PREVIOUSLY...
“Lois Lane,” Lois said into the phone.
“Hi, Lois. It’s...”
“Martha,” Lois completed for her. “Are you looking for Clark because if you are...” As Lois spoke, she began rising to her feet.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”AND NOW...
Lois sank back into her chair. “Oh. What can I do for you?”
“I heard about some of the stories that came out about you today and...”
“Oh, god, Martha. I didn’t even think of that. In a place like Smallville... You must be so embarrassed. I’m so sorry about all of this. I really didn’t think when I got involved with your son that...”
“Lois!” Martha practically yelled into the phone.
Lois fell silent even as it occurred to her that Martha had been trying to interrupt her almost since she’d started talking. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. And, sweetie, I’m not embarrassed. You’ve done nothing to apologize for. If anything, that sleazebag, Claude, should be the one apologizing.”
Tears came to Lois’ eyes.
“I just wanted to know how you were holding up under all this,” Martha continued.
“Uhh... well, you know... Good moments. Bad moments.”
“Well, I hope that son of mine is taking good care of you.”
Lois smiled. “He is. He got me roses.”
“Good. If he gives you any grief, tell him I’ll tan his hide.”
“Thanks, Martha.”
“There’s another reason I’m calling. Jonathan and I had an idea. I don’t want to get into it over the phone, but... Would you and Clark mind a little company?”
“You know you’re always welcome. But you should know that the paparazzi are pretty unbelievable. But I suspect you’ve had your fair share of that there.”
“Well, we’ve got some good neighbors. They’re taking good care of us.”
“Aren’t you concerned, though, about leaving the house empty?”
“Wayne’s son and his family are visiting at the moment. They’ve volunteered to stay here while we’re in Metropolis. Don’t worry. We’ll get a hotel room.”
“That’s not necessary. Well, unless the paparazzi are too much for you. But we bought a hide-a-bed so we have room for you.”
“That would be great. Give us more of a chance to talk.”
“So when were you planning to come?”
“How’s tomorrow?”
* * * * * * * * *
Slipping out of the Daily Planet was getting harder. Some of their more astute colleagues seemed to have started speculating that they might be sneaking out given that it was unusual for reporters not to leave their papers at all during the day.
As a result, even in her disguise, Lois picked up a tail when they left the Daily Planet to meet with Henderson. As result, they’d had to drive around for a good fifteen minutes to lose the tail before returning to Centennial Park. If this kept up much longer, Lois feared they might be out of a job. As it was, Perry hadn’t assigned them any press conferences or grunt work - probably knowing that if one of them showed up to cover a press conference, the press conference would become about them.
And although Lois’ couldn’t say she minded not having to do grunt work this week, it was not a long-term solution. Without the bread and butter stories to fill the pages on a normal day, the paper wouldn’t survive. No reporter could expect continued employment if they were unable to do grunt work.
Clark could easily be moved, she supposed, into a job in the editing department. She, on the other hand, had a hard time getting excited about a misplaced comma.
As they walked through Centennial Park, hoping Henderson hadn’t mistaken their lateness as an indication that they hadn’t received his message, Lois couldn’t help but notice how many people were giving them second looks - even in their disguises. It was difficult, however, disguising the fact that Clark was blind.
She could only hope someone didn’t recognize them and start snapping pictures when they were talking to Henderson. Given the clandestine nature of this meeting, it would be a shame if someone published a picture that got him fired.
“What are you thinking?” Clark asked.
“That we’re not exactly inconspicuous. People are noticing us.”
“And that if we are recognized when we meet with Henderson...”
“Right.”
“Okay, well, do you think we would be less inconspicuous if only one of us met with him? Maybe together it’s easier for us to be recognized.”
Lois let out a breath. She hated the idea, but... “What if I just have a seat here and let you go on alone?”
Clark shook his head. “If one of us is more recognizable, it would be me. How about Shadow and I stay here and you go on alone?”
“Clark...”
“Just show me to a bench, Lois. We’re close enough that I might even be able to listen in - provided this section of the park doesn’t get too noisy.”
Realizing he was right, she led him over to a nearby bench. She hated to admit it, but she’d probably get a lot less curious looks from people without him. Was this what the future held? Being unable to do something as simple as walking down the street together?
She was about to leave him behind when she suddenly stopped. “No,” she said. “We’re in this together. In fact, it’s more your story than it is mine. We try. Until it becomes painfully obvious that we can’t be seen together, we keep trying.”
* * * * * * * * *
“What took you so long?” Henderson asked. “I was about to conclude that you two weren’t as bright as I thought you were and leave.”
