I know I've been spotty with posting, but RL has a way of keeping you busy.
Anyway... there isn't a part where there hasn't been a lot going on and this one's no exception. We're getting close to what everyone wants. I'll try to post another part tomorrow.
So, enjoy!
++++
"We have major trouble brewing," Nigel told David as he entered the office.
He looked up at him, a little perturbed to be interrupted from his call. "Yes, let me call you back," he told his caller. When he'd replaced the receiver, he leaned back in his chair. "Do tell."
"A source inside the prison says that Lois was killed three days ago."
"Good. That trash is out of my hair for good."
"Not good. My source is better than that, sir. She's not dead. It was meant to look that way."
"For what reason?"
"Because Juan Delconto wanted it to."
David's face turned white and he sat up and leaned on the desk. "Why?"
"For the same reason he wanted Paul Lang. He's furthering the doctor's research."
"And the boy?" David asked as he stood up.
"Still being guarded by Henderson's men. And Kent's always around, too. Delconto will wait until there's no trace."
"Yes, yes." David paced from behind the desk. "We need to get him before Juan does."
"Isn't that what we've been trying to do?" Nigel had been desperately attempting to get his hands on that kid without being seen.
"Don't be a smartass, Nigel!" David clipped out. "He thinks Paul can help his condition," David deduced as he paced back and forth.
"How could knowledge of the pregnancy and birth of cloned children help him?"
"How do I know?" he snapped. "But you know Paul was into more than cloning. Maybe some of that research he was doing in fertility and cell reproduction is what Juan's after." He walked over to the window. "We have to do something. Anything!"
"Just tell me what."
"If I knew what, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!" he shouted and picked up a paper weight off his desk and threw it across the room.
****
It had been two weeks since the birthday party. Bernie had performed the autopsy on the body from the prison and determined that it was not Lois Lane. Henderson had launched a full investigation of the prison and the warden, looking for evidence of how Lois had gotten out of the institution without notice. Apparently the security system had been down that night for service. There had been extra guards on duty, but of course the fight in D-block had led to a lockdown and the extra manpower had been shifted to the troubled area. Being as it was the same block that housed Lois, it should have been easy to explain what happened. However, she'd just disappeared without a trace.
Bernie had learned a few other disturbing things as well. The samples sent from Sydney were quite telling. The man born as Alexander Luckaby was indeed Lex Luthor. He was also the biological son of Lionel Luthor, not Franklin Luckaby. It was also proven that Leslie Luckaby was not the biological son of Lex either. Bernie ran a few other tests and found out that Luthor was infertile, just as Paul Lang's journal had stated. Franklin Luckaby's lawyers informed them that the elder Luckaby had set strict guidelines for his son to be able to inherit his share of the Luckaby fortune, including marriage and sons. Thus, the need for his marriage to Lois and the birth of her son. Luthor had created such a tangled web, Clark was sure they'd never get through it all.
"Clark?"
He looked up from his computer to see Mayson coming down the ramp. "Hi. What's up?"
"Let's talk in the conference room." She motioned with her head and he stood up to follow her.
"What's going on?" he asked when the door was closed.
"I just got a call from Sydney. Even though Leslie or Collin are not biologically related to Luthor, they were legally tied to him. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Lex was really Alexander, and while that presents a whole lot of complications here in the states, he filed his marriage to Lois and the birth of Collin in Australia, under the Luckaby name." She held out a piece of paper to him. "Collin just became a very wealthy little fellow. And because he has a sister, she's as rich as he is. Franklin did specify male offspring to carry on his name, but he made provisions for any females born."
Clark read over the papers outlining the trust. "We don't want this money." There would be a deposit made to an expense account once a month until the children graduated college. They would then inherit over ten billion dollars each. Of course, there would be a check to pay for tuition, all the way through school. Another would be available for a wedding of their dreams, and another trust for two children each.
"Consider it payback, for them losing their mother," Mayson told him. "I've thought this over. I've asked tons of questions. The lawyers in Sydney want to wash their hands of this whole mess."
"So give the money to the twins?"
"There's also a healthy sum to continue the investigation to help Lois."
"What?"
"They want to smooth this over, make themselves look good. They also want us to find out what happened to Alexander's first wife, Arianna. Her family's prepared to fork out another billion for positive results."
"It's blood money, Mayson."
