The first reaction Sarah had to finding out she’d been face-to-face with a reporter was panic. This woman had seen Sarah’s face. She’d somehow figured out where Sarah would strike next. Who knows what else she had on Sarah. All of a sudden, Sarah felt like she was being hunted. She felt like a cornered animal. With reporters on her tail, there was a strong possibility she’d be caught soon. Before, Sarah had pretended like she was invincible to the law, but she finally realized that wasn’t the case. She had to do something. She had to leave before she got caught.
“Is something wrong?” her mother asked her.
“No, Mom,” she lied. “Everything’s just peachy.”
For the rest of the night, Sarah pretended it was just an ordinary night with her mother. However, once her mother went to bed, Sarah pulled an old suitcase out of her closet and began packing a few items.
*****
“Jimmy dropped off this profile on Sarah Carter this morning,” said Lois. “Looks like she lives with her mother. Think we should ask Sarah’s mother a few questions about her daughter?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Clark.
*****
Lois and Clark stood in front of the house listed as Sarah’s residence and knocked on the door. A short woman with silver hair answered the door almost immediately.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I’m Clark Kent, and this is Lois Lane. We’re from the Daily Planet. Do you mind if we come in and ask a few questions?”
“Not at all,” the woman replied cheerfully.
Lois and Clark followed her into the house. As they walked into the living room, Lois and Clark both inspected their surroundings. There was no sign of Sarah. Seeing as how Mrs. Carter had let them into the house so easily, Clark assumed either she wasn’t aware Sarah was a bank robber or Sarah was either hiding or escaping at the moment. He looked up at the ceiling, pushed his glasses down slightly, and x-rayed the rooms upstairs. Nobody else was in the house.
“Would you like anything to drink?” asked Mrs. Carter.
Lois and Clark both said declined the offer, and Mrs. Carter asked them to sit down. Then, she asked them why they wanted to talk to her.
“Ma’am, we have reason to believe your daughter is a bank robber,” said Lois.
Clark gave her a sour look as if to scold Lois for the blunt way of telling the woman her daughter was a criminal. Lois was great at a lot of things, but she was awful at tenderly breaking the news that loved ones are criminals.
“Oh my goodness,” gasped Mrs. Carter. “Is it Donna or Cindy?”
“No, Mrs. Carter,” replied Lois. “It’s Sarah.”
Mrs. Carter stood up in an outrage. “Sarah is not a bank robber! How dare you tell such horrible lies! Get out; get out right now!”
“Mrs. Carter,” Clark said as he gently took the woman’s hand to calm her down. “We have proof. My partner here witnessed Sarah robbing a bank. We talked to Sarah’s former employer. Sarah stole items from his experiments that are being used in bank robberies.”
“I don’t believe it,” Mrs. Carter said as she sat back down. She seemed calmer, though. “Sarah’s the only one of my daughters who’s even helped me out financially. I would have lost this house if it hadn’t been for her.”
“Mrs. Carter, I think your daughter is a good person,” said Lois. “She hasn’t hurt anybody during any of the robberies. I don’t think she’d even be robbing banks if she didn’t feel like she had to do it.”
“You said your daughter has helped you out financially,” said Clark. “How so?”
“I found out I had kidney cancer and had to have my kidney removed. Sarah moved in with me afterwards to cook and clean for me. She also started paying some of my bills. I never asked her to do it, though. She insisted.”
“Have you been back to work since the operation?” asked Lois.
“I spent six months out of work. I came back to work for a week and was fired.”
“Isn’t that illegal?” asked Clark. “They can’t just fire you for missing work for a legitimate health reason, can they?”
“That’s what I tried to argue,” Mrs. Carter replied. “They just claimed I was fired for other reasons. They said I wasn’t good at my job. I heard from some coworkers that the boss wasn’t happy with me taking so much time off, though. The gossip was that I’d be fired the first chance he had to fire me. Guess the gossip was right.”
“That’s a shame,” said Lois. “Where did you work?”
“It was a factory that builds trucks. It’s a subsidiary of LexCorp.”
“I’m sure Lex Luthor has no idea how they treat their employees,” said Lois. “I know him personally. Maybe I can talk to him about getting your job back. He’s actually a really good person.”
Clark rolled his eyes at the thought of Lex Luthor being a good person and asked, “When was the last time you saw Sarah?”
“Just last night,” Mrs. Carter replied.
“If it’s at all possible for Sarah to get out of this with a light punishment, it’s very important that we talk to her right now,” said Clark.
“She’s at work now,” replied Mrs. Carter. “Well, she should be at work at least. All this time, I thought she was still working at the lab, but I guess it was all a lie to hide the bank robberies from me. She claimed the money she was giving me was from her job in order to keep me from getting upset. I guess I should have known better.”
“Sometimes, it’s hard to doubt a loved one,” Clark reassured her. “Do you mind if we take a look in her room? If she’s out robbing another bank, there might be a clue in there. We might still be able to stop her.”
“Go ahead and look around,” Mrs. Carter replied.
Lois and Clark went upstairs, but to their surprise, they found a letter lying on the bed. The letter explained that Sarah had been behind the bank robberies and that a reporter from the Daily Planet was on to her. Sarah also explained that she regretted robbing the banks, but it was the only way she could think of to help her mother out. Finally, Sarah said she’d continue to send money whenever she could.
“Well, this makes our job a whole lot harder,” said Lois.
“It sure does,” agreed Clark.
