Table of Contents
From Part 1:“It’s Jill,” she said. “She wanted to talk to Lois, but I had to explain that she’s not here any more. So she asked for you.”
Shrugging, Clark got up and accepted the receiver from his mother. “Hi, Jill.”
“Clark. I’m sorry Lois isn’t here - I wanted to talk to her about that blood test.”
“Yeah?” He already knew what the result would be, of course. That Lois had traces of sedative in her bloodstream. No surprises there.
He listened to what the doctor had to say, and his eyes widened. Then, still holding the phone, he turned back towards the table.
“How about this, then, Rachel. Dr Jill took a blood sample from Lois. And she says the results showed traces of
animal sedative. Not prescription sleeping pills. Is that enough to convince you?”
************
Now read on...“Feeding me yourself, Lex? Don’t you have minions to do that sort of thing?”
Raising a sceptical eyebrow, Lois observed her husband as he crossed the room with a large tray containing several covered dishes. The dishes and covers, she noted, were all made of polystyrene - just in case it occurred to her to try to use them as a weapon, she realised. The scents were appetising, but she had no appetite at all.
“You wound me, my love. Don’t you think I would want to see how you are? After all, you did have a near brush with death today.”
“Seeing as it was your doing, forgive me if I doubt your concern,” she drawled.
“Lois, my dear, you must know that I deeply regret that action,” he said smoothly, placing the tray on a low coffee-table between two sofas. “I did tell you that such drastic solutions are anathema to me. I admit, I acted on the spur of the moment.” He smiled, and she shivered. “In fact, I suppose I should have thanked Kent for saving your life. If it was he who did so.”
She had no intention of enlightening him on that.
“Anyway, come and eat. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
She walked over to one sofa and sat down, giving him a sceptical look. Did he think she was born yesterday? “Yes, and which drug did you season it with this time?”
“Lois.” His tone resonated with disappointment in her. “Really. Do you think I’m so unoriginal?”
“How should I know what to think?” she retorted. “I don’t know you at all, Lex, do I?”
He gave an expansive shrug, taking a seat opposite her. “Ask me anything you like, my dear. I’m an open book.” He bent and removed the cover from one dish, revealing a delicious-smelling consommé. “And just to show that you have no reason for your lack of faith in me...” He picked up a spoon - plastic, she noted, like all the cutlery on the tray - and scooped up some of the soup, eating it.
Lois made a mental note to eat the soup but avoid anything else.
“Well?” He looked across at her. “You did appear to have questions.”
She took another spoon and started to eat the soup. “Okay,” she said between mouthfuls. “I am curious about some things. Not that I have any confidence that you’ll give me honest answers. After all, you’ve been lying to me since we met, haven’t you?”
Lex shrugged. “What is truth? Ask me a question; I’ll answer it.”
“Okay, then.” She put down the spoon and faced him. “What I don’t understand is why you ever started dating me. It’s not as if you fell madly in love with me or anything like that.”
“Love?” Lex gave her a cynical smile. “A pretty word, which has its uses in some circumstances, does it not, my dear? No. I was aware of your reputation - and, of course, I knew that you were very anxious to write a story about me. The ultimate expose, I was told. I knew that, if anyone would be able to find out things I would prefer to remain hidden, it would be you.”
So, honesty, at last, from her liar of a husband. She supposed that he had nothing to lose now - just as he’d had nothing to lose the night before when he’d tried to drown her. The mere fact that he was actually admitting things to her, too, confirmed that he intended to finish the job this time. Or neutralise her in some other, equally effective way.
She had to try not to let him see her fear. Even though it threatened to paralyse her. Even though she had never been so scared in her life before.
“So why take the risk?”
“Risk? Have you never heard of the saying ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer’?” Lex’s expression was patronising. “By dating you, I was able to keep an eye on you. And, more important, control your access to information about me. And,” he added, looking self-satisfied, “I know I’m not without attraction to women. It occurred to me that I could neutralise you.”
