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Part 8/11
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"Hmmm," Clark hums and it tickles my cheek where it's pressed against his chest. "I should tell you something."
"If it's about Superman…" I have to pause for a yawn. "Then I already know about that."
"It's kind of about that…" He looks away suddenly, towards the open bedroom door.
"What is it?"
"It's Perry!" He rolls out of the bed and dresses in a blur. I'm still lying there, feeling lethargic, before I realize what he's saying. I scramble off the bed, in search of my underwear as he shuts the bedroom door behind him. I pull my clothes on quickly and head out to join Clark and Perry.
"… she ended up in the West River so she's probably still getting dressed." Clark is saying as I come into the front room.
Perry looks at me, than back at Clark and the grin that he was already wearing grows wider. "Are you okay, Lois?"
"Fine," I say. I get the distinct impression that Perry is just messing with us. And why wouldn't he? Clark looks as flustered as I feel. We're both barefoot, both flushed, and we both look guilty as hell. Clark has finger-combed his hair but I'm positive mine looks like I was just f… fished out of the river.
Perry holds out some papers and Clark takes them. "We dug up some more information on Dermot Delaney and - I don't know whether you still want this - but there's also the information that Jimmy did on the Schafer Building. "
"Chief, have you heard anything about Marco Canfora's death?" Clark passes the sheets to me and I leaf through them. Delaney's autopsy report is on top. Below that is a listing of the Schafer Building's owners and occupants over the years.
"I heard he was tortured before his house burned down. Which reminds me, Inspector Henderson came by and asked that you two give him a call." Perry pauses, his eyes twinkling. "If you're not too busy, of course."
Clark and I both look away. Perry chuckles and stands up. "If there's anything else you two need, well, I guess you'll let me know." He gives us a wink and says, "I'll just show myself out."
After the door shuts Clark lets out a sigh. "I don't suppose you know what the Planet's policy on fraternization is, do you?"
"Perry doesn't seem too upset," I say. "So I don't think we have much to be worried about."
Clark doesn't look very convinced.
"You've never really broken the rules before, have you?" I ask.
"Not if I can help it."
"Live a little, Clark. It's fun to be bad."
His eyes go a little darker. "So was that fun?" He gestures to the bedroom door. "Or bad?"
"Are you fishing for compliments now? Because I'm not about to rate you."
"You don’t have to. I already know how I did."
I open my mouth but no words come out. I pick up the closest pillow off the couch and throw it at him. He ducks and it knocks the lamp off the end table. He catches it before it hits the floor and puts it back.
"Tell you what," he says as he dodges the next pillow I launch at him. "You call Henderson while I go get us something to eat. I have a feeling I'm going to need my strength for round two."
He bends to pick up his shoes, missing another pillow in the process, and heads for the door.
"You're laboring under the delusion that there will be a round two!" I finally manage to find my voice as he opens the door.
He looks back over his shoulder. "You're saying there won't be?"
"I wouldn't bet on it!" I pick up the last pillow on the couch and take aim.
"Oh, I would." He winks at me and closes the door just before the pillow gets there.
I shouldn't be thrown by Clark's innuendoes. I should have known to expect this since he teased me about liking it on top within minutes of our first meeting. He intrigues me and maddens me and… there's no one else I ever felt this comfortable or this safe with. No one else who ever pushed me over the edge and caught me at the same time.
Of course there's going to be a round two.
But first, I need to call Henderson.
The line rings twice and then I ask the secretary if I can speak with Inspector Henderson. "Who may I say is calling?"
"Um, I was calling to confirm his dental appointment…"
"Hold please."
Muzak comes over the line, 'Some Enchanted Evening'. "… You may see a stranger…" I'm humming to myself when Henderson picks up.
"Lois?"
"Yes, you left a message with Perry?"
"How come I have to hear from Perry White that your apartments were tossed?"
"Oh. Sorry. Whoever it was took all our notes and both our laptops."
"Sucks to be you. That's not why I called. We need to meet tomorrow. I want to bring Detective Skousen in on this. He's our expert on Delaney and he'll want to hear every little detail of your mysterious meeting."
"Sure, we'll…"
"How about tomorrow afternoon? Say, one o'clock? We'll meet you behind the Schafer Building. Oh, hold on…" Henderson covers the mouthpiece and then comes back. "Lois?"
"Still here."
"Don't go anywhere until then. Skousen says if this has anything to do with Intergang or Delaney than you're much safer where they can't find you. You got it?"
I mentally cross my fingers. "Sure. We won't go anywhere."
