Part 10
Lois looked down at the blouse she was wearing. There was a small stain just above her right breast. How could she have missed it? She went back to her bedroom and rummaged through her drawer. She pulled out a beige sweater that she slipped over her head. Preening in the mirror, she decided she was pleased with the overall look.
She glanced at her reflection wondering why she was so concerned about her appearance. After all, it was only Clark who was coming over. It hardly mattered what she looked like. As a matter of fact, he saw her every day in all kinds of dress.
She looked at herself hard in the mirror for a long moment. Who was she kidding? It did matter. In fact, it mattered a lot to her that Clark find her attractive.
She remembered the way he looked at her when she came back to the office wearing the red suit that she hoped to entice Dr. Wininger with. She could feel Clark’s eyes on her. He hadn’t glared at her or undressed her with his eyes, he just made her feel that he appreciated what he saw. She’d seen that expression when he picked her up for the Kerth ceremonies and other times when she’d taken extra care to dress.
She wasn’t surprised that when she saw Mayson approaching the lunch room, she had suggested the work evening. By committing Clark to work with her, she saved him from an evening with Mayson...with her home cooking...as if a pizza wouldn’t make him happy. Mayson didn’t know Clark the way she did. Clark was a fast food junkie. Just give him some fries, a couple of Ho-Hos and a chocolate bar and he was a happy man. Pizza was his favourite take-out.
And she admitted, she was playing games with Clark. She had been lying to herself when she said that it didn’t bother her that Clark was dating Mayson. Her behaviour over the last few days, her anger at Clark, her clean windows and grouts, were all signals that she wasn’t happy with Clark spending time with Mayson and being interested in her family’s history, researching it.
So she deftly blocked the date, and Clark was coming over with dinner. Except it wasn’t a date either. It was business.
She reached for her lipstick, applying it smoothly. Then blotting her lips, she headed for the living room just in time to answer the door bell.
Clark entered balancing a stack of file folders, a pizza box, a six pack of soda and a bag with the Fudge Castle logo. Taking the cans from his hands, she noticed that half of the six pack was made up of her favourite diet cream soda.
She placed the cans on the kitchen table and liberated the pizza from Clark’s hands. The aroma radiating from the box made her realize how hungry she was, but first she had to inspect the contents of the bag.
When she opened the half gallon container of ice-cream she saw that it was divided in two: mocha almond fudge and choco-choco monster chip. He definitely knew her favourites.
"Some wine, Clark?" she asked after he had placed his folders on the coffee table in the living room.
"Thanks. That would be nice. Let me help you."
While Lois put the plates on the table, Clark opened and poured the wine into glasses. When they both sat down at the table, Clark lifted his glass. "Cheers," he said as they clinked their glasses. Their eyes met and held for a second before they each shyly looked at their glasses and took a drink.
Maybe, Lois thought, this could be a working date.
*****************
They cleaned up from dinner quickly. They took their coffees over to the couch and started sorting out their notes.
"Let’s summarize what we’ve found so far," Clark said. Lois picked up a pad of paper and began taking notes as her partner listed off the information that they had already collected.
"According to the fire department, the apartment at 2047 Bayside Avenue burned down as a result of arson. Inside were two bodies, one in the laundry room and the other on the second floor. The bodies, which the coroner said were dead before the fire, belonged to Al and Stan Rossi, two brothers who ran Abbott Management Company. Al was into the horses, but he hadn’t made much money on them."
"And there was no information that he was in debt as a result of his gambling."
"Right. The building itself was owned by Bennett Realty, but we haven’t been able to find out who actually owns the company. Bennett has experienced similar fires or accidents to the one at Bayside Avenue, and coincidentally, the zoning for many of these buildings changed very quickly and Costmart stores have popped up in their places."
"And remember, these so-called accidents drove the selling price of the buildings down."
"Furthermore, Stan, who was the businessman, had a letter that alleged some shady dealings and was looking for some kind of pay-off."
"Don’t forget that Campbell-Thompson is also the developer that puts up Costmart stores."
Lois glanced down at the notes that she was taking. "In short, what we need to do is connect Church to the fire at 2047 Bayside."
"I think I may have done that," said Clark.
Lois looked at him expectantly. "What do you know that you haven’t told me?" she asked.
"I told you I was doing undercover work at the construction site. Well, I overheard Bill Junior lambasting Baby Rage for messing up the Bayside fires leaving the bodies exposed. Junior is worried that we’re getting too close. He wants us ‘taken care of’."
