possibly be the nightclub where Ally's mom worked? CJ settled onto the roof and peered down through the ceiling at the two men as they walked deeper into the building.
A quick sweep of the building with his x-ray vision told him that his analysis of the situation of the nightclub had been fairly accurate. The overhead lights were pretty dim, but they were glowing. They must, CJ thought, have some kind of emergency generator or something, and reddish candles flickered in the center of every table. The room was crowded with well-dressed men and women. A band played in one corner, and women in abbreviated costumes that made him open his eyes a little circulated about the room, carrying drinks and snacks to the customers. A counter in one corner walled off an area where stemmed glasses were stacked in a precarious fashion, to his youthful eyes, and many bottles displaying labels that he guessed were of various alcoholic beverages, were stored against the wall and beneath the counter. Tanya Myers, dressed in black slacks and a white shirt, and sporting a tie, was behind the counter, preparing drinks for the customers.
Well, that made sense. Ally had said that her mom was a bartender. The fact that she was a bartender here, in this particular club, was a pretty interesting coincidence.
Not that he believed for a moment that it was any such thing.
As CJ watched, a man clad in a tuxedo, just like the one wrapped in a clear plastic storage bag in his dad's closet, approached Tanya, leaned close to her ear and whispered something. CJ couldn't hear what it was amid all the chatter in the room, but Tanya nodded and beckoned to someone -- a young man in an outfit similar to her own -- to take her place. Then she followed the tuxedo-clad man from the room.
CJ followed them with his x-ray vision, trying to tune out the music and chatter of voices from the cocktail lounge. As they moved farther from the loudest source of the noise, CJ found that he could more effectively filter out the extraneous sounds.
Tanya followed her guide down a short hallway and into a room that looked like a very fancy office to CJ. There was a desk that was a lot bigger than the one in his dad's den at home, and even he could tell that the paintings on the wall, and the various decorations, were expensive. Graham Jersey was there, as well as another man who was sitting at the desk. Tanya's guide shut the door behind him, locked it and stood with his back to it.
The one sitting behind the broad desk spoke. "Tanya, I think you know Graham Jersey. You hired him to find your son, two years ago. Mr. Jersey went to your apartment a little while ago. He talked to your daughter, who was very inhospitable to him."
Tanya looked back and forth between the men, frowning slightly. "Why would you want to talk to Ally, Mr. Jersey? She isn't allowed to let anyone into the apartment when I'm not there."
"So she told Mr. Jersey." The man behind the desk put his hands together and steepled his fingers. "Since she wouldn't open the door, he found it necessary to come in by the back way, but your daughter was gone. Where would she go?"
"Why do you want to know?" Tanya asked, and CJ thought she sounded slightly suspicious.
The man standing in front of the door spoke up. "Answer the question, Tanya. It isn't healthy to upset Mr. Church."
The name sounded familiar. CJ focused his x-ray vision on the man identified as "Mr. Church," looking him over carefully. Where had he seen that narrow, handsome face before?
Then he had it. This was Bill Church Junior, the son of the man who had once been the head of Intergang, before he had been sent to prison, along with his son. The older Bill Church had died in prison several years ago, according to the information CJ had found on the internet, but his son was still alive and out of jail, and CJ was willing to bet his rock collection that the guy wasn't up to anything good.
Bill Church held up his hand, with a faint smile. "Johnny, Tanya is a loyal employee. I'm sure she'll be willing to help us. She'd want her little girl to have all the advantages that she's never been able to give her since her divorce. Think of that, Tanya. If you help us, you'll never have to worry about money again, for the rest of your life, and neither will your daughter."
"What do you want?" Tanya Myers didn't sound particularly happy about the offer.
"Let me tell you a story," Bill Church said. "Why don't you sit down? I'm sure you're tired after an evening standing behind that bar in those heels. Sit down and rest your feet."
"I'll stand, thank you."
"Sit down," the man at the door said in uncompromising tones.
