And the Truth Will Set You…
Chapter 14
It was 5:30 a.m. Monday morning and there were seven people standing in a dark hallway. Lois couldn’t help but think that this place was almost too cliché as a hideout for an assassin. Besides herself and Clark, there were the building superintendent and four police officers. Henderson was in charge, assisted by a female lieutenant named Chris Jones and two forensics specialists. Clark and Lois were under strict orders to stay out of the way and touch nothing. Bill had thought it necessary to stress that last part to Lois several times.
The reporting partners had spent much of Sunday evening working with Bill. They had told him everything except the name of the source that provided them with the clues. Bill wasn’t very happy with the situation, but he went with it. After what he’d gone through when Lois gave up Dr. Anderson as her source about the sniper, Bill knew better than to press too hard.
Right from the beginning, Bill had been certain that if Donaldson’s prints were on the phone, he’d be able to convince a judge to issue a search warrant to look for evidence relating to Superman’s shooting. As for the Jacobson address, neither Lois nor Clark could convince Bill to even ask for a warrant. However, Bill was of the opinion that if the first address proved to be the place where Donaldson had stayed, it would demonstrate the credibility of the source and provide support for the overall accuracy of the information. That could be the lever to get a search warrant for the Jacobson address.
Lois and Clark had talked at length about which place would be likely to provide better evidence. Donaldson was clearly transient in Metropolis. He’d been brought in to be the expendable triggerman for the Superman shooting. Jacobson was interesting because of the bomber’s possible ties to the Boss and therefore, possibly Lex. The connection was more tenuous, but he was a Metropolis native, and that meant there might be more to learn at his place. Whichever turned out to be more valuable, because of the evidence in their possession, Donaldson’s apartment had to come first.
So here they were. Bill had woken up the building superintendent fifteen minutes ago. The man claimed to know nothing about this apartment. He said that he had only met the man once, and didn’t remember any details. Considering the state of the building and the location, Lois was sure he made a habit of not remembering details.
Bill knocked on the door and called out, “This is the Metropolis Police. We need to speak with any resident.” He was certainly loud enough to be heard through the door.
They all just waited, looking at each other. Well, most of the group did that. While the rest of the group watched the door, Lois looked at Clark. He shook his head ever so slightly. Lois was sure that Clark had already inspected the apartment and knew it to be empty.
Bill repeated his request once more before he had the superintendent open the door. The inspector went in first followed by Chris.
Lois started to inch in when she felt Clark’s hand on her shoulder. She turned to glare at him but he never stopped smiling. “We agreed to do this Bill’s way,” he said.
She started to complain but knew Clark was right. Bill had extracted a promise to do this by the book. Leave it to Clark to make sure she kept her promises. Despite the gravity of the situation, she felt a glow of joy just from working with Clark again. She ended up smiling and sticking her tongue out at him. His eyes went wide for just a second before a smile was beaming back in her direction.
Before Lois could do anything else, Chris was at the door motioning them all to come in. “Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent, please don’t touch anything without getting clearance from either me or Inspector Henderson.” Then she disappeared back into the room.
Clark and Lois went in last. The forensics team immediately went looking for prints. Bill had told them that it would be essential to link this place to Donaldson. Even if there were no evidence here, if they could link this apartment to Donaldson, it would demonstrate the accuracy of the information they’d gotten from Sammy.
They wandered around the apartment for a few minutes, but it turned out to be a disappointment. There was luggage and some personal items that might link the room to Donaldson, but there were no smoking-gun type clues.
After touring the small apartment for all of a minute, Lois turned to Clark. “Did you see anything?”
“Not really,” he answered.
Lois leaned in close, “I mean, using your unusual observation skills, did you see anything?”
Clark lowered his voice to a whisper. “I picked up some prints. I think they’re Donaldson, but I can’t be sure. The forensics team is working the areas where I spotted most of them. We’ll just have to wait to see if they match.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason for us to stay,” Lois suggested.
“I agree.”
Lois called to Henderson. “Bill, thanks for letting us tag along, but I think all the evidence from this place will be coming from your scientific team.”
It looked like Bill was ready to laugh. “I told you both that was likely to be the case. You didn’t need to come.”
