And now, as an early birthday present for Karen, here's Part 8. Table of Contents
From Part 7:Before hanging up, Henderson added dryly, “You might want to listen to the news.”
Clark glanced at his watch; almost three in the afternoon. Crossing to the kitchen, he flipped on the radio. Within a few minutes, a news bulletin came on.
“...and, in breaking news, this shock report: Lex Luthor, head of LexCorp, Luthor Industries and a number of other companies, has been arrested on charges of receiving stolen goods after several priceless art treasures were found in his possession and with his fingerprints on them. In even more disturbing news, our sources within the MPD suggest that Mr Luthor is also being questioned concerning the disappearance of his wife, Lois Lane Luthor, who it appears may not have perished in Lake Superior, as was reported yesterday.
“We have reactions from some of Metropolis’s business community and a leading politician to this incredible story, later in the programme...”
*********
Now read on...Lois turned from the radio to Clark, astounded. Henderson had gone public.
“He’s trying to flush people out,” she said, suddenly realising.
“Of course,” Clark replied slowly. “The guy’s so powerful, nobody would want to play snitch... unless they knew he was already going down for something.”
Just as she had been afraid to come forward...
But not any more. What was already happening was wonderful - far better than she could have hoped for. She had every reason to believe, now, that Lex could be charged with her murder. That she would see him put away.
She wanted to scream and shout for joy. She’d beaten him! She and Clark had beaten Lex Luthor. The fact that he was in police custody now was entirely due to them. They were a great team, she thought with a smile.
But that still wasn’t going to get Jimmy out of prison. Her smile disappeared as she remembered her friend’s plight. And they weren’t going to be able to get any further on the bombing as long as she was hiding away in Clark’s apartment.
It was time she stopped hiding. And Henderson, whether he knew it or not, had given her the perfect opportunity.
“I have to do something,” she said abruptly.
“What?”
“With Perry’s help, we’re close to proving that Lex bribed advertisers to dump the Planet. But that’s not enough. It won’t prove Jimmy didn’t bomb the paper. I’ve got to get out there and start talking to sources.”
She could see that Clark wasn’t ecstatic about the idea. True, it was fraught with danger. But still, it was the right thing to do. The
only thing to do.
Walking over to him, she put her hand on his arm. “I have to, Clark, don’t you see? Apart from helping Jimmy, I can’t hide here indefinitely just in case Lex sends one of his minions to get me. If I do that, he’s won. I said this morning that I’m not scared of him, but by doing what I’m doing I
am still afraid. And I refuse to be any more.”
He watched her, and she could see the worry in his gaze. But after a few moments he nodded. “I understand. Just tell me - what can I do to help?”
“Come with me. I need to find one guy in particular. You’ll have to stay back while I talk to him, but as long as you’re there you’ll know I’m safe.”
He agreed. And so they set off; she was pretty sure she knew where she’d find Bobby Bigmouth, and she was right.
The wiry fortysomething man did a double-take as they walked into the diner where he’d worked for the past six months or so. “Lois Lane! I heard you probably weren’t sharkbait after all.”
“Yeah, they didn’t get me this time.” She shrugged. “You know I’m the great survivor.”
Bobby didn’t comment. Instead, he nodded towards Clark. “Who’s the geek?”
Geek... oh, the glasses. Lois rolled her eyes; she couldn’t imagine anyone less geek-like. “He’s a friend. You could say he’s my bodyguard right now.”
Bobby gave her a shrewd look. “Ah. So that other rumour was right, too.”
“And what rumour might that be?”
“That you’re on the run from hubby.” He pulled a face. “Never knew what you saw in him.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lois grunted. “Me neither, now. Look, Bobby, I need your help.”
His gaze shifted from side to side. “Not sure I’m in that business any more.”
“Bobby, I know what your problem is. But I’ve left him. I’m getting a divorce as soon as I can. If you’ve heard the rumours about me, then you also know that Lex is in police custody and facing at least one charge. I want to prove him guilty of more, and that’s where I need your help.”