I hang up the phone and pick up Delaney's autopsy report. Cause of death: gunshot wound to the head. The bullet entered though his left eye and exited through the back of his skull, leaving a behind an exit wound that was a near perfect circle. Only a round fired at extremely close range could do that. Without a bullet for ballistics the pathologist's guess was a 9 mm or equivalent. The body had been in the water for approximately three days before it was found and decomposition was extreme.
Feeling squeamish I put the report aside. I take up the pen and notepad on the table and write Delaney's name. I put down an equals sign and "E" with a question mark. Am I right? Is Delaney 'E'? If so, then whose body was found in the river? If Delaney is dead then who is E and what is his tie to Delaney? Is there even a tie between them? Maybe E was trying to throw Henderson off by using a bomb like Delaney's?
Okay, that's going nowhere. I cross out Delaney's name and look at "E?" on the notepad. Go back, I tell myself. Go back over everything E said. I write it down on the pad.
Schafer Bldg to burn down
Someone in mayor's office hiding something/someone in the building
Not to start scandal, this is personal
Four days until demolition
No, that's not right. There's only three days left now. Tomorrow there will only be two days. Is someone really going to burn down the building or was that just E's way of hooking us in?
It had to be a lie - Clark checked the building and there was nothing suspicious in it. It was a wild goose chase. A fairy tale that E told us to keep us complacent while he was waiting to blow us up. I hate to let go of my Delaney theory but Clark might be right. E couldn't be anywhere near that warehouse when it exploded.
So who is E? And why does he want us dead? Is he with Intergang?
I close my eyes and try to remember his voice. Was it familiar? Maybe. His laugh definitely was. I've heard that laugh before - but where?
I open my eyes and I'm staring at the words "this is personal."
With a rush I realize that's the only honest thing E said to us. It is personal. Whatever his reasons for chaining us up to die, they were personal. I search my memory harder but I still don't recognize where I know his laugh from. Obviously we've done a story about him or he wouldn't have taken all our notes and our computers from both home and work.
Clark comes back, holding a pizza box in front of him like a peace offering. "You haven't had a chance to reload, have you?" he asks.
"Clark, did E's voice sound at all familiar to you?"
He sets the box down on the coffee table as he thinks about it. "No, not really."
"It did to me. And he said it was personal. Remember? I asked if he was trying to start a political scandal and he said 'this is personal.' I think he meant us and not the mayor."
"I take it you don't remember where you know him from?"
"No," I sigh. "I don't. Oh, and we're supposed to meet Henderson at one tomorrow behind the Schafer Building. He's bringing along their expert on Delaney."
"Okay." Clark opens the pizza box.
"Clark? You checked that whole building, right?"
"Yes." He looks much more interested in the strings of cheese stretching out between the slice he's holding and the pizza.
"All of it?"
"Yes, Lois. Why?" He looks a little annoyed that I'm pressing him on this.
"Because I can't help thinking that you might have missed something."
"Like what?"
"Like who," I correct him.
"Lois, you went in the building. Did you see anything? Or anyone?"
"No." I slump back against the couch and watch him eat. "I didn't see a damn thing. But someone had been there before us. There was garbage in a back room and footprints all over the place. Don't they have to clear everything out of a building before they demolish it?"
"Yep." Clark nudges my knee with his. "Come on, get something to eat."
"So maybe we need to find where everything, all the office furniture and files, were taken? Maybe there's a body in a filing cabinet or something."
"Here." Clark hands me a slice of pizza. "Take a bite."
I take the slice from him and realize just how hungry I am. It's been a long time since the pain au chocolate this morning. And a lot has happened since then.
While we eat I look at the list of the Schafer Building's owners. It was built in 1872 as the headquarters for the Schafer Shipping Company. In 1949 it was sold to Geoffrey and Edna Healey. They used it as an art gallery until 1964. It sat empty for several years until the Healey's sold it to W.H. Bailey in 1977. He had purchased most of the block with the intention of converting the buildings into lofts. He went bankrupt and the property passed to MetroBank as part of the settlement. In 1989 MetroBank sold the building to CanDel Industries. Nothing is written about what it was used for. The next notation says only that the city had purchased the building in 1994 from Marco Canfora…
"Clark!" I almost choke on my last bite of pizza. I hold up the list Jimmy made, pointing to the last line. "Marco Canfora owned the Schafer Building until last year!"
Clark's eyes dart back and forth, reading the list far faster than I ever could. Then he reaches for the phone and dials.
"Hi. Facts desk, please."
I can see where his thoughts are headed and I nod my approval.