"No, it's old, family money. Yes, Franklin and now Leslie is paid by the Delconto organization, but it's more of a benefits package. They never gave them enough to make them rich. They needed stooges and they got good ones." She tapped the paper. "This would allow you to buy your parents a house here and they can keep the family farm."
He looked up at her. "That's playing dirty."
"Yeah, well, I do what I have to do."
He quirked a brow at her. "How big is your check?"
"You know me better than that. I won't take a dime without your permission." She glared at him, giving him back the same expression he gave her. "I could accept on behalf of the kids without your permission. Is that what you want?"
"You wouldn't do that," he said as he stepped around her, looking down at the papers.
"No, but, Clark, think about it. They owe Lois."
"Money won't replace what she's lost."
"No, but it will sure as hell give her enough ammunition to rub it in somebody's face one day."
Clark finally turned back to Mayson. "I'll talk this over with my folks and Perry, Jack, and Jimmy. If they think it's a good idea, then we'll take it."
"Good." She turned to leave. "I'll call when I know anything else."
"I'll be here." Clark's eyes fell back down to the paper in his hands. What would he do with all of this money? Granted, the kids would end up with a ton when they were grown. Still... it was too much to contemplate. He glanced up to see Jack and Jimmy in the bullpen. No time like the present to see what everyone else thought.
Ten minutes later he was sitting across from Perry's desk waiting to hear what he thought.
"Not everybody with money acts like Luthor," Jimmy pointed out. "Perry and Collin will have morals and values. They'd use it wisely."
"I'm not worried about that, Jimmy. Is it right to take it to begin with?"
"Hell, yeah," Jack added. "Payment for all the crap!"
"Jack, I didn't do what I've done for payment."
"I know that, CK. It's just..." He sighed in frustration, not able to explain what he felt.
"Mayson's right," Perry spoke up. "Luckaby money is old, family money. Franklin's great, great grandmother was the wife of a duke. A rich duke that inherited even more money from his uncle, who had no children. When the duke died, the wife got the money. She married Gordy Luckaby, who knew how to invest all of that loot. Harold Luckaby bought into the insurance industry right before the Great Depression. His Australian money multiplied in the wake of America's misfortune."
"So how did Franklin end up working for Delconto?" Jimmy asked.
"Franklin's sister was Juan's third wife," Perry answered.
"And you say I can root out info," Jack said with snort.
Perry chuckled. "Yeah, well, I can find out things when I threaten to write unsavory details of people's lives and business practices."
"Way to go, Chief," Jimmy said with a grin.
"The sister wasn't Ellen Lane's mother was she?" Jack asked.
"No. Ellen was born to his second wife, Lorna. Anyway, it's believed that Delconto hired Luckaby to keep him quiet."
"A case of your enemies closer," Clark spoke up.
"Something like that." Perry leaned his forearms on the desk and looked over at the other man. "Clark, take the money. You can use it to help Lois. When we finally get her out of all of this, she'll need money to reestablish her life. Mayson deserves the payday and I'm sure Jack and Jimmy here wouldn't mind helping you spend some of it. You could hire them to help find out what happened to Arianna Carlin."
Clark glanced at the other men, then at the papers. "I still want to talk to my parents."
"Yeah, yeah. Go on and do that. Then call Mayson to get things squared away."
He nodded at Perry and stood up to leave. How much more twisted would this story get before it finally worked itself out?
****
Clark rounded the corner at the end of the block from his apartment. He heard his mother scream and shot off like a rocket. He made it inside just in time to see her slam the bathroom door closed on an advancing man. "Hey!" he yelled, causing the man to turn with wide eyes. The intruder barely had time to blink before Clark had him tied up and lying on the floor at the end of his bed. He pulled out his cell and dialed Henderson's direct line. "Bill, this is Clark. I'm not sure what's going on, but I think there was just an attempted kidnapping at my place." He listened a second. "Yeah, he's okay. My mom locked them inside the bathroom." He listened again. "Yeah, got it." He closed his cell and knocked on the bathroom door. "Mom?"
"Clark?" She opened the door and wrapped her arms around his neck. "They tried to take Collin."
"I know." He released his mother and kneeled to hold his arms out to the twins. They were glued to Martha's legs, but went willingly into his arms. "I've got you." He kissed each head and stood with a child in each arm. "What happened?"
"Your father went to the store and two guys came in the door. The guard chased one out, but that guy was coming in after him hard."