Lois flushed, remembering her self-critical comment to Clark. Yes, she’d forgotten all her objectivity when it came to Lex Luthor. She’d allowed herself to become sucked in by his charm. And, it was now clear, she’d allowed herself to be manipulated by him. He’d been playing her like a violin the whole time - and she’d sung to his tune.
But she wondered now, since he seemed to be in something of an expansive mood, whether she could get the answer to that other question which had been bugging her ever since she’d overheard that telephone conversation.
“And then I stumbled on something incriminating and you decided to deal with me by marrying me,” she said, aiming for a bored tone.
But he wasn’t so easily hooked. “As you say, my dear. However, if, as it appears, you really have no idea what you saw, it was probably unnecessary. I could have spared us both a great deal of trouble and anxiety.”
“Not to mention the trauma of having my husband try to murder me,” she snapped.
“If you had only done as you were told, that would never have been necessary,” he replied smoothly. “Though I admit that it was clumsily done - and, of course, your presence here is testament to that. But then, I hadn’t precisely planned for that contingency.”
“What?” She gave him a disbelieving look. “You mean you didn’t have sleeping pills hidden in the kitchen just in case you might have to dispose of a wife who inconveniently found out more than she should?”
He gave an irritated tsk. “If I had, don’t you think that I’d have used something a little more effective? No; it was sheer good fortune that I found that package. I can only imagine the housekeeper put it there,” he added dismissively. “Anyway, its only purpose was to make you more docile. Something you really should have learned to be right from the start, my dear. We would never have been in this situation otherwise.”
Lois just rolled her eyes. The man was unbelievable! He talked as if murdering his wife were a normal, if regrettable, activity. And this was the man she’d thought was so charming, so attentive, so decent. Overnight, he’d changed from a man who’d claimed to love her into a callous murderer.
But she still wanted to know what it was she'd seen to spook him so much that he’d pursued and married her. “So,” she drawled, apparently idly, “If I’d never seen...
it... you would never have felt the need to marry me?”
Lex merely inclined his head. “Precisely, my dear. He cocked his head to one side then and smiled again. “Not that it was all a complete waste of time; I had few complaints about one aspect of our relationship. And neither, as I recall, did you.”
He shifted in his seat, looking supremely confident all of a sudden. “In fact, given that I intend to remain here with you for at least a few days - the caring husband ensuring that his poor, unstable wife receives only the very best of treatment - we should make the most of this opportunity. Which reminds me, I notice that you appear to have lost your wedding ring. I’ll have to attend to that as soon as possible; its absence might cause people to wonder, don’t you think?”
Lois barely heard the rest of what her husband said; she was unable to control her look of absolute revulsion at his reference to his marital rights. And in that same instant the facade of charm fell away from her husband’s face. A shiver ran through her at the viciousness in his suddenly ice-blue eyes.
Coldly, dangerously, he said, “You would do well to remember who holds all the cards here, my dear.” And the plastic spoon he still held snapped in two.
*********
“You’re absolutely positive about this? Can you prove it?”
Rachel Harris sat across from Jill Klein in the latter’s office; Clark stood leaning against a counter. As soon as he’d relayed to Rachel the information Jill had given him, she’d sprung into action, running for her car and yelling for Clark to come with her. And, though he was still desperate to begin his search for Lois, he’d gone. This was important. This was a major step towards proving that Lois was right - that her husband had tried to murder her.
Jill shook her head, and Clark’s heart sank. What now?
“I never got the sample back. And I was only given the results over the phone.”
“What?” Clark exclaimed.
Jill turned to meet his gaze. “I don’t understand it either. When you said you guys were coming over, I drove over to the lab to pick up the printout and the sample, but the technician I spoke to told me they’d disappeared.”
“Is that normal?” Rachel asked.
