Chapter Thirty-three
>>>Wednesday, 11:23 AM
Lois typed three final words into her story and saved the file, then forwarded it to Perry along with a note telling him that if he had anything else for her at the moment he'd have to save it until Monday after Thanksgiving, because she had a social engagement to attend.
She leaned back and smiled to herself. Ultra Woman had been greeted with enthusiasm over the six weeks or so since her debut, her personal life was riding an upward spike on the charts, her career was still climbing upward despite making very little headway on the gun-runners who’d nearly killed her earlier in the year, and she was going to spend Thanksgiving day with the man who claimed to love her more than he loved his own career.
And she believed him. She hadn’t been certain at first, but Lex had shown her over and over again how much she meant to him. He’d risked the financial health of a joint venture in Japan to wait on her doorstep almost all night when she’d broken a date with him to go on a stakeout with Clark nearly three weeks before. The stakeout had been a bust, but the greeting she received when she returned home had more than made up for it. And it had been satisfying on several levels.
The memory of that night still warmed her heart.
She and Clark had both been irritated by the lack of any progress on the stakeout when he’d driven her back to her apartment. His car, rented from a company improbably but appropriately called Lease-A-Lemon, had rattled to a stop beside the curb. They had both exited the vehicle and slammed their respective doors when Lex had stood up from his vantage point across the street from her building and meandered closer.
“Lois? Are you well?” The tone of his voice had seemed to indicate that he might have believed that Clark had been less than a perfect gentleman towards her.
“Oh, yeah, Lex, I’m just peachy,” she’d replied. “I’m as fine as I can be after wasting an entire night on a story about nothing!”
With that, she’d turned and kicked the front fender of the car hard enough to dent it. “Lois!” her partner had shouted. “That’ll come out of my deposit!”
“Oh, yeah, you’ll lose what, fifty cents or so?”
“It’s the principle of the thing!”
“Well, then, principally I’m mad about wasting my time!”
“Don’t take it out on me! You want to smash cars, go beat on your Jeep!”
“I’d rather kick the car that stuck me in the back with a broken spring for six or seven hours!”
“It’s not my fault the tip didn’t pan out!”
“Oh, yeah? Then whose fault is it? Santa Claus? Or maybe the Easter Bunny?”
They had been standing nose to nose in front of the decrepit wheezer by this time, shouting in ever-increasing volume, when they’d heard a deep guffaw from the other side of the street.
They had both turned to discover the source of the laughter, and they’d seen Lex leaning on the hood of his black limo, laughing at them.
Or so it had seemed. Clark had taken two strides in the other man’s direction and ground out, “You think it’s funny that we wasted a whole night on a useless stakeout?”
Lex had lifted one hand and waved it. “No – ha-ha-ha – no, Mr. Kent, of course not. Ho-ho! I’m laughing at myself, because I had foolish, jealous visions of you and Lois returning from a romantic getaway.” He’d stopped to wipe his eyes. “But I obviously don’t understand the relationship between the two of you nearly as well as I believed I did. My sincere apologies to both of you for my lack of faith and trust.” He’d tried, but failed, to keep a straight face as he’d continued, “And my – heh-heh-heh-heh – my thanks for the funniest moments I’ve experienced since the last Bob Hope show at LexCorp!”
Lois and Clark had looked at each other, then had smiled at almost the same time. Lois had walked across the street to Lex, taken his arm, and said, “Okay, Mr. Very Patient Man, come on up for a few minutes, but us people with real jobs have to go to work soon, so you can’t stay long.”
A weary male voice had drifted over from across the street and a few floors up. “Shaddap and take it inside already! We gotta go to work soon too!”
A woman’s screechy voice had answered from the adjoining window. “Let ‘em alone! It’s romantic!”
“Like you’d know!”
“Can it, Earl, or you won’t be able to remember what romantic means before I feel romantic again!”
