Chapter 13
“Thank you. Let me know if you hear anything.” Lex Luthor hung up the phone at his desk. He’d been trying to find information about Chloe Sullivan’s death, but so far nothing had turned up. He templed his fingers, pressing them against his lips in thought, as he stared off into space. Though Chloe had sometimes been a thorn in his side, and he’d fired her from the Daily Planet, a part of him respected her. She had guts. She was intelligent, a worthy adversary. He should be glad she was out of the way. Oddly, he wasn’t. Maybe it was because at one time they had been close to being friends. Maybe it was because she’d helped with information about Lionel. Maybe it was because he found her challenging, intriguing. Maybe it was his jealousy of her loyalty to Clark. Either way, it was a loss.
Garrett never explained how he knew she was dead, and Lex wondered if Graham had killed her. Lex wanted information about her ability. Mostly out of curiosity at first. Then it became almost an impulsive drive to learn what she could do. He was sure that Garrett knew, but Lex didn’t trust him. Part of the reason for meeting at the ISIS Foundation was to monitor Garrett, and possibly return him to one of the newer 33.1 facilities where’d he’d been kept only a few months prior.
Lex glanced at his watch. In less than an hour, he’d hopefully discover the identity of the Green Arrow, and have Garrett in his custody and under his control again.
* * * * *
“How do I look?”
Chloe swept into the room. Four male mouths dropped. She did a little pirouette, making the white-skirted portion of the dress swirl up above her thighs. Her golden hair was styled differently, parted to the side, softly curled and her lips were crimson.
Oliver finally found his voice. “You’re wearing that?” He had agreed to let her shop for a new dress, as long as she wore some type of disguise, and went accompanied by both Victor and Bart. He knew she needed to get out of the penthouse, having been cooped up for days. She seemed so happy and excited at the prospect of being outside for a while that Oliver couldn’t refuse her. Once again he had to take care of Queen Industries’ business, and spent most of his morning on the phone. He hadn’t seen what she’d brought home till now.
“Wow, Chloelicious!”
“She looks, beautiful, Ollie.”
“I know she’s beautiful, but...but… uh… why are you wearing that?” He couldn’t help but notice the inner curves of her breasts exposed in the low V-cut of the neckline. Hell anyone would notice the cleavage. Not that he minded. She looked amazing in the dress, so amazing and sexy in it, that thoughts of getting her out of it ran though his brain.
“Kind of reminds me of that Marilyn Monroe dress, where she’s standing over a grate…”
“Okay, you’re wearing that for a mission, where you’re about to meet with a crazed assassin?”
“This one isn’t exactly like her dress. Marilyn’s was lower, she had more to fill up the top half of the dress than I do.” She looked at Oliver. “I’m wearing this because I’m trying to distract and freak the man out. I happen to have discovered that he’s a huge Marilyn Monroe fanatic. I found some of Garrett’s old postings on a message board that I’d traced through an older email address of his. That’s what I was looking up last night while you guys were cleaning, and before I… uh went to bed.”
“You’ll certainly distract him.”
“That’s part of the plan, right?”
“Yes. It is. I’ll be honest, I’d feel a little better if Clark was here to help out.” Oliver didn’t like that she was the distraction and they could have used Clarks help, but Clark had other pressing issues to deal with at the Fortress and no one could reach him. Nonetheless, he turned to the group. “Okay guys, let’s gear up.”
* * * * *
Victor, handsomely dressed in black suit and tie, placed dark glasses over his eyes. He didn’t need to worry about night vision, as he was already equipped with it. Chloe sat opposite him in the limousine. Oliver had taken the precaution of covering the license plates in the event there were any other observers.
“You okay, Tower?”
Chloe had been staring out the window. She gave him a nervous smile. “I’ll be fine, Vic. I just want this over. I want my life back.”
He nodded. “Totally understandable.” He glanced out the window. “We’re almost there. Remember, you stay inside till I make sure he’s not packing.” She nodded her agreement. Victor then tapped his comlink. “Cyborg to Arrow, any sign of him?”
