The cab stopped in front of Rogue Roses and she got out, tossing a twenty towards the front. It was the nicer part of town. She quickly took her hair from the pony tail and combed her fingers through it, hoping it would go back in neatly. Her outfit, she couldn't fix. She dug in her bag and took out her press pass. Maybe it would lend credence where her appearance didn't. She pasted on a smile and moved toward the doors.
What she saw there wiped the smile clean away. Clark was already there... and flirting! There was a curvy blonde with her back to Lois and she was giggling madly at whatever Clark was saying. "I should have known I'd find you here," she snapped.
The blonde turned and suddenly gasped. "Oh, my God!"
"Eve Tessmacher?"
Eve dropped the vase she was holding and looked back and forth between them. She ran behind Clark. "Don't let her get me!"
"Clark, don't let her get away!"
"It's an ambush!" Eve shrieked and ran from behind the counter and into a gray door, slamming it behind her.
Lois put a hand on Clark's arm when he looked like he'd speed after her. "Relax." She pointed to the sign on the door that said Supply Closet. "So you found it?"
He tapped his ears. Heard you say it to the cabby.
She sighed and picked up a pair of pruning shears from the counter, moving towards the door. "Fine. Might as well join me in an interrogation."
*****************************
"I won't talk," Eve said from the chair, straining at the electrical cords that bound her. "You can torture me like the Spanish Inquisitors, but I will remain dumb."
"That's obvious," Lois said out of the side of her mouth. She clipped air with the shears. "Do you like your hair?"
Eve gasped and shut her eyes. "Yes."
"Then I suggest you talk." She turned to Clark, who was staring at her like she'd sprouted antlers. She leaned in. "You had to be here," she hissed. "So be useful and play good cop."
"I am useful. I tied her up."
"Yeah and you were as speedy as molasses."
"I can't let her see my powers. I don't..."
"Just stop arguing and play along." She smiled and turned to Eve. She looked down at her name tag. "Jennifer, huh?"
Eve lifted her head. "What do you care?"
"That's not your real name, Eve Tessmacher."
Eve tried to shrug. "Neither is yours."
"And how would you know that?" She caressed the handle on the shears and Eve began crying.
Clark stepped forward. "Miss Tessmacher, please. No one's going to hurt you."
"But my hair." The blonde curls shook as she cried.
Clark put a hand on her shoulder. "Not your hair either. We just need to know a few things."
She nodded and looked into Clark's eyes, then began talking in a rush. "Okay, well my real name's not Jennifer and it's like what she said and I got the job here cause it's under the table cause like a lot of people won't hire people that worked for Lex and so I lied."
"People won't hire Lex's employees?" he prodded.
"Yeah. And they're all bitter and they can't get jobs and I'm like the only one that still works for him even if he doesn't pay me... Oh!" She suddenly shut her lips tight.
"But you work for him," Lois said, tilting her head. "How's that work?"
Eve shook her head, her eyes wide.
"All right. Britney Spears special coming up."
"No! I'm just one woman, okay? I hardly did anything." Lois came nearer with the shears. "Okay! Okay! I kind of did this thing to this lady's phone. I mean, I hired this guy and it totally took all my money from this crappy job, but it was better than what the scum I hired wanted me to do for payment." She shrugged. "I'm a one-man woman."
"You mean for Lex?" Lois asked. "And what did you do?"
"I... I don't know."
"You can tell Kent here or you can deal with me." Lois brandished the shears again, but Clark stopped her.
"Miss Tessmacher." He crouched in front of her. "We promise we won't do anything to you. We won't even tell the cops..."
"Clark!"
He barely glanced at her. "I just want you to tell me what you've been doing with Lex."
She didn't say word, just gazed at Clark. "Kent," she whispered. "So you're Clark Kent. I... I..." She began sobbing. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare your mom. But I thought..." She broke off, sobbing harder.
"Eve," he said softly. "Whatever it is, it's fine. Just..." He looked at Lois, bewildered. "If we untie you, would you talk to us?"
"Yeah, right," she moaned. She looked at Lois. "Like she'll let you untie me."
"I'll talk to her."
"Like she'll listen. She's a crazy person. She beat up Lex."
"Yes." Lois nodded. "So imagine what I'm capable of if..."
Clark pulled Lois away. "You know I won't let her get away," he whispered. "And she'll never talk if you keep scaring her."
"Fine. Go play with your girlfriend. I'll just stand here." She leaned against the door and crossed her arms, but still let the shears dangle from one hand.
He moved back to Eve and began untying her slowly. She sniffled, but stayed still. "Eve, could you just start at the beginning? I promise, we'll let you go. I mean, obviously you were tricked."
