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Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Part 160 …

“This is why I have asked you to place restrictions on where you go alone and with whom you meet. It’s for your safety. Perhaps, now, you won’t be so eager to dodge Mr. St. John’s company,” Lex said softly. “If you’re done getting Ms. Lane’s statement, Inspector, I would like to take her to the hospital now. She needs to have her wounds verified and recorded as evidence, should you ever capture the men who attacked her. I would hate for them to get away with what they almost accomplished.”

Lois noticed that Lex’s gaze glanced to his majordomo as he said this, and from out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Nigel nodded his head in agreement and opened the door.

“I wanted her to work with a sketch artist, but I’m sure I could bring one by her apartment this evening,” Henderson replied.

“For the time being, Ms. Lane will be staying with me at the penthouse…”

“No, I won’t,” Lois interjected, her spine stiffening.

“Lois, dear, you must see that…”

“Lex, I appreciate your concern for my well-being,” she said. With a quick glance at Nigel and over to Henderson, she lowered her voice and leaned towards her fiancé so that only he could hear her. “It is still my life, Lex, and while I agreed to marry you, I will not stay the night in your apartment until we are husband and wife.”

Lex had the audacity to blush. “I would never presume…”

“Be that as it may, Lex,” Lois said, cutting him off again. “I’ll be at my apartment this evening, Inspector. Oh!” She gasped in makeshift alarm, knowing exactly what Lex would say in response. “My shift at the Fifth Street Mission!”

“Lois, on this you must concede. Until I can guarantee your safety, please, darling, I insist that you no longer do charity work down in Suicide Slum,” Lex said.

Henderson gazed at her as if she had grown antennae, a third eye, and a set of scaly wings.

Very funny, she wanted to retort, but couldn’t with Lex and Nigel there. It wasn’t so unlike her to volunteer at a charity. Instead, she focused back on the man she had agreed to marry.

“But I’m leaving them short-staffed, Lex. Perhaps if the Inspector agrees to visit my apartment before five, Mr. St. John can take over tonight’s shift and let them know I’ll be detained until further notice,” Lois said, looking over at Nigel and noting that his eyes narrowed as he politely nodded his assent.

Lex took hold of Lois’s sore elbow, once more, and pulled her to her feet. “Come, darling. I know an excellent plastic surgeon who will be able to make sure that your beautiful face won’t be scarred by that nasty cut.”

If they were able to pull this off, Jimmy owed her big-time.

***

Part 161

As he walked down the hall of the hospital, Clark’s mind still buzzed with pleasant thoughts of his reunion with Lois earlier. A part of him was amazed that his feet remained on the floor. He knew it was only thinking of Lois having to go back to Luthor in order to save Jimmy and the loss of the Daily Planet, which kept him grounded.

Clark couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have Lois accept him, all of him, more fully than anyone ever had, with the possible exception of the Kents. Not only had Lois forgiven him, she still loved him. It was so unfair to have one of the happiest moments of his life land on such a horrible day. He pushed the negative aspects of the day from his mind as he recalled the look of sheer bliss, of pure love, which he had seen in Lois’s eyes when she agreed to run away with him.

It had been so difficult to pull himself from Lois’s arms and go change out of his uniform when Perry had knocked on his door. Clark couldn’t blame the Chief. He hadn’t known he was interrupting the most wonderful kiss of Clark’s life.

When, seven seconds later, Clark had returned to his living room showered and changed, Lois’s jaw had dropped by the suddenness of his reappearance. He had forgotten that he was being himself in front of her for the first time. It felt good. He hoped not just for him.

He could see the unasked question of ‘how?’ on the tip of her lips as her hand rose to point towards his bedroom. Then the full grasp of what had just occurred hit her, and instead of falling apart as Lana had, Lois had merely nodded to herself and patted his chest, accepting him for who he was. All of him.

Unable to resist, he had wrapped his arms around her waist once more and asked, “Do you still want to run off with me?”

