Part Six
“Perry, I don’t know what to do,” Lois said, feeling helpless as she sat at her kitchen table on the phone with the editor of the Daily Planet. It had been two hours since Clark had been arrested in her apartment, and she still couldn’t believe what had happened. “I called Clark’s parents. They’re going to take the next available flight out. But I’m worried about Clark. I need to help him.”
“Lois, you’re doing all you can,” Perry replied. “Clark is tough; he’ll be able to handle himself in there tonight.”
“But Chief, he shouldn’t be in this mess in the first place, and it’s all my fault.” Lois scribbled on her notepad in a vain effort to do something.
“You did nothing wrong, darlin’. We’ll get everything straightened out. Jimmy and I will do what we can,” Perry stated with confidence in his voice. “Speaking of, I was able to get the security video. Jimmy is looking at it right now.”
“Good. Good,” she said almost absently, then seemed to process what he’d said. “I hope Jimmy can find evidence of it being altered. It might be the only thing that can help Clark. In the meantime, I need to figure out where I’m going to find the money for his bail,” Lois said. “I mean, I can get about twenty thousand, but if it’s more, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Don’t worry about that, darlin’. I’ll figure something out,” Perry reassured her. “How about you try to get some sleep, and Jimmy and I will keep working on this?”
“I don’t think I can sleep knowing Clark is in jail because of me. I still need to find Mrs. Cox.”
At least Perry knew better than to try and talk her out of it right now. Lois said goodnight to Perry a few seconds later.
She needed to go back to LexCorp. There had to be something in Lex’s office that could help in the investigation. She didn’t think Captain Benson or the police would still be there later tonight; they had to have finished processing the crime scene by now.
Lois had a couple of hours to kill, though, until it would be wise to sneak in. So in the meantime, she sat down on the couch with some rocky road ice cream and her cordless phone. She called a couple more of the businesses that were still open to see if they had footage from last night, but she didn’t have much luck.
A couple of hours later, she changed into black jeans and a black turtleneck and headed out to LexCorp.
When she opened the double glass doors to the LexCorp building, she was relieved to see a security officer she knew. Ernie, an older Black man in his late fifties, had usually worked the day shift, and Lois had gotten to know him a bit over the course of her engagement to Lex.
“Ernie, it’s great to see you,” Lois said as she stepped up to the security station. “How’s your wife? The kids?”
“Miss Lane, wh-what a surprise! Are you… H-how are you doing?” It wasn’t until she saw his look of concern that she remembered she was technically a grieving fiancée. He eyed her carefully as he sat down in the black swivel chair and glanced at the screens before looking back at her. “I’d heard you’d stopped by earlier today…”
“Oh, yep, that’s right. I was a little surprised not to see you when I was here,” Lois said, trying to look more aggrieved than nervous like she was actually feeling. She looked around her, half expecting another security guard to show up and escort her out. But she was probably just being paranoid.
“I had to switch to the night shift. My dear Julie needs me home during the day,” Ernie explained as he looked down briefly at the screens on the desk again. “Are you sure you’re okay, Miss Lane? Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I, um…actually, I was curious… Are the police still in the penthouse?” Lois asked as casually as she could manage.
“No, ma’am, they left around six.”
“Is it okay if I go up? I left some things up there the last time I was here. I promise not to touch anything,” Lois said in her best convincing voice as she started edging towards the elevator.
“Of course, of course, Miss Lane. Whatever you need. Just be careful. The crime scene is still active. I guess the police wanted to wait a couple more days before sending in a cleanup crew in case they needed to come back tomorrow for more evidence in Mr. Luthor’s murder,” Ernie stated as he grabbed his coffee mug and took a drink.
Since Ernie was concerned for her and forthcoming with information right now, she might as well try and use it to her advantage, even though the thought of it made her cringe a little. “Do you happen to know where Mrs. Cox is? Does she stay here or somewhere else? I just…wanted to ask her if there was anything I needed to do…with the wedding being…not happening…”
“I’m so sorry, I can only imagine how difficult… I’m sure, Mrs. Cox…I’m sure she won’t bother you with all the details! But if you need her, she’s staying at the Lexor Hotel in room 406,” Ernie replied.
“Thank you, Ernie,” Lois said as she walked toward the elevator, pushed the button to call it, and waited. She couldn’t believe how great Ernie had been. He knew everyone around LexCorp and about their lives, so she shouldn’t be too surprised that he had even known what room number Mrs. Cox was staying in.
Did Ernie know all this information from being the head of security on the day shift? Or was there more to Ernie than Lois knew? What if Ernie had even known about Lex and his illegal dealings?
Lois shook her head as she stepped into the elevator. Ernie was so nice; her imagination was just running wild. She hit the button for the penthouse along with the code needed to go up to that floor, which thankfully hadn’t changed since the last time she’d come to visit Lex.
When she stepped off the elevator this time, there were no police waiting for her. The penthouse seemed eerie with no one around. Lois turned on the light in Lex’s office; she wanted to find evidence of Lex’s illegal businesses. Maybe one of his accomplices or someone he had done business with had killed him. She noticed four file cabinets lining one wall; they were the type of cabinets that were longer than they were tall, which meant she could sit in a chair to pick the locks and find the information more easily.