“Oh, sure, like that’s a horrible threat! I’d have to check my diary to – “
“Check your diary? When did you learn to read and write?”
Another woman’s voice, slightly deeper and somewhat younger, had snarled from a different window, “Hey! I already dialed the nine and the one! Do I push ‘one’ again or does everybody shut up and go back to sleep?”
Two windows had slammed almost immediately, and a third had slid shut a few moments later. Clark had stifled a laugh and waved ‘goodnight’ to Lois before driving away in his groaning rented Yugo. And Lex had climbed the five flights of steps to Lois’s front door beside her as they’d shared muted giggles.
“You didn’t have to walk me all the way up here, Lex.”
“But I wanted to. I missed you last evening. I’ve been waiting for you to come home since dinner.”
“You – you’ve been waiting here? For me?”
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry, but the stakeout – Oh!” She’d suddenly remembered that he’d told her about the date’s planned early termination because of an international conference call. “Lex, your call! You missed it! It was supposed to be at one AM and now it’s almost four!”
He’d smiled and brushed her cheek with one hand. “I rescheduled it. I decided that seeing you was more important to me than the deal.”
She’d kissed him gently, then again, then a third time, with feeling. “I’ve changed my mind,” she’d murmured. “You need some coffee before you go home. Come on in.”
He’d followed her in and enveloped her with gusto just inside the door. “You’re all the stimulant I need, Lois, chemical or otherwise.”
She’d slipped from his embrace with ease and a gentle smile. “That was not what I offered you. You may have your coffee or you may depart, sir.”
He’d pursed his lips and said, “I’m sorry. Coffee would be wonderful.”
As she’d microwaved two cups of java, she’d grinned to herself and called out, “As for the other stimulation, Lex, I’ll give you a rain check on it.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. But you can’t cash it in before Christmas.”
She’d heard the chuckle in his voice. “In that case, I think the holiday season may come more slowly than it ever has for me.”
She leaned back in her chair and sighed at the soft memory. The ‘rain check’ had become a running joke between them, and she delighted in teasing him about it.
She only hoped he was still a Very Patient Man where that rain check was concerned.
>>>Wednesday, 1:44 PM
Perry tapped Clark on the shoulder. “Lois back yet?”
He shook his head. “No, Perry, she’s gone for the day, won’t be back until Monday after Thanksgiving. You gave her the afternoon off, remember?”
Perry nodded. “I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t here.” He lifted the morning’s copy of the Metropolis Star and indicated the front page story below the fold.
“’Ultra Woman roughs up mugging suspects,’” Clark read aloud. “’Is the new super-heroine a boon for mankind or a bane inflicted upon it?’ Perry, what kind of trash is this?”
The editor put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “It’s the kind that gets written when Ultra Woman picks up muggers and tosses them against brick walls and breaks one guy’s arm and another guy’s ankle. One of the women she rescued two nights ago was so scared at what happened to her attackers that she backed away from Ultra Woman and fell off the curb onto the street and twisted her knee.”
“I – didn’t know that.” Clark read further. “But this is still garbage, Chief. You know that what’s printed here isn’t news, it’s an editorial. And not a very convincing one, at that.”
“I know that, son, and you know that, but the average reader may not know it. Besides, if Ultra Woman is that rough with little piddlin’ crooks, what chance would a bank robber or a kidnapper have?” He leaned close to Clark’s ear. “What Ultra Woman absolutely doesn’t need is a reputation of being violent with the people she hands over to the police. She’s got to learn to control her temper, even if the guy she’s picking up deserves a good whuppin’. You agree with me, don’t you?”
Clark nodded and whispered back, “I’ll see if I can get Superman to give her a friendly word of advice on the subject as soon as I see him again.”
“Good.” Perry straightened and pointed at the paper. “You might want to read page three of that rag, too. It’s got some other stuff in there you might appreciate.”
