Rules of Guilt
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 5
***
Mayson winced, holding her shoulder where the bandage from her incision was. The stitches still appeared to be holding up. She hadn’t had any bleeding this morning. The nurse had helped change the dressing an hour ago. Her head still felt like it was in a fog due to the medication she was on but that didn’t seem to matter to Metropolis’ finest who were intent on getting her statement before she was discharged...repeatedly.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else you remember, Ms. Drake?” Detective Peters asked, jotting down his notes in the small notebook in his hand.
“No, that’s it,” Mayson said, hearing the edge in her voice as she arched an eyebrow at Peters, fighting the urge to throw him out of her hospital room.
“One more thing…” Peters interjected.
“What?” Mayson snapped through gritted teeth.
Thankfully for Peters, Bill Henderson chose that very moment to intrude and bring with him a familiar face. “Clark...” Instinctually, Mayson reached up to run a hand through her hair and winced when she felt the subtle reminder of why not to do that. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“I heard what happened last night...” Clark explained, his lips pursing into a tight line before continuing. “...and wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Oh, fine. You know me. One stray bullet isn’t going to keep me down.” Mayson managed with a weak smile. Truth be told she felt like her shoulder was going to fall off from the pain but she didn’t dare try and ask for any more painkillers until after she was discharged and able to go home and sleep in her own bed far away from the intrusive questions from everyone. “Just ready to go home.”
“Doctor said you should be discharged by noon,” Henderson said with a smile. He glanced out the door behind him and said, “Speaking of which...I’ll be right back.”
Clark pointed at the sling her shoulder was in and asked, “Was it just your right shoulder that was hit?”
Mayson nodded, “Yeah, I thought the gunfire had stopped. I went to get up from behind the barricade Dan had made from my passenger car door and got hit.”
“I’m sorry.” Clark apologized with a frown.
“It’s not your fault,” Mayson responded in a wistful tone. No matter how hard she tried not to she still couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that came over her when she was around him. ‘Stop it.’ she warned her conscience. “Superman showed up and saved the day.” A lull fell across the room and she continued, “I’ve never seen him move so fast in all the months I’ve been in Metropolis. He had the gunmen tied up before we could even react.”
Superman. He had flown at record-breaking speed last night to save her and Dan from the barrage of gunfire. One bullet. One lousy bullet had made its way past their barricade though and struck her shoulder. Dan Scardino had been hit in the thigh and on his left side. She was told he was alright.
“I’m sure he just wanted to make sure everyone was...safe,” Clark responded, looking down at his hands.
“Well, given that there were no casualties from the shooting I’d say he did a pretty good job,” Mayson said, eying Clark with an uncertain gaze.
“Yeah, except for Lucky Leon.” Clark reminded her with a grimace.
“Yeah, well I’m not sure about that suicide story either. Seems like awful convenient timing…”
Just as she began to speak Henderson reentered the room, “I told you before Superman checked the scene where we found the body and he found no signs of foul play.”
“Well, maybe they covered their tracks.” Mayson pointed out, “Or maybe he didn’t die there or maybe…This was Intergang. I know it. It’s no coincidence that Dan showed up and then Intergang put a hit out on...” She stopped, noticing the disturbed expression on Clark’s face. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Clark said, standing up. “I need to talk to Dan Scardino as well. Any idea where he’s at?”
“No,” She shook her head, watching him leave. Something was obviously bothering him—what, she wasn’t sure.
***
The small cafe was filled with patrons. The smell of eggs and bacon mixed with coffee hung in the air. In the corner booth, Perry White sat with his old friend, Admiral Haberstetzer—Stormin’ Norman. Unfortunately, this visit wasn’t a personal one.
“Five disappearances in less than twenty-four hours. Each one was on leave here in Metropolis.” the admiral laid the folder in front of Perry. “I’m not one to make bets, but I can guarantee you none of these men went AWOL like the commander is trying to dismiss the case as.”
“I hate military investigations.” Perry groaned, taking the file in his hand. “You never get anywhere.”
