Finally, I've finished this story. The final part is ready to go, and I'll post it tomorrow. Realizing that many of you will need a refresher, the link to the TOC is
here Thanks to Nancy and Carol for coming back to this after all this time.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lois shoved the hat further down on her head.
There was no way this disguise would pass for more than a moment, but Lois hoped it would be enough to keep Newtrich from recognizing her instantly and running off.
She took a sip of coffee, casually glancing towards the door. Marli had told her that she had a meeting scheduled with Newtrich today, but what if their performance at his office had scared him off? This seemed to be her last chance- which was why she had slipped out from under the watchful eye of Kal and Brian. It would seem very suspicious if she had brought one of them here and that would have tipped Newtrich off right away. Anyway, she was going to be perfectly safe. There were tons of customers here, and she wouldn’t leave the building. And if it seemed really unsafe, she would call Kal or Brian or someone and get them to pick her up.
Out of the corner of her eye, she was able to see Newtrich enter the shop. She turned her face so Newtrich couldn’t see her as clearly. She tensed with anticipation. She was betting on Newtrich not wanting to make a scene in a public place. That would give her… how many seconds? Not long, anyway, until he left.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, startling her with his presence.
“I…” She cursed herself silently. She had been so busy planning her tactics that she hadn’t noticed him sneak up.
“I told you to leave me alone,” he told her furiously, glancing around the café.
He looked different from the pulled together man she had encountered before. Something must have changed. Was he perhaps feeling guilty?
“Newtrich, I want to know everything about those rocks from Krypton,” she told him, deciding to try to see if he would give anything up. “What are you planning on doing with them?”
Newtrich glanced around the café again, and then nodded quickly. “Look, I’ll tell you everything, I promise. Just not here. Outside, where there’s less chance of us being overheard.”
As soon as Lois followed him around the corner of the building, she knew she had made a mistake. Rough hands wrapped around her tightly, and before she could even scream, she was thrown into the van and they were driving down the street.
She struggled to break free, but her hands were forced into plastic cuffs which cinched tight painfully. Then she felt a cold pressure at her temple.
“If you even think about calling for help, I’ll silence you right away,” Newtrich informed her, just as coldly as the barrel of his gun.
He had never had any intention of giving her information, Lois realized. In fact, he must have been planning to kidnap her all along. He would have been prepared for this.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“Know what?”
“That I was going to be there instead of Marli. You must’ve known in advance.”
“Good reasoning, Ms. Lane. There’s a very simple reason why I knew in advance. I already knew that you couldn’t possibly be Mrs. O’Hara because we already have her. She’s been in our custody for the last two hours.”
* * *
Kal drummed his fingers on Lois’ desk. She still wasn’t back. She had promised to meet him back here after she had gone to talk to her source. Why wasn’t she back yet?
The elevator dinged, and Kal looked up hopefully. His heart sank, however, when he saw Brian enter the newsroom looking disheveled.
“Where’s Lois?” Brian asked.
“I don’t know,” Kal admitted. “She’s not back yet, and she isn’t responding to her pager. What’s wrong, Brian?”
“Marli’s missing. She was supposed to pick Adam up at my parents’ and she never showed.”
“Do you think…” Kal didn’t want to suggest it, but Brian seemed to have already reached a conclusion.
“Where else would she be but with Newtrich?” Brian snapped, waving his arms hysterically. “He probably realized that she got suspicious. We never should have gone to his office. Then he never would have suspected!”
“We’ll find them, Brian,” Kal promised, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Somehow, we’ll get them back.”
It seemed to calm Brian down a bit. “Do you have your powers back?” Brian asked hopefully, bending in close to Kal to ensure privacy. “I know you might have been knocked out a bit with what happened earlier.”
Kal tested his vision on the floor. For a moment, it melted away and he could see the tops of the heads of the people below them. But then it snapped back into view, more opaque than even before. Kal swallowed and shook his head sadly. “No. I don’t.”
“Damn,” Brian whispered softly.
“What would Lois do at a time like this?” Kal wondered aloud. “She’s been in plenty of situations before when she’s needed to find out the truth behind something fast.”
“Kal, this is my wife we’re talking about, not just a newspaper deadline,” Brian spoke testily.
“Lois is more than just a reporter looking to get a front page headline,” Kal replied. “She does all of that because she wants to help people. She’s the voice for people who can’t speak for themselves. She sees things that other people can’t. I’ve never met anyone so dedicated in my life.” The fervor he spoke with surprised him. True, he had always respected Lois and what she did for a living, but he had no idea he felt so strongly about her convictions until now. “Ever since I came here, I’ve seen her working tirelessly to uncover a corrupt businessman. She thinks that all of the criminal activity in Metropolis can be traced back to-”
He stopped, realizing what he was saying. If everything fishy in Metropolis could be traced back to one person, then it would make sense that the same person would somehow be connected to the Kryptonite jewelry.