Kissing him so quickly their glasses tapped against each other, Lois had then pushed him towards his front door, laughing. “Don’t be daft!”

Sadly, one’s wants and desires hardly ever went hand in hand with the realities of life.

As Clark reached the correct bank of hospital elevators, he heard someone say his name. Actually, she breathed it more than spoke it aloud, making him wonder if he really heard her or if he had fallen too deeply into his memories. He knew who it was before he turned around. “Lois? What are you doing here?” he asked.

When they had parted at his apartment a couple of long hours earlier, he thought it would be days until they would be able to speak face to face again.

“I could ask you the same question,” she said, using her finely tuned skills to evade the question.

Clark took this to mean that he needed to think on his feet, because any second the focus of their now-joint investigation would come around the corner or out a door. One super quick glance up and down the hall and, sure enough, he saw the eagle eyes of one Nigel St. John sharply watching them from the other side a group of chattering nurses. “My goodness, Lois! Your face!” he exclaimed with surprise that he didn’t feel at her now bandaged jaw. “What happened?”

Lois raised a hand to her jaw to cover her mouth so that St. John wouldn’t see her smile. “Lex is here,” she murmured the obvious in a slightly slurred voice of someone with a swollen jaw. “I will lie to him, so don’t take anything you overhear to heart.” She raised her voice as she lowered her hand. “I was attacked this morning. It’s nothing, just a scratch really, but Lex insisted I come to the hospital and have my injuries documented in case they ever catch the men.”

“Well, this will be sure to put a damper on your television career,” Clark replied in what he considered his character of spurned lover. “That is why you deserted us at the Daily Planet to join LNN, was it not? To get your pretty face on television?”

Lois made a strange expression, which he interpreted as a scowl. “No, Clark, but thanks for your concern.”

“Where is our illustrious boss?” he asked in a heartily snideful tone, which wasn’t entirely fake.

“Clark!” she scolded, stepping away from him.

He noticed that St. John started down the hall towards them.

“Did you hear what he did?” Clark went on. “He’s had Jimmy arrested for blowing up the Daily Planet.”

“What?” Lois gasped, her eyes widening in alarm. “What do you mean ‘blowing up the Daily Planet’?”

Interesting. Apparently, Lex hadn’t been forthcoming with his bride-to-be about her former employer. Thankfully, she was smarter than Luthor gave her credit for. It was also probably why she called out to Clark when he passed by her, so he could drop the ‘bomb’ on her, so to speak. “I’d have thought you, of all people, would have heard by now,” Clark responded, knowing she’d get him back someday for this unnecessary blow to her ego. “Someone put a bomb in the Printing Department of the Daily Planet today.”

Lois grabbed his arm. “That isn’t funny, Clark.”

“Am I laughing?” he retorted through pressed lips.

She must be a consummate actress because he could have sworn that she actually blanched. “Was anyone hurt?”

“One of the Printing Department employees was killed, but he hasn’t been identified yet. And…” Clark cleared his throat and closed his eyes as another wave of guilt washed over him. “Chip Peterson, the kid Luthor hired to oversee the financial end of the newsroom. He had only just graduated from Harvard Business School.”

Lois’s hand on his arm tightened. “Chip!” she growled under her breath as if she knew exactly who the man was. “Lex promised that he…” She cut off what she was about to say with a shake of her head. “Did you know him?” she continued on more softly.

Clark’s brow furrowed. She did know Chip. Clark wished he could ask ‘how’. “A bit.”

“How… how did he die?” she asked.

Clark’s eyes closed again as his head dropped. He wiped the sniffle from his nose. “Smoke inhalation from being trapped in the elevator,” he answered, and then raised his voice as he saw that Nigel St. John had reached them. “I’ve just come from the morgue.” He had, but more to find out the identification of the Printing Department worker. The Medical Examiner still didn’t have anything to report to the press on either victim, but St. John didn’t know that. “The third victim was, of course, the Daily Planet.”