Inside were tons of files concerning the companies he had taken over and others that he had been interested in. She found two very important files that sent chills up her spine. One file was labeled “Superman,” and it was filled with news clippings about Superman. The other file was marked “Clark Kent,” and inside were some of his stories and a copy of his personnel file from the Daily Planet. Why would Lex keep this? Had Clark been the target all along? Why keep files on Superman and Clark? It made no sense. She kept digging until she gave up and turned her head, looking at the desk. The computer was missing — the police must have already taken it.
She wanted to dig in the desk, but Lex had been killed right there. Blood was still all over the desk and chair. Lois felt another shiver run up her spine. She’d seen a man murdered before, and even a few dead bodies. But this was the death of someone she’d been close to, someone she’d been about to marry.
How was she supposed to feel? Upset? Sad? Those feelings weren’t there. She wasn’t sure why. If he had lived, would she have still married him? Why had having Clark there for the engagement party and the wedding mattered to her so much?
The search of Lex’s office had been a bust. Of course, the police had already done their job. The one time she had hoped the MPD was slacking on the job. Nope, now they were doing their job too diligently. Lois had to try to figure out a way to show the prosecution that Lex had been a threat to Clark, not the other way around. While Clark would do almost anything to save his friends and family, murder certainly wasn’t one of those things.
She knew she had to save Clark somehow, and it struck her that Clark was more of a priority to her than the death of the man she had been about to marry. Deep in her heart, Lois knew why that was, but she didn’t want to say it out loud just yet. She wasn’t ready to admit it to herself, and she was sure Clark wasn’t ready to hear it, either. Her heart ached for what she had done to him.
Lois covered her heart with her hand, looked down, and sighed. After all this time, she had finally realized what she was feeling for her best friend. Telling him the truth was going to be the hardest thing she would have to do. Would he even believe her?
Lois shook herself mentally. It wasn’t like she could tell him right now anyway. Now, she needed to rest. Spending hours poring over files had been exhausting.
She grabbed the file on Clark plus the one on Superman. The files might help her with some of Lex’s history, but she wasn’t sure they were much help otherwise. At least this visit to LexCorp had given her a good place to start — room 406 at the Lexor Hotel.
Tomorrow would be another day; hopefully, she would have her partner back. Her only issue tonight was that she didn’t want to return to her place. She knew Clark’s parents would be arriving in the morning from Smallville, so she figured she could go to his place and ensure they had everything they needed.
An hour later, she entered Clark’s apartment with the key he had given her a few weeks back to use in case of emergencies. She had also stopped at the grocery store for the basics — ice cream and chocolate, although she also bought milk, creamer, pork chops, and a frozen pizza. The pizza would be for her tonight, and she was sure Martha could use the pork chops for something while they were staying here. Lois wasn’t sure what else to get for them, but she had remembered Clark saying his mom made great pork chops.
Lois would feel like an intruder anywhere else, but she felt at home at Clark’s. They had spent many nights together, working late at one apartment or the other. A couple of times, they had even just watched a movie at his place and ordered pizza. Now she was alone.
While the pizza was in the oven, she looked at the bookcases near the stairs and the pictures he had around, and she even picked up a couple of books to read the inserts. He had traveled around the world, seen many things, and met many people. What had made him stay in Metropolis? Why had Metropolis been so different from every other place he’d visited? He had once mentioned learning to dance from a Nigerian princess. She had seen women fall over Clark before, but how many more were there?
She knew what attracted her to Clark — his demeanor, his kindness, and the fact he was the only one who could stand up to her in a way that she found fascinating. They worked so well together. And right now, she would give anything to have him here.
Before long, Lois found herself in his bedroom. She ran her hands across the clothes hanging in his closet, realizing she would need to pick out a suit for his arraignment tomorrow. Lois found his blue suit and a tie and put it aside — it was one of her favorites on him. Blue always looked good on him. Then again, the man looked good in anything, she thought with a smile.
She couldn’t help herself as she opened one of his dresser drawers. Was she being too intrusive? Since she couldn’t have Clark here with her or tell him how she really felt, she grabbed one of his t-shirts out of the second dresser drawer and put it up to her nose, inhaling his scent. All she wanted was to feel close to him. Stripping her clothes off down to her underwear, she then put the shirt on and smiled slightly when she saw it hung down just past the middle of her thigh.
The timer on the oven beeped, reminding her of her pizza. After she got the supreme pizza out of the oven, she got herself a soda, sat on the couch, and turned on the television.
It felt strange, doing all of this without him. Lois needed her partner, her best friend back. Finally, after Lois had finished her dinner and cleaned up a few dishes, she turned off all the lights except the one above the kitchen sink.
Was she ready to turn in? Where would she sleep? She looked over towards the couch, then towards the bedroom, and back to the couch. She wanted to feel even closer to him — pIus Clark would have insisted she take the bed anyway — so she went to the bedroom. Pulling down the blankets and sheets, she slowly crawled into his bed. His scent was everywhere, but she needed more of it, and so she pulled one of his pillows to her chest, hugging it close to her heart.
“Clark,” she murmured as the tears began to fall. “I’m sorry.”
Her heart and her mind could not take the pain anymore, and she fell into a deep sleep. She couldn’t be any closer to him unless he were here. She was in his apartment, in one of his t-shirts, and in his bed, dreaming of the moment she could wrap her arms around him for real.
*****