He still looked sceptical. So she tried again. “Look, I remember a few months ago when I was looking for information about gang killings you hinted that there was a Mr Big behind a lot of crime in the city. But you wouldn’t ever say any more than that. It was Lex Luthor, wasn’t it?”
“I never said that.” The reply was immediate.
“I know. I did. And I’m right, aren’t I?”
There was no reply. Bobby began to busy himself wiping tables. Lois followed him around, sticking right on his tail as he moved from table to table.
“Okay,” she continued. “This is what I need. You know Jimmy Olsen’s doing time for the Planet bombing?” Bobby nodded, but didn’t look up from his task. “Well, I don’t believe he did it. I think Lex was behind it. But I can’t prove it. I want to get Jimmy out of jail, Bobby. And I don’t think there’s a better time to do it.”
He began straightening menus and condiment sets.
“Look, like I said, I know what your problem is,” she said calmly. “You don’t know if you can trust me any more. I’m married to Mr Big. But look at it this way. He tried to kill me - yes, that’s the truth. I want to put him away for the rest of his life, if I can. And I want to undo as much of the harm he’s done as possible. You help me, Bobby, and you won’t regret it. I promise. And as soon as I have access to my bank account again, I’ll
buy you your own diner. Come on, you got to help me here!”
He wasn’t going to. Despite her outward calm, Lois’s heart was sinking. She already knew what a mistake she’d made by taking the stupid decision to marry Lex. Now it was looking as if she’d lost her credibility, too. If Bobby didn’t trust her any more, then who would? She was lucky that Perry and Henderson had listened to her.
She dropped her gaze from her former snitch and began to turn. It was time to leave.
“John Black.”
“What?” She swung back and stared at Bobby.
“He’s a torch. Explosives guy. Will burn anything for the right payment.”
Her eyes widened. She wanted to look at Clark, knowing that he would be sharing her excitement, but she didn’t dare look away from Bobby. Not now. “Thanks.” A simple word, but said with great sincerity. “I owe you one.”
“And don’t think I won’t collect.”
She laughed. “I’m good for it.”
“Yeah. I know,” Bobby said sardonically. “Lexel Investments netted a pretty cool figure, didn’t it?”
“Huh?” Lexel? Obviously something to do with her husband, but she’d never heard of it.
“Check it out,” he muttered, already turning away. “Now, I got a job to do.”
*********
John Black. Lexel Investments. It was a start.
On the way back to Clark’s apartment, they’d paid a visit to the companies’ registration office. Lexel Investments was a relatively newly-established company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LexCorp, and its purpose was to manage insurance policies. It sounded innocuous, but they were both sure that it wasn’t. Bobby wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.
Lois, Clark noted, was far more animated than she’d been earlier. He’d had his doubts - severe doubts - about going to see her source. Even with his abilities, he couldn’t be everywhere at once. And all it would take was a split second, a loss of concentration on his part and a bullet, and her life would be over forever. So he’d been on edge the whole time they’d been in the diner.
Now, though, despite his fear for her safety, he had to admit that it had been the right thing for her to do, and not only because they’d got potentially useful information out of it.
She wasn’t afraid any more. That was obvious - it radiated from her. She was determined and barely restraining her impatience to get something done.
“Obviously one of Lexel’s policies paid up, and paid up big,” she said as Clark poured coffee into the filter-machine he’d picked up on their way back.
It sounded far too obvious, Clark thought. It couldn’t be, could it? “Was the Planet insured through Lexel?”
“Not that I knew of,” Lois said immediately, but then he saw her go still. Her expression altered, and she said slowly, “But what if it was?”
“Well, the Planet was insured, wasn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. But Lex told me that the policy didn’t pay out anything near enough to cover rebuilding costs. I asked Perry - he said Lex was right, it was under-insured. But I don’t know what company it was insured with. Perry would know.”
“Well, your friend Bobby said it was a big payout, so whatever he was talking about can’t be the insurance you knew about,” Clark said. “Maybe you should...”