Lois was about to answer but Clark beat her to it. “We know, Bill. But we wanted to be here just in case there was a surprise.”
Clark barely finished when Lois jumped in. “How long until you can get the warrant for the other place?”
“As soon as we match the prints here with Donaldson, I’ll be heading back to Judge Jensen,” Bill answered. “We’ll probably be ready just after noon today. I’ll call you as soon as I get something.”
“We’ll be at the Star,” Lois offered. “But we’ve had some problems with phones being tapped, so when you call, please be as nonspecific as possible. Something like, “I’m leaving now,” will tell us all we need to know.”
“Fair enough,” Bill said.
~~~***~~~
Clark thought that riding up the elevator to the Star offices felt surprisingly comfortable. Of course, Lois was beside him and, at this moment, she was holding his hand, so it was no wonder that it felt right.
He had decided that it would be best if Superman made no appearances for a few days. Clark was still worried about the issue of making sure that Clark Kent and Superman were viewed as different people. Sure, it was unlikely that anyone would see a connection, but it was best to not take chances.
Yesterday had been hard. He’d heard calls for help a few times, but none of them were serious and managed to fight off the temptation to zoom to the rescue. He figured that today would be long enough and he’d make sure that Superman put in an appearance tomorrow. Still, if there was a major disaster or emergency today, he knew he’d respond.
When the elevator opened, it was immediately clear that the Star was much busier on a Monday than it had been yesterday. He was about to accompany Lois to her desk when he realized that Petersen’s office was occupied. “Lois, is that Petersen?” he asked his partner.
Lois looked in the direction of the editor’s office. “Yes,” she answered.
“Could you introduce me? It wouldn’t be polite for me to simply start working at one of his desks without checking in.”
Lois simply flashed him a quick smile and headed for the office. When they reached Petersen’s door Lois knocked and waited. Clark smiled at her patience. This clearly wasn’t the Planet.
As soon as Petersen heard the knock, he looked up and immediately motioned them in. “Good morning, Ernie,” Lois said to her editor. “This is Clark Kent.”
Petersen came around his desk and extended his hand. “It’s good to finally meet you Kent. I’d heard you were in here yesterday.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Clark replied. “I got into town and… well, if Lois was here, that was how I was going to spend my day.”
The editor glanced back and forth between the reporters. “Well, I’m glad you came by. I’d like to discuss your plans for the future.”
“That’s one of the reasons I’m here,” Clark answered.
“I need to work up my notes from the raid this morning,” Lois interjected. “Why don’t I do that while you two talk?”
Lois left the room and Clark watched her through the glass as she made her way back to her desk. When he turned back to Petersen, he found the man watching him intently. Petersen glanced in the direction of Lois’s retreating form. “She sure is something,” he commented.
Clark glanced briefly in her direction. “Mr. Petersen, you have no idea.”
Petersen laughed at that. “I believe you,” he commented. “Now, let’s talk about your background and what we might be able to do for each other.”
~~~***~~~
It was 1:27 in the afternoon and Clark was doing his best to keep Lois calm.
Petersen had sent Lois – which meant both of them – out to cover a pro-Superman rally at 11:00. There were several citizens’ groups that wanted to send a message to Superman that the recent attacks didn’t represent the opinion of all the people of Metropolis. Clark was touched at the expression of support. Lois kept looking for an ulterior motive. However, all the people seemed on the level, and despite Lois’s best efforts, she couldn’t find any connections to Lex or Lexcorp.
When they’d finally made it back to the Star, there was a message waiting from Bill Henderson. All it said was, ‘I have the paper and am on my way.” The message was more than half an hour old. They’d managed to miss Bill’s call. That was when Lois had lost her temper.
By the time they reached the address, Bill’s team was well into the early stages of their investigation. It was the same team as before, except for one younger officer Clark didn’t recognize guarding the door. Lois and Clark were trying to convince the young officer that he should let them enter when Bill appeared. “It’s okay, Charlie. Let them in.”
The officer stepped aside and they entered the apartment. Clark immediately knew there would be more to find in this place. He leaned close and whispered in Lois’s ear. “I smell explosives.”
Lois’s only reaction was to nod her head slightly. “Bill, have you found anything?” she asked.
