Chapter Seven
>>>Wednesday morning
Lois marched into Perry’s office at a quarter till seven. “I need to see you, Chief.”
Surprised, Perry nodded and motioned to a chair in front of his desk. “It’s – interesting to see you up so early, Lois. Do you always dress like a young male high school dropout at this time of day?”
“No. This is my disguise for infiltrating that carjacking gang. I think I can get their attention by boosting an expensive car and showing up outside their chop shop.”
“Uh-huh.” Perry leaned back in his chair. “Aside from the difficulty in looking and sounding like a guy, do you even know how to steal a car?”
She smiled past her mustache. “You know that new gofer you have, Jimmy, the short guy with the high squeaky voice and funky hair?”
“Yes.”
“He knows how. He taught me to boost a car.”
“He does, does he? How does he know?”
“Reform school.” She shrugged as Perry turned his head to one side. “He said it was a bum rap.”
His eyebrows went up and he leaned forward on his elbows. “And when did he have time to impart this knowledge to you?”
“From about four o’clock this morning till just a few minutes ago.”
Perry nodded. “I see. Have you, uh, put your new-found knowledge to the acid test yet?”
She grinned. “Nope. I was hoping you’d let me practice on your BMW.”
“What?” His face lost all expression. “My new BMW? Lois, are you nuts?”
“No, I’ve thought it all out. I can’t be arrested for auto theft if I have your permission to take the car, and my Jeep’s too pedestrian to use for bait, but if I show up at the chop shop with Perry White’s new Beemer, it’ll impress them and zip – I’m in.”
He shook his head. “You are a total reprobate, you know that?”
“Don’t worry, Perry, I’ll be back with an exclusive that will break this thing wide open. Tomorrow night at the latest.”
“That fast?”
She shrugged. “If I get in, I’ll get in quick, otherwise I’ll bring your car back and try something else.”
“If they don’t shoot you first.”
“Perry – “
He pointed two fingers and locked eyes with her. “You be careful, young lady!”
She nodded soberly. “I promise, Chief.” She moved towards the office door.
“You’d better be. I can’t afford to replace that car.”
She hesitated for a moment, then gave him a sideways grin and an offhand wave. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Oh, one more thing?”
He sighed. “I suppose you want the keys as backup in case you can’t hot-wire it?”
“No. What I want is for you not to tell Clark what I’m doing.”
“Oh.” He sat up in his chair. “Now why would you want that?”
“Because I don’t want him to hover over me, waiting for me to make a mistake and let him swoop in and rescue me. I have to do this myself.”
Perry stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sure about this, Lois? That boy could be a big help.”
“He can also get in the way.”
“You aren’t bulletproof, you know.”
“And Clark is, right?”
Perry spread his hands. “Yes. That’s a pretty important thing right there.”
She pressed her lips together. “I have to do this by myself. I can’t be dependent on Clark Kent for the rest of my life. I have to stand on my own two feet, or I’ll never be complete within myself.” She relaxed slightly. “I can’t let him be my healing.”
He nodded. “So this is about self-respect?”
“The part about not wanting Clark involved is. The rest of it is just being an investigative reporter.”
“I see.” He stood and leaned against the side of his desk. “Tell you what I’ll do. I won’t tell Clark what’s going on with you unless I don’t hear from you by six this evening. Deal?”
She frowned, then nodded slowly. “I guess that’s okay. Anything else?”
“Jimmy know what you wanted that auto theft lesson for?”
“Of course.”
“You swear him to secrecy too?”
She almost smiled. “He knows not to talk.”
“Good. Oh, one more thing before you go.”
“What’s that?”
He stepped closer. “You bring back an exclusive and I’ll move you to the investigative beat permanently.”
She lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really? Oh, Perry, you’re wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
He put his hands on her shoulders to restrain her bouncing. “Easy, girl, you don’t have the story yet.”
She stepped back and dropped into character. “Don’t worry, Chief, I’ll get it.”
*****
Clark stepped off the elevator at five minutes before eight. He chided himself for checking for Lois before he checked for anyone else, and then felt a pang of disappointment as he realized she wasn’t there. He wanted to talk to her, to tell her that he’d felt something when he’d been holding her in the doctor’s office, that she’d managed to touch his heart. He didn’t know how, he didn’t know why, he didn’t know if she felt anything for him in return, but he felt the need to talk to her about how he felt about her, even if he himself didn’t fully understand how he felt about her.
And didn’t that promise to be an interesting conversation! He still missed Lana terribly, and he knew he wasn’t ready for anything romantic with anyone, but there was something about Lois that tugged at his heartstrings and he had to talk to her about it before he said or did something stupid.
