Friends or Lovers
Folc4evernaday
Part 7
***
Lois and Clark crawled around the interior of what was left of Mayson Drake’s car. Lois looked in the back seat while Clark scanned the front.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Lois asked.
“I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll know it when we see it.” He lowered his glasses and did a scan over the floor boards of the car. He spotted a silver tube on the driver’s side of the floor board. “Hey, Lois, hand me a nail file.”
Lois sighed in exasperation. “Why do men always assume women have nail files on them?”
Clark sighed, equally exasperated. “I … I’m sorry. Do you have a nail file?”
Lois smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do. But only because it’s a part of my pocket knife.” She handed him a pocket knife.
Clark took the pocket knife from her and worked on opening up the floor board. He pulled out a silver tube and opened it up. A small blue pill fell out of it.
“What is that?” she asked.
“What we were looking for.” Clark grinned in triumph. “Come on. We need to get this over to Professor Hamilton.”
***
Jimmy bounded up to Lois’ desk and dropped a file on her desk. “I got the information you wanted on that stiff at the cemetery.”
“And?” Lois looked up at him expectantly.
“Diego Martinez. 20 years for bank robbery. He was an expert at getting past security systems.”
“Except when he was caught,” Lois remarked, bringing attention to the obvious. Lois opened the folder and began reading. “It says he was in good health. Cause of death unknown.”
“Because there is no autopsy. Budget cuts. The guy I spoke with at the Prison Infirmary said they take the bodies directly to the cemetery.”
“Hmmm.” Lois looked through the file some more and Jimmy headed towards his desk. She spotted Clark walking to his desk engrossed in a fax. “What’s that?”
“Hmmm?” Clark looked up from the fax he was reading and recognized she was speaking to him. “Oh, Professor Hamilton’s report on that pill.”
“And?” she looked at him expectantly. It usually didn’t take him this long to share information with her.
Clark handed her the report. “See for yourself. The pill puts your body into a temporary state of animated suspension.”
“Giving the appearance of someone being dead.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmmm … “ Lois smiled at him. “That explains Buster Williams … and that Martinez guy.”
“It would be the perfect way of breaking out of prison. I mean, who would be looking for you if you were dead?”
“Well, if that is the case then the cemetery would have to be in on it.”
“True. What’s our next move?”
“I have a sudden urge to plan a funeral.”
At that moment a courier walked up to Lois’ desk with a rectangular box in tow. “Lois Lane?”
“Yes?” She looked up from her desk expectantly.
“Sign here.”
Lois signed the invoice and the man handed her the box. She opened the box to reveal a bouquet of long-stemmed roses. Lois looked up at Clark, gushing, “Clark, you shouldn’t have.”
“I didn’t,” Clark muttered bitterly. The bite in his tone evident.
Lois looked at him confused. “Then who?”
“They’re from an Agent Scardino,” the courier supplied helpfully.
The look on Clark’s face spoke volumes. He rolled his eyes as he walked away, muttering under his breath, “Oh, please, call him ‘Daniel’.”
***
Lois and Clark walked out of the funeral home in disgust. “What is that guy smoking? Nobody is THAT happy all the time … especially in this profession.”
“Well, while you were distracting him I found an invoice. All of the burials for the prisoners buried here were paid for a guy named Albie Swinson,” Clark said as they walked down the steps.
“Why don’t you get Jimmy to find out what he can on Swinson and meet me at plot 29B?”
Clark chuckled lightly. “I don’t think so. Knowing your luck someone will try to bury you alive in the five minutes it takes for me to call Jimmy. I’ll walk with you. We’ll call Jimmy when we’re done.”
Lois gave him an exasperated glare. “Clark, I don’t need you to babysit me.”
“I’m not babysitting. I’m making my job just a little bit easier. You do have a knack for trouble, Lois.”
Lois conceded defeat and continued to walk with Clark over to the cemetery. He did have a point. It was a good sign; wasn’t it? He was teasing her again.
Neither of them noticed they were being watched by the grave diggers they had encountered a few days before at Mayson’s funeral.
***
“Do you see anything?” Lois asked as Clark scanned the ground around the plot.
Clark shook his head. “This whole area has lead lining covering most of the caskets, so, it’s hard for me to see anything.”
“Great. Now, what?”
Clark was about to respond when he noticed a tractor headed their way. “I think we need to get out of here now.”
“Wha — ?” Lois was cut off by Clark scooping her into his arms at super speed and flying them back to Lois’ apartment.
Back at the cemetery, the grave diggers looked around in disgust. They saw no sign of either reporter.
***
“Okay. This is too weird. Why are tractors chasing us down in cemeteries?”
Clark sighed. “I don’t know.” He was sitting on Lois’ couch his head in his hands.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“O-kay. You want some coffee?”
“Hmmm, sure.”
“Clark, what is going on?”
“Nothing.”
“No. It’s not ‘nothing’. Clark, you have been distancing yourself from me for the last few days … what is going on?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Lois. Maybe I’m getting tired of the games,” he shot back at her in frustration.
“Games? What games?”
“This. Scardino. You. Everything,” he muttered, exasperated. “Look, I don’t like Scardino. I can’t stand the guy. I think he’s trouble.”
“I didn’t like Mayson, but I trusted your instincts about her and you were right. She was a good person.”
“Lois, you never trusted my instincts about Mayson until you had proof. I still have yet to see the good side about this guy.”
“Why do you let him get to you like this, Clark? What? Are you jealous?”
“Do I have a reason to be?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“However you want to take it, Lois. You tell me.”
“Don’t you dare try to put this back on me, Clark Kent! You are the one that lied to me every day for two years!”
“Right, like you never lied to me. You’re not the only one that’s been hurt or betrayed. I do have feelings too, Lois.”
“Clark … “
“Look, I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I’m not going to compete for you. I have too much going on to deal with this too. You need to make a decision about what it is you want. I’ll respect your decision either way.” He got up to leave.
“Clark!” she begged him.
He opened her door to leave and found Agent Scardino standing at the doorway, arm raised, ready to knock on the door. “Great.” Clark pushed his way past Scardino and left.
“Whoa! What did I miss?” Scardino watched Clark leave then turned to Lois. “You okay?”
“No.” She shook her head. “You need to go.” She closed the door on Agent Scardino and slumped down to the floor and cried. She had been so worried about her own feelings she hadn’t even thought about Clark’s feelings in all of this.
***
TBC...
Last edited by folc4evernaday; 10/28/16 08:07 AM.