Perry walked away, wondering how Clark would react to the printed speculation that Superman and Ultra Woman might be married, might be siblings, might be clones of each other (he still didn’t know how the writer could believe that might be possible from a physical sense), or might even be secretly spending all their non-rescue time on a hidden beach making little super-babies in the Bahamas.
Clark’s nearly hysterical laughter gave him his answer. Mission accomplished. Now all Perry had to do was give the paper to Lois and duck. Fast.
*****
Clark shook his head and wondered what the article's author could possibly have been smoking to come up with something that far off-base. Of course, no one knew the real identities of Superman and Ultra Woman. Except, of course, a select few, like Clark's parents, Perry White, Dennis Lang, and Ginny McCoy.
The thought made him wonder idly how Dennis and Ginny were getting along. As if on cue, his phone rang.
“Clark Kent, Daily Planet.”
“Clark! I have some wonderful news! At least I think it's wonderful news!”
“I'm sure it is, Mom. What's the news?”
“Dennis and Ginny are getting married on Saturday! Is there any way you can be there?”
The information stunned him for a moment. Lana’s father was getting married? Sure, Ginny was a very nice woman as far as he knew, and she was a scientist like Dennis so she understood what their professional and personal lives would be like, but he still felt as if he’d been sucker-punched.
“Clark?” His mother’s voice had lost much of its initial enthusiasm. “Are you still there, honey?”
He shook his head. “Uh – yes. Yes, I’m here. Sure, I’d love to be there. What time?”
“Two o’clock Saturday afternoon at the church. That’s two o’clock Central time, so make sure you do the math on the time. Reverend Matthews is performing the ceremony, and Dennis made me promise to ask you specifically if you’d come.”
He took a deep breath. “Of course I’ll be there, Mom. Are they registered anywhere?”
Martha’s relief eased out of the phone and into his sensitive ears. “No, but if you wanted to bring them a gift certificate for some high-quality outdoor clothing or camping supplies, they’d probably appreciate it. They plan to honeymoon at a Native American dig site in the southern Mohave Desert.”
Clark laughed. “That sounds like Dennis. I’m sure they’ll have a fantastic time.”
“We’re having the reception in the church fellowship hall. And your father and I hope you can stay for Saturday night dinner with us.”
“Well, since I was planning to be there for Thanksgiving dinner anyway, I suppose an extra day or two couldn’t hurt.”
Martha laughed. “In that case, tell your boss not to let any important news happen between now and Monday morning.”
“I’ll tell him, Mom. Listen, I’ve got some things to finish up here in the office before I can fly out, so I need to get back to work.”
“That’s fine, honey. We’ll see you about mid-day tomorrow if not before.”
“Love you, Mom. Bye.”
As he hung up the phone, his mind wandered back to the big reception Dennis had thrown for him and his own bride, Lana – Dennis’s daughter – just a few weeks after they’d married. Dennis had hired string musicians, organized a huge red-carpet reception – complete with a real red carpet outside the hallway – and had even invited Lana’s mother and her money-grubbing husband to the occasion.
And that was the first night he’d met Lois Lane, too. They hadn’t clicked. He hadn’t liked her on first sight. He’d thought her pushy, rude, overly intense, opinionated, bull-headed, and a couple of other things he’d never confess to anyone. He’d never have guessed they’d end up friends and co-workers, much less –
Much less what?
The thought brought him up short. What more were they than friends and co-workers? Sure, they were mentally linked by some weird Kryptonian mind-meld, and Lois had somehow acquired a copy of Clark’s powers and was using them for good like he was, but that didn’t make them – whatever. He couldn’t even put a name to what he’d been thinking about.
They weren’t in love! He was dating Rebecca – sort of – and Lois was dating Lex Luthor, a man who Clark didn’t particularly like but who he didn’t consider a danger to Lois. There wasn’t anything Luthor could do to Lois if she didn’t want him to do it to her.