“I know.” the admiral grimaced, taking a sip of his coffee. “After Colonel Fane’s arrest, it’s become nearly impossible to get a visitor pass at Fort Marshall.” He looked down and a long pause hung in the air between the two men before he continued. “This didn’t happen on base, Perry. It happened here in the city. Now I know the military is going to conduct their own investigation but these were good men. I can’t see any of them just abandoning their unit like this.”
“I’ll look into it,” Perry promised.
***
“Prison, Metropolis P.D. and more recently the Metro Club…” Bobby Bigmouth trailed off as he took a large bite of his breakfast wrap. “All of them healthy as a horse and dropped dead for no apparent reason. Examined within minutes of their death by the medical examiner.”
Lois scrunched up her face, glancing around the crowded diner, “Not exactly related to one another either.” She contemplated for a moment, wondering aloud,“Possibly the same food or water?”
“From what I hear it’s got something to do with something called ‘Resurrection’ a nutjob named Gables came up with. Only problem is he’s not keeping track of who’s getting the prescription if you know what I mean.” Bobby took another mouthful of his wrap and reached for the orange juice on the counter to take a large gulp.
“Resurrection?” Lois echoed, “What is that?”
“Don’t know.” Bobby shrugged. “A few guys were in the Metro Club the other night and were overheard talking about it. My bet is it’s some kind of drug. I mean Washington sends down the DEA and then all of a sudden corpses start popping up everywhere? You do the math.”
“Okay,” Lois put her notebook back in her purse and sighed. “Thanks, Bobby.”
“No prob, kid. Thanks for breakfast. I’ll keep my ear to the ground and let you know what I find out.”
***
Sedated and strapped to five hospital beds there were five soldiers unable to move. The sound of the monotone beeping from each of their respective monitor filled the room.
“I do hope you know what you’re doing,” Darryl warned, watching as Nigel St. John oversaw the administration of another dosage to the first soldier who laid on his bed, unmoving.
“I didn’t get to be a man in my position by being careless,” Nigel said with a shrug, lightly slapping the soldier’s cheek. “By this time tomorrow the warheads will be in your possession and this will be nothing but a bad dream for our men in uniform.”
“We’re ready to move out.” A voice from the corner of the room spoke up. They turned to see Ryan Wiley dressed in his ACU’s. “McCarthy’s boys have been debriefed. The sooner we make the switch the better.”
“Then get on with it,” Nigel instructed. “No sense in wasting a moment.”
“Roger that.” Wiley nodded, tilting his hand as he turned to exit, leaving Nigel and Darryl alone.
“Replacing an entire unit in the middle of transporting the largest shipment of nuclear warheads this country’s ever seen is a bold move, Nigel,” Darryl warned.
***
Lois walked down the long hallway, searching for the room number the nurse had given her. If everything Bobby was saying was true then surely Mayson would know something. The question was whether Mayson would be willing to provide any background information on this Resurrection.
She spotted Bill Henderson standing outside one of the hospital rooms, fiddling with his phone. “Bill?”
Henderson looked up, “A bit late for interviews, isn’t it, Lane?”
Lois let out a sigh, “The Planet’s already filed the story on the shooting last night, Bill.” Her tone softened as she added, “How is she?”
“About as well as can be expected. We’re waiting on the discharge papers so we can escort her home.” Henderson said, raising his voice a few octaves as one of the nurses walked by.
“You know you do that and you’ll be here all day.” Lois quipped.
“So they tell me,” Henderson shrugged, “But I’ve been here all night.”
“You guys have any leads on who might be behind this?” Lois asked.
“All our evidence seems to be pointing to Intergang.” Henderson shrugged, opening the door for her.
“Doesn’t seem like Intergang’s style though.” Lois reasoned aloud.
“So, I’ve been told, but there’s a first time for everything,” Henderson said, following her into Mayson’s room.
Mayson was sitting on the hospital bed in a sling with an annoyed expression on her face, “You’re not the discharge nurse.”