“Dr. Heller will be able to see you in a few… I say, darling, is everything all right?” Luthor said, coming out a nearby door.

“Oh, Lex!” Lois said, turning into her fiancé’s shoulder in alarm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Clark stiffened at Lois’s blatant public display of affection with the billionaire. He knew it was just for show, but he still didn’t have to like it.

“Tell you…? Kent. What are you doing here?” Luthor asked, his glare narrowed as his arm around Clark’s beloved tightened.

“Clark said that the Daily Planet burned down,” Lois sobbed. “Tell me it’s not as bad as that.”

“I didn’t want to worry you, darling, but ‘yes’, the damage is considerable. Some kid in the Printing Department set off a bomb, which caused the ink to catch fire and explode. Apparently, he wasn’t happy about some of the changes I was making around your old stomping grounds,” Luthor said.

“Jimmy Olsen didn’t start that fire and you know it,” Clark said, pointing a finger towards Luthor.

“Jimmy? Oh, Lex. You have to know that Jimmy never would have done anything against the Daily Planet,” Lois insisted, thankfully stepping out of Luthor’s embrace to show her dislike of Luthor’s actions.

“The police went where the evidence took them,” Luthor replied. “Should you or Kent, here, know of another suspect with more motive to hate me, Chip Peterson, or the Daily Planet, and who knew young Mr. Olsen well enough to set him up, please let me know and I’ll be sure to pass the name on to the authorities.”

Clark got the distinct impression that he was next up on Luthor’s scapegoat list. Mostly because Luthor’s gaze focused intensely on him. Clark refused to back down.

“Oh, please, boys, don’t fight. It’s been a hard day for all of us,” Lois interjected on Clark’s behalf as she pulled Luthor a couple of steps away from Clark’s still pointed finger. “Clark, you never told me what you’re doing at the hospital? Were you hurt?”

Clark shook his head. “Cat was injured in the exodus and is being kept overnight for observation,” he said softly. “I’ve come to make sure that she’s okay.”

“I’ve heard that smoke inhalation can be very bad for a growing fetus,” Luthor said. “I hope Ms. Grant will be fine.”

This time, the shock on Lois’s face was anything but fake. “Growing what? Her what?” she gasped, shifting her gaze between the men. “What did you say, Lex?”

“While I was at the Daily Planet with the detectives earlier, I overheard that rumors that congratulations were in order, Kent,” Luthor said, locking eyes with Clark again, daring him to deny the rumor. “Please, send her my best.”

“I’ll let her know you said so, Mr. Luthor,” Clark said with more diplomacy than he felt as he pressed the ‘up’ elevator call button.

“Cat’s pregnant?!” Lois reiterated, staring at Clark.

“Excuse me,” Clark said, stepping into the elevator, as he no longer wished to continue this or any discussion with Luthor. “I hope you feel better soon, Lois. I also look forward to hearing about your future plans for the Daily Planet, Luthor.”

The doors closed and he sighed, wishing that chip on his shoulder when he saw Lois with the slimy billionaire would slide off and let him breathe freely. On the other hand, that extra weight reminded him to be quick but thorough on finding evidence to lock the man away for the next couple of millennia.

***

“Clark,” Cat purred as Clark entered her hospital room. “What are you doing here?”

“Phil called me,” he admitted with a nod to Cat’s fiancé, who was sitting next to and facing her on the bed. “He thought I’d want to know about your concussion.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” she said, waving it away. “They just want to keep an eye on me because I passed out. You know, to be on the safe side.” She held out her hand, and Clark took it a moment and squeezed it gently. “And you…” Cat went on, taking her hand back and resting it on Phil’s chest.

Phil smiled sheepishly, apparently not out of Cat’s doghouse for his earlier natural behavior. “I thought you’d want him here,” he said.

“I do,” Cat replied. “It doesn’t mean I’d ever expect him to show though, the selfish bastard. Thank you.”