"He's tied up now." They walked past the man lying on the bedroom floor and into the living room. Clark sat in the chair and they waited until Henderson got there. When the guy was loaded into a cruiser and on his way to county, Bill came back in to get Martha's statement. Jonathan arrived in the middle of everything. He hurried to his wife to make sure she was okay after asking about the kids.
"I'm pretty sure they were working for whoever wants this kid." Bill reached over and rubbed the boy's head, who tucked his face into Clark's neck. "I hate to say it, Kent, but you need to get these kids out of here until we can figure all of this out."
"Where am I supposed to take them, Bill?"
"Somewhere with only one way in and one way out."
Clark turned his head so that he could kiss Perry's face. Bill was right. They needed to be protected, but he needed to be here to help with the case. He'd speak with his folks and they'd figure it out. Somehow, someway they'd keep this boy safe.
****
"This is a damn mess," Perry said as he sat at the conference room table. Clark had taken his folks and the twins to Perry's lake house, for now. Dan Scardino had agreed to be their personal guard until something more permanent could be figured out. Jack had wanted to go with them, but reluctantly agreed he could be more helpful using his computer skills.
"My question is who wants him?"
"Luthor," Jack answered immediately.
"But hasn't he served his usefulness? Luthor has his money." Luckaby's lawyers had tried to stop him from keeping it, but the account that the funds had been wired to had ceased to exist. It was as if it had never been there to begin with. The money was just gone.
"Where ever that's at," Jack said as he looked through some papers. "Find that money, find that bastard."
"We know that, Jack," Jimmy pointed out. They'd been looking for the fifty billion that had vanished into the recesses of the virtual world.
"How about smaller accounts?" Jack pushed his laptop around in front of Clark, who was sitting closest to him. "Twenty eight billion dollars was deposited into an account under the name David Harris of Harris International ten weeks after the money was wired to Luckaby."
"Harris International? Isn't that the oil tycoon?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah. Reclusive playboy, takes over flailing businesses."
Clark leaned closer. "He's leading a bid to take-over LexCorp."
"But Harris is loaded in his own right," Jimmy went on.
"Twenty eight billion is nothing to sneeze at, Jimbo." Clark turned the laptop back toward Jack. "See if you can find out where the money came from."
"On it." Jack went to work, flashing through screen after screen.
"Busted!" Jimmy shouted and ran out of the room. He came back a second later carrying a photo he'd sent to the printer from his computer. "This a picture of David Harris taken at Metropolis International Airport by a friend of mine in the gossip business. Who does he look like?"
"A lot like Harris," Jack pointed out as he turned his computer around to show them the picture on the screen. He was right; the two men did look alike. But if you looked carefully...
"Luthor!" Clark breathed.
"I'd say so." Jimmy hurried over to pick up more photos they'd dug out. He put them up on the board to compare them side by side. "Luthor, in all of his haired glory. Luthor, as Alexander- bald as hell. And could this be Luthor, as David Harris?" The last picture showed a man with hair, although not a lot. It was dirty blonde and short. It also looked like there had been an attempt to disguise himself behind the mustache that Harris was known for.
"Only one way to find out if we're right," Clark announced and stood up.
"It's nearly midnight, son," Perry spoke up.
"Don't worry. I'm gonna take a peek super style." He waggled his brows and left. Flying high over the building where it was rumored Harris was staying, he carefully trained his vision on the occupants inside. David, or Luthor, was entertaining a woman. Poor girl, Clark thought as he continued his visual search. He stopped when he saw a man sitting in a chair in another room. The man was listening to classical music and drinking some kind of alcohol. He was also someone Clark knew. He was Nigel St. John with black hair. "Got 'em!" he said with a fist pump, then zipped back to the Planet.
"Well?" Jack asked the time he walked in.
"He's Luthor. I saw him and Nigel."
"I'll call Henderson," Perry spoke up. "Of course, he'll need more than a hunch to make a positive ID."
"We'll find him something," Jack said as he went back to work on the computer.
"Sorry to run out on you," Clark spoke up. "But I need to go check on my kids."
"No problem, CK. We have this covered." Jimmy waved him off and he left them to work while he went to make sure his twins were okay.