“Sorry,” Lois apologized, flashing her a weak smile, holding up a Double Fudge Crunch bar, “But I do come bearing gifts.”
Mayson let out a light chuckle, wincing slightly when the jolt on her shoulder became too much. “I’ll take it.” Lois handed her the candy bar.
“I’ll be outside,” Henderson said, pointing to the door.
“How’s the shoulder?” Lois asked, pointing to the sling Mayson was in.
“Painful,” Mayson said with a pained expression, readjusting herself against the back of the bed that was propped up. “But gunshots do that so..”
“So…” Lois echoed, uncertain where to begin.
Mayson looked up at her with a smile. “Something tells me you’re not here for small talk any more than your partner was half an hour ago.” She peeled the foil off the chocolate and looked back up at Lois expectantly.
Lois frowned, pursing her lips at that remark but didn’t allow herself to dwell on it. She could exchange notes with him later. “Resurrection.” She noted Mayson’s eyes widen at the name and continued. “I can tell from your face you know what I’m talking about. Look, I don’t know what’s going on here Mayson but something’s going on that you’re not telling me and…”
“Lois, I can’t talk about this with you or Clark…or anyone.” Mayson cut her off. “My orders come from way up.”
“I think whatever this Resurrection drug or concoction that you and Agent Scardino are investigating is what got you that ambush last night.” Lois continued, seeing Mayson’s eyes move to her lap as she slowly began to chew on her bit of chocolate. “I also think you letting the blame fall on Intergang when you and I both know it’s not their style is a load of bologna. Whoever did this is going to know that they missed. They’re going to keep coming after you.”
“It’s not me they’re after,” Mayson said looking up at Lois.
“Agent Scardino?” Lois guessed.
“It’s not someone they’re after, Lois. It’s something…and that’s all I can say.” Mayson said quickly.
“Okay,” Lois nodded, standing up and turning to leave, “For the record, I’m glad they missed.”
Mayson chuckled lightly and added, “Me too…and thanks.”
***
“Agent Scardino? Room 305.” The nurse pointed down the hall. Clark followed the direction of her arm with his eyes, listening to the directions she was giving him to find Scardino’s room. He nodded and walked down the hall, searching for the room number. He’d already spoken with Mayson and gotten her take on everything now all that was left was to find the very obnoxious DEA Agent and get his take on the events from last night so he could write up his and Lois’ story.
Lois was meeting with Bobby Bigmouth to find out what he knew about Lucky Leon’s connection to Intergang...
alone. He frowned, recalling the sharpness in her tone when she’d stormed out of the newsroom, warning him not to follow her. Lois had been on edge this morning when she’d arrived at the Planet. He had been exhausted from dealing with the aftermath of last night’s shooting and his racing mind. Mentally, he was wiped. So when Lois had asked how he was doing he said the first thing that came to his mind. He hadn’t been thinking and immediately realized his misstep when she did a one-eighty on him—going from concerned girlfriend and partner to all business with her body language screaming
‘Don’t come near me or else’ in a matter of seconds.
She barely said two words to him before leaving to meet Bobby. After finding Lucky Leon’s body last night he hadn’t gone back home. He’d patrolled the city for hours, trying to keep a diligent watch. It was what he did when he found himself unable to live up to his own expectations for himself.
There was only one problem.
He’d forgotten about Lois.
Looking through the list of names Lois had ordered background checks on and the notes he later discovered on her desk he felt like even more of a heel than he already did. While he’d been obsessing about what he could have done she’d been working on what was now their story.
<<“Why are you laughing at me? This is serious!”
“I wasn’t laughing I swear.”
“Liar.”>>
<<“So, you were waiting for…?”
“Just the right person.”>>
<<“I don’t want either of us rushing into anything unless we’re both ready.”
“What if I was...ready?”
“Well, I…”>> Why oh why did he have to specify that he didn’t want to talk about last night when she asked him? True, last night had been difficult and he was still reeling from the losses and near misses. But before all that, Lois was opening up and having a real conversation about the future...their future. A sign that she was thinking about his proposal. He’d made a huge error in judgment and wasn’t sure how to get her to talk to him without unleashing the wrath of Mad Dog Lane on everyone within a mile radius.
