Previously:
Lois had watched wide-eyed as the Toasters had marched down the street, flaming cars on the way. They were past her when they stopped in front of a storefront and aimed at it. All of a sudden, a large amount of water came off the roof and doused them. Lois looked up and could see the water tower now laying flat on the roof, its contents spilled. How had the tower collapsed at that particular time?
Fire trucks were now converging on the warehouse fire and also starting to work on the burning cars. Lois had seen the figure of a man walk by and realized it was Lou from the Metro Club, moving at a determined pace toward the rat central Lois had just left and totally ignoring the dancing Toasters.
Turning to follow Lou, Lois was surprised to find a black and white pull up beside her.
The officer called out, “Are you Lois Lane?”
Startled, Lois turned and said, “Yes, that’s me. What do you want?”
“Inspector Henderson called and asked the nearest unit to give you a lift to the precinct.
He wants to talk to you.”
Momentarily undecided, Lois’ head swung from the officer’s face, back down the street and then back to the officer. Finally she decided it was time to regroup. Maybe Bill had some information for her to help round out her story.
She nodded her acquiescence, the officer opened the back door for her and she slid in with a sigh. Chapter 7Toni saw Lou and gave a sigh of relief.
Clark was watching Toni as he heard Lou wheeze through the clutter around the doorway and enter the cleared space. He saw Toni’s eyes widen suddenly with a startled expression of – fear?
Clark turned around to see Lou pointing his gun at Toni, a grim look on his face.
“Lou? What is this?” Toni choked out.
In the light from the few working streetlights that filtered through the rubble of the semi-destroyed building, Clark thought he saw tears on Lou’s face.
“You weren’t supposed to be involved. I promised your Dad. You weren’t to get hurt, but then you went and kicked Johnny out and hooked up with these fire freaks. We had a good gig with the Metro Club and the side action, but you had bigger plans. Johnny told me you weren’t to be trusted, with your high falutin’ ideas. I didn’t put Johnny on a plane. He’s here in town ready to take over again.”
Toni said disgustedly, “Johnny couldn’t get a bright idea rubbing two chopsticks together. We had to move into the future, Lou. Everything was going downhill, and going downhill fast. Crime isn’t what it once was; payola doesn’t work on every cop anymore. We needed to think ahead and Johnny wasn’t doing that.”
Toni moved slowly closer to Lou’s gun hand while pleading with Lou. “Come over to my side. You’ve known me since I was a little girl. I’ll make it well worth your while.”
Lou was a man of few words to the end. He closed his eyes and fired his gun.
Time froze for Clark as he shifted into high gear and pushed the bullet just enough to get it past Toni’s shoulder. It buried itself harmlessly into one of the crates. He had enough evidence on the whole Metro Gang-Toasters case to put them away, so he decided now was a good time to come out of undercover mode.
Lou’s eyes opened and his mouth fell open as Toni stood there unharmed. Lou had had a lot of faith in his ability to hit a target with his gun. He had lived his life by it.
Toni closed her eyes and took a deep breath in relief. But her day was not going to get better. She looked at Charlie in puzzlement as he snatched Lou’s gun away and stuck it in his waistband. Then Charlie held out his hand and said, “Give me your boot gun too, Lou.” There was something different in his voice – quiet and commanding - and he stood up straighter.
Seemingly confused, Lou quietly did as Charlie commanded. Charlie slid the boot gun into his pocket. Then he turned to Toni.
“Toni Taylor, my name is Clark Kent and I’m an officer of the law. I hereby place you under arrest for arson and related criminal activity. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?”
Totally stunned and speechless, Toni sank back into the chair from which Charlie – no make that Clark – had recently released her. She murmured a soft “yes” on an exhaled breath that Clark could only hear with his special hearing.
Clark turned and addressed Lou. “Lou, what is your last name?”
Lou looked even more bewildered at the sudden turn of events. “Ahh, Corleoni?”
Clark raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Lou whatever-your-last-name-is, I arrest you for
being an accomplice in premeditated arson and other criminal activities.” He Mirandized Lou also and he produced two sets of plastic handcuffs and cuffed Toni and Lou individually, hands in front of them. He knew they couldn’t get away from him.
Toni just stared at him open mouthed, bereft of any more words.
Clark pulled her up out of the chair rather gently and said, “Like I said. There’s always another way. Come on, we’re going out front. I’m sure we’ll find a ride to a precinct.
Since the nearest one was burned down by the Toasters, it will be a little further than usual.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Rather wearily in the dawning light of the new day, Lois climbed the back stairs to the precinct and followed the familiar path to Henderson’s office.
Henderson looked up at Lois as she walked in, from her tennis shoes to her fancy dress to her now open dirty raincoat. “Well, look what the cop dragged in.”
“Funny,” Lois noted acerbically.
“Coffee?” Henderson asked as Lois flopped into his guest chair, feet out and splayed. He gestured to the plate at the front of his desk. “Bagel?”
“Please.”
Getting up and over to his coffee pot, Henderson said calmly, “You know, Lois, sometimes you show up at the most inconvenient times.” He turned and handed her a full paper coffee cup and a packet of pink artificial sweetener. He returned to his chair and looked over at her. “Nice singing, by the way. I didn’t know you could sing like that and we’ve known each other, what, four years?”