****
Frustrating didn't begin to explain how Clark and the others felt. They couldn't find a legal reason to check into David Harris' legal identity. They'd done a background search and couldn't find a thing that said Harris wasn't who he said he was. They continued to dig into Luckaby's business, into Luthor's business, and into everything else they could find to comb through. The men who broke into Clark's place said that a man paid them to go snatch the boy and take him back to a warehouse. The warehouse was swept, the man was found. The man said he was contacted by phone. The money was left at the warehouse for him to pick up. The phone call was traced back to a prepaid cell. After days and days of searching, nothing.
Clark decided to accept the offer from the Luckaby estate. Refusing to hide, he used some of it to upgrade the security at the farm and pay two fulltime guards who would work around the clock to protect his son.
And he was his son. With each day that passed, Clark fell more in love with those kids. It didn't matter how they'd come to him. It didn't matter how insane the situation was that was keeping them with him. All he knew was that he loved those kids and they'd become vital to his existence.
Legal avenues were pursued, not so legal avenues- thanks to Jack- and every stone turned. The man known as David Harris practically dared them to prove he was Lex Luthor. They'd traced the money, but were unable to discover how it got into his account or where it came from. They hit wall after frustrating wall.
They were unable to find out what happened to Lois or where she was. Whoever took her, had covered their tracks too well.
The days dragged by, and then the weeks. Eventually the months slipped away. Before anyone knew it, nearly another year had passed. As spring descended on the city, so did the hope of a breakthrough in the case.
****
Lifting her sunglasses to her cover eyes, the woman hefted her small backpack onto her back and hurried across the street. It had been a long trip to get here, but she'd finally made it. Glancing at the paper in her hand, she looked up at the building to make sure she had the right place. She smiled and opened the door of the little shop.
"Good morning," came the cheerful voice of the lady behind the counter.
"Good morning. I came about the ad." She laid the paper down and pointed to the ad she'd circled.
"Oh, yes, ma'am. You want to rent the apartment?"
"Yes. Can you show it to me?"
"Sure." The lady led her through the small building; it was a book shop. "Do you think you'll be okay living above the business?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," she said as they continued into the back.
"That's the entrance you'll use when the shop is closed." The woman pointed to the back door. "We lock the shop door." She motioned for Lois to follow and they went up. There was a small landing at the top of the stairs. The woman stopped and unlocked the door. There was a kitchen, living area, and a bedroom with a full bath. "Nothing fancy."
"It's perfect."
"I lived here until I married. The kids have each taken their turn here. Nice for a single person."
"It's great," she repeated her approval. "The add says it includes utilities?"
"Oh, yes. Everything's included, even satellite television."
She nodded, looking around again. She walked over to the window and looked out over the square. There was going to be a festival soon. Folks were scrambling to get set up.
"You'll love it here. We sure have."
She turned and smiled at the woman. "I'll take it."
The older woman smiled back. "Good. How about a cup of coffee?"
****
The slim redheaded woman settled in easily enough because she didn't have but one bag. After taking dust covers off the furniture, she walked over to look out of the window at the commotion on the square. The annual Corn Festival was in full swing. She still couldn't believe there was a ritual devoted to corn.
But it didn't really matter. She was only in Smallville for one reason. She showered and dressed, then headed toward the ongoing festivities in town. There was going to be a dance with a live band tonight. She was told most people around came out, so she figured that was her best shot to do what she needed to do.
Dressed like the local folks in jeans and a tee-shirt, she ordered a barbeque sandwich from a stout gentleman she was sure might be a cross dresser. Surprised by how tasty the food was, she chose a bench on the edge of the makeshift dance floor and looked around. She hated her new glasses, but they helped her hide in plain sight.
"Again, Daddy!"
She turned to the excited squeal of a little boy behind her. He was jumping up and down as his dad retrieved the balls from an attendant at a game booth. When the man turned her way, she nearly fell off the bench.
"That's him!" she breathed as her eyes fell on the boy again. He was so tall! Beautiful, black hair was tousled on top of his head. Chubby cheeks were filled with dimples.
And his smile...
Tears filled her eyes as she watched him hold the softballs for...
"Clark," she whispered. As she watched, the man she'd just spoken of stopped and turned around. She quickly busied herself with eating, pasting a fake smile on as she watched the dancers. When he threw his first ball, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. If she didn't know better, she'd think he'd heard her.
What was she thinking? He *had* probably heard her.