Jill shook her head. “Never happened to me before, that’s for sure. I tried to find out what had happened, and that’s the weird thing - I left there convinced that someone was deliberately lying to me. But it makes no sense - why would anyone want to steal a blood test result?”
“Because this particular blood test result might be enough to get someone arrested for murder.” Clark’s voice was grim.
“What lab did you use?” Rachel’s tone was matter-of-fact, as if by her demeanour she were trying to tell Clark not to get ahead of himself.
“The one right out by the highway - Dixon’s Laboratories.” Jill shrugged. “It’s always been reliable before. I’d never expect anything to go wrong there - I mean, it’s owned by LexLabs, and they’re one of the biggest commercial and healthcare lab companies in the country - What?”
“LexLabs,” Clark repeated harshly. “That explains it all.”
“Explains what, exactly?”
He quickly filled Jill in on some of the details. “And I don’t know how it happened, but that’s obviously how Luthor found out where Lois was. Of all the horrible coincidences...”
Jill was looking shocked. “I’m so sorry, Clark - I had no idea...”
“It’s not your fault,” he said quickly. “Anyway, you’ve helped us. If it really was animal sedatives, there’s no way Lois took those herself. No doctor in his right mind would prescribe someone animal sedatives!”
“Not a chance,” Jill agreed. “If it helps, by the way, I called Tom Newton - ” The town’s veterinarian, Clark knew. “He knew the drug - said he uses it in hypodermic form as an anaesthetic in surgery, but he prescribes it sometimes in ampoules for pet-owners.”
“Ampoules?” Clark questioned.
“Little plastic containers filled with liquid. You break the ampoule and pour the liquid into the animal’s food or drink. Anyway, Tom said, as an example, he gave some to the owners of a dog who goes into a panic every time he has to take a car-ride. Depending on the size of the dose, the animal will just relax or will actually fall asleep.”
So, for some reason, this sedative - probably in ampoule form - had been in the kitchen drawer at the beach house. Maybe the housekeeper and her husband had a dog, Clark surmised. Or maybe it was even a guard dog. And Luthor had been searching for something to help make it look like his murder of Lois was an accidental death. Had it been sheer luck that he’d found the sedatives, or had he known they were there? And how many had he dumped into her drink? And had he done it in anticipation that her body would never be found and so the exact sedative would never be discovered?
That certainly explained the very lackadaisical search for Lois’s body... Lex had never intended it to be found.
“But we can’t prove any of it,” he said slowly, despondently. He saw Rachel nod in agreement.
“Not so fast, guys.” Jill sat back in her chair, smiling in triumph. “Don’t underestimate your local doc here! I always take two samples,” she explained. “One goes off for testing. I keep the other, in case of any problems, like a mix-up at the lab - it does happen, though never at this one so far - or if I need to have a second test run to check a result.”
“And you still have the second sample?” Rachel demanded.
“Right over there.” Jill gestured towards the small fridge in the corner. “It’s no problem to get the same test run on that. Except I’d better not use Dixon’s...”
“Is there anywhere else you can use?”
Jill thought for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. Tom Newton has his own lab. And it’ll be easy for him to identify the drug.”
“Good,” Rachel said. “One more thing. Can you prove that the sample you still have is definitely from Clark’s Lois?”
Clark’s Lois. He liked the sound of that. Only she wasn’t... yet. He just hoped that one day she would be.
“I labelled it right there and then, at the farmhouse. I guess you could say that I could’ve written the label at any time, though...”
”DNA!” Clark exclaimed.
“Huh?” Rachel hadn’t followed him.
“If we need to prove that the sample’s Lois’s, then can’t we get a DNA test done?” He knew they were about to object that they didn’t have anything to compare the sample with, but he was ahead of them there too. “Lois was at the farm all afternoon. She had a bath, sat with me in the living-room and then slept on my bed for a couple of hours. Somewhere there’s got to be at least one of her hairs. And I’m betting that her nightdress is still there - what she was wearing when she was pulled out of the lake.”