Bill hesitated before answering. “You remember our agreement that you don’t publish anything until I give you the go-ahead?”
“Yes,” Lois answered.
“Kent?”
“You know that I’ll honor any agreement you have with Lois,” Clark answered quickly.
Henderson simply nodded. “You should listen to this.” He walked over to what looked like an answering machine. “It seems that Mr. Jacobson recorded all of his phone conversations. This was the last one on his machine.”
Bill pressed a button on the machine.
First was a man’s voice. “Hello.”
A woman’s voice. “This is X. Is it ready?”
“Yes.”
“Remember that it must be timed for between 11:15 and 11:45.”
“It will.”
“Good. Your final payment will be made after the package has been delivered.”
Then there was a click and Bill pressed the button again. He turned to Lois. “Do you remember the day that the bomb destroyed the Planet building?”
“Of course,” Lois replied. Clark thought she looked more shaken than he’d expected.
“This was recorded the day before the building was destroyed,” Bill said. “The bomb went off at 11:20. I think we may have our link.”
Lois was looking at the floor and didn’t reply. Instead, she shivered and looked cold. Clark was holding her before he even realized what he was doing.
After a few seconds, Lois straightened up and looked at Henderson. “That day… I had lunch with Lex. I remember because he’d made a point that his limousine would pick me up exactly at 11:00. He’d stressed that he had a special lunch planned and made me promise that I wouldn’t miss the appointment. I… I’d completely forgotten how insistent he was that I not be late that day.”
“I hear you, Lois,” Bill said in a very serious tone. “But that’s still only circumstantial.”
“There’s more,” she said. “The female voice on the phone… I recognize it. That’s Mrs. Cox. She’s Lex’s personal assistant.”
~~~***~~~
It was 6:00 a.m. and Lois couldn’t sleep. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was in Clark’s bed. Clark had a very comfortable bed. She was sure it would be much more comfortable if Clark were here beside her. But that really hadn’t even been a possibility.
Yesterday had passed in a blur. The jackpot they’d hit in Jacobson’s apartment more than made up for the lack of evidence in Donaldson’s. Jacobson’s place wasn’t a residence, it had been a workshop. More precisely, it was a bomb factory.
After the apartment raid, she’d gone back to the Star to write up the Superman rally. It was great having Clark there because not only did his talent for touchy-feely stories help, but he could provide those special insights as to how Superman would react. She hadn’t been able to convince him to provide a Superman quote, but he still provided good input. She’d ended up submitting the story under the Lane and Kent byline. This was the first of what she increasingly suspected would be many stories with that byline in the Star.
Late in the afternoon, she’d called Henderson from the same pay phone she’d used to call Smallville. The phone records from Jacobson’s apartment had come in. The call from Cox originated from a number that had also called Donaldson’s cell. The recording of Cox’s voice might not be admissible evidence, but Bill revealed that his own team had found a link between Cox and that phone number that he felt would hold up. Bill revealed that he planned to arrest Cox in the middle of the night. He hoped that by Tuesday morning there would be enough evidence to move on Lex.
Lois had wanted to be there for every move, but Bill vetoed that. Now that he was convinced of Lex’s involvement, he was worried about someone tipping Lex off that Lois was spending too much time with the man investigating Superman’s shooting. Clark had sided with Bill and they ended up spending a quiet evening in. Clark made dinner and they watched old movies.
When it came time to go home, she had made a comment about being comfortable here. Clark had immediately volunteered his bedroom. She’d been tempted to decline, but the reality was that she really did prefer to sleep here.
She looked over at the clock again. Now it read 6:09 a.m. Lois was about to haul herself out of bed when she heard a knock at Clark’s door. The early morning left it quiet enough that she didn’t have to strain to hear Clark answer the door.
“Inspector Henderson,” she heard Clark say.
“Good morning, Kent. Is Lane here?”
Several seconds ticked by without a reply. Clearly, Clark didn’t want to lie, but didn’t want to embarrass her either. “I’m here, Bill,” she called out. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Lois pulled on the sweat shirt and top that Clark had loaned her. As she dressed, she wondered about her feeling at being caught in what could be an embarrassing situation. She realized that she wasn’t concerned what Bill might think, at least not with respect to her spending the night in Clark’s apartment.