All he knew to do now was bide his time and hope that her temper would have calmed down by the time they regrouped back at the Planet. For now, he would work on gathering everything he could to help put the story on the shooting together. Since Lois had already gathered the statements from City Hall and the Chief of Police he figured talking to Mayson and Agent Scardino—despite the fact that he despised the man with a passion—would be a step in the right direction.
He stopped in front of the room marked ‘305’ and reached his hand up to knock. The sound of shuffling inside could be heard before from inside the room before he heard a muffled, “It’s open!”
He opened the door and found Dan Scardino hopping around with one crutch. “You know that isn’t going to heal with you walking around on it,” Clark said, pointing to the bandaged up thigh the agent was trying to balance his weight on unsuccessfully.
“Not my first time being shot, Kent,” Scardino said between gritted teeth as he landed on the hospital bed with a loud groan. “Probably won’t be my last.”
“Yeah, about that…” Clark reached for a chair in the corner of the room.
“Don’t tell me, you’re here for an interview?” Scardino sneered, throwing his head back against the pillow. “I’m not one for press relations. More of a man of action if you know what I mean?” Scardino looked him up and down for a moment then added snidely before flashing him a broad smile. “Or maybe not. I save the photo ops for the boys in Washington.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Clark said, folding his arms over his chest. He did his best to keep calm, trying to keep his temper in check. Mayson was right. It was no coincidence that the hit was placed the day Dan Scardino showed up, but unlike her, he didn’t think it was Intergang. “So, I’m assuming you’re going to blame this shooting on ‘Intergang’ too?”
“Well, what can I say?” Scardino gave a noncommittal shrug, “They sure like to live fast and loose with the law.”
“You said you were here to investigate Intergang.” Clark paced in front of him, “All these months we’ve been working on the same case yet nothing comes up that would warrant the involvement of the DEA. Not once has a city official been shot at…” He did his best to bury down the anger he could feel festering inside. “I find the timing of this all to be a bit too coincidental.”
Scardino met his steely gaze with a snort, “You know if you wanted to get my cooperation you should have sent that partner of yours. Much easier on the eyes. No offense Kent but you’re not really my type...”
“You are way out of your league, Scardino, trust me.” Clark shot back, giving his foot a gentle shove, doing his best not to give into his anger.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Scardino said with a wince, grabbing his leg. “Easy on the leg man. I’d like to get out of here sometime today.”
Clark’s jaw tightened as he watched Scardino massage the bandage on his upper thigh. He was lying. He knew it. Whatever Scardino’s reasons were for being in Metropolis. They weren’t what he was saying. Intergang didn’t operate like this. They worked in the shadows. They never… His eyes narrowed, grabbing Scardino by the hospital gown and jerking him toward him so he was a few inches away. “Five months.”
“What?” Scardino tried to pull away but to no avail, as Clark tightened his grasp on the collar to his hospital gown, “A lot stronger than you look.”
“You have no idea!” Clark warned, “Five months.” He repeated. “That’s how long Lois and I have been working on this Intergang story. Five months. Not once have they drawn attention to themselves by ordering a hit on a city official. Nothing on drugs outside of the petty crimes being run by the gangs enforcing their hold on the territory.” He shoved him back on the bed by his good shoulder and began to pace in front of him, letting out an insincere chuckle, “Then you show up and all of a sudden the DEA is involved with the Intergang investigation?”
“Look, Kent...” Scardino began to interject but Clark cut him off.
“
Don’t.” He barked angrily. “You and I both know you’re not here to help with Mayson’s Intergang investigation.” His tone turned icy and his jaw tightened. “What are you
really doing in Metropolis?”
“He’s after something called Resurrection.” He looked up and saw Lois standing in the doorway then back at Scardino who had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“Where did you hear that name?” Scardino asked.
***
TBC...
Comments Go Here