But Lois wasn’t at her desk, and didn’t appear to have arrived yet. He turned to scan the area and noticed several of the staffers either working or settling in. Claude Guilliot was sitting beside a desk, frowning fiercely at the pretty auburn-haired gossip columnist. Clark didn’t listen closer for fear that it was a personal conversation. As he looked around, a young man with unkempt brown hair skipped across his line of sight and headed for Perry’s office.
After a moment, Clark recalled the youth’s name. Jimmy something, Oldham, Orman, no it was Olsen! Maybe Jimmy Olsen knew where Lois was.
He waited until Jimmy came out of Perry’s office. “Say, Jimmy?”
The young man stopped in his tracks. “Yes, sir, Mr. Kent?”
“You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ Jimmy. Clark will do.”
Jimmy cocked his head to one side. “Okay, Clark. What can I do for you?”
“Have you seen Lois Lane today?”
Clark was surprised when the young man’s face blanked out. “Uh, well, I haven’t seen her in the office today, no.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Clark shook his head, considered the young man’s odd behavior, then shrugged and stuck his head in Perry’s office. “Hey, Chief, have you seen Lois this morning?”
Perry didn’t meet Clark’s gaze. “She’s on assignment. Be gone all day today, probably tomorrow, too.”
“Oh.” Clark tried not to let his disappointment show. “If she calls in, would you tell her I’d like to talk to her?”
Perry nodded. “Sure will.” He picked up the phone and dialed an intra-office number. “Olsen! Get moving! Take the tux and the blue suit to the cleaners, and pick up my laundry! My wife’s coming home from her trip tonight and I need my clothes done!”
“Right away, Chief!” Jimmy flashed up from his desk and raced to the elevator.
Perry shook his head and grinned. “Wish I still had that boy’s energy.”
“You don’t do too badly in the energy department, Chief.”
“Neither do you. Speaking of that, how are you feeling today? Any residual pains or weakness?”
“No. I’m back to what passes for normal for me.”
“You figure out what that was yet that affected you?”
Clark frowned slightly. “I think it was something external, but that’s all I’ve got and I don’t really know that for certain. It’s just a guess at this point.”
Perry nodded. “You let me know if you need any help checking into this thing. You don’t want whatever it was to catch you at an inconvenient time.”
“There’s a convenient time for something like that?”
“Oh, ha-ha, ow, my poor ribs. Let me take a minute to recover.”
“Sorry about that, Chief. I’ll get to my desk now.”
“Good. Oh, wait, I almost forgot to tell you. Paula will be in about nine or so this morning and I want the two of you to work on a feature about that high-speed chase yesterday, the one that ended with a crash downtown. Get Joe Q. Citizen’s view, the police officer’s view, some judge’s thoughts, reactions from a couple of citizens’ rights groups, you know the drill. I’d like to feature it in tomorrow’s Metro section.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
Perry hesitated, as if he were considering the question, then shook his head. “No. Not right now.”
“Okay. I’ll try to clear out my in-box while I’m waiting for Paula and Lois.”
Perry turned his gaze away again. “Good, good, you do that.”
Puzzled by Perry’s reaction to his mention of Lois, Clark turned away and headed for his desk, but focused his hearing on Perry’s office for a few moments longer. All he heard from the editor was a deep sigh. For a long moment, he wondered what was going on, then sat down at his desk and began his work day.
*****
Paula slapped the folder shut on her desk. “Kid, this is good enough.”
“I don’t think so, Paula. I don’t think Legal will okay it.”
“This is my story, Kent, and I say it’s ready!”
Clark shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he repeated. “We don’t have enough corroboration for the main assertions. This version of the story practically accuses the police of forcing the car thief to crash into the bus, and the accusation rests mainly on the emotional statements of the thief’s relatives. This is more an editorial piece than a news story.”
She stood unsteadily and – in total defiance of the newsroom’s firm no-smoking policy – lit up a cigarette and blew smoke in his face. “Perry White will publish it! He trusts me. I’ve been around the block a lotta times, Kent, and I know what will sell papers and what won’t. We got thirty-seven minutes before deadline. How much research and fact-checking can you do in that time?”
Clark stood his ground. “I’ve already done enough to know that we don’t have a news article. We can’t submit this, Paula. Perry can’t print it without risking legal action from both the police department and the city.” He picked up the folder with the rough draft of the story. “This is a good start, but it’s not complete. We can’t turn it in – “
“I can!”
He lifted his hands. “Okay, let me rephrase that. I can’t turn it in. I can’t allow my name on a slanted piece like this one. You want to print it, go ahead, but it’ll be your name by itself.”