“I should call Perry and find out who the Planet was insured with.” Lois had already anticipated his suggestion.
The phone rang again. Clark picked it up; for an unlisted number, he was sure getting a lot of calls. “Clark Kent.”
“Ah, Kent. Perry White here. I figured you kids would be back in the city by now. Look, I decided to follow you back to Metropolis. I want to help, and the best place to do it is here.”
“Perry’s in Metropolis,” Clark murmured to Lois, covering the receiver briefly. “Actually, as it happens, there is something you can help us with,” he said to the editor. “What company was the Planet insured with?”
“State Business Insurance,” Perry replied promptly. “But it was under-insured...”
“Yeah, Lois said. Look, we’ve been given a tip-off to look into something called Lexel Investments. It’s a company set up to manage insurance policies for Luthor’s companies. We’re beginning to wonder if maybe there was a separate policy taken out to cover the Daily Planet.”
“You want me to look into that?”
“Could you?”
“Hell, I’m itching to get stuck into some real investigating again. You leave it with me. You find out anything else?”
“Lois got a tip-off about a guy called John Black; we think he might have been the hired bomber.”
He heard a dry chuckle. “That’s my Lois. You two can’t have been back in the city more than half an hour, and already she’s hot on the trail. Look, I’ll call you when I find anything out, okay?”
Clark hung up and relayed the conversation to Lois. “That’s the sort of thing I have to be careful about,” he added with a grimace. “We should only have been back a short while, instead of three hours or more.”
“True.” Lois nodded. “I’ll remember that, for future reference. Now, I need to do some digging about John Black...”
*********
Darkness had fallen over the city by the time Lois straightened, rubbing her aching back and grimacing. Immediately, she felt warmth embrace her, soothing her tired muscles.
She glanced around; Clark had removed his glasses and was studying her intently. He really was incredible, she thought once more. “Hey, thanks!”
“No problem. Does it feel any better?”
“Oh yeah.” She flexed experimentally. “Much!” Then she glanced around the room. “You’ve been busy!”
“Well, you said there wasn’t anything I could help with, so I went shopping.” He grinned. “Look any better?”
“Definitely!” The kitchen, she noted, now had a table and chairs. A coffee-table stood in front of the sofa. Boxes of self-assembly furniture rested in the corner; from the label, she deduced that they were bookcases. A couple of rugs lay on the floor. There was an end-table beside the sofa, and a lit table-lamp stood on it. “How did you get all this in here without me seeing it?”
“You were kind of otherwise occupied,” Clark teased. “I think I could’ve brought a whole herd of elephants in here and you wouldn’t have noticed!”
“You’re probably right. I didn’t even realise you were gone.” She must have been on her own for quite a while, judging by the amount of stuff Clark had acquired. He’d clearly decided there wasn’t any risk to her safety at the moment, after all. And she’d been fine - as well as very busy. Just like the old days at the Planet, where hours could go past without her noticing them.
God, she’d missed that! The thrill of an investigation, especially if she just
knew that she was getting close. The buzz of a busy, thriving bullpen. Sitting at her computer as the words just flowed from her keyboard. Seeing her byline in print on the front page, beneath a killer headline.
She had to get back to that life. For more reasons than that she missed it; she’d known, as she’d sat down to work at Clark’s laptop, that she had to prove herself as a reporter again. She knew the saying well: pride goes before a fall. And she, proudest of them all, most confident - boastful, even - of her investigative abilities, had fallen the hardest. She’d been fooled, completely and absolutely, by a master criminal. Oh, she definitely had to prove to people that she could still do it.
She had to prove to
herself that she could still do it. That she would never be fooled so easily again. That she could still bring in the big stories, gain the trust of sources - as she had with Bobby, though that hadn’t been easy - and keep her critical edge. Not get too close to stories. Not allow herself to be fooled.