"That’s great, Clark," Lois said, the excitement of her voice evident. "That means we can just put more evidence together and..."
"No, Lois. You don’t get it. Church wants Baby Rage to get rid of us in the same way he got rid of Al and Stan. He wants us dead."
Lois waved her hands at the nonsense that Clark was spouting.
"He’s coming after you, Lois. He wants you dead. You have to hide or leave town or something."
"I’m not going anywhere. This is my story...all right, our story. Whatever. I’m going to be around when it breaks."
"No, Lois. Please. You have to get out of town. You have to be careful. At least let me stick around you."
"Clark, I don’t need a bodyguard. If I know that he’s coming to get me, I’ll be careful. I’ll carry a cell phone and call you."
"Lois, I might not get there fast enough."
"That’s foolish. Anyway, you’ve told me that Baby Rage is out to get you, too. So you’re in just as much danger as I am."
"But he said that he’ll take care of me later. You’re first on his list." He ran his fingers through his hair. "At least let Superman hover around, keep an eye on you. Then we’ll worry about me."
"No."
"Lois, please."
"I’m angry at him. I don’t want to be indebted to him any more."
"Unless you get out of town and stay out of town until Baby Rage is caught, and Church I might add, Superman is the only one fast enough to help you out if Baby Rage tries anything."
"I can take care of myself."
"Lo-is?"
"Why do you always do that?"
"What?"
"Add four extra syllables to my name. Never mind, don’t answer that." She stared at Clark. He was right: Superman was the only one who could stop a speeding bullet or get to her quickly if Baby Rage tried anything. But the idea of having him hovering around, watching her every move made her uneasy.
"Why are you so stubborn about this?" he asked.
"Because...I’m disappointed in him. In the end, he let me down. Turned his back on me." Lois paused trying to explain how betrayed she felt by Superman’s actions. He wasn’t the god-in-a-cape that she had wanted him to be. "He’s just like an ordinary man," she whispered. "No different than any other man I’ve known."
She glanced at Clark who was staring at her open mouthed.
"He let me down," Lois continued, "just when I really needed him, he let me down."
"Did he? Or was it that he turned you down?"
Lois glared at Clark. The note of sarcasm in his voice disturbed her. Yes, she was upset that Superman had turned down her ...proposal...because that’s what it was, but no matter, Superman was in the wrong. "That’s beside the point. He should have told me what he knew."
"Suspected."
All right, suspected. At least I could have investigated Lex ."
"I told you over and over again. I challenged you to investigate, but you didn’t. Why should Superman telling you make a difference?"
"Because...because...he’s Superman. He’s supposed to save me." She pouted and lowered her eyes.
"Maybe you’re expecting too much from him," Clark said.
"It’s ironic. I once told him that I’d love him even if he was an ordinary man..."she said quietly.
"Would you now?"
"I don’t know. I’m angry. It’s too complicated." Lois stood up and walked to the fish tank. "He said he’s my friend, but he didn’t warn me about Lex. Why would I want him to protect me now?" she asked the fish, the fight having totally left her voice.
Clark walked over to the fish tank. He turned Lois to face him. With his hands rubbing her shoulders, he said quietly, "The situations aren’t the same. Baby Rage is a physical threat. There’s a real contract out on you."
"You’re right...about Baby Rage." Baby Rage was out there. And if Clark was right, he was after her. She knew that she had to be professional about the whole thing. She was definitely in mortal danger, and she would be stupid not to accept Superman’s help. She didn’t have to talk to him. She could be sensible.
She would look at the whole situation as if it was an undercover operation. Both she and Superman had their own parts to play.
"All right," she said, not quite sure if that meant she had forgiven Superman or not.
***************
Two nights later, Lois lay in her bed. She had spent the evening going to her Tae Kwon Do class and grocery shopping constantly aware that overhead Superman was watching her every move. She wondered how much privacy she really had, if he would invade that privacy. She shook her head. No. He wouldn’t because as she knew so well he had standards that he wouldn’t violate. She’d realized it before: he created principles and values for himself from which he wouldn’t budge--the pedestal that she put him on. So, she could trust him watching her from above because she knew that he would treat her with the most respect and courtesy that he could.
So why hadn’t he warned her about Lex Luthor? He had a good idea who the man was even if he didn’t have concrete evidence. Was he afraid to influence her? Wasn’t that what she needed at that time? Was he angry that she wouldn’t listen to Clark? The two were close friends who even had the same suspicions about Lex. Was he upset by her obtuseness? She shrugged her shoulders, fluffed up her pillow and rolled over.