She glared at him for a long moment, then took another deep drag from the contraband cigarette she held between her fingers. She blew the smoke out through her nostrils and said, “I thought I was the senior member of this team.”
“You are. I know I’m junior.”
“Then why are you fighting me on this?”
“Because it’s not up to your standards, Paula. You’re a better reporter than this.” He tapped the folder with his index finger. “This is the kind of thing I’d expect to see in the Metropolis Star, not the Daily Planet. If Perry wants to print it on the op-ed page, that’s his call, but this isn’t a news story, not yet, anyway.”
She held his stare for another long breath, then nodded slightly. “Okay. I’ll tell Perry we need to hold off while you – while we – double-check our facts. That work for you?”
He smiled and nodded. “Sounds fine to me. What do you want me to start on?”
She sighed. “Call the cops again and see if you can get any statements from the guys who actually chased the thief. And track down the owner of the car, see if he has anything newsworthy to say.”
“Will do.”
Clark turned towards his desk but stopped when Paula called, “Hey, Kent!”
“Yes?”
“You got guts, kid.” She pointed a pair of nicotine-stained fingers towards him. “Can’t say much for your grasp of office politics, but you sure got guts.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
*****
At half-past four, Clark heard the whine of the elevator and chided himself for paying more attention to it than to his and Paula’s story. Lois was on assignment and wasn’t due in until tomorrow at the earliest, probably not until the next day. He’d have to wait to see her until then. He adjusted his glasses and turned back to his computer.
Before he’d typed another word, however, Lois’s voice cut through his musings.
“Perry! I got it!”
He snapped his head around and looked for her, but all he saw was a slender young man with a thin mustache, wearing a baseball cap and striding down the bullpen ramp. He made a beeline to Perry’s office and pushed the door open. Clark caught a glimpse of a bruised cheek and a couple of scraped knuckles on his right hand before –
He recognized the scar on that hand.
That wasn’t a young man.
It was Lois.
Suddenly he was standing behind her as she babbled on to Perry about how she’d won a fistfight with one of the thieves and been accepted into their ranks and been told to come back the next day dressed in business casual clothes and ready to steal another car.
Perry listened for a long moment, then gestured to Clark. “Kent, close the door.”
Lois spun to face him. “Kent? Clark, what are you doing in here? This is my story!”
He forced himself not to grab her by the arms and shake her until her head fell off. Grimacing, he forced his hands to his hips. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are you doing out there?”
She leaned closer. “Working! I’m chasing down leads, writing news stories! It’s our job, remember?”
“Doing your job doesn’t include deliberately risking your life!”
“Well, it may have been somewhat inconsiderate of them, but these guys didn’t make an appointment to come see me and confess!”
“You could have been hurt!”
She pointed to her face. “I was hurt! See? And my hand is swollen and I’m going to need your help on rewrite and an ice bag, but I got the story!”
“No story is worth your life!”
Her expression turned stormy. “As if I need you to tell me that! I know what it is to risk my life on the job – “
“And do you know what it is to leave people behind? People who will mourn for you? People who will never stop missing you?”
She stopped and took a breath, then stepped back and crossed her arms. Her voice lowered in both volume and intensity. “Clark, I can’t eliminate risk from my life. My parents can’t do it. Perry can’t do it, your landlord can’t do it, no one can, not even you. And I won’t lock myself in a closet for the rest of my life just so you can feel like I’m safe. I can’t live like that.”
“But you were in danger! You might have been killed!”
She nodded and exhaled deeply. “Yes. I might have been in a car wreck, run over by a bus, mugged on my way to work, shot by a sniper, hit by lightning, cut myself on a kitchen knife and bled to death – “
“That’s not what I meant!”
“I know that.” She put her hand on his elbow. “Clark, you can’t protect the entire world. All you can do is all you can do, and it’s good enough.”
He snatched his arm away. “Is that what you were doing, setting up an object lesson for me? Are you still trying to tell me what a selfish, stupid butthead I am?”
Lois paled and stepped back. “What? No! This had nothing to do with you!”
“I don’t believe you!”
Perry stepped out from behind his desk. “Now, look, kids – “
“You don’t believe me? What are you, the super lie detector now?”
“Lois, Clark, let’s – “
“I suppose you know what’s best for everyone, Lois! Must be a terrible burden to be the standard by which all humanity is judged!”
“HOLD IT!” Perry’s roar cut through the air between the combatants and separated them. He scowled at his two young reporters. “Kent! Lois doesn’t report to you! I authorized this little jaunt!”