Clark smiled weakly with the accuracy of her barb. Would he be there if he were still moping on his couch? Would he have even answered Phil’s call? Guilt flooded him. “I’m sorry, Cat.”

“For what?”

“For ever doubting you,” he went on and from her perplexed expression, realized he needed to be clearer. “About Lois.”

“What about her?” Cat insisted that he spell it out.

“I ran into her out in the hall just now,” Clark said as if to explain.

“What is Lois doing here?”

“Luthor brought her, because she got a little banged up when she fell down my stairs this afternoon,” Clark said.

Cat held up her hand. “Hold it! Rewind the last bit please.”

“Lois came over after she heard about the Daily Planet and set things straight… set me straight…”

“And?”

Clark’s brow furrowed. “And fell down my staircase as she was leaving so she could tell Luthor her injuries were from those men who attacked her this morning in Suicide Slum,” he replied hesitantly.

“And?”

“And Luthor brought her here to get medical treatment. Apparently, he’s quite friendly with a plastic surgeon on staff. That would explain why he looks so well for what must be his elevated age,” Clark said, hating himself for being so spiteful, yet not enough to retract the words. “I do hope Lois realizes that she doesn’t need a plastic surgeon to remain beautiful.”

Cat rolled her eyes. “AND?”

Evidently, there was no getting away from it. “And, miracle of miracles, I was once more shown to be a besotted fool in love and you the genius Aphrodite,” he said, and just to show he had come away from his experience with a little more knowledge regarding women, added, “Lois still loves me, she’s only gone deep undercover, and I should have trusted you and your judgment. In other words, you were right, Cat, and I was wrong.”

“Wow. Impressive,” Cat said, and gave a little clap. “See, that wasn’t too difficult.”

“It’s getting easier every time I say it,” he said flatly.

Phil let out a lone sympathetic chuckle.

Clark had tried to tune out all the other sounds from outside of Cat’s room, because there was so much pain, agony, and grief in hospitals in general but found, though all the other voices faded away, Lois’s did not.

“I told you that it was just a scratch. It hardly needed stitches, let alone a plastic surgeon.”

Tilting down his glasses a notch, Clark turned his head and gazed through the floor at her and Luthor walking away down the hall they had met in a little while earlier.

“Dr. Heller said that he doubted that it would scar, darling, but that we should check back with him in a month just so he could have another look to make sure that it hadn’t,” Luthor replied.

Lois looked away so that Luthor couldn’t see her roll her eyes.

“Are you searching for Kent? I’m sure that he’s with Cat, making sure that their baby is still healthy.”

“Clark’s not the father, Lex,” he heard Lois scoff with a shake of her head.

“Oh, Lois, no,” Clark murmured with a wince, before wiping a hand down his face. “Why did she say anything?”

“What the…?” Phil sputtered in confusion.

Clark lifted a finger, requesting silence as he continued to listen to Lois’s supposed defense of him.

“Clark’s planted a bug on Lois, so he can hear her when she’s within 500 feet of him,” Cat whispered to Phil.

Apparently, Phil hadn’t yet told Cat about his epiphany. Clark felt reassured in his hasty decision to reveal his other identity to Cat’s fiancé, but at the same time it only deepened his guilt in not informing Lois earlier.

“Clark’s sterile, Lex,” Lois said in hushed tones, as if that mattered. “It’s one of the reasons we broke up. I didn’t want to continue a relationship with someone with whom I couldn’t start a family.”

Clark’s shoulders slumped and he dropped into the chair in the corner of the room, pressing his hands to his face in hopes to block out whatever else she might say about him. He tried to remind himself that Lois was lying to Luthor and that she couldn’t possibly know the truth, or how painful this subject was because of Lana, but her words still cut him deeply.

“What is it, honey?” Cat asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” he mumbled.

“Everything matters when it comes to Lois,” Cat stated the obvious. “Fess up.”