Funny how Superman and Clark shared the same ideals. Not so funny, really. She shared some of those same ideals herself; it was just that she was more cynical, more pragmatic when it came to working in the real world. Clark didn’t see it because he came from Smallville; Superman didn’t see it because he came from Krypton. Maybe people were nicer, more honest there.
**************
For the fourth time that week, Clark perched on a rooftop that afforded him a clear view of Lois’s apartment. He was glad that Lois had allowed Superman to keep an eye out for her. Although Charlie King had returned to the construction site over the last three days, nothing more had happened that could shed light on gathering concrete evidence linking Bill Church, the Bayside fires and the murders of Stan and Al Rossi. Clark got comfortable as he hoped for another quiet night watching the Carter Avenue apartment building. He listened and heard Lois’s heart beat and her even breathing. She was asleep.
**************
Baby Rage looked at his watch. It was still too early to head toward Carter Avenue. He didn’t want anyone to see him enter Lois Lane’s apartment building. He turned up the volume of the CD he was listening to and let the words and music of Salt-N-Pepa’s Whattta Man draw him in.
**************
Clark let the rhythm of Lois’s soft breathing relax him as he sat on the roof of her apartment. Their relationship had changed over the last few days, he thought. Although they hadn’t said the words to each other, there was an understanding that their relationship had gone a step beyond friendship.
Now, he decided, was the time to come forward and talk to Lois about the obstacles that stood in the way of their future relationship. But it left him in the middle of a conundrum. He had to be honest with her about Superman so that she could get over her anger at him, but if he did that, she’d be angry at him for having lied about his other identity. Either way, she’d be angry at him, but they couldn’t get any closer without Lois knowing the truth.
And, he admonished himself, he had to speak to Mayson. He wasn’t fair to her, he knew. She believed that they could have a relationship, but there was no way...
Clark was wrenched from his reflections when he heard a woman’s cry for help. Scanning the area around Lois’s building and finding nothing unusual, he took off to help the woman whose car was out of control. He stopped the vehicle from swerving into a store front window and moved the hysterical woman to the sidewalk. Shaking, she explained that as she was driving home late and must have allowed the quiet and lonely drive to hypnotize her. She hadn’t been aware of a raccoon crossing the road until the very last minute. She swerved to miss it and her car spun out.
Calming her down with soothing words, Superman waited for the paramedics to come and examine her. When he saw that she was in good hands, he took off into the air and flew back to his perch outside of Lois’s building.
**************
Baby Rage realized that he had heard the same song for the third time. Two hours had passed. Turning the ignition, he shifted into gear and drove toward Carter Avenue while he inventoried his equipment for the fourth time, nodding his head when he was satisfied that he had everything he needed. With his mind at ease, he repeated the words of the last rap he had listened to.
**************
Just as Clark made himself comfortable on the rooftop across from Lois’s apartment, the wail of police sirens disturbed the neighbourhood’s silence. He thought for a moment that he would let the police handle whatever emergency there was, but then he overhead the police band mention a jumper on the Hobb’s River Bridge. He knew that sometimes his presence was enough to stop someone from impulsively taking their life. He glanced at Lois’s window and at the street around her building before taking off into the air.
**************
Baby Rage parked behind the Carter Avenue building. Chuckling at how easy it was to break into the building’s back door, he hefted his knapsack on his back and tiptoed into the empty hallway toward the back stairs. It didn’t take him long to reach the fifth floor.
**************
The fire began in a flash when a match ignited the burning oil in the frying pan. It took a matter of seconds for the flames to lick out beyond the confines of the aluminium pan and follow the trails left by the spilled oil. The flames quickly whipped out toward the neat pile of tea towels and then enveloped the curtains and the table cloth.
Lois rolled over in bed. She felt her nose fill with the smell of acrid smoke as it moved down to the back of her throat. Her mind thought "fire", but she was too tired to move, her body comfortable in the warmth of her bed. "It’s just a dream." She scrunched up her pillow, hugging it to herself. But the bitter taste clung to her throat irritating the soft tissue. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, but more smoke entered her mouth and filled her lungs.
The smoke alarm wailed in her ears.
Lois sat up with a start. The smoke was real. It was in her bedroom. And there at the entrance was the blaze. She wanted to scream, to get up, to run out, but her body was stuck to the bed. <It has to be a dream. This is a dream. Help.> She wanted to scream louder but no sound came out. And then, through the looming blaze she saw the familiar red cape fluttering and felt herself being scooped up.