Except, of course, break her heart. Not even super-powers could eliminate that possibility. And he didn’t think Lois fully understood that aspect of her new life.
He thought about Rebecca and her reluctance to spend the holiday weekend with him, and he wondered whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, and what he could possibly do about it either way. It seemed that being around Rebecca was a completely different kind of adventure than being around Lana. Or being around Lois.
He thought about Lois and her plans for the weekend, hoping that she wouldn’t do something she’d regret later. He tested the link and, as expected, found it shut down. It was just as well. He was sure he didn’t want to eavesdrop on Lois and Lex at some secret romantic hideaway.
And then he realized that his mother hadn’t mentioned Lois being invited to Dennis and Ginny’s wedding. Of course, it was their privilege to invite whomever they wanted to invite, he was certain that neither of his parents had given Dennis or Ginny any input on the guest list, and they’d only met Lois that one time, but it still bothered him a little. After all, they knew Lois, even if just slightly, but hadn’t invited her.
And they hadn’t ever met Rebecca, and since bringing a girl as your date to a wedding when she meets your parents for the first time might seem like pressure to any single young woman, he decided he wouldn’t invite Rebecca to the wedding, even discounting the fact that they’d both have to fly a commercial airline, assuming he could find a ticket for her on the year’s busiest air travel weekend at this late date, even though Perry had talked him into riding an airliner this time –
Enough of that, Kent, he ordered himself. You’re babbling, and to yourself you’re babbling yet! Back to work.
But Lois and Rebecca wouldn’t leave his thoughts, nor would the man that linked them both. He knew there were ongoing investigations into Luthor’s businesses, even though nothing had resulted from them as yet. Maybe, if he knew more about Luthor, he could decide what he should do about both Lois and Rebecca. To do that, he’d have to get some inside information on the man.
And he knew only one person who could help him with that. Help him within the law, at any rate.
He stood abruptly and strode to the editor’s office. “Perry? Is Alice at work today?”
Perry looked up from the copy he’d been reviewing. “Far as I know, yeah. Why?”
“Do you think she’d answer some questions from me?”
Perry leaned back and stretched. “She won’t tell me a lot about what she’s workin’ on, son, and I understand why. I don’t really want to know what kind of legal shenanigans might be goin’ on in our fair city. But if she doesn’t confide in me, what makes you think she’ll tell you anything about Luthor?”
“What? How did you know – never mind. Do you mind if I call her?”
The editor lifted his hands. “You can call her, but don’t say that I sent you to her or she’ll carve me up for dinner tomorrow afternoon instead of the turkey. Make sure you say that this is your investigation, not the paper’s, and we’re not asking to print anything that can’t be proven.”
“Will do, Chief. Thanks.”
He returned to his desk and dialed Alice’s office. “City of Metropolis, District Attorney’s office, this is Brianna. How may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Brianna, this is Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. I’d like to speak to Alice White, please.”
“I’ll see if she’s available, Mr. Kent. May I tell her what the call is related to?”
“I need some background information for a story I’m working on.”
Brianna hesitated. “Is that all you want me to say, Mr. Kent?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Just a moment.”
The phone clicked in his ear and some perky little Chet Atkins guitar piece came on to keep him entertained while on hold. Clark listened with half an ear as he glanced around the newsroom. Most of the remaining staff were trying to wrap up their assignments and head out for a holiday with friends and family, except for the few with harsh frowns who were either running up against a deadline or assigned to work over the long weekend.
His gaze settled on Cat Grant. She was leaning back in her chair, chewing nervously on a fingernail, and staring through her monitor without really seeing what was displayed. Ever since the bomb had exploded at Dr. Platt’s office, Cat had changed. She’d lost weight from an already slender frame, and her face had taken on a haunted cast. She and Lois had continued lunching together occasionally, but for some reason their relationship had stalled and Lois couldn’t figure out why.