Clark put his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together. “Somehow Luthor heard that you were pregnant and got it into his thick head that I’m the father. Lois thought it wise to defend me, instead of letting the subject drop.” He glanced over at Phil with apologetic eyes. “According to her, I couldn’t possibly be the father of your child, not because we never were intimate, but because I’m sterile.”

“Oh, that’s just…” She paused. “Is that true?”

Clark merely glared at her.

“I mean, I know you’re not the father of my child…”

“I am,” Phil interrupted with a glowing grin.

Cat held up a finger. “Phil, I know that the ultrasound did narrow down the age of the baby and give us a due date between Halloween and Election Day, but that doesn’t mean… I mean, I’ve warned you that it still might not be…”

Phil took her pointing finger in his hand. “I am this child’s father,” he said, setting a hand on her stomach. “No matter how he…”

“Or she,” Cat interjected.

“Or she,” Phil corrected. “Came about.”

Clark stared at them, frankly amazed at Phil’s one-eighty from that morning.

Phil must have seen his expression. “I was a pig-headed idiot and almost lost her in more ways than one,” he explained.

Clark nodded. “I hear that’s going around. I’ve had a touch of that myself recently.”

“A touch?” Cat roared with laughter. “You, my dear friend, are patient zero.”

“How many more times do I have to say, ‘I’m sorry’?” Clark asked. “You were entirely correct and I was a total and complete… what’s that term Lois likes to use?... Lunkhead.”

Cat grinned. “Trust me; that apology will never get old.”

Clark groaned.

“Ouch,” Phil said in sympathy.

“I never knew that you wanted children, Lois,” Lex said, his voice filtering back through Clark’s defenses.

“Oh, I never thought I did until I saw my future without children in it,” Lois replied vaguely.

Clark wondered how truthful her words were.

“Lois, you told me that during Kent’s amnesia that he realized that he was more attracted to Cat Grant than to you and that he had broken up with you,” Lex said with a pointed look.

“Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth, Lex, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either. We had both made a vow to wait until marriage. Me, because of how my father is and several bad relationships, and him for religious reasons. Or, at least, I thought we both had made that vow. But I learned that he… he… let’s just say, he changed his mind.”

“Changed his mind?” Lex echoed skeptically.

“He learned while he was in the hospital that… well, because of the cold water… anyway, the doctors said it was no longer possible for him… I shouldn’t be talking about this with you. I’m totally violating Clark’s trust,” Lois said.

Clark’s lips pressed together. That was an understatement.

“It’s okay, Lois. We’re engaged, and married people should share everything,” Lex said so smoothly that it was evident that Lex didn’t believe the words he was speaking, which caused Clark’s fist to tighten.

“After that, he said it didn’t matter if he waited or not, because it wasn’t like he would be leaving children scattered around the city, country, or anything. If I wanted to wait, that was fine, but he wasn’t going to.” Lois sniffled. “This whole thing happened after you showed me the bunker, and I turned you down because I was worried about leaving Clark alone without his memories, and then when I called him, Cat Grant was there, and we had a nasty fight and… and…to think I turned you down because of him and I could have lost you forever and…”

Clark couldn’t listen to any more and finally was able to pull his hearing away from their conversation.

Lois had really wrung him out to dry. Perhaps he shouldn’t have made that comment about wanting to become an on-air personality at LNN. “Anyway," Clark continued to Cat and Phil. "Apparently, Lois told Luthor that she and I broke up because I not only had an affair with you, but because I became obsessed with winning you back,” Clark said, patting his ear and paraphrasing the on-going torture of Lois and Luthor’s conversation.

“Oh, this is hilarious,” Cat giggled, grinning up at Phil’s stunned face. “Oh, sweetie, you have to understand that Clark has had a one-track mind since he met Lois. And when I say ‘one-track’, I mean one stop, one station, one destination type focus, where he doesn’t even notice the scenery around him.”

“That’s not true,” Clark said, trying to defend this secondary attack on his manhood. “I’ve noticed the scenery.”