“Sorry, Henderson,” Lois said. “We picked up a tail leaving the Daily Planet and had to lose it.”
Lois was glad she’d made the decision that Clark should come along. Henderson seemed to have anticipated that they might attract attention and had found a bench, almost completely surrounded by trees, near the fountain. He’d only stepped out to wave to them before disappearing back into the secluded area.
“So what’s going on, Bill? Why all the cloak and dagger stuff?” Clark asked once they were settled.
“I assume you know this is off the record,” Henderson said. “So I need your word not to print anything I’m about to tell you until I say it’s okay - if it ever is.”
“No way,” Lois said.
“Then I guess this meeting is over.” Henderson rose to his feet.
“What about a compromise?” Clark said. “We agree not to print anything that could be linked back to you.”
Henderson hesitated before sitting back down. “Okay. Deal. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t in good conscience just let this one go.”
“What’s going on, Bill?” Clark asked.
“Okay, well as you’ve probably guessed, our sting operation went sideways and we lost Baby Rage.”
“Lost him?”
“They must have realized the coffin was bugged. A leak somewhere probably. So they managed to flood the cemetery with electronic interference. It disabled both the bug and the tracking device. By the time we reacted... We dug up the grave where he was supposed to have been buried this morning and there was nothing there. No casket. No Baby Rage.”
“So what’s the next step?” Lois asked.
“There is none. My superiors are planning to bury it - pretend it never happened.”
“What?” Clark gasped. “But what about Baby Rage? If we’re right, they’re planning to kill him to steal his heart. And what about all the other people who have escaped from prison using this method for the past three months.”
“That’s exactly why they plan to keep this buried. They claim it will start a panic if anyone finds out that all these dangerous criminals are back on the street.”
“So better to just pretend it never happened?” Lois asked.
“That’s the reasoning.”
“So who’s behind this? The chief? The mayor?”
“Well, the chief and the mayor agree, of course. But the driving force behind this whole coverup operation is the D.A.’s office.”
“Mayson Drake?”
“No, her boss. District Attorney Clemmons himself. Although Mayson is involved. She was the one who first discovered this plot. Someone she was questioning in preparation for a trial she was conducting let it slip. She thinks that was the reason someone tried to kill her - to keep her from spilling what she found out.”
“Is she the one who insisted no press be given information about the attempt on her life?” Lois asked.
“No, that was Clemmons. She was the one who mentioned your names specifically though. Guess she’s aware of our relationship.”
“So why go against your bosses and come to us?” Clark asked.
“Because even if he is a scumbag, I happen to believe that no one deserves to be murdered. Baby Rage is still out there and, unless it’s already too late, his life is in danger.”
“Don’t your bosses agree?”
“They don’t even buy your claim that Baby Rage was busted out of prison to provide Bill Church Senior with a new heart.”
“Of course they don’t if Mayson is involved,” Lois said.
“So... My hands are tied. Yours aren’t,” Henderson concluded.
“I’m not sure exactly what we can do,” Clark said. “We’re not exactly... unencumbered these days ourselves. And we’ve already basically shared everything we have with you. But we’ll put the word out to our sources; see what we can dig up.”
“I’ll try to keep in touch,” Henderson said. “I suspect that come tomorrow I will be able to talk to you by phone. It was just that today was a little crazy. Everyone and their mother was hanging around, hatching this plan to cover their butts. I just wanted the two of you on this as soon as possible.”
“And if we do find something... Will you be able to act on it?” Lois asked.
“If you report a crime to me... I’ll act. No one can order me not to act then.”
“We’ll do what we can, Bill,” Clark promised.
“I know you will,” Henderson said, even as he rose to his feet.
* * * * * * * * *
The bullet-ridden rental car hissed and sputtered as Nunk pulled into the only gas station in Smallville.
“Well, I guess we’re going to be sleeping in our car and eating whatever we can pick up in here,” he said as he and Lamont got out of the car.
A young man with long shaggy hair came out of the station. “You want it filled up, mister?”
“Yeah.”
“You have cash, right?” the kid said, pulling the nozzle out of the gas pump.
“Uhh... no. Credit. Do you have a washroom?”
“Out of order,” the kid said, even as he put the nozzle back in its place.
“What are you doing?” Nunk demanded.
“We only take cash.”
“Your sign says you take credit,” Nunk said, pointing to the sign in the window.
The kid glanced back at the spot Nunk was indicating. “Old sign.”
Nunk let out a breath. “Fine. So where do I get some cash?”
The kid pointed to a bank machine across the street.
