From Part 4
But four weeks? How was she going to manage? Tonight had been bad enough. A night at the opera with Lex’s hands constantly on her. Despite agreeing to wait for the honeymoon, Lex made sure that she and anyone else who saw them together knew that Lois belonged to Lex.
Suddenly, Lois felt like she needed a long hot shower.
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Part 5
Frustrated, Clark raked his fingers through his hair. A quick burst of superspeed and the pages of handwritten notes spread across the coffee table were re-arranged. After scanning the papers at faster than human speed, Clark slumped back on the couch. It was no good. He couldn’t find the clue that would allow him to pin something, *anything* on Luthor.
It had been two weeks since he had overheard Lois accept Luthor’s proposal. Initially the feeling of his heart being wrenched out of his body and kicked around in the dust had been too much. The Man of Steel’s greatest vulnerability had rendered him useless. But once again, the support and love that had made him the man he was came to his rescue. His parents had comforted him, listened to him grieve over his lost friendship and finally given him the courage to go on. Lois may not want him anymore, but she still needed to be protected from Luthor.
Letting his mind wander, Clark gazed around his apartment. His usually neat bachelor pad was strewn with reference books, company profiles, computer print-outs and a pile of scrunched up paper, the remains of his attempts at writing a novel.
His acute eyesight stopped on a framed photograph sitting in the kitchen. In a blur he moved over to the phone and began dialling, the photograph of himself, Lois, Perry, Jimmy and Cat clutched in his hand.
“Mr White?”
“Clark?”
“Yes Sir. How are you? You sound… tan.”
“See, son, you got to _layer_ in a good brown. Little bit at a time, so you don’t peel. It’s an art.”
“Un…huh. How’s the good life?”
“You tell me. I get up around nine, take a stroll on the beach. By the time I get back, my breakfast is served. Then I sit and read my papers, have my coffee. Sometime around noon, I’ll walk over to the club house. There’s usually a card game going on. In the afternoon, there’re first run movies, arts and crafts, lemonade and cookies. I go to bed around nine, sleep like a baby. Weather’s perfect, never changes, and I haven’t had a cab try to run me down since I got here.”
“You’re miserable.”
“Completely. To tell you the truth, I was even a little disappointed in Graceland. How’s the novel coming?”
“Not so good. I’ve been spending most of my time trying to figure out what really happened to the Planet.”
“You and me both. Anything interesting?”
“Nothing I can prove…yet. Actually, I’m calling about Jimmy. Have you heard from him?”
“Called about a week ago. Said he was fine.”
“Well, his phone’s been disconnected. And today I went to his apartment and his landlord said he’d been thrown out for not paying the rent.”
“Blast that kid – why didn’t he tell me?”
“I’m going to start an all-out search for him tomorrow.”
“So…you need my help?”
“I think I can manage.”
“Dang it, Kent. Tell me you need my help.”
“I need your help.”
“Thought so. I’ll be on a plane in the morning. Meet you at your place.”
“That’s great, Chief. See you then.”
Smiling Clark put the receiver back into the cradle. His apartment was still a mess, his novel was still non-existent and Lois was still engaged to Luthor, but talking to Perry had made him feel less… alone. Looking down at the baggy sweats he wore, Clark ran his hand over the stubble on his face and grinned.
Faster than the human eye could follow, a blur moved around the apartment. Papers suddenly were stacked neatly, books put away, a dirty mug was washed, an odd sock that had been living under the sofa was reunited with it’s twin, the bed made and three seconds later a red and blue streak shot out of the ally window, leaving a transformed apartment in its wake.
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The metallic tapping of her spoon against the coffee table was interrupted by a knock at her door. Momentarily startled, Lois looked at the scattered paperwork on the table. It couldn’t be Lex? But it was definitely too quick for the Pete’s Pizza delivery she had ordered. They never arrived until the ‘30 minute delivery guaranteed or you get it for free’ time was almost up. It had become almost a game, between the pimply lank-haired teenager and herself – how close could he get to the deadline without having to give the pizza away for free.
A second knock spurred her to action. She couldn’t let Lex see her paperwork of her investigation into him. That would be a death sentence – or worse. Her pulse raced as she quickly started to shove the papers into her briefcase. As she was reaching down to get another stack of papers, Lois realised her hand was shaking. The silent threat of Lex was obviously taking a greater toll on her than any other investigation she had ever undertaken. But then, the stakes were so much higher this time.
The third knock was accompanied by an irritated voice, “C’mon, it’s your Pizza, what’s taking so long?”
Lois felt her knees go weak with relief. Pizza. Not Lex. She hurried to the door and after checking her peephole, began to open all her deadbolts.
A few minutes later, she was again sitting down on her settee, staring at her steaming pizza. All that stress over a pizza! If only she could go to Clark, talk to him, curl up on his much comfier couch, and bounce ideas off him. Oh how she missed him! It was like an actual physical ache in her heart, this forced separation. She had to find the dirt on Lex, so she could be free from this cage of control he had put around her.
Ignoring the pizza, Lois retrieved the papers from her briefcase. So many crumbs, yet nothing leading to Lex. Despite the extra doors, being engaged to Lex, had opened, the illusive information that would let her stop Lex had not been forthcoming. Instead, Lois recalled a chilling conversation she had overheard, well, maybe not overheard, more liked eavesdropped on.
“Series K is progressing well, Lex.” The smooth voice of Mrs Cox had reached Lois’ ear, which was pressed up hard against the study door.
“Excellent.”
“We have someone who can remove Kent from the picture, just say when.”