“Oh, I was never gone for more than a few minutes at a time,” Clark said, surprising her. “There’s a furniture store just down the road. I did do a couple of circuits of the city from the air, though. Especially over Luthor’s offices.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to keep an eye on things. Sure, Luthor’s in jail, but you keep reminding me about his associates... Anyway, he does have people out looking for you. But the good thing is that nobody’s talking. They don’t have a clue where you are, though they’re pretty sure that Henderson knows. What’s even better is that his minions are getting scared for their own skins. They seem convinced that Luthor’s going down, and they don’t want to be dragged in on his coat-tails.”
It was definitely the beginning of the end for her husband, then. “Excellent.”
“Oh, and I also paid a quick visit to my folks,” he added, making her shoot him an alarmed look. It just showed how self-absorbed she’d been almost the whole day; she’d been focusing on her own fears and her own safety and had completely forgotten that Clark’s parents could be in danger. After all, Clark had told her that morning that Lex had sent people to Smallville.
“Are they okay?” she asked, guilt in her tone.
He smiled. “Relax. They’re fine. Dad saw a guy snooping about in one of the fields this afternoon, but he ran off as soon as he noticed he’d been spotted. Rachel’s had her deputies do some extra patrols around the farm and in town and told them to be extra-officious if they saw any strangers. You know, nothing other than very polite and helpful, but letting them know that their presence hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
“Right. So no chance of anyone keeping a low profile, then.” Lois thought that she’d probably like Clark’s friend Rachel very much, if she ever got to meet her.
“Exactly. Anyway, apparently a carload of city guys left Smallville this evening, headed for the nearest airport. That was after some townspeople and a couple of our neighbours told them that they hadn’t seen me since yesterday and that they heard I’d gone away - to the city. Naturally, they didn’t say *which* city...”
“Naturally,” Lois echoed with a grin.
“And they said that as far as they knew I was alone when I left. And that if they needed to get in contact with me they really should speak to my parents.”
“I see what you mean about loyalty.”
“Yeah. But it’s nothing but the truth,” he commented. “Anyway, seems like he’s given up on Smallville. Even if he does figure that you’re with me again, there isn’t a lot he can do about it anyway. Not from a prison cell. Okay, he’s got at least some of his staff still loyal to him, but he’s already in police custody and with a possible charge of attempted murder hanging over him. He’s not going to risk any more attempts against you now.”
That made sense, Lois recognised. Her husband might be determined, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Yeah.” She gestured at the laptop and her notes. “So all we need now is for this to come together so we can prove that Jimmy didn’t bomb the Planet.”
“Any progress?” Clark nodded at the laptop she’d been using - his, connected to the Internet.
“I managed to hack into a few sites - Jimmy taught me more than I realised. Black’s got a record, all right, for exactly this sort of stuff. But we need something to tie him to the Planet bombing. And I won’t be able to get that on a computer.”
“Tomorrow,” Clark said. “It’s late. And another day won’t make a difference.” He reached for her hand, tugging her to her feet. “I also got a bed,” he informed her. “So the bedroom’s yours tonight. And don’t argue.”
Briefly, she wondered what he’d do if she did. But she was too tired, really, to push it. Even if part of her didn’t want to go to bed yet, because it meant saying goodnight to Clark. Even if part of her was wondering, without any prompting on her part, what it would be like if... they shared that bed tonight. Not lovemaking - the part of her which was doing the wondering shied away from that. She wasn’t ready for that. Not for a long time. But just to be held by him - something Lex had never done. Oh, they’d shared a bed, and sometimes even for the whole night. But he’d slept on his side and she on hers.
Clark, though, she knew without even needing to confirm it, would hold her in his arms. All night.
But she squashed that little wondering part of her. Clark had made it clear that he was keeping his distance while she was still married, and he was right. And anyway, it was too soon.
She squeezed his hand. “Okay. Goodnight, Clark.”
He smiled. “Sleep well.” And kissed her, very lightly, on the cheek as she hesitated by his side on her way to the bedroom.
**********
...tbc