The little boy shouted and cheered when Clark knocked down the milk containers again. He was so adorable. His eyes danced in the multi-colored lights beginning to twinkle to life in the setting Kansas sun.
"Uncle Jack, Daddy won me a bear!"
The boy ran a few feet away and into the waiting arms of another young man. She remembered him. He'd grown up a bit since she'd seen him last.
But what nearly took her breath away was the little girl in the arms of the man beside Jack. Perry! Her precious Perry. She looked so much like her brother. They were wearing matching outfits- Collin in overalls and Perry in a dress that was made like overalls. They both had on red shirts under their denim and white tennis shoes.
They were both gorgeous.
And Jimmy... Wow! He was certainly a handsome man now.
Walking behind Jimmy and Jack she recognized Mayson Drake, who was walking arm in arm with a tall, dark headed man. Clark greeted everyone, then they headed toward the rides. She stood and drifted around the craft booths, keeping an eye on the small group. Clark rode ride after ride, played several more games, and bought ice cream cones for the twins. He smiled widely, laughed with them, and held them like they were the most precious things in his world. He had been a very good choice, she thought as she drifted to another display.
As she rounded the corner to stay hidden from the others, she saw someone else that caused her breath to hitch. "Perry!" she said as she looked at the older man. He was laughing and holding Alice's hand. They were walking with another woman and the man from the barbeque stand. The man and woman must have been husband and wife because his arm was around her shoulder as they walked along. They chose a large table near the bandstand and after a few minutes, Jimmy and Jack joined them. Another young man came up with a girl. They laughed and talked, then the younger boy and girl left. As she continued to watch, little Perry ran their way.
"Nana!" She crawled into the lap of the older woman she didn't recognize. Clark and Collin sat down and before long Mayson and her companion joined them. As she continued to watch, she realized the other older couple must be Clark's parents. Clark ordered food and fed the kids. He happily ate the fries they offered him and kept their little faces wiped.
He'd done a wonderful job with them, she thought as she continued to watch. Both children talked a mile a minute and Clark patiently answered all of their questions. His smile didn't look forced and his laugh reached his eyes. He was happy.
Happy with her kids. Wiping the stubborn tears from her cheeks, she started back to her place. She'd needed to see that they were okay. She'd needed to know that Clark wanted them, loved them. Even if he'd never bargained to be anyone's daddy when it was thrust upon him, she needed to know he was okay with it. Not only did he look okay, he looked as natural in his role as father as he seemed to be in his role as reporter.
Lois had been back in the states for a few days, learning how to blend in with her surroundings. She had a plan and part of that plan had been to make sure her kids were okay. She'd done a check on Clark Kent and learned that he was a good reporter- had won several awards. He was boasted as the hottest ticket in town. Several billboards around Metropolis displayed his picture. He seemed to be as clear cut as he came off. No record, graduated high school and college with honors. He was an athlete, star of the football team. He lived in an unassuming part of town, although she'd learned that he had a very healthy bank account. He'd recently made an offer on a house near where Perry lived. The only thing that troubled her had been lack of information on the twins. There had been tons of pictures of Clark with Collin the day they'd gotten him. There were several follow-ups, then nothing. Kent had done a good job of keeping them out of the spotlight.
She'd talked with the lady who ran the diner the day before. The twins lived in Smallville with Clark's folks. He visited as often as he could, and they went with him to the city at least once a month. Maisey also told Lois that the elder Kents and their grandchildren were planning to move to Metropolis so they could be closer to Clark.
She stood in the window of her apartment above the shop and watched the people coming and going at the festival. Her eyes searched until she found the table where Clark and the others sat. She was close enough that she could make them out clearly enough. Pulling a chair over so she could sit down, she left the lights out and watched her children play.
"Soon," she promised them softly. "I'll see you soon."
****
"Hey, CK, we had a blast in Smallville," Jack informed him as he came over and dropped on the edge of his desk. "Thanks for asking us out."
"No problem, Jack." He grinned at the man.
"Although, I am glad your folks are moving to the city. I have a feeling Denny would have asked to live with them, too." He and Clark shared a laugh and talked about their weekend.
Clark looked up when the elevator dinged and Henderson entered the newsroom. "Kent, got a second?"
"Sure?" He stood and patted Jack's shoulder. "Later."
"Got it." The man disappeared the way he always did.
"What's up, Bill?" Clark asked when they were alone in the conference room.