Lois had gasped as she realised what Mrs Cox was saying. Her suspicions from the park were correct. Lex was going after Clark.
“Kent is not worth my time. He’s a giblet, and Lois, has at last realised that. No, we don’t need to bother with Kent. My sources have told me Lois hasn’t gone near him since she accepted my proposal, nor has she mentioned him to me. I’d say that inconsequential boy is no longer a threat. Best to leave him alone. Concentrate on Series K.”
“As you wish. Now about that meeting…”
Nothing more had been said that could help Lois, but the casual words of Mrs Cox were imprinted on her mind, “remove Kent.”
Lois sighed, and picked up a limp slice of pizza. No matter how much she wanted to see Clark, she just couldn’t. She could only hope Alice was having more luck.
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Three empty pizza boxes lay on the coffee table, surrounded by four empty drink bottles and various pieces of paper.
Perry looked fondly around Clark’s neat apartment. Sitting here with Jack, Jimmy and Clark was like being home again, well almost. Without Lois, his surrogate family would never be complete, but that was why they were all here.
Perry had looked in disbelief at the long lists Clark had made detailing Clark’s suspicions about Luthor, starting from the sabotage of the Messenger Space Shuttle up to the take-over of The Daily Planet. Disbelief had turned into shock, when Jack had told them about a character, John Black, who had been hired by ‘The Boss’ to set Jack up for the bombing. Shock had turned into anger, at himself and at Luthor when Jimmy had backed up Clark’s suspicions.
Shaking his head, Perry berated himself for not seeing Luthor for what he was. For not believing Alice when she tried to tell him Luthor was dirty. He’d never liked Luthor, never really trusted him, but he had refused to listen to Alice’s accusations, and now Lois, who was like a daughter to him was engaged to that… monster.
Jimmy had described how he had started investigating Luthor on his own after noticing that Lexcorp, and its subsidies had a habit of appearing in so many investigations. Not only in Lois and Clark’s, but in other reporters’ as well. Being the Daily Planet’s gofer and researcher gave Jimmy a wide knowledge of what most reporters worked on.
Jimmy had surprised Perry. ‘Maybe I’ve been underestimating that kid. He’s been more observant than I have.’
Pushing aside the kaleidoscope of images flickering through his mind, he turned his thoughts from the fool he’d been, most notably in his treatment of his wife, and cleared his throat.
Perry White hadn’t been the editor of the best newspaper in Metropolis, if not the world because he could yodel. It was time for action.
“Jimmy, Jack, find out where we can contact this John Black character. Clark, get me whatever you can on anyone known as ‘The Boss’. I’ll do some digging into Daily Planet finances.”
With a smile of satisfaction Perry watched his troops scurry to get him what he wanted. He still had what it took to be a great editor. Maybe he should do something about that while he was back in Metropolis. Perhaps a visit to Franklin Stern was in order.
***********
Two thousand feet above the cityscape of Metropolis a silent figure hovered, his special eyesight watched as a man in an Armani suit stepped into a sleek black limousine. Instantly the metal roof of the car faded and the aerial viewer could again see the arrogant face of his quarry.
Thus far Superman’s stalking of Luthor had provided no leads or evidence that would put Luthor behind bars.
He followed the limousine as it drove away from Lex Towers, past Grand Central Station, through the inner business district and out towards the affluent apartment blocks. Next to Lex Towers, this area of town was where the most successful, and rich members of Metropolis’ upper crust lived.
Distracted for a moment by the sounds of tyres screeching on a nearby artery Superman momentarily lost Luthor. Assured that the resulting crash was minor, Clark spotted Luthor just as he was entering Montague Place’s underground car park. Once again his special vision peeled away the layers of concrete and steel to reveal Luthor quickly alighting from the limo. Less than a minute after it had arrived, the limo left the car park. To the casual observer it appeared as though the driver had simply taken a wrong turn.
Superman watched with increasing curiosity as Luthor ducked into a small utility room housed in the underground car park. What *was* Luthor doing?
An ear-piercing scream shattered Clark’s concentration and he turned to identify the source. The single car accident he had witness a few minuets earlier had just turned into a multi-car pileup. In a flash Superman streaked across to the artery to help pull torn bodies out of twisted cages of metal. Concentrating on what he was doing, Superman pushed his questions about Luthor’s odd behaviour to the back of his mind.
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It was late Saturday afternoon, just over three weeks since Lois had knocked on Alice’s door looking for Perry. Other than a few cryptic messages, Alice had not heard from Lois, though she had read about the engagement and upcoming wedding. ‘One more week,’ thought Alice, shaking her head. It wasn’t much time.
The most recent cryptic message Alice had received at work had been: “Some say a spider’s web only lasts three weeks and two days from its creation. The planets female form, mother nature shall return to the origin for the renewing of the web as the sun sets, for this is the best way to catch a fly.”
Alice’s poor secretary hadn’t been able to make head or tail of the nonsense, for it was neither scientific nor relevant to any case that Alice was working on, but thankfully, Peggy had passed the message on anyway.
Alice realised the spider web was the Spider Map she and Lois had drawn up. ‘The planet meant the Daily Planet and the female form’ was a reference to Lois. The origin was Alice’s apartment, where the investigation had begun.
This Saturday was exactly three weeks and two days since Lois had helped to make the Spider map, and Alice was hoping the reference to sunset was a timeframe for when Lois would again be able to visit.
Rising from her chair at the kitchen table Alice went over to the sink and refilled the kettle. It wouldn’t be much longer until the sun went down, and if she was right in her interpretation of the message, Lois would be here soon, and no doubt they would both need a steady supply of coffee.
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