She glared at Lois, then turned soft eyes on Clark. "Well... Yeah. I mean, the minute I knew they put Lex in that place, I knew it wasn't true. Well, even if it was, he's like a great man. He knows what he's doing. He's a genius." She sighed. "So I visited him every day. He was in a catastrophic state and they usually don't let people visit people like that, but the orderly was a really sweet guy. He let me hold his hand."
"Touching," Lois said from the door.
"You don't know Lex Luthor like I do. He's not really a bad guy. It's just like he's too smart, you know?"
Lois could see the glint in Clark's eyes, but he only nodded. "Gotcha."
"Well, I was the only one who cared. I mean, he didn't even have any family and even his money was tied up... And we had this beautiful connection." She sighed. "One day, like after a few weeks, he spoke to me. It was almost perfect, except that he..." She glared at the floor.
"What?" Clark urged her on quietly.
She pointed at Lois. "He called me her other name." She sniffed. "But it was okay, cause then he remembered. He told me not to tell anyone and we talked a lot and made plans for the future. The big things was that all his money was frozen, even the accounts in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland and... Well, I had to get a second job." She looked around her. "I hate flowers."
"But you sent them to me and to his mother." She nodded to Clark. "Was the flower shop Lex's brilliant idea?"
"No... It... It was me. He doesn't know about the flowers. I mean, maybe the first ones, but not your ones." She sighed. "I... he decided to wake up when I had money enough money saved. They let me see him because I was the only one that wanted to. And I just kept helping. Like with the police and the news people... And he gave me the name of this guy who does like radio phone taps or something." She shuddered. "He was a creep, but I started getting tapes and Lex had me listen to..." Shifted in her chair. "Your mom," she whispered. "But there wasn't really anything and it was just people asking her for cake and stuff. I mean... She seems nice and I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Clark said, but Lois noticed his stiff shoulders. "My mother's fine."
"Well, it's just that he got frustrated because she wasn't saying stuff and he kept talking to himself and saying your name and he... He wanted me to send her a note to see who she called." She looked at Lois hopefully. "I just thought maybe the flowers might make it a little better and I sent the best ones. I also kind of... didn't write what he said."
"What did he say?" Clark asked. Lois could tell this was getting to him, so she dropped the shears and switched roles.
She crouched in front of Eve. "It doesn't matter what he said. But what did you tell him?"
"I told him she called someone Chloe on the phone."
Lois closed her eyes and sat hard on the floor. "Oh, God!"
"He told me to get the call traced and I know a guy at the phone company, so I did and... I mean, I knew they thought he killed you. But I also knew you were that girl who beat him up at the office and... I kind of thought you had it coming... Well, this was yesterday and now it's today and I... still think you need help." She sniffled. "And a better hair cut." She suddenly looked up, frantic. "But I just knew that there was something wrong with Lex when I went back that afternoon. I had the address, but I didn't tell him. Or your new name. Because he said things."
"Like what?" Clark asked. Lois saw a vein nearly popping out of his neck.
"He was just possessed. He wasn't himself. He kept pacing around and saying these things and they were creepy things like... I put one in the note. He doesn't know about your note. I only sent it because I kind of hoped you'd go away." She stared at Lois. "If you go away, he'll be fine again. He really only acted crazy when he talked about you guys. I mean, the things he said..." She looked at Clark. "They were just... crazy. Like he was hallucinating." She began crying again. Lois stood and moved to a roll of paper towels, handing her off one. She took it and blew her nose. "I just want him to be free, so we can be together. I know he'll forget all this. I'll take care of him. I love him." She looked sadly at Lois. "Does that make me stupid?"
She smiled sadly and tossed the roll away. "No. It just makes you a woman. We sometimes love stupidly," she said dully.
Clark glanced at her, then back at Eve. "Miss Tessmacher, we'll protect you from him, but we need to take you to the police. This has to be straightened out. He can't go free."
"But... I swear I can take care of him. He'll get his money back and we'll go far away."
"We can't let that happen." Lois patted her shoulder. "You have to understand."
"I... Okay." She nodded as more tears poured from her eyes. "I'll go just..." She turned weepy eyes to Clark. "Could you get me my purse. I left it behind the counter out there."
He looked hesitant, but nodded and walked out the closet door.
She tossed her paper towel down and turned to Lois. "This one's all wet. Can I have another?"
Lois sighed and turned around, bending toward the roll on the floor. In retrospect, it was the second dumbest moment of her life. In the first, her cousin had brained her and knocked her out. This time, Miss Tessmacher struck her. It didn't knock her out, but she was dazed on the floor as she heard Clark's voice.
"Hey! You... Aaah!"
"I'm sorry." A box dropped in front of her with a dull thunk. She dimly registered a green glow. "He told me what to do if you found me, Clark..."
She begged her eyes not to close, but they disobeyed.
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