Mr. Church shook his head. "If you want to stand, you may. I just wanted you to be comfortable. Anyway, the story. You remember what happened in Metropolis, fourteen years ago, Tanya. The New Kryptonians invaded us and when they left, they left behind a legacy. They left children."
"That's ridiculous," Tanya said.
"No, I don't think it is. The government searched for them for a while, until Superman stopped the search -- but those children have, or will have, Superman's powers. Your son and daughter were born nine months after the New Kryptonian invasion. If Allynda is one of them, she'll have a brilliant future as my employee. I'm sure you want to help my company, considering what that will mean for you. And what it will mean for you if you don't." The last sentence was spoken in a far different tone than the preceding ones. Bill Church leaned forward. "Where would your daughter go, Tanya?"
"I don't know," Tanya said. "But your story's crazy. Ally isn't some strange super-human. She's just an ordinary girl."
"Tanya, Tanya, this isn't the time to be stubborn," Mr. Church said. "We'll make that determination, and even if you don't tell us, we'll find her. It would be a lot easier if you just told us the truth, however. Where would she go?"
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't know!" Tanya said, angrily. CJ could hear her heartbeat, loud and fast to his ears. The noise in the cocktail lounge had faded completely from his awareness as he focused in on the drama in the office. He could tell that Tanya Myers was afraid, but she wasn't going to betray Ally to these men. CJ bit his lip, wondering what to do.
"Well," Mr. Church said, "I guess we'll have to convince you, won't we? Johnny doesn't like to hurt people, but he's very good at it. Johnny, why don't you show Tanya why refusing to answer my questions is so foolish?"
Johnny's lips spread in a cheerful grin. "I thought you'd never ask, Mr. Church." He stepped forward and grasped Tanya's wrist with one hand. Ally's mother tried to jerk her arm free and then gave a startled scream as Johnny seized her first finger with the other hand and bent it sharply backward. "Shall I break it, Mr. Church?"
"Only if she won't answer my question," Bill Church said mildly. "Where would your daughter go, Tanya?"
"I don't know!" Tanya Myers said. CJ could see her grit her teeth, knowing what was coming next.
"That isn't the answer I want," Bill Church said, shaking his head mournfully. "Go ahead, Johnny."
Tanya screamed as Johnny bent her finger relentlessly backward, but CJ didn't wait. He wasn't as fast or as strong as his father, but the difference didn't really matter in any significant way. Linda had said that he was strong enough to perform rescues like Superman, and she had been right.
CJ whisked from the roof and an instant later the window of the office smashed inward as he entered through it. A decisive shove sent Johnny back against the wall hard enough to knock the air out of him. Graham Jersey jumped forward, and met a punch that sent him to the floor.
Bill Church had half-risen from his chair, but CJ turned to glare at him. "Sit down!" He was astonished at how threatening his voice sounded. He wasn't normally either aggressive or intimidating but his anger at what these men had tried to do to Tanya, and what they intended for Ally, made up for that.
Bill Church sat down.
CJ turned to Tanya Myers, who was staring at him and clutching her hand. "Are you all right, Miss?"
It was obvious that she didn't recognize him. She nodded and closed her mouth.
"They were hurting you," CJ said. He turned to Bill Church. "I saw and heard everything that was going on in here. I think the police might be very interested in all of this."
Bill Church stared at him. "Who the hell are you?"
CJ folded his arms in an imitation of his father's classic Superman pose. "I'm Superman's son."
"One of the half-Kryptonians," Bill Church said. "So it *is* true!"
CJ laughed. "Don't kid yourself, Mr. Church; I'm not half anything. Superman is my father and Ultra Woman is my mother. Kryptonians aren't human, in case you hadn't noticed." He smiled his father's smile at the astonished crime lord. "Now, there are a couple of police officers just about a block away who might want to see all this, so why don't I make sure that you stick around while I go get one of them?"
**********
tbc