"Hi, Rosie. I need something checked. Yeah, you ready? Okay, I need a list of the partners for CanDel Industries." He spells the name out for Rosie and then tips the receiver away from his mouth while he waits. "You want to make a guess as to who the 'Del' in CanDel is?"
My eyes widen. "Dermot Delaney!"
"I'm here," Clark says into the phone. "Uh huh. Okay. Thanks, Rosie. Bye."
He hangs up the phone. "Marco Canfora and Dermot Delaney started CanDel Industries in 1988."
"Do you think E is the one who tortured and killed Delaney?" I ask.
"I'd say it's highly probable. Let's run it past Henderson tomorrow and see what he thinks." He gives me a thoughtful look. "Lois? Is it possible that Lou is E?"
I hadn't thought about that. After a few seconds I shake my head. "The voice is wrong. And his build. I could see E's silhouette when he left the warehouse. He was tall. Lou… not so much."
"But Lou knows who E is. How else would he have known you'd be at the pier this afternoon?"
I nod in agreement. "Maybe Superman should pay Lou a visit."
Clark thinks about it and then shakes his head. "Waste of time. He's not going to tell me, Superman or anyone else. Look at what happened to Marco. Would you want to end up the same way? My guess is that Lou decided to take a sudden vacation after he called E."
I let out a long sigh and lean back against the couch cushions, putting my feet up on the coffee table. "Now what?"
Clark leans back too, uttering a matching sigh. "I don't know. We can run all this past Henderson tomorrow. And we can check on CanDel Industries, see if there's anything about them that looks promising." He lets out a dramatic yawn and stretches. His arm comes to rest on top of the couch behind me.
I roll my eyes. "That's real smooth, Clark. I suppose that works in Kansas."
"There's a difference between just being friendly and putting the moves on you."
"I know that, but I'm not sure that you do."
He turns his head and smiles at me. "You're still mad because I teased you earlier."
"I'm not mad! I was annoyed, but that's not the same thing."
"Hmmm." He gives me a slow smile that erases any thoughts of annoyance. "Would you believe me if I said you're cute when you're angry?"
I glance over at him and wonder if he's just teasing me again again. "Maybe you should get out more."
An odd expression crosses his face, something almost like guilt mixed with amusement. "I, uh, I still ought to tell you something."
"What? Don't tell me you're Batman, too."
"No, Lois…" He grins and shakes his head. "Batman?"
"You do tend to wear a lot of black."
"No, it's…" He looks away, blushing. "I was going to tell you this and then Perry showed up."
"Is this another one of those things that there was no good way to tell me?"
"I don't… maybe. I should have told you before we…" His head tips in the direction of the bedroom.
"You have an STD?" Oh my god, this is just my luck.
"No!" He lets out a nervous laugh. "I, I've, I'd never actually gone that far before."
I stare at him, uncertain if I'm hearing this right. "You what?"
"I hadn't…"
"With anyone?"
He shakes his head.
"So I…"
"You were my first."
"Huh." It's all I can say. Once again, he's left me speechless. How many more of these little bombshells does he have left to shock me with?
"It's not that I haven't come close before, I have. Really close! I just never… trusted anyone enough to…" He tilts my chin up so that our eyes meet. "I never trusted anyone enough to let them push me over that edge."
"Clark…" What do I say to him? My eyes have gone blurry with tears as the full impact of what he just said hits me.
He takes my hands in his. "I love you, Lois. I have since about three seconds after I first met you. It was like I knew, even then, that you were the one I was going to be able to share myself with." He raises my hands and kisses them. "You were worth the wait."
"Clark, I…" He brushes my tears away with the back of his fingers. "I wish I had waited for you."
"No, it's okay…"
"Let me finish." I clear my throat, trying to think how to explain this to him. "I know I didn't wait for you, Clark, but I can promise you that it was… different with you. I always felt like I had lost something afterwards, except tonight, with you. It was like I got back everything I lost before." Fresh tears come to my eyes. "I know that doesn't make any sense…"
"No, Lois, it does. I promise." He leans forward and kisses me softly. Relief floods through me. Then his eyes close and a pained expression crosses his face. Alarm floods through me, he looks so regretful.
"Lois, I'm so sorry. I have to go."
He's leaving? The old, familiar pang of rejection begins. But I promised him that I wouldn't take it personally. I take a deep breath and say, "Of course you do." I try to hide my disappointment but I don't think I'm doing a very good job of it.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." He gives me a quick kiss and a apologetic look before he stands up and spins into the Suit.
"Clark?" I say as he walks to the door.
"Yes?" He turns back to me.
"Hurry back." I give him what I hope is an enticing smile.
He blushes. "I'll see you later."