*****
Lois and Clark investigated where Sarah might have gone, but they didn’t come up with anything. Finally, towards the end of the day, Lois’ phone rang.
“Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” she answered.
“I have information on The Tickler for you,” the voice replied.
“Who is this?” Lois asked.
“You don’t need to know. All you need to do is meet me at your desk at the Daily Planet. Be there alone at midnight, or I won’t talk.”
The caller hung up the phone. For a minute, Lois considered telling Clark. Then, she decided that if she told him, he’d just insist on showing up with her, and that might scare off her source. If she was going to get anything about Sarah from this mysterious source, she’d have to show up alone like she was told to do.
*****
At midnight, Lois entered the Daily Planet alone. She cautiously looked from side to side as she slowly walked towards the elevator. She knew she was taking a risk by being here alone, so she wanted to be as careful as possible. Once she got to the bullpen, she slowly started towards her desk. The room was dark and empty, or so Lois thought. All of a sudden, a shadowy figure jumped out at Lois and knocked her to the ground. Before Lois even knew what hit her, her hands were tied behind her back.
“Miss Patricia Woods, manager of Wayne Financial, it’s so nice to see you again.” It was Sarah Carter. “Oh, I forgot. You’re actually Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet.”
Lois attempted to get up and run, but as soon as she hopped to her feet, Sarah simply pushed her back down. Then, to ensure Lois wouldn’t attempt another escape, Sarah picked her up by her collar, sat her in the chair at her desk, and tied her to it.
“Not so fast, reporter,” said Sarah.
“Fine, so I’m a reporter,” said Lois. “Why lure me into a trap. You can’t possibly hope to gain anything from this.”
“I hope to find out what you know about me. Now talk, or I’ll tickle you again.” As she spoke, Sarah held her feather duster-gun at Lois’ nose.
“I know that your real name is Sarah Carter,” said Lois. “I know that you stole your tickling drug and a few other goodies from Dr. Banks. I also know you’re not a bad person. You’re only robbing those banks to help your mother. Am I right?”
Sarah lowered her feather duster-gun and frowned. Of all the things Lois could have said to her, she never thought she’d actually say something understanding about her predicament.
“You can still walk away from this life of crime,” said Lois.
“How?” asked Sarah. “I’m a bank robber. They don’t just let bank robbers go with a slap on the wrist.”
“Well, if you could return all the money you stole, that would be a step in the right direction,” Lois suggested. “And, the right defense attorney can get you out of any jam. I’m sure a jury would be sympathetic to your case. You never hurt anybody. That’s a point in your favor.”
“I don’t have the money. Remember, I spent it on my mother?” Sarah asked. “And I definitely can’t afford some expensive lawyer.”
“Actually, I can probably help you with that,” said Lois. “Today’s your lucky day. I just so happen to be friends with Lex Luthor. I plan on talking to him about getting your mother her job back. To make up for what his company did to your family, I’m sure he’d be willing to pay your legal bills.”
“You’re pals with Lex Luthor?” Sarah asked angrily. It was clear that Lois had said the wrong thing. “The man who runs the company that put me in this mess to begin with?”
“I’m sure Lex had no idea what the factory did to your mother,” said Lois.
“I get it now, you’re just in this to smooth things over for your friend,” said Sarah.
“No, that’s not what this is at all,” said Lois.
“The man who I’ve wanted revenge on for so long, and I have his girlfriend tied up right in front of me. It couldn’t be more perfect. I guess you’re lucky I’m not a violent person. Otherwise, you’d be in a lot of trouble right now.”
“Sarah?” asked Lois. She was starting to get nervous.
“I could tell you were starting to crack last time we tangoed,” said Sarah. “This time, I’ll go a little harder on you now that I know you’re tight with Lex Luthor.”
“Sarah, don’t do anything you’ll regret,” Lois pleaded.
Her pleas were of no use. Sarah swiftly knocked Lois’ heels off of her feet, put the feather duster-gun up to Lois’ left foot, and turned it on. This time, Sarah’s swift actions caught Lois by surprise, so she was unable to prepare for the tickling and pretend it wasn’t bothering her like she’d done the first time around. As the feathers touched her foot, Lois practically jumped out of her seat. Lois squirmed as much as she could, but the ropes didn’t allow her much freedom.
“Come on Lois, just remember what you said before,” Lois thought to herself. “It’s mind over matter. You’re too tough to let a little tickling bother you.”
Lois was squirming as much as the ropes would allow, but she’d successfully managed to keep from laughing so far. Unfortunately, Lois had no chance against The Tickler. Finally, she gave up trying to maintain her composure and began laughing loudly.
“Ticklish, much? You’re my most ticklish victim so far,” Sarah taunted.
“Why are you doing this?” Lois gasped between laughter.
“I want you to tell me how much Luthor is paying you to clean up his mess,” Sarah replied.
“He’s not HAHA paying me anything. You have to HeeHee believe me!” Lois spit it out as best as she could through her laughter.
“Tell me the truth,” Sarah said as she continued tickling Lois.
“I am Hahaha telling you the truth,” Lois insisted.
Sarah abruptly turned off the feather duster-gun. For a moment, Lois just sat there in silence, trying to regain her composure. She was sweating bullets, tears were rolling down her cheeks, and her face had turned bright red. She was also panting as she tried to catch her breath.
“I don’t know whether to believe you or not,” Sarah finally said. “Either way, though, you’re going to help me to get my revenge on Lex Luthor.”
To be continued...