**************
Clark placed Lois on the sidewalk outside her apartment building. "I’ll be right back," he said to her before he flew back into the inferno. She heard the hiss of air and saw the flames disappear in a cloud of gray smoke. Then Superman flew out of her window. She saw him look around and lost sight of him when he flew towards the back of the apartment.
**************
Baby Rage put his foot on the gas, driving away from the Carter Avenue apartment. He had no doubt that within minutes Lois Lane would be toast. He chuckled at his own pun. When he looked up, Superman was standing directly in front of him, his arms crossed, his legs astride. Baby Rage heard his tires screech as he made a sharp U-turn, heading in the other direction. When he looked into his rearview mirror, he didn’t see anyone. He made a quick right turn and headed up an alleyway. When he saw Superman standing in front of him again, he slammed on the breaks and ran out of the car, heading in the opposite direction. In seconds, Superman swooped down and lifted Baby Rage by the shoulders.
"I’ve never dropped anyone yet, but there can always be a first time," Superman said in a voice low and calm.
Baby Rage looked down at the city below him. The street lights blurred. He pictured himself falling face first toward the sidewalk below him.
"Why? I didn’ do nothin’ wrong," he spluttered as he kicked his legs.
"Then why were you running away from Lois Lane’s apartment building?" Superman asked, loosening his grip on Baby Rage’s shoulders.
"No. Don’ drop me," Baby Rage screamed. He felt the tacos he’d eaten for dinner rise to his throat. "Put me down and I’ll talk. Just don’ drop me."
Superman circled Metropolis one more time ignoring his passenger’s kicking and whimpering before he landed on the sidewalk in front of Lois’s apartment where Bill Henderson was just getting out of the car.
"What are you doing here, Henderson?" Lois asked.
"Heard the call for the fire department at your address. What kind of trouble are you in now, Lane?"
Instead of answering, Lois turned her attention to Superman who was smirking.
"I hear confession is good for the soul,’’ the Superhero said as he placed Baby Rage in front of the police detective.
"Superman, what hap?...Baby Rage?"
"Lois, Baby Rage is going to explain everything."
"I know that you want to find out what happened," said Henderson, "but there is the right way and the wrong way to go about this. I want to make sure that there are no loop-holes in the collecting of evidence--I don’t want Baby Rage to get off on a technicality--so I’d like to move this to police headquarters. And Lois, I’ll need a statement from you and from Superman."
**********
Several hours later, at the Daily Planet, Clark leaned over Lois’s shoulder watching her fingers fly over the keyboard as she put the story together. Baby Rage, on being offered another flight with Superman, had confessed that he had indeed been hired a few months ago by Bill Church and his son to do odd jobs including setting fire to a number of establishments on the South Side including Uncle Mike’s restaurant, that he and Dave Simkins had set fire to 2047 Bayside Avenue, and that he had tried to set fire to Lois’s apartment. When Church Junior felt that Lois and Clark were getting too close to him, he told Baby Rage to get rid of them. Baby Rage admitted that Dave Simkins suggested that they burn the building down to make it look like the fire killed Al and Stan.
Lois pressed the return button and scanned their article one more time. "Looks good to me," she said tilting the screen so that Clark could read the complete article.
He nudged her out of her seat so that he could do a spell check. He was waiting for some comment from her about how obsessive he could be and that was the job of editors. When he finished reading and making some minor changes without any comments from Lois, he sent the article to Perry.
"Lois, what’s the matter?"
"What?" She focussed in on Clark. "Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention."
"What were you thinking about?"
"That I don’t have anywhere to live. Where am I supposed to go now?"
"You can stay at my place until yours is cleaned up."
"Yours? But this could take a few weeks or more. No, I better find a hotel or something."
"It’s all right, Lois. You can stay at my place. You can use my bedroom and I’ll make something up in the loft." He gazed into Lois’s eyes. He could see the indecision in her eyes, and it suddenly dawned on him that if she stayed with him, he’d have trouble getting away as Superman, but it didn’t matter. He would deal with the inconvenience as long as he could help Lois out.
Lois blinked her eyes and nodded her head. "Thank you, Clark. I’ll take you up on your offer, at least for tonight." She took his hand. "Come on. Jeremy Lyons said that he’d let me into the apartment to take out some personal items. I wonder if my toothbrush will taste smoky?"
tbc