She walked out into Clark’s main room to find Bill sitting at the table. The blanket and pillow on Clark’s couch was in plain sight. “Good morning, Lois,” Bill said. “I went by your place first. When you weren’t at home, I figured there was a good chance that you’d crashed here.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “It got late and I didn’t feel like going back to my place. Clark was kind enough to make room. So what brings you here?”
Bill suddenly looked nervous. “Luthor is dead,” he said in a cold tone.
Lois felt her legs start to buckle. Before she could think Clark was there holding her shoulders. “Lois, are you okay?” Clark asked.
Was she okay? Lois wasn’t sure. Lex was dead. Whatever he was, that man had asked her to marry him only a few weeks ago. “I… I’m not sure.” She found it hard to compose her thoughts. “Bill, what happened?”
“We picked up Cox late last night. I thought she would only be the next step in a long investigation to get Luthor, but she surprised us. Not only did she come peaceably, she immediately offered us a deal. Apparently, she’s been collecting evidence on Luthor for some time to use as her own personal insurance policy. What’s important is that she gave us a teaser. She had a recording of Luthor telling her to set up an assassination.”
Lois was doing her best to stay with Bill as he worked through what had happened. “She had the arrangements to try to kill Superman on tape?” Lois asked.
“No. The tape she provided was…” Bill stopped and seemed to consider his words for a moment. “This was related to the Superman incident. Do you remember Officer Smith? Bill asked.
“Sure. The guy that shot me,” Lois replied harshly.
“Luthor was on tape ordering Cox to kill his family.”
This was too much. Lois didn’t even know how to respond. Clark’s hands on her shoulders provided barely enough support to keep her upright. Bill waited a moment but once it was clear that she wasn’t going to say anything, he continued. “We used that to get an arrest warrant for Luthor. We raided his penthouse at 4:00 a.m. this morning.”
“You said he was dead,” Clark pointed out.
“I’m getting to that,” Bill said. “We were lucky. Luthor had been drinking and was too tired to resist. We were coming out of his building when the shooting started. Someone had tipped Officer Smith, and he was waiting.”
Epilogue:
Clark had an appointment. It was an appointment he was determined not to miss. But that wasn’t going to happen. Lois had asked.
The odd part was that this appointment was in the house he’d grown up, in Smallville.
It had been three weeks since Luthor’s death. There had been quite an outcry that first day. A police officer killing the city’s leading citizen… Smith’s actions served to motivate the city attorney to cut a deal with Mrs. Cox. They didn’t need her information to prosecute Luthor, they needed her information to turn public opinion.
He and Lois had joined the Star as staff reporters a week later. Luthor’s death had left the possible rebirth of the Planet in limbo. Lois didn’t want to leave Metropolis, and if Lois wanted him to work with her at the Star, there was nothing else left to consider.
For Clark, those three weeks had felt like heaven. He’d spent almost every evening with Lois. They’d been to dinner, movies, the theater and even a baseball game. Every time they did something together, it seemed more enjoyable than the time before. Their work partnership was better than ever. Lois had even stopped complaining about Clark correcting her spelling.
They’d finally gotten the chance to take a long weekend in Smallville. The first two days had been great but Lois and his mom had cooked up something special for their last evening in town.
Clark had just returned from dropping his parents off at a hotel. His mom and dad were spending the night away, leaving the house for him and Lois. Clark didn’t know what to make of this. He’d tried to get something from his parents, but his dad claimed not to know what was going on, and his mom wouldn’t say.
He approached the door unsure of what to do. After a few seconds, he decided to knock.
After a few seconds, the door opened just a crack. Peeking around the edge, Lois said, “Hi.”
God he loved her smile. She was playing at something, but Clark wasn’t sure what. Lois was clearly in a good mood, so it was easy to play along. “May I come in?” Clark asked.
She smiled a mischievous smile. “Well, I was sort of expecting…”
Now he recognized this scene. “Should I come back as Superman?”
Her smile got ever wider. “No, silly. Why would I be waiting for Superman when I can do so much better?”
“So who are you waiting for?”
She didn’t reply. Instead, she stepped back, opened the door and motioned him in.
As Clark entered the house, he smelled food cooking. He turned to Lois. “You made dinner?”