“That would work,” Rachel agreed. “Okay. Jill, can you organise that blood test? Clark, you come back with me to the farm and let’s see what we can find.”
Clark followed Rachel out of Jill’s office, but once outside he stopped. “Rachel, I’m not going back to the farm with you. I have to find her.”
She caught at his arm. “Clark, don’t do anything stupid...”
“I have to, Rachel! He’s already tried to kill her once. What if he tries again? What if he’s already tried?”
“Clark, this guy’s dangerous!” Rachel exclaimed. “And he’s got the staties on his side. You can’t take the risk - ”
“I can’t take the risk that he’ll kill her!”
She sighed, looking away from him into the distance. Then she said quietly, “If anyone can find her, you can. I know that. But I can’t get you out of jail if you’re arrested.”
“I know that,” he said softly. Rachel definitely knew about him; he was sure of that now. “I’ll be careful. You know I
can be.”
She nodded. “Okay. You have to go, I see that. I shouldn’t ask this, but... is there anything I can help with?”
He seized on her offer. “Yes. Can you trace a helicopter if I give you the serial number? I’m pretty sure it was headed in the direction of the airfield in Great Bend. Can you find out what Luthor did after that?”
Rachel was already heading towards her cruiser. “What’s the number?”
Clark recited the numbers he’d memorised as the chopper had taken off. Rachel repeated them staccato into her radio, then waited. After several agonising minutes, she thanked whoever she’d been talking to and put the radio down.
“You were right. They flew to Grand Bend. Luthor apparently had a private plane waiting there. The flight path they filed was for a private airfield in Estes Park.”
Clark frowned. “Estes Park?” It sounded familiar, but... Then he got it, grateful once more for the near-photographic memory which, this time, allowed him total recall of the US atlas at his parents’ place. “Colorado - it’s on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park.” And just a short trip; the next state over.
Rachel shrugged. “I guess so. The flight path didn’t say. I got the airport call-sign, though, so I can check it out if you need.”
Clark shook his head. He didn’t need confirmation of what he already knew. Luthor was keeping Lois somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, probably in the most inaccessible place possible.
Inaccessible, of course, only to a man who couldn’t fly...
*********
She was alone again. To her great relief, after his display of power Lex had got to his feet, given her an ironic bow and then left the room. The click of the key turning in the lock had been the sweetest sound she could have heard at that moment.
For the longest moment of her life, she’d thought that he was actually going to rape her. It had been the second most terrifying thing she had ever experienced - second only to the moment last night when Lex had grabbed her and held a gun to her head.
Her
husband.She’d faced down killers before. Being held at gunpoint, or being threatened with rape, wasn’t something that had never happened to her before. But that this was the man she was married to made it far, far worse. Far more frightening. The stuff of the scariest horror-films ever made... but this was real. This was happening to her.
And yet Lex had left her alone. Well, she thought, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to banish the shivers which suddenly threatened to consume her, it had all been a pretence, after all, hadn’t it? This marriage of theirs. He’d never wanted to marry her in the first place. The sex had clearly been a convenient perk, but not one he was sorry to lose.
That suited her. She knew that if he ever laid a finger on her again she’d want to throw up.
How ironic. She’d told Clark that the past few days with him had seemed like a dream. A wonderful fantasy, in fact. Now, in the past twenty-four hours, the dream had turned into her worst nightmare.
The shivering receding, Lois began to pace about the room, feeling her mental strength starting to return.
So. What was Lex planning to do with her? That was still the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, wasn’t it? He’d cleverly evaded answering when she’d asked him, although he had implied that he had no intention of killing her. Not that she believed that, entirely.