Realizing by the way the kid was now resting against the building that he wouldn’t get service until he had cash, Nunk crossed the street, even as he pulled his bank card out of his wallet. He went to put the card in the cash machine when suddenly he swore.
He didn’t know why he was even surprised to find that the sign on the machine said, ‘Out Of Order.’
He walked back over to where Lamont was standing next to the car. “Bank machine is broken. Do you have any cash on you?”
“A few bucks. Probably enough to buy a couple of sandwiches.”
“Fine. That will get us through this evening. We can come back to the bank tomorrow to get...”
“Walt’s dad doesn’t open the bank on Saturday or Sunday,” the kid, still leaning against the wall, informed them.
“What?” Nunk asked.
The kid shrugged. “Just saying.”
“Then what are we supposed to do for gas?”
Again the kid shrugged, before walking back into the station.
Nunk cursed before looking over at Lamont. “Well, which is it? Gas or food? I think we have enough gas to get to Kinsley. I’m sure they must have a gas station there that will take credit.”
“Food then,” Lamont said before both men went into the store to make what purchases they could.
* * * * * * * * *
“Clark, come with me,” Lois said sometime later. After returning to the Daily Planet, she’d continued listening to the tapes from MGH while Clark called all their sources again, this time looking for information about Baby Rage or any medical professionals doing anything unethical.
When Clark rose to his feet so did Shadow. Lois led the two of them into the conference room. Once they were all settled, she turned on her tape player.
“Hi, Dad.” Bill Church Junior’s voice came over the tape loud and clear.
“Did you get it?” Senior’s voice was softer and somewhat raspy.
“Not yet. But everything’s in motion. There was a slight complication.”
“Mayson?”
“Yeah. But fortunately our source inside the D.A.’s office came through for us and we think we can counter the sting operation they’re planning to mount. We’ve got a doctor on standby.”
“So Mayson’s already shared what she knows. Since she’s no longer a threat, tell the boys to let up on her.”
“Already done - especially given how well she’s doing neutralizing those two nosy reporters. Do you think Kent is really Superman?”
“Kent? I doubt it. But the longer this whole mess continues, the longer it will keep Lane and Kent away from our operations. After all, they can hardly do their job with reporters following them everywhere they go.”
“Maybe it will get bad enough to force them to leave Metropolis.”
“Even better.”Lois flicked off the tape. “That’s really the end of anything relevant.”
“This tape is from yesterday?” Clark asked.
Lois nodded and then realizing Clark couldn’t see her, responded in the affirmative. “I think instead of picking up today’s tapes tomorrow, I should do it tonight.”
“Good idea,” Clark responded. “And I was thinking... unless we hear something from our sources, maybe we should try staking out CostMart tonight.”
“You think they might be holding Baby Rage there?”
“I think it’s our best lead at the moment.”
“Assuming he’s still alive.”
* * * * * * * * *
Nunk and Lamont looked down at their meager purchases when they exited the gas station. Two sandwiches, a bag of chips and twenty-seven cents were all they had. Still, it was early enough that they should be able to take a trip to Kinsley before dark. Then they could put into motion their plan to sneak onto the Kent property tonight. Surely somewhere on that property was the evidence they needed to give the world the definitive proof that Clark Kent was Superman. And if not... well they could always create something that they could sell to the world as definitive proof.
Nunk wasn’t certain what they were looking for. But there had to be something they could claim was proof that Kent was Superman. They’d probably even be able to sneak into the farmhouse and search the place. A farmer and his wife were probably in bed by nine and sound asleep by ten. And given the way country people were, he doubted their doors would even be locked. The most challenging part was going to be avoiding that stupid bull.
“Damn!”
Lamont’s curse brought Nunk out of his internal thoughts. “What?” he asked, looking over at Lamont.
His gaze followed where Lamont was pointing.
“Damn!” he said when he saw the flat tire... or more accurately... He moved around the car. ...four flat tires. “They’ve been slashed!”
“If you’re looking to get them repaired... We don’t take credit,” the kid said from the doorway to the gas station.
* * * * * * * * *
There was trouble almost from the first.
They’d spoken to their sources with no success, brought Perry up to speed and then decided to go to MGH to get the tapes before picking up their supper and proceeding to stake out CostMart. They would listen to the newest tape while conducting their stakeout.
Maybe their mistake had been in taking their own vehicle. But since they would not be returning to the Daily Planet again that day, it had seemed like the most viable option.
Oh, they had known that by doing that, they would pick up a tail or two. But they figured they could drive around until they were clear of parasites. What they hadn’t counted on was becoming the lead car in what quickly seemed like a parade.