Well, maybe. But if it was true, it was a leap of logic that Lois herself would be proud of. Anyway, it gave them a new angle to work with.
That man who had called him earlier. He sounded like he worked for Lois as a source of some kind.
“We need to find someone,” Kal announced, starting to search for the piece of paper he had left on Lois’ desk. How had she managed to cover it up this quickly?
“Who?” Brian asked desperately.
“A source of Lois’,” Kal explained. “He called… said he had a great scoop and that Lois owed him duck from Peking. Although I am a little confused because he should know that the name of the city has changed to-”
“You mean Peking duck? As in food?”
“Oh. I guess.” Kal finally found the slip of paper and handed it to Brian to read.
“You didn’t get a name?” Brian asked.
Kal shook his head. “He said she would know who he was. There’s got to be something else here that will give us a clue.” He began digging through the rest of Lois’ desk, reading notes she had left containing story ideas and reminders to pick up dry cleaning.
“Uh… CK?”
“What is it, Jimmy?” Kal asked, secretly wanting him to go away.
“Why are you searching through Lois’ stuff? You know she’s going to kill you when she finds out.”
Suddenly, Kal realized that Jimmy could help them more than he had thought.
“Jimmy, I’m looking for a source of Lois’. Do you know of anyone that she might pay with food?”
Jimmy’s eyes dropped, and he shuffled his feet. “CK, I know Lois wouldn’t really want me sharing her sources.”
“Jimmy, this is important,” Kal pressed. “We think Lois might be in trouble.”
The expression on Jimmy’s face changed. “What happened to her?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why I need to get in touch with this guy. He might have some ideas.”
“Okay, yeah. I know there’s a guy that Lois is always getting food for. She’s pretty secretive about him so I don’t know much. But his name is Bobby and he’s in her Rolodex.” Jimmy gestured to the object on the desk. “Good luck getting a hold of him. Lois says he’ll only answer to her.”
* * *
Marli was tapping out the rhythm to “Hey Jude” with her fingers against the arm rests of her chair. Being tied to a chair left limited options for entertainment. She had already gotten bored of “I am the Walrus”, and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” reminded her of Brian, and that was the last thing she wanted to think about now.
She was going to get out safely, she was sure. The alternative was unthinkable, yet she couldn’t bear to dwell on how Brian must be feeling right now. And Adam, too. Was it time for his supper already? Would he be missing her?
She bent her head down so her hand could reach to wipe the tears out of her eyes, wincing at the tender skin. She had already cried far too much today, and it was time to stop. That kind of thinking would only get her depressed, and she needed to pay attention. So instead, she ran through the comforting lyrics in her head.
<Na, na, na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey Jude…>
The door cracked open, and light poured into the room where she was being kept. Squinting in the light, her eyes began to adjust as people filed into the room. There were four on total. One was holding an ugly looking handgun, keeping it trained on her. The other two were carrying the fourth. Not only was this person the smallest of the group, she was the only female. Marli had an awful suspicion about who the woman was, even though the men had placed a hood over her head.
“Enjoying yourself, Mrs. O’Hara?” the gunman asked, snarling at her.
Marli’s eyes finally adjusted enough to recognize him as Newtrich, but decided not to give him the pleasure of hearing her respond.
Their captive seemed to recognize Marli’s name as a muffled squeak came from beneath the hood.
“Put our guest by the other one,” Newtrich commanded. “Just on the floor, it’ll be good enough for her.”
The men dropped their prisoner, and the hood was yanked off, revealing a mess of glossy brown hair and a pair of livid eyes, emanating heat from above a duct taped mouth.
“Don’t even try calling for Superman,” Newtrich warned. “This room is being watched, and I guarantee you that we can react faster than Superman could.”
The door closed, and Lois shuffled over to Marli on her knees. She bent her head, and Marli managed to grab hold of the tape and rip it off despite limited capability to move her hands.
“Are you okay?” she asked Lois.
“A little bruised, but otherwise okay,” Lois replied.
“I’m so sorry I got you into this mess,” Marli apologized. “This is completely my fault.”
“Not completely,” Lois shook her head. “I sort of walked into this. Hey, do you think you can do anything about these?” She twisted around to show Marli the plastic cuffs that held her hands behind her back.
Marli picked at them ineffectually, but soon gave up. “The plastic is too thick,” she told Lois. “You’re going to have to get scissors or something.”
“I figured something like that,” Lois grumbled. She pulled herself up, and began roaming around the room. “Any chance of us escaping here?”