Cat scoffed. “A man might note the colors on a football player’s uniform, Clark, but you didn’t appreciate the beauty of it.”

“Of a football uniform?” Phil wondered skeptically.

“Of the scenery around Clark’s one-track obsession,” Cat clarified.

“I’m not obsessed with Lois. I noticed… the…the scenery,” Clark insisted. He just wasn’t interested in it.

“Oh, please, Clark. ‘She’s my soul mate, Cat,’” Cat drawled in her ‘whiny Clark’ tone of voice before raising a finger towards her mouth and making a gagging noise. “Honey, you’re obsessed.”

So much for his manly self-image.

***

Clark asked for and was granted an ‘interview’ with the suspect while Jimmy waited in an interview room for his attorney. Having already scanned the room and determined that there weren’t recording devices of any kind, Clark was able to give his full attention to Jimmy when he entered. He held out his hand to his friend.

“No touching the suspect,” announced the officer accompanying Jimmy. “Both of you keep your hands where I can see them at all times.”

Clark nodded curtly and backed around to the far side of the table, so he could keep an eye and ear on the guard to see if he was listening. Jimmy sat down with his back to the guard and door. His handcuffed hands dropped to the top of the metal table with a clang.

“So, how are things?” Clark asked, and then instantly regretted this choice of words after seeing Jimmy’s expression.

“Peachy,” Jimmy answered wryly.

“I meant, all things considered?” Clark said, shifting uncomfortably in the cold metal chair. “Do you mind if I record our conversation?” he asked, mostly for the benefit of the guard. He gave Jimmy a quick shake of his head to let him know he wasn’t really doing so.

Jimmy shrugged.

Clark lowered his voice so that the guard couldn’t overhear and he fumbled with the empty mini-cassette recorder. “We’re all working to prove your innocence… Perry, Jimbo, Cat, and…” He paused, not knowing if Jimmy would want to hear Lois’s name, being that as far as his friend knew Lois was engaged to marry the man who had sent him here. “— and I… All of us,” he said weakly instead.

“I’m glad,” Jimmy said, despite not sounding like it.

“Mr. White’s working on getting you bail,” Clark whispered, trying to give Jimmy something positive to think about.

“Tell him not to bother,” Jimmy replied, apparently not caring if the guard overheard him. His friend placed his elbows on the table in front of him and leaned towards Clark.

“Leave two feet between you at all times,” the guard said from his position by the door. His eyes hadn’t left Jimmy since they had entered the room.

“There are two feet between us,” Jimmy grumbled. “The table’s at least that wide.”

Clark slid into the far chair, kitty-corner to Jimmy’s, so the guard didn’t cut his interview short. Jimmy eyed him sadly, so Clark relaxed forward, mimicking Jimmy’s movements. He pretended to fiddle with his tape recorder, clicking open the tape compartment, so his friend could see that it was empty, before snapping it shut once more.

“Hey, CK, can you do me a favor?”

“Of course. What is it?” Clark asked.

“Can you watch out for my cousin Jimbo for me?” Jimmy asked. “Rent’s going to come due at the end of the month and without my two cents of income, he won’t have the money to pay for all of it on his own.”

With the Daily Planet out of commission, Clark doubted his paycheck was going to be any less rubber than it was before Luthor bought the newspaper, but he nodded. With his abilities, finding work was never difficult. He had hoped to help the Kents during the last of the spring planting and during the summer harvest, but that was before his life went south. “What do you need me to do?” he mumbled.

“His mom’s just left on that cruise that goes through the Panama Canal and won’t be back until mid-May,” Jimmy continued. “I don’t want him to end up on the streets. Can he stay with you until she returns? It’ll just be a couple of weeks. You won’t even know that he’s there.”

Clark doubted the validity of that sentence as his lifestyle required a fair amount of privacy. “No problem,” he said, instead.