Killing her would make the most sense. After all, he couldn’t keep her here under lock and key for ever. She had no idea where ‘here’ was, apart from somewhere in the mountains - was it a hotel? A private house? An apartment? The room was furnished like a luxury hotel-room, rather than a bedroom in a private house, though; it had a living area as well as a sleeping area, and a private bathroom. The lack of windows was also unusual. Somewhere purpose-built? Even still, unless he was planning to pay someone to guard her and supply her with food on an indefinite basis, he couldn’t leave her there permanently.
He could have her killed - that would be easy. She glanced warily at the tray of food which she’d mostly ignored. Any part of that could be poisoned. Or contain some other drug. In fact, that was another option, wasn’t it? That he might have her slowly drugged so that she became docile, amenable - a veritable Stepford Wife, couldn’t he? Or he might have a slightly different approach in mind - some sort of chemical or other form of brainwashing? Either way, he’d have the perfect wife: obedient, unquestioning and remembering nothing about her past career or the fact that her husband had almost succeeded in killing her.
She grunted in frustration. This speculation was getting her nowhere. All it was doing was making her more on edge all the time, waiting and wondering what Lex planned to do with her. Which was probably all part of his scheme anyway. He would enjoy knowing that he was messing with her mind.
Clark, where are you?The thought crept into her mind, unbidden. Why hadn’t he come for her? He could fly faster than most commercial airliners could; she had personal experience of that. Why hadn’t he followed the helicopter? She’d been so sure that was what he’d do. And yet there was no sign of him.
Of course, she’d told him to let her go. Not to interfere. Because she couldn’t allow him to sacrifice his safety for hers. But she’d seen the promise in his gaze, in the look he’d given her just before she’d got into the helicopter. He would come for her. He wouldn’t let Lex harm her again.
Where was he?
Though, even if he had followed the chopper, what could he do? How would he manage to get inside wherever this place was? And he’d be in danger if he did. She knew that Lex had a gun, and she had no doubt that he had other armed men with him. The whole place was probably alarmed, too. Clark would be shot dead as soon as he set foot outside the door.
Oh god... Stay away, Clark!Assuming he intended to come at all...
He loved her, didn’t he? He’d said so! Of course he’d want to find her, she reminded herself. He’d come to drag her out of the lake even when he’d thought she was already dead! He would come to rescue her. She had to keep believing that. Otherwise...
Oh, what was wrong with her! Marrying Luthor had turned her into such a wimp! She’d been a shadow of her former self since before her wedding. And the worst thing about it was that she was only just noticing it.
All this time, and she hadn’t once suspected that there was anything at all odd about his behaviour. She hadn’t even resented the way he’d patronised her - and yet, when he’d spoken to her in exactly the same way this evening, she’d seen it for what it was and been furious.
And now, she was locked up in this room and all she could think of doing was to hope that someone else - someone she barely knew - would come to her rescue. Whatever happened to looking after herself? Saving her own skin? She’d
never depended on anyone else for her safety before this.
Pull yourself together, Lois!The first thing was to search the room, she told herself. Leave no corner unturned. There had to be something here she could use to help herself. Plus, had she forgotten all about her lock-picking skills?
An hour later, she had checked the contents of every drawer, every closet, every cupboard in the room. She had upended tables and crawled under larger pieces of furniture. She’d examined every inch of the bathroom fittings. Lex, she acknowledged, had taken a great deal of care with this room. It was the perfect prison.
Almost.
Just one or two things seemed to present an opportunity. While there were no handy metal objects which weren’t screwed down or welded, and the air conditioning vents were far too small even for her to crawl through, the Lois Lane of old was more resourceful than that. She’d ripped up one of her sheets into strips and twisted it into two separate plaits; the smaller one would make a perfect throttling rope if she got the opportunity, and then the larger would be useful for tying her victim up.
As for the lock, she might not have her lock-picks handy, but she intended to have a damn good try with the plastic knives Lex had left behind. In any case, one of those, broken, would make an excellent weapon - she now had two very sharp pieces in her pocket.
She only needed to get close enough.
************
...tbc