Lois looked up startled from where she’d sat up and set the coffee cup on the other side of his desk and was adding the sweetener. “How did you…?” She restarted. “I didn’t see you in the audience!”
Henderson quirked his lips. “What, you didn’t notice the cameras? The great Lois Lane?”
Lois seemed to shrink in on herself. “Cameras?”
A satisfied full grin lit Henderson’s features. “Hours and hours of videotape. Hours,” he emphasized.
“Tape,” Lois whispered, knowing he could torture her for many years with those tapes. Determinedly, she gathered herself and straightened up, brain finally kicking in as she grabbed a fresh bagel. She waved the bagel at him, “What, no jelly donuts? On a health kick here?”
Henderson snorted. “Nice change of subject. Now, here’s what we’re going to do. I am going to wrap up this case. You are going to the Daily Planet and write your story on Toni Taylor and the Toasters. Especially the demise of the Toasters at the hands of the local police and fire departments. If you hurry, you can make the afternoon online edition. Then around 10 a.m. tomorrow, you are going to come back here and give me a formal statement. We are closing down the Metro Club. I’ll get your stuff out of your locker and give the stuff to you then. Agreed?”
Lois sat munching her bagel and staring at Bill Henderson, thinking. There was more here than he was admitting. What was it? Finally, she said, “Agreed. But first I’m going home to change clothes. And probably write it from home. Can you get me a ride?”
Henderson rose from his seat in clear dismissal and nodded. “That sounds good. See you tomorrow, Lois. Oh, and you might let Perry know you are alive. He was a little concerned about your undercover work,”
Henderson walked Lois to his door. She knew when she was being abruptly dismissed. But why?
As Lois sat in the front police station lobby waiting for her ride, the things Henderson had said began to sink in. Cameras captured everything, so there was a sting at the Metro Club. The Metro Club was being shut down. Like a lightning strike, she realized Charlie was in jeopardy. What was she going to do? Could she do anything?
Just then, the young officer that had given her a ride came up to her again and began to usher her out the front door. “Where to, Ms. Lane. Home or the office?” he inquired cordially.
As Lois turned to go, she heard a great commotion at the back of the precinct, but couldn’t see anything.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Perry White read the afternoon online edition of the Daily Planet with great satisfaction.
“Metro Gang Linked to Toasters” the headline screamed. A file photo of Toni Taylor was included next to the text. And the byline, of course, read “Lois Lane.”
Perry glanced up at a casually dressed Lois lounging against his office door. “Great work, darlin’. How’d you find all this out?”
Lois smirked. “Well, first, I had to sleep with a rat.”
Perry’s eyebrows rose. “A rat as in…?”
“Relax, Perry. A rat as in a small mammal that inhabits nearly abandoned warehouses.”
Perry heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed back into his chair. “Henderson called me, you know.”
Lois pushed her shoulder off the doorframe and came in and sat in Perry’s guest chair, showing obvious interest. “No, I didn’t know that. When was that?”
“After your headline outing Toni as new head of the Metros. Bill called me to warn you off. Said you were in danger of busting his sting.”
Lois was triumphant that her hunch was verified. Still, she said disingenuously, “Sting? What sting? I went there to get Lex Luthor to give me an interview. I didn’t know about internecine rivalry in the Metro Gang or a hookup with the Toasters.”
Perry shrugged. “I don’t know. He was very hush hush. He called me again after you left his office early this morning and said the sting was over and the ‘people of interest’ were in custody.”
“Hmm. Well, he asked me to come back at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Maybe the details will come out then.” Lois tapped her foot in thought and picked idly at a thread on the upholstered arm of the chair. Apparently casually, she ask, “ Did he happen to say what happened to the bartender? Was he arrested?”
Perry shook his head, “No, no he didn’t. He didn’t really say much of anything.” As an afterthought, he said, “Bill did say he did enjoy your singing, though. He wondered where you learned to sing so well.”
Lois laughed. “In church, believe it or not.”
“In church?” As far as Perry knew, Lois was not very religious.
“You know I’m a Navy brat, right?”
Perry nodded. “Admiral Sam Lane, currently stationed here in Metropolis.”
“Right. Well, when I was growing up the best place to meet other kids was in church. So I sang in church choirs. It was really great when we were stationed in Naples, Italy with the Mediterranean Fleet. And I went to Italian opera there too. Dad was stationed in port and he wasn’t an Admiral yet, so we had time to be a family.”
Lois smiled at the memory and laughed a little. “Dad said he was tired of flying around a big ocean trying to find the postage stamp of a carrier flight deck to land on. That he wanted to stay on ground that didn’t move for a while. It was a good time. And I learned Italian! Not all of it suitable for polite company!” She winked at him.
Perry leaned over to speak to Lois confidentially, even though they were the only ones in the office. “Tell me the truth, Lois. How'd it feel to be on stage?”
“Well, it was pretty exciting, Chief. But I don't think I could handle a career in show biz. I much prefer journalism.”
Perry smiled fondly at her. “Just you be careful out there, Lois. You know, it's always been my policy to stand behind my reporters and their methods one thousand percent. Why, if you opened up that window, said you could fly, I'd back you up. I'd miss you, but I'd back you up.”
-----------------
tbc
Artemis