"The occupants of the space station are coming home early. I thought maybe it would be easier for Lana to hear about her folks from you."
"Yeah. When?"
"Tonight. We can get in right after debriefing. Meet me at Eprad about seven. One more thing... we found Paul Lang."
"Where?"
"On a beach off the coast of Spain. The local police found him a week ago. A friend of mine from Interpol just happened to catch the memo and called me. Scardino flew out last night and he just called a little while ago."
"Is he talking?"
"Sorry, Kent, Lang was dead. Gunshot to the back of the head. He was executed."
Just then the door banged open and Mayson entered. "We've finally caught a break!" She opened her suitcase and took out several photos. "Dan took these this morning- Spain time. He emailed them to me. This is a compound about sixty miles from where Lang's body was found." She looked up at the men. "You did tell Clark?" she asked Henderson.
"Yeah. What are these?"
"This compound is owned by Pedro Renaldo."
"Pedro Renaldo?" Henderson asked.
"As in the man believed to be the son of Juan Delconto?" Clark put in.
"That's the one. Dan said he spoke with some of his buddies from his law enforcement days and they tell him that up until six weeks ago, there was a man at the compound in a wheelchair." She produced another photo. "This man."
Bill jerked the picture up. "Juan Delconto."
"Didn't he die several years ago?" Clark wanted to know.
"Right around the time several agencies got together and decided to launch a major investigation into his organization," Mayson added. "That's why every division of every agency in the world was scrambling to find out who his next of kin was."
"Ella was his only legal heir. However, it was believed that he'd fathered nearly a dozen sons. Pedro being the oldest." Bill looked at the photo again. "That's him though."
"Wait. If this compound was owned by the alleged son of Delconto, wasn't he investigated?" Clark thought he should ask the obvious.
"Thoroughly. We believe that bribes were paid to make records disappear."
"But look at the photos," Mayson pointed out. "It looks like a war took place there. Dan is working with Interpol to secure warrants to go in. We should know something by tomorrow." She took out yet more pictures. "There's something else."
Clark snatched up the images she laid out. "Lois!"
"No wonder we couldn't find her. We were looking in the wrong place," Bill spoke up.
"And for the wrong person." Clark shuffled through the pictures, then looked back down at the more recent ones. "Why wasn't somebody notified when she was spotted?"
"Dan says that branch of Interpol has been working for years to get something on Renaldo. I'm sure a woman being at the compound was an every day occurrence." She started picking up the pictures. "I've sent copies of all of these to your office," she told Bill. "I have a deposition in an hour. I'll call when I hear something."
Bill turned after she left. "I have to go, too. This is major."
"Yeah. I'll tell Perry when he comes in."
"Where is that old news hound?"
"Closing the deal on the Planet?"
"What?"
Clark grinned. "He bought the Planet from Stern."
"Well, I'll be damned." Bill shook his head and left.
Before Clark could make it back to his desk, Jack came rushing over, grinning from ear to ear. "Who's your daddy?" he asked Clark.
"Jonathan Kent, I hope."
"Funny." Jack shoved a piece of paper in front of Clark. "Where's Bill? We need to see if he can use this."
"What is it?"
"DNA results from a cigar I lifted from a party at the Lexor Hotel two nights ago. I filled in for my buddy Ron as waiter. And guess who one of the guests was?"
"Who?"
"David Harris."
Clark's eyes snapped from Jack's down to the paper. "They match Luthor's?"
"Yes sir!" Jack was grinning from ear to ear.
"You're right. Henderson needs this." He took the paper and ran from the room. Bill was crossing the street when he made it downstairs. "Bill!"
When Clark caught up to him and explained what he had, Bill started grinning. "I'll try to get a warrant by close of business."
"We'll be waiting."
The Inspector nodded and hurried down the block to where he'd parked his car. Clark stuffed his hands in pockets and looked around. What now? He'd go tell Perry and the others to sit tight, then maybe he'd fly to Spain, offer his eyes for a super search on that compound. If Lois had been there, where was she now? Had they... killed her? Taken her somewhere else? He needed answers and he was much too impatient to sit around and wait for them to come to him.
****
Superman flew to Spain and was greeted by officials there with the utmost respect. They were more than pleased to have him go out to Renaldo's compound and take a look around. His super eyes might be better than all of theirs combined. He arrived only moments after the teams of investigators did, having just been allowed by a judge to enter the grounds. The place was huge, spanning several miles along the coastline and into the interior of the small island off the mainland. It appeared there had indeed been some kind of war. Bodies were lying everywhere, the smell of rotting corpses hang heavily in the air.