“You sound surprised. Don’t you think I can cook?” Lois asked.
Clark realized that he’d strayed into dangerous territory. “I, um…”
Then Lois laughed. “Relax. We both know that I’m not much of a cook. Your mom helped me with a basic dinner. It won’t be complicated, but as long as I take it out of the oven when the bell dings, we’ll have dinner.”
~~~***~~~
The evening passed quickly. Dinner was delicious and they talked about… everything. Growing up, working, their experiences at the Planet, and their hopes for the Star. It was the best evening Clark could remember.
When he saw the clock on the mantle hit 11:00 p.m., Clark finally felt moved to ask the question he’d avoided all evening. He was on the sofa and Lois was across the room in his dad’s chair. The evening had been wonderful, but to Clark it felt like their physical separation represented some kind of barrier that was still between them. “Lois, tonight has been great, but what’s it all about?”
She paused and was clearly nervous. “My whole world changed that night you… told me the truth about… well, everything. With your help, I’ve gotten a good start on putting my life back together, but there are some loose ends that I need to ask you about.”
“You can ask me anything,” Clark replied.
“It’s very important that you tell me the truth. I want you to think about the questions I’m going to ask. If you can’t tell me the truth, then… Well, I don’t know. Please try, even if it’s something that you don’t think I’ll want to hear.”
It was clear to Clark that this was very important to Lois. It was also obvious that she planned to ask some hard questions. “I… I’ll do my best,” Clark said.
She took a deep breath. “Back when I first met you as Superman, did I seem like some kind of shallow groupie? I mean the way I reacted to Superman.”
Clark felt his shoulders droop. Couldn’t she have started with something easier? He knew the answer, but he’d never planned to tell her. Now it was Clark’s turn for a deep breath. “Yes, but, Lois…” But he couldn’t think of what else to say. He’d always thought that was exactly how she acted. “Yes,” he said once more with resignation.
He waited for the explosion, but all that he got was, “Thank you.”
That wasn’t the response he’d expected. He looked at her questioningly, hoping she’d elaborate.
“When I met… Superman, I was astounded. He… You were so… Anyway, I was acting like a schoolgirl,” she supplied. “I was worried that you wouldn’t have the courage to tell me the truth. So, can you forgive me – I mean really forgive me – for that reaction as well as all the other things I did in those early days?”
Clark almost answered quickly. But Lois wanted real, thoughtful answers. Had he really forgiven her? He thought about it for a few seconds but it didn’t take long before he was sure of his answer. “It’s been a long year and we’ve both had some chances to learn from some of those early mistakes,” he explained. “I really believe I understand how that happened. I’ve seen others overwhelmed by an encounter with… Superman and many people – especially women – overreact after a rescue. So, yes, Lois, I can and have forgiven you.”
Lois just nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me about Lex sooner?” she asked, in an almost casual tone.
“Because…” he started to reply. Then he froze. Clark knew he didn’t have a good answer for this one. After a long second, he decided to try for the truth as best he could. “I don’t know. I was all confused. I knew what Lex was, but I couldn’t get any proof. And then, when you were with him…” Clark didn’t know where to go from there so he just stopped.
“What?” Lois asked insistently.
He did his best to look her in the eye. “You already know how I feel… felt… about you… right from the beginning. Lois, when I look at you I… When I saw you… thought of you… with Luthor… I didn’t trust my judgment. I was so… jealous. I didn’t trust my motives. Whenever I thought it was time to say something, I’d look at you and get all confused again.”
Then Clark’s words ran out. This all sounded so pathetic. “I don’t have a good reason,” he finally said. “I messed up and I’m sorry.”
She sat silently for a moment, then stood. She moved around the coffee table and sat beside him. “I forgive you,” she said softly. “I sort of have to. You’re my best friend… and the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Does that mean we’re done with questions for the evening?” Clark asked.
“Not quite,” Lois answered. “I have one more.” He swore he could hear some of the nervousness from earlier in the evening. “Clark, will you marry me?”
He felt like someone had turned on one of Dr. Klein’s sun lamps. All he could think to do was throw his arms around his love and pull her to him. “I love you, Lois,” he said as they held each other. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
The End