Neither could Clark. Or Jimmy, apparently. Jimmy had taken to watching Cat and recording her actions and her reactions. Clark thought that Jimmy was reporting to Perry, since the youth had never hinted to Clark what his notes revealed, assuming they revealed anything.
Chet’s guitar cut off in mid-arpeggio. “This is Alice White.”
Startled, Clark took a moment to remember why he was holding a phone to his ear. “Oh, right. I’m sorry, Mrs. White. This is Clark Kent. I hope you remember me.”
“Of course I remember you, Clark. What can do for you?”
He took a deep breath and dove in headfirst. “I’d like to look at anything you might have on Lex Luthor.”
Alice didn’t answer for a long moment. “Brianna said this was for background for a story. I think you might have been less than completely truthful with her, Mr. Kent. And I’m not exceptionally fond of reporters who lie to my staff.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. And I’m sorry for not coming clean with her. But I wasn’t sure you’d listen to me otherwise.”
“I see.” Clark could hear a pencil drumming on her desk. “Did your editor put you up to this?”
“No, ma’am. This request comes from me and me alone.”
“Hmm. What about your partner?”
It was Clark’s turn to hesitate. “She isn’t involved in this at the moment.”
“No? Then, this is a personal favor you’re asking, right?”
“Not entirely. If I learn something concrete that I can take to Lois, I’ll do it. If not, I won’t. And I promise you that nothing will be printed unless it’s completely factual.”
He listened to her take two more long breaths. “I normally don’t cooperate with reporters on fishing expeditions, Clark.”
“I know. But I’m not just fishing. At least, not without thinking that I know where some fish already are.”
Her grin was audible. “So, if you manage to hook a trophy marlin suitable for mounting on your wall, you’ll remember where you got the bait, right?”
“Absolutely. My interest is in seeing justice done. Especially in this case.”
Before he inhaled, he realized what he’d said and how it sounded like he was worried primarily about Lois. He waited for Alice to comment.
But she didn’t, at least not directly. “So you’re saying that Lois – your partner – should not be hurt by a bad person? Assuming, of course, that Lex Luthor does prove to be a bad person.”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.”
“All right, Mr. Kent. Let me chat with my husband for a moment or two. If I feel that it’s a good investment of proprietary information, I’ll send you what I have.”
“Thank you.”
“As long as you understand that nothing gets printed without my explicit permission. I can’t risk compromising these investigations and the informants involved in them.”
“I understand. You have my word.”
“Very well. If I decide to send you this file, I’ll do so by messenger by four o’clock. If you don’t have it by then, you’re not getting it at all. In any case, don’t call me about this again unless you have something new to tell me. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” She sighed. “I’m probably going to regret this conversation, no matter what I decide to do. Now, will you please transfer me to your boss? I need to put a slight kink in my marriage. And I promise you, I’m going to remember why it’s there.”
“Yes, ma’am. And thank you.”
When Clark hung up, he felt something not quite positive, something slightly off-center from the ideal of truth and justice he claimed to support as Superman. He told himself that it was something Lana would have done. And after a moment’s reflection, he realized that it was the truth. She would not have hesitated to breach some tenuous ethical barrier to achieve what she considered the greater good.
Somehow, the rationalization didn’t satisfy him.
>>>Wednesday, 4:16 PM
The messenger had arrived at two minutes before four. Twice, Clark had considered calling Alice back and telling her to forget it, but the memory of Perry’s face glowering at him from the editor’s office convinced him that for better or worse, he needed what was in that file.
He turned a number of pages in the thin file. He hadn’t expected to get everything the DA’s office had on this investigation, but he’d hoped for more than he now held in his hands. There wasn’t much in this file that Jimmy hadn’t already managed to dig up days before.
Then he turned to the last page and it jumped out at him.
ACL Enterprises, based in Aruba. A holding company whose sole owner was shielded behind the little country’s banking laws.