Stopping at MGH had not been possible. Not without going in with an entire entourage. Just when they thought they had finally managed to shake one, another seemed to join the race. Even Lois’ somewhat wild driving style was not enough to shake them loose.
After about two hours, with Lois becoming more frustrated and thereby taking even more risks to lose their tail, they’d finally been pulled over by the police for driving over a barricade while trying to make an illegal u-turn.
The young, terrified officer had radioed a panicky call for backup when he had spotted the crowds closing in quickly on their position.
Lois’ forehead came to rest on the steering wheel when it sounded as if the entire press corp enveloped the car, ignoring the inexperienced officer whose trembling voice was insufficient to the task. The piercing sound of multiple sirens approaching was almost a relief.
At least she knew what tomorrow’s headline was going to be.
* * * * * * * * *
“Do we tell him about the tapes?” Clark asked as she and Clark sat in an interrogation room at the police station waiting for Henderson to arrive.
She reached down to give Shadow some attention, finding her nerves, which had been stretched to the breaking point for the past couple of hours, began to ease as she gently pulled on his ears making him practically purr with contentment.
“Maybe Henderson could pick them up,” Clark continued.
Lois shook her head out of habit. “We can’t do that, Clark. They aren’t exactly...”
“Legal?”
“Exactly. It would force him into an untenable position.”
Clark sighed.
Just then the door opened and Sergeant Zymak entered the room.
“Where’s Henderson?” Lois asked.
“Off for the afternoon.”
Oh, right. They knew that - damn it.
“So... can we go now?” Lois asked.
Zymak’s eyebrows rose.
“Look, we aren’t the ones who started that disturbance,” Clark said.
“Riot is more the appropriate word,” Zymak responded.
“We’re sorry that your young officer was roughed up a bit,” Clark continued, “but we had nothing to do with that.”
“You’re not here for starting a riot,” Zymak growled. “You’re here for your driving. Or are you claiming, Lane, that you didn’t drive over a barricade in an attempt to make an illegal u-turn?”
“So give me a ticket for an illegal up-turn. I’ll pay it on my way out,” Lois said dismissively even as she rose to her feet. “You have no grounds to hold us. Come on, Clark. We’re out of here.”
“I was thinking more in the neighborhood of a dangerous driving charge,” Zymak said. “We’ve been getting calls from concerned citizens about your driving for the past half hour.”
Lois sank back into her chair, staring at Zymak in disbelief. He couldn’t be serious. Dangerous driving was a criminal charge in New Troy. She’d lose her license. And since Clark couldn’t drive, it would leave them completely at the mercy of those wild animals following their every move.
It would be a nightmare.
“Come on, Sergeant,” Clark said. “You’ve seen those paparazzi out there. You take away Lois’ license and we’re...”
“...screwed,” Lois completed for him. “Completely, utterly, totally screwed.”
Zymak’s face softened slightly. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll keep your jeep in police lockup tonight and give you a ride home. You can pick up the vehicle tomorrow. At least it will keep me from having to take complaints about your driving for the rest of my shift.”
“We’re supposed to go on a stake-out tonight,” Lois objected. “How are we supposed to do that without my jeep?”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Clark said, rising to his feet. “That’s imminently reasonable of you.”
“But, Clark...”
“We’ll work it out, Lois.”
* * * * * * * * *
Their discussion of what they were going to do without Lois’ jeep had to be put on hold until they were safely inside their apartment. After all, they could hardly talk openly about it while riding in the back of the police car, dogging questions about why they were being driven home by the police from the press camped out in front of their apartment, or walking through the public hallway on the way to their apartment.
Lois opened the door and stepped inside. “Okay, so... what do we do without the jeep?” she asked as soon as Clark had closed and locked the door behind them and was bending down to release Shadow from his halter.
“Do you feel a draft?”
“What?” Lois asked, even as she felt a breeze of cold air too.
“It’s coming from...” Without completing his thought, he rose to his feet and began tapping his way across the room.
Curious, Lois followed him.
His foot crunched on something at the same moment that Lois realized the problem.
“Damn it!” she exclaimed, quickly bending down to grab Shadow’s collar so that he wouldn’t go any further. “Sit,” she commanded and Shadow quickly did as ordered, allowing her to release him.
“What?” Clark asked.
“Someone broke the window leading out to the fire escape. Are there...” Her voice trailed off as she tapped his ear. In the corner of her eye, she saw Shadow begin trotting away from them on his way to their bedroom. Good. He should be safe from the glass on the floor in there.
“No. Whatever they did, it wasn’t done to plant surveillance devices.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