The Green Arrow waited on a rooftop with a direct line of sight to the ISIS Foundation entrance. “Negative. Unless he’s pulling his disappearing act, I don’t have a visual.” Part of the deal Oliver made was that Garrett was to be unarmed and had to remain visible for the entire exchange. He also had to allow Oliver to be accompanied by his bodyguard.
“Looks like we got company,” Bart’s voice sounded over the comm..
“Who?”
“Car pulling up in the alley behind ISIS. Someone getting out. Yup. Wouldn’t you know, it’s our follicly challenged friend. Surprise, surprise.”
“Is he alone?” A.C. asked.
“Looks that way.”
Oliver didn’t like this at all. Lex and Garrett in the same vicinity, and Chloe in the middle of it all. Their plan to get Garrett to open the briefcase that supposedly contained ten million dollars might all go to hell if he saw Lex. “What’s he doing?”
“Going into the building through the rear door. Maybe he wants a front row seat.”
“What should we do?” Victor asked. “We’re coming up on ISIS now.”
“What’s going on?” Chloe asked. She hated not being connected to the comm..
Victor glanced at her. “Lex.”
As the limo pulled up to the curb in front of ISIS under a street light, the Green Arrow’s voice sounded. “I’ve got a visual. He’s there in the doorway. Do you see him?”
“We see him,” Victor answered.
“Let’s do it.”
Chloe’s heart pounded furiously in her chest as Victor exited the limo. She reached for the brief case that when opened, would emit a sleeping gas, rendering Garrett unconscious. The plan was to knock him out and have him sent to Belle Rive. Why hadn’t she thought that Lex might be here? It hadn’t occurred to her. She thought that Garrett would simply tell Lex or have some kind of photographic evidence using a concealed camera. Now, her plan and lack of forethought could put the entire mission in jeopardy. Lex wouldn’t let one of his hired hands be taken away without a fight.
“Who are you?” Garret asked, suspiciously.
“Graham Garret? I’m here to act as a personal bodyguard. I need to check you, sir for weapons before my client will speak with you.”
Garrett too was dressed for work in a black suit and tie. “Very well.” He raised his hands over his head, allowing Victor to pat him down.
Lex stood in the darkness of the ISIS building watching the action through the picture window. He watched as the bodyguard stepped over to the limousine door and held out a hand to whoever was inside.
Garrett had become dazed as he saw first a small pale hand placed in the bodyguard’s grasp. A shapely high heeled leg emerged, and then…. a vision.
“Marilyn?” Graham gasped. He blinked, then rubbed his eyes. “Ms. Sullivan? No. You’re dead. I saw you! You’re dead!”
“Hello Graham.” Chloe said with more calm than she felt.
Lex couldn’t believe his eyes. She was supposed to be dead, which meant that either Graham was mistaken, or that he’d lied. But why?
The Green Arrow’s nerves were on edge. His bow aimed directly at Garrett, ready to let an arrow fly at the least sign that Garrett might harm her or Victor. He could see Chloe practically glowing in her white dress under the street lamp.
Garrett’s voice shook. “No, no, no! You were supposed to be my goldmine. I was going to be rich!” He seemed to have forgotten that Lex might be in the vicinity. “I was going to take you right from under Lex Luthor’s nose!” He then began to laugh hysterically, his eyes wide with the look of true madness. “I see that the joke is on me! You’re not real! You can’t be!” He continued laughing, doubling over with mirth. “I tried to double-cross him, and now I’m crossed!”
Lex had seen and heard enough. Garrett had tried to double-cross him, and now Garrett was the one being fooled. He was glad that Garrett could laugh at being deceived, but Lex didn’t find the whole situation humorous. He pulled out his magnum.
Garrett was practically rolling on the sidewalk now, and Chloe was becoming increasingly frightened. Victor moved to stand next to her, placing a protective arm around her, inching her toward the limo, when suddenly Garrett rolled to his feet, wielding a knife.
“You know,” he said, panting, trying to control his laughter. “An assassin doesn’t only kill with guns. I’m quite the expert at knife throwing. You’re dead, Marilyn, Ms. Sullivan, whoever you are. You are quite dead.”
Garrett raised his hand to throw the knife. Victor shoved Chloe into the limo. Oliver let his arrow fly. Lex fired his magnum; the first shot shattering the glass of the picture window. The second shot hitting his target.