Money flowed from New Troy and several neighboring states to the accounts ACL held, and then it disappeared. It appeared to be a classic money-laundering operation, one that protected the criminal owner or owners of the company from investigation and prosecution. Clark wished that there were more Federal laws which could be brought to bear on such situations, but since there were none, he’d have to step in and do some real legwork.
There was a short list of names attached by a paper clip to the back of the page, something else for Jimmy to check out when he returned from the holiday. He didn’t recognize the first seven, but his eyes bugged out when he saw the last two.
Nigel St. John and Alex Winfield. Finally! A tie to LuthorCorp and criminal activity!
Suspected criminal activity, he reminded himself. Anything they dug up on ACL Enterprises was going to have to come from old-fashioned hard work and a few lucky breaks.
And it would all go back to Alice White as soon as they could prove it, no matter how Lois might be hurt.
*****
Perry looked up as Jimmy, apparently heading out for the night, walked by the editor’s office. He saw the young man’s thinly disguised disappointment as Perry signaled to him to step inside.
Jimmy had wiped his face clear by the time the door opened. “What can I do for you, Chief?”
“I’d like to see whatever notes you have on that matter I asked you to look into.”
Jimmy’s face darkened. “You got it. Be right back.”
Less than thirty seconds later, a manila folder and a notebook flopped on the editor’s desk. “She’s still here. You want to see her?”
Perry sighed. “You think she’s up to something, don’t you?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Any chance you’re wrong?”
Jimmy hesitated, then shook his head. “There’s always a chance, Chief, but there’s just too much in there to ignore it all. I don’t know what she’s doing, but I’m sure she’s got a deep, dark secret. I just wish I knew what it was.”
Perry nodded. “Thanks. You take off now, have a good Thanksgiving. You can pick these up when you get back.”
Jimmy hesitated. “I’d like to step this up a notch, Chief.”
Perry frowned in thought. “How far up?”
“I want to use some of my new toys and hear what she’s doing when she’s not around the rest of us.”
Perry shook his head, then nodded once. “As long as you don’t get arrested for anything, you have my permission. But have a good Thanksgiving first.”
“You too, Perry. See you Friday morning.”
Jimmy pulled the door shut as Perry flipped open the notebook on top of the folder. He read the entire contents, then dropped it onto the desk.
Put together with what he knew that Jimmy didn’t know, the notebook spoke volumes to him. This was bad, he thought. This was very bad. He’d thought that girl had had so much potential, so much talent. Now this – whatever ‘this’ was – was threatening not just her career but her entire life. She was in deep trouble and it was going to impact the paper, he just knew it. If only she’d ask for some help, he’d gladly give it. Nuts, he thought. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
A knock on the door brought him out of his funk. “Come in!”
The door opened and Cat Grant stepped into the office. “Chief? I – I think we need to have a long talk.”
He nodded slowly and looked into her eyes. Maybe this little filly was thirsty after all.
>>>Thursday, 10:14 AM
Asabi simultaneously bowed and smiled at Lois as he opened the door to admit her into Lex’s apartment. “Welcome, Miss Lane. May I assist you with your luggage?”
She pressed her hands together and bowed at the waist. “Greetings, my friend. I only have three items and one is a shoulder bag. But I appreciate all the help I can get.”
He grinned even more freely. “Then I will place them in the limousine for you. Mr. Luthor will be down shortly.”
Lois waited until Asabi headed for the car, then tuned her hearing to listen for Lex. She was surprised to hear another woman’s voice exchanging some very barbed comments with him.
She quickly decided that she’d go “look for the bathroom” and “accidently” find them. Whoever this woman was, she had no right to talk to Lex that way.