"What happened?" Superman asked the lead detective.
"We think there was a shootout among them. We haven't deduced why yet, but most of these men have the same tattoo." He bent to show Superman an emblem on a dead man's arm. "It is believed that once you enter the Delconto organization, they brand you."
"And once in, this is the only way out," Superman said as he waved his hand at the carnage.
"I'm afraid so."
He continued further onto the estate, counting casualties as he went. By the time he reached the main house, he was up to seventy. More bodies were inside. It took a while to search through the main rooms because of the sheer size of the house. Another wing spanned out toward the water. When he reached the eastern section, he made a huge discovery. Down a tunnel and several steps was an entire bunker. It appeared to be a lab of some sort. It looked as if it had been abandoned in the middle of some experiment or other.
"In here," shouted an officer.
Superman entered the other room, which was obviously a morgue, judging from the metal drawers in the wall. As they pulled out several, his thought was confirmed.
"We've hit the jackpot," came the voice of another man. He pulled out a drawer with a body lying on it who looked like...
"Juan Delconto!"
Superman turned to see Dan Scardino enter the room.
"Superman, I didn't know you were coming out for this."
"Yeah, thought I could lend some eyes."
Dan chuckled softly and slapped his shoulder. He was quite a character, having become friends with Clark over recent months. "Looks like the old man died before the turf war."
An officer leaned up and looked at the others. "No obvious wounds."
"Get him out of here and to the examiner. I want to know by daybreak tomorrow what killed him."
"Not a problem." The young man began preparing the body for transport as the others kept milling through the mess left behind.
Superman pointed out things not so obvious to regular eyes as he made his way through the house. When he stepped into the secluded room close to the beach, he stopped. "Lois," he breathed. He could smell her. He'd only seen her twice, but she'd been in this room. "This is where they kept Lois Lane," Superman told the detective with him.
"It was cut off from the rest of the house. Gated, even the beach was blocked by boulders." He waved toward the surf.
"Not to mention the watchtowers," Dan pointed out as he entered the room. "We need to find something with a little DNA on it."
"Will this work?" Superman asked as he came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush.
"You know it will," Dan said with a grin and opened a bag for him to drop the item in. "Where is she now? We've looked and can't find her body."
"I'll search again. Did you find Renaldo?"
"In his car in the garage. It seems he was trying to make a getaway," Dan told him.
Superman nodded and was about to leave, but turned back. "What can you tell me about Paul Lang?"
"Executed," Dan informed him. "How he got to the beach is beyond me." Dan pointed out across the water at a speck of land just barely visible. "He was found on that island. Obviously the tide washed him over there. From the looks of things, he was killed sometime during their little war."
Superman left the room and began carefully searching the grounds and house again. Although close to a hundred bodies were discovered, none were Lois Lane. He was headed back out to where the police had set up a makeshift headquarters when Dan caught up with him. "Ten of the bodies didn't have the Delconto tats." He steered the Man of Steel toward the bodies that had been separated from the others. "This guy..." He indicated which one with his foot. "... is a known associate of Intergang."
"As in Intergang in Metropolis?" Superman asked.
"As in Bill Church," Dan said with a grin. "If my theory's correct, Church sent a crew to eliminate the competition."
"Why would they agree to a death sentence? From everything I've heard, people know it's suicide to confront Delconto."
"Don't ask me, but that's what it looks like." He waved a hand toward one side of the compound. "The fence wire has been snapped open over there and you can clearly see where several men came through. I think it was an execution style assignment. In and out, everybody dead and nobody knows they were here."
"Then what went wrong?"
"Anybody's guess." Dan shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "All I know is that the sons of bitches took care of themselves for us. The organization will fold now. At least seven of the men believed to be sons of Delconto have already been identified among the dead."
"That still leaves a few," Superman said grimly.
"Yeah, but if they're running, we'll find them."
"I hope so. I'll debrief the detective before I go."
"No problem. Thanks for the super peek."
"I wish I'd found more to help."
"Me, too."
Superman walked away, leaving Dan to stare at the mess left by whatever force had swept through the place. Could the infamous Delconto organization really have been toppled here?
And where was Lois?