“None that I can see,” Marli replied, glad to have some company at last, even if the situation looked grim. “The chair and the table are bolted to the floor, and that light fixture looks too high up to reach, even if it could do us some good.” The room itself was small, with brick walls that had been painted an institutional glossy white. Concrete floors added nothing to the charm of the space, and the light was frustratingly dim. The only door in the room was thick and solid, locking definitively from the other side.
“Damn.” Lois obviously agreed with Marli’s assessment, and kicked the table in frustration. It made a dense thump, and Lois stumbled a bit, trying to regain her balance with her hands still tied behind her back.
“Do you know how Brian’s doing?” Marli asked, unable to hold it in any longer.
Lois shook her head. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Marli shrugged, trying to appear less bothered than she actually was. There was nothing she wanted more right now than to be with her family.
Lois, meanwhile, had found the telltale red light that indicated where the camera was located.
“I know you’re there, Luthor,” she declared, fearlessly staring straight at the red light.“Why don’t you come in here and gloat like I know you want to do?”
“Luthor?” Marli asked. “How do you know it’s him?”
“This guy’s got a personal vendetta against me,” Lois replied. “Putting all this effort into kidnapping me? I should have realized that when it was only the Daily Planet that was targeted by that pheromone spray.”
Most of what she said didn’t make any sense to Marli, but before she could ask what Lois was talking about, the door to the room opened again and Lex Luthor himself walked in, with Newtrich glaring shiftily by his side.
“Hello, Miss Lane,” Luthor greeted coolly.
“Luthor,” Lois spat back at him.
He smiled sickeningly, and then turned to Marli. “Good of you to join us, Mrs. O’Hara.”
Marli wasn’t sure what to say, but thankfully Lois stepped in quickly.
“You were responsible for sabotaging the shuttle launch. And for Miranda’s death. And-”
“Of course I was, Lois,” Luthor cut her off smugly. “Honestly, I am surprised it’s taken
you this long to figure it out. But I’m not surprised it took a plot against your favorite alien to get your attention. You really haven’t done a very good job disguising your feelings for the thing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lois replied.
“Oh, come now, Lois. Anyone paying the slightest attention while reading your articles would realize that you’re hopelessly biased about the posturing egotist.”
Lois’ cheeks flamed, but she didn’t lose focus. “I meant that I didn’t know about the plot against Superman. Don’t you realize that nothing can hurt him? That’s what the whole invulnerable thing is about.”
Marli hoped that Lois knew what she was doing by bluffing like that. Lois knew as well as her that the Kryptonite was anything but good for Kal.
“Really, Lois, you can’t expect to fool me like this,” Luthor chided. “I already know the origin of the glowing rocks, and I do know that Superman would lose his powers while in their presence. At the very least, anyway. I haven’t had the opportunity to test them on the real subject.”
“And you won’t get a chance!” Lois exclaimed, finally appearing to lose her temper, and launched herself at Lex. Newtrich, however, seemed to have anticipated this reaction and caught hold of her by her wrists. He forced Lois down and held the gun pointed over her head.
“Now, Lois, it won’t do to make a scene,” Luthor grinned. “Calm down so we can have a rational discussion of your future. It will be short, so you might as well make the most of it.” Then Lex turned to Marli. “I am sorry you had to get involved in this,” he told her. “We tested the element on a lock of Superman’s hair that was put up for charity auction, you see, and if it was entirely up to me, I would not have even thought to turn the stones into jewelry. My instincts would have been to save all of our resources for something bigger. However, thanks to Ms. Lane, I do not have full control over all of my resources.”
“Ha!” Lois laughed. “At least I managed to do something do prevent you from doing whatever you want.”
“Yes, Ms. Lane, you’ve caused me injury,” Luthor snapped. “Thanks to you, I’ve had to rely on the *donation* of others to carry out all of my plans. And trust me; I will not let you forget how you’ve crippled me.”
“Oh, relax, Lex,” a female voice drawled from the doorway, speaking with a slight British accent. “You make it sound as if it’s a terrible thing that we’re together again.”
Marli could see how Luthor tensed up as soon as the mysterious woman had started talking. The cool, collected anger he had shown towards Lois had suddenly started to crumble in this new person’s presence.
“I thought I told you to stay in the back room,” Luthor spoke, putting in great effort not to take his eyes off Lois.
“Well, we’re business partners, Lex,” the woman shrugged. “That means I can do whatever I want.”
“Who are you?” Marli blurted out, forgetting her plan to stay out of the spotlight.
“Mrs. O’Hara, Ms. Lane,” Luthor ground out through a clenched jaw. “May I introduce my *ex*-wife. Arianna Carlin.”