“What? Perry, you know how dangerous – “
“I said hold it, Kent! Yeah, I know how dangerous this business is! But she’s got to take some risks to get the story! That’s our job! Just because you think you can’t get hurt doesn’t mean you have to protect everyone!” He jabbed two fingers at Clark. “Comprende?”
Clark fumed silently. Perry waited a three-count, then said, “I’m taking that as a ‘yes.’” He turned to Lois. “You, young lady, very nearly crossed the line on this one.”
“But Perry, I was – “
“I know, I know, you were chasing the story! Great! But you gotta learn when to back off and let the story mature! You got hurt a little and got away with it. Don’t think it’ll happen every time.”
She rubbed her raw knuckles. “If you think I’m roughed up, Chief, you ought to see the other guy. You should have heard him whine when I kicked his – when I kicked him. I thought he was going to cry.”
Clark lifted his hands in the air and let them drop. Perry held her stare for a moment, then sighed deeply. “You – Look, Lois, will you promise to be more careful next time?”
“Of course. Clark’s going with me.”
Both men stared at her as if she’d suddenly sprouted wings. Perry recovered first. “What do you mean, Clark’s going with you next time? What next time?”
“I can’t very well show up tomorrow morning in business casual, ready to steal cars, now can I? Clark and I have to stake out the garage tonight and catch them as they come in.”
Clark straightened and frowned in thought. After a moment, he turned to her and asked, “We call the police when we have enough info, right?”
She tapped him on the chest with one finger. “Absolutely. I’ll give Bill Henderson a heads-up right now.”
With that, she sauntered out of the office. Clark and Perry exchanged stunned looks. After a long moment, Clark asked, “Has she always been this mercurial?”
Perry slowly shook his head. “Are you kidding? This is placid compared to what passes for normal for Lois Lane.”
*****
Cat walked out of the ladies’ room and spotted Lois right away, despite the remnants of her disguise. The other woman was sitting on her desk with her phone at her ear, talking fiercely to someone. Whatever this piece of information was, it might be enough to pay down her gambling debt a little more.
She heard Lois say, “Yes, Bill, I promise! As soon as I have enough information! Yes, you can bring your cop buddies. Yeah, probably. Bye.”
She dropped the phone into its cradle as Cat walked closer. “Hey, Lois, nice fashion statement. Just finished your fall shopping?”
“What? Oh, Cat, hi.” Lois rolled her shoulders and winced. “I’ve been undercover on a story.”
“Really? I bet it’s really exciting! Tell me all about it!”
Lois smiled. “Sorry, don’t have time right now. But be sure to check out tomorrow’s front page headline.”
“I’ll do that. Hey, are you up for drinks before dinner?”
Lois put her hand on Cat’s wrist. “Thanks, but I’ll have to take a rain check. I’m sorry, but this is something we have to do while the story is still hot.”
“Sure. I understand. See you tomorrow.”
Cat walked back to her desk, opened the small drawer and rummaged around for a moment, then stalked to the supply room. She closed the door and checked to make sure no one else was there, then pulled out her special cell phone.
“Hello?”
“This is Cat Grant.”
“Yes, Ms. Grant. You have something for me?”
Cat’s conscience kicked her hard. “Uh, yeah. Lois Lane just came in.”
Irritation crackled through the electronic distortion. “I hope you have more than Miss Lane’s daily itinerary.”
“I do! She was just talking to someone at the police department, someone named Bill, like she expects something to happen very soon.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know. Hours, maybe a couple of days, maybe a week at the outside.”
“That’s not very precise, Ms. Grant. Can’t you tell me anything else?”
She almost said, Lois was dressed up like a guy and she looked like she’d been in a fight. But something held her back. “No, I’m sorry, that’s all I have.”
The voice sighed. “That’s not very much.”
“Look, I called! You said to call if I heard or saw anything!”
“That I did. Very well, your parents have a few more days of continued safety.”
“Wh-what about my marker? You said – “
“You know the ground rules, Ms. Grant. Your parents are the guarantee of your loyalty and continued service. You keep in touch with me or I shall be forced to take the return on my investment out of them, with interest.”
“But you – “ she stopped when she realized the line was dead.
Cat closed the phone and drew in a shuddering breath. This couldn’t go on, not forever. And she knew that her mysterious “benefactor” knew it too. Sometime, somewhere down the line, was a moment when she wouldn’t be able to betray her friends and co-workers any more, and she knew that when that moment came her life wouldn’t be worth a cheap nightgown. Until then, she’d learn what she could, make those terrifying calls, and tell whoever she was talking to only as little or as much as she dared.
She picked up a pad of notebook paper and hoped that there wasn’t anyone else in the office making the same call.