She found them in the study. Lois peeked through the door and listened in. Lex was talking with his hands and obviously trying to manage both his volume and his choice of words, but his control of both seemed to be slipping. The woman frowning at him was about Lois’s height, maybe a bit more than a decade older than she, with long wavy black hair pulled back in a severe bun, and her complexion looked too pale, almost translucent. Her voice was cultured, refined, and had a disturbing enharmonic resonance that set Lois’s teeth on edge. The woman wore a very classy dark suit and high heels, along with several pieces of ostentatious jewelry. She seemed to be dressed more formally than usual for either the hour of the day or for the holiday, as if she’d expected to accompany Lex to some kind of function. And except for her voice and her current demeanor, she was very attractive.
Lois disliked her on sight. Intensely.
Lex spun away from the woman and raised his hands. “Arianna, I called your office last week! I left a message telling you that I would not be able to attend the dinner this year!”
The woman – whoever Arianna was – put her hands on her hips and chased him across the room. “We’ve sat together on this board for eleven years! You and I have always hosted the Thanksgiving dinner for the chairmen of the Metropolis Better Business Bureau! It’s a social event as much as it is anything else, and I can’t afford to damage my standing with the heads of the charitable organizations in the state!”
He turned to find her too close and stepped around her, heading for the middle of the room. “That cannot be helped! You will simply have to take that chance. Besides, I have already arranged for Nigel St. John to stand in for me. He will be there at twelve-thirty and he’s expecting you to sit beside him.”
“And I’m supposed to simply accept this? I’m your ex-wife, not your tabloid girlfriend of the week! I suppose you’d rather spend the day with some cheap tart with more blood vessels in her chest than in her brain!”
The name suddenly clicked in Lois’s mind. This woman was Doctor Arianna Carlin. And if her behavior this morning was any indication, she understood why Carlin was Lex’s ex.
It was time to stop this foolishness. Lois pushed the door open and tried to look surprised. “Oh. I’m sorry, Lex. I was looking for the bathroom. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us, you know.”
The two combatants froze in place and both tried to don a civilized veneer as quickly as possible. Lex looked at his wristwatch and sighed. “I’m sorry, Lois, I didn’t realize how much time had passed. Please allow me to present my – Dr. Arianna Carlin. Arianna, this is Lois Lane.”
Arianna boldly appraised Lois’s net worth and personal value in one quick glance. She almost tried to hide her disapproval of both results. “Hello, Lois. I’m pleased to meet you. Lex and I were just hashing out the details of today’s dinner. I certainly hope you won’t be too terribly disappointed not to spend the day with him.”
Arianna turned to Lex and gave him a leopard’s smile. He suppressed another sigh. “I am afraid that Arianna and I got our appointment calendars crossed. We usually host a Thanksgiving dinner for the city’s business and political leaders and present a number of important charitable opportunities to them at the same time. It is definitely not one of our two absolute ‘must attend’ dinners of the year. I called her last week to let her know that I would not be attending this year, but she somehow failed to receive my message.”
Lois smiled guilelessly. “I understand, Lex. Everybody misses messages sometimes, even the ones that we try to make as plain as the – huh – the nose on your face.”
Lois turned her gaze to Arianna and focused on the tip of her nose as if staring at a blemish. After a moment, Arianna blinked and nervously lifted her hand towards her face, but then she caught herself and dropped her hands to her sides. “Well, I see what will be keeping Lex from our one remaining family tradition. I hope your time with the lovely – and young – Miss Lane will be worth it. I’m certain that she will make a valiant effort to please you.” She spared Lois a poisonous glance. “It’s evident that she’s attractive enough to suit your male vanity.”
Lex bristled. “Arianna! Lois is a successful professional in her own right! She does not need to hunt for a man to prop her up!”
“I assume you imply that I do need such a man.”
“No!” Lois could tell that he was near the end of his control, but with a visible effort he calmed himself. “I do not use innuendo nearly so well as you, Arianna. I do not compare you to Lois, nor her to you.” His eyes narrowed. “You should be leaving soon or you might be late for the banquet, and I do recall that the fashion there is to be on time or even early.”
“Of course, my darling Lex. I hope you don’t arrive early with the lovely – and professional – Miss Lane.”
