“Really, Mom, Lois is waiting for me. I’m late as it is.”
For a second, he thought she was going to push him on it, the way she used to push Clark to open up sometimes when she could tell something was bothering him.
He was almost disappointed when she didn’t.
Instead, she followed the example he’d set over and over again lately.
She let it go.
And with her reluctant yielding to his feeble excuse, he felt himself sink inexplicably further into his Super facade.
Dropping his warm plate on the counter, she handed him a chocolate chip cookie instead, and kissed his cheek. “Jonathan’s in the barn. Be sure to say ‘hello’ on your way out. And hug Lois for us.”
He gave her a quick smile and turned to leave. He didn’t need super powers to feel her concerned gaze on him all the way out the door.*****
Chapter 5
To relieve the boredom, Lois counted the bricks on the building wall.
Four times in a row.
Then she considered banging her head against them, just for a change of pace.
They were nice enough bricks, she supposed. It’s just that the builders had been so decorative with them that there weren’t as many as there should be on a normal brick wall. The whole bottom corner of the building was just one big foundational stone. It made the counting go a lot faster, leaving her without much of a distraction.
The irony wasn’t lost on her that she was facing a brick wall in this investigation, now both literally as well as metaphorically.
She subtly shifted her legs to try and keep her muscles from falling asleep. If her drunken subterfuge didn’t work, she would have to be prepared to run, even if her limbs were cramping after endless hours on unforgiving, newspaper-covered concrete. She stretched her calf muscle as far as she could, feeling the light burn that came with it.
Suddenly, car lights shone down the alley.
She froze, holding her legs still.
She heard a car rumble slowly down the alley closer to her.
Just before it reached her, it stopped.
Lois held her breath, resisting the urge to lean forward to see it.
The car’s headlights cut out.
It turned and backed into the Luxe Soap building’s loading drive, where it finally came into her view.
An oversized white cargo van.
She felt her sixth sense for trouble kick in, tingling along the back of her neck as excitement rolled down her spine. These had to be her guys!
The van backed up and stopped nearly against the door. Two men exited the cab. One reached into his pocket and she heard the jingle of keys followed by the thick click of a padlock. Seconds later she was watching him push the roll-up door at the back of the building upward. Meanwhile, his companion had opened the cargo doors at the back of the van. They met and started unloading a heavy-looking crate into the warehouse.
Her brow creased in frustration. Was that what the van was packed with? She was supposed to be hunting for diamonds tonight, but these big crates looked much too bulky to be carrying such small, precious cargo. She’d been expecting a sketchy, unmarked van, sure – but she hadn’t expected it to be full.
Just what scheme had Lex been running here?
The pair came back out, and she noticed a brown satchel under the driver’s arm. It looked a lot more like something that could hold tiny gemstones! When had that been dropped off at the warehouse? In the darkness, her eyes tracked the lackey to the front of the van, where he dropped the satchel onto the driver's seat and shut the door before heading back to help his buddy unload again.
Her eyes slid back to the cab of the van.
He’d left the door unlocked.
She had to get a look at that satchel!
The two men had picked up another crate and were shuffling back into the warehouse, and she was tempted to bolt for the van.
Be cautious, she reminded herself. She’d time how long it took them to make a trip, she decided, and then sneak over to try and get a peek inside.
The two men lumbered through the doorway, turned and disappeared from view.
Lois started her count immediately.
1-Mississipppi.
2-Mississipppi.
3-Mississipppi.
4-Mississ – She heard another car make its way into the alley, and stopped her count. No doubt her guys would have heard the car, too, and altered their path because of it. She’d have to try and count again once these interlopers had moved on. Still unable to see around the trash cans shielding her, she pushed herself up a bit, eager to get a better view.
Before she could see anything, the vehicle cut its lights, and she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck again. Maybe
these were her diamond hustlers?
They weren’t.
The vehicle came into view, and, inexplicably, it was an identical white van. It parked directly in front of the first van — smudging the tread marks, she noticed — and two more men got out. They, too, started unloading heavy crates into the warehouse, moving with the speed of those undertaking an illicit activity.
Just how many bad guys had been invited to the Tuesday night party?
She squinted to see the license plate on the second van but couldn’t make it out in the dark.
“Clark?” she whispered urgently. “Are you back yet? Can you see their plate numbers?”
Nothing changed around her, not even a tell-tale whoosh of air.
“Clark?” She tried again, knowing he would have already been beside her if he’d been within hearing range.
It’d been worth a shot, she thought, but she’d known he wasn’t due back for at least another half hour.
Based on the size of the vans and the size of the crates, these guys would be long gone by the time Clark made it back for their undercover date. Lois shifted impatiently. She needed to get a closer look before the vans drove off and left her with no leads!
Two of the men had just re-entered the warehouse, and two were just exiting. Not the best pattern, but she could work with it.
The two men that were visible climbed into the back of the van closest to the building. Knowing they wouldn’t see her now, she shook off her make-shift paper blankets, smirking as she left the Star in the trash where it belonged, her favorite and most petty stake-out tradition. She leaned forward, grateful to be out on her feet at last, and crouched down in a runner’s starting position. If the other two men would come out to their van, these two would head back in, and it would give her a large enough window to sprint across the alley.
She waited, poised.
There they were!
As they passed the nearest van to them, the first pair of men climbed out with a crate, making their way to the door.
She flexed her calf muscles, bending low, ready to run.
The first pair of men reached the van farthest from the Luxe Soap building.
This was going to be tight.
She took a deep breath.
They climbed into the van.
She pushed off with her back foot —
And a crash rang out!