Graham Garrett lay under the glow of the streetlight, blood pooling around him. An arrow in his back, a gunshot to the head, and a knife in his hand.
Chloe sat in the limo trembling, Victor hunched in front of her. She gazed up at the ISIS picture window to see Lex Luthor standing inside. He looked at her, an enigmatic smile curving his lips. He then bowed his head ever so slightly in a curt nod of acknowledgement to her. Then walked away.
* * * * *
“You’re leaving soon.”
“In the morning.”
She nodded, looking down at the shirt she was folding, then placing it inside her bag. What was there to say? Some part of her had known this moment was coming. Had known since the first kiss they’d shared, had known since the first time he’d made love to her, and every time after that. It was over now. It was a nice diversion, nothing more. They’d continue to work together as always, but this was it. Why then, did it hurt so much? The answer was simple. She loved him.
“Chloe..,” he began, his voice low.
“Will you be gone long?”
“It depends. Chloe….”
“I want to know what you call it when a man drops everything in his life to help a woman no matter where he is?” she asked softly. She could not bring herself to look at him, picking up another article of clothing to pack. “What is it, when a man is willing to die for a woman, in order to protect her, so that she won’t be used or hurt? When a man is overly and sometimes annoyingly protective of a woman, because he’s afraid of losing her or endangering her life?”
He stepped closer. “The same thing I’d call it, when a woman takes on a man’s pain, and almost dies for him, so that he won’t be the one to suffer. The same when a woman is willing to give herself over to some mad assassin, in exchange for a man.” She looked up at him then, and Oliver grasped her wrist, turning her and pulling her toward him. A tear slipped down her cheek. “The same thing I’d call it, when a woman makes a man feel as though he’d be lost without her, can’t live without her.”
The sweetest of smiles appeared slowly. “Thanks,” she sniffled. “Just wondering.”
Oliver gathered her in his arms, touching his forehead to hers. “I love you, Chloe,” he whispered. “I’m sure I have for awhile now.”
“I know. I love you too.” She smiled and sniffled again all at once.
“You knew? When?”
“I think it was when I healed your wound in the bathroom. That moment just before I touched you. The way you looked at me. And then I knew for certain the moment you told me not to do what Garrett wanted. You didn’t want me to reveal my ability to him, even if it meant… your death,” she finished in a choked voice. Her tears began to flow freely now, at the impact of her own words. She buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, gripping the back of his shirt in her fists. “But I was afraid,” she continued in a hoarse whisper. “And a part of me still didn’t want to believe that you loved me, if I turned out to be wrong. But, I couldn’t let you do it. Couldn’t let you die for me, not if I could prevent it.”
He pulled her against him tighter. She had echoed his own longings and fears. “The truth is, I think I loved you before that.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You weren’t wrong. And I think we were both afraid to believe.”
“Because we let our pasts influence us. Each of us afraid to make the same mistakes.”
He leaned back from her, taking her face in his hands, wiping her tears away with gentle thumbs, gazing into green eyes that mirrored his own. He lowered his head, kissing her, his lips warm and sweet. “Not this time. This time it’s right. You’re a part of me. I love you, and I’m not letting you go.”
“You better not.”
His arms encircled her waist, fitting her against him snugly. “At least you’re not contradicting me,” he murmured in a husky whisper, brushing his nose softly against hers.
A smile played at the corners of her mouth. “There’ll be another time,”
“Good.”
“Where are you going in the morning?”
His lips touched hers feather-light in the softest of kisses. “Paris. You’re coming with me.”
“Paris? Why?”
“We need a vacation.”
“I’ve never been to Paris, or traveled too many places outside of Kansas for that matter.” Chloe reached up, placing her arms about his neck.
“Paris,” he kissed the tip of her nose, “Rome,” then her eyes, “Hong Kong” her cheek, “Anywhere in the world you’d like to go,” and finally he kissed her soft mouth. “Start getting used to it, Sidekick.”
“The world is my oyster?”
“Something like that. As long as you’re with me it doesn’t matter where we are. Just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Bring that dress with you.”
End Chapter 13
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