Lex closed his eyes and ground his teeth but kept silent. Lois held her tongue as Arianna adjusted her purse, then continued speaking in her apparently normal acerbic tone. “My office assistant will get in touch with you next week about the Christmas party at the mayor’s home. Happy Thanksgiving, Lex.” She turned her icy brown eyes to Lois. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Lane. Have a pleasant holiday. Don’t stay up too late tonight. I’m certain someone as young as you requires a full night’s sleep.”
“You have a good Thanksgiving too, Dr. Carlin. Oh, and you might want to skip the pumpkin pie this year.” As Arianna lowered her eyebrows, Lois patted her own stomach and nodded knowingly.
Arianna’s mouth fell open in surprise, then snapped shut. She turned sharply and stalked out without looking back.
As the door closed without quite slamming shut, Lex chuckled and shook his head. “Lois, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you weren’t afraid of anything.”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Oh? What is it that you think I’m afraid of?”
He smiled and took her hands in his. “Being second best.”
She pulled him closer. “Well, maybe just that one thing.”
They smiled at each other for a moment, then kissed gently. Lex pulled back and asked, “So what do you think of my ex-wife?”
Lois wrinkled her nose at him. “You could do a lot better than someone like her.”
He frowned slightly. “Be careful with her, Lois. Arianna is intelligent, cunning, vindictive, and possessed of a prodigious memory. She remembers every minor slight or real insult done to her by anyone at any time. And she will not hesitate to retaliate against you.”
“I think I can take care of myself.”
“I have no doubt that you are quite self-sufficient, my dear, but – “
She stopped his lips with hers. “Don’t worry, Lex.” She kissed him again. “Maybe I should help you forget about her for a while. Might make you feel better.”
His voice dropped a register and his hands softly caressed her shoulders. “I think I’m feeling a lot better right now.”
She pulled him into her embrace. I’m feeling pretty good too, she mused.
But was it good enough?
She rested her head on his shoulder and decided not to think about it. Not today, anyway.
*****
Arianna stormed to her car. “Beth-Ann!” she barked. “Let’s go!”
The tall muscular blonde snatched the rear passenger door open just in time as Arianna dove in, snarling under her breath. Out of long habit, Beth-Ann patted the revolver under her left armpit and the automatic on her right hip, then slid smoothly into the driver’s seat.
She touched the intercom button. “Where to, Dr. Carlin?”
“The banquet hall!”
Beth-Ann hesitated. “Will Mr. Luthor be riding with us, ma’am?”
“No! He has – someone else to do.”
“Yes, Doctor.” Beth-Ann started the car and guided the limo out of the driveway and into the flow of traffic.
Funny, she thought. Arianna Carlin was an incredibly talented shrink, yet every once in a while she would just go berserk. Her face would be flushed, her eyes would narrow, her breathing would turn shallow and rapid, and she’d often order Beth-Ann to hurt someone.
Like she was right now.
And Beth-Ann would to threaten some woman – usually young and very attractive – to stay away from Lex Luthor or risk serious injury. And, unsurprisingly, none of those women had ever contacted the police to report the threat. Beth-Ann had been forced to kill only one of them, and she’d hidden the evidence quite completely.
Beth-Ann wondered who she’d be ordered to threaten next.
Arianna spoke through the intercom. “Beth-Ann?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Do you know who Lois Lane is?”
She did, and she wanted nothing to do with the reporter. The woman had lived through the sinking of the gun-running freighter and the bombing at LexLabs. Her life was charmed, and the last thing Beth-Ann wanted was to tangle with Lois Lane, or maybe even Superman.
But she couldn’t admit that to Arianna. “Yes, ma’am, I know who she is. Why?”
The doctor hesitated for a long moment, then seemed to deflate. “Nothing. Never mind. I’ll take care of it myself.”
Good, thought Beth-Ann. I don’t need that kind of hassle in my life.