“Thanks,” Jimmy said. He exhaled and leaned back in his chair, as if Clark had taken a load off his shoulders. “I don’t know what Jimbo or I did to be set up like this, CK. We helped Mr. Luthor as much as you, Lois, and Mr. White did after he was shot, making sure he didn’t die. Yet, Mr. Luthor acted like it was some personal vendetta against him or something, accusing us without giving us the benefit of the doubt.” He shook his head. “Why would he believe either of us would do this to the Daily Planet? I loved that place. I can’t believe Lois would…”

“Lois believes you’re innocent,” Clark interjected softly before Jimmy could continue.

Jimmy glanced at Clark with hope. “She does? You’ve spoken with her?”

Clark nodded, eyeing the guard, who now had a look of abstract boredom across his face. “She’s working on Luthor to have him realize that you were set up.”

Jimmy scoffed, and then his frown relaxed a bit. “Well, I guess if anyone could make him see rationally, it would be her.” A little hope seemed to reappear in his eyes.

“But…” Clark started and then paused with another glance at the guard. He knew Luthor had spies everywhere to have planted that evidence at the Olsens’ apartment so quickly.

“What?” Jimmy asked.

“We think he set you up,” Clark quietly admitted. “You’re his scapegoat.”

Jimmy leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “Why would he do that?” he asked, more moving his lips than speaking.

Clark shrugged. He knew about as much as Jimmy did about Luthor’s reasoning on this subject and he doubted the words ‘he’s a jerk’ would carry much reassurance. He wanted his friend warned though so he didn’t do or say anything stupid.

“Hmmmm. Wow,” Jimmy mumbled with a strange glint to his eyes as he leaned back. He tried to cross his arms, but found it impossible with his hands cuffed and returned to his previous position of leaning on the table. “I’m almost honored that he remembered my name at all.” His gaze caught Clark’s. “But not really.”

“Are you still determined to stay inside until we can get the charges dropped?” Clark asked.

“It’s not as if Luthor will give me unemployment if I get out, or I’ll be able to get another job with murder charges hanging over my head,” Jimmy scoffed. “At least, here, I get room and board, even if the food is inedible and my roommates and accommodations leave something… everything to be desired.”

Clark nodded. “Nose around. We want to see what you can find out.”

“Find out?” Jimmy returned and then lowered his voice. Luckily, the guard didn’t even glance over at them. Something out the door had caught his eye. “If anyone in here knew about the plan to set me up, I doubt they’d brag about it to me.”

“We’ve suspected something rotten in his business dealings for a while, but we still need proof,” Clark clarified. “Keep your ears open. It’s possible that someone in there knows something. Anything, any tidbit to send us looking in the right direction would help.”

Jimmy nodded and actually appeared excited by the prospect of something other to do than staring at the cinder blocks. “Do you think it might help Lois see the light of day?”

Clark smiled. “In more ways than one, my friend.” He dropped his voice as the guard moved to the door. “Take care though, Jimmy. Be subtle. Casually drop Luthor’s name and see how people react. Don’t ask any direct questions. Don’t draw attention to yourself. Don’t let anyone know that you’re on a fishing expedition. You’d be undercover without any backup, and prison is a rough enough place.”

Jimmy shot him a grin. “Gotcha, CK.”

The guard opened the door and admitted a sandy-haired man in a suit, who appeared vaguely familiar. The man openly glowered at Clark. “Who are you? What are you doing talking to my client?”

Jimmy glanced between the two of them. He knocked Clark’s recorder across the table to him. “He’s just a reporter who wanted to interview me, and he’s just leaving. Who are you?”

“Marcus Schwartz. Mr. Luthor hired me at the request of Lois Lane to assist in your defense,” the man replied.

At Jimmy’s stunned look, the officer guarding him spoke up, “He’s your attorney, kid.”

“Peachy.”

***End of Part 161***

Part 162

Another long day in the life of Lois and Clark has finally come to a close. This one started way back in Part 155. Comments ?