<<< Chapter Four >>>
Lois sat back on her couch and turned up the volume on her TV. It was Wednesday, nine-forty in the morning, and it was time for Lex’ press conference.
She hated that she couldn’t stand beside him for support, but he’d insisted – and his attorneys had agreed – that she couldn’t appear to favor him publicly. Perry had given both Lois and Clark the week off to recover, and he’d informed each of them separately that they were too close to this story to write any of it. The bylines would have to go to others at the Planet.
Clark had accepted that decision with a bit more grace than Lois had.
The camera panned back and Lois saw Deputy Chief Roberta Jean Thompson, head of the new Major Crimes Unit of the MPD, standing in the background. She wore a gray business suit which set off her long wavy auburn hair well. Her badge hung around her neck on a classy silver chain, and she wore a glued-on puckish smile. Lois assumed that she was there to present Lex with either a subpoena or a warrant as soon as the press conference was over.
Flanked by his faithful friend Asabi and two of his staff lawyers, Lex walked to the makeshift podium outside LexCorp and began his statement.
“Thank you all for coming. If you will allow me to read my statement in its entirety, I will answer any and all questions you might have.” As several of the reporters shouted unintelligible questions despite Lex’ plea, he smiled and said, “If you insist on interrupting me, I will simply have to begin my statement again.” He paused, then added, “That makes it your choice as to whether or not you make your own deadlines.”
Lois smiled despite the circumstances. The man was nothing if not charming under pressure, she thought.
Lex began reading from the clipboard in his hand. “This past weekend, beginning on Friday, I was accompanied by three friends on a long weekend sailing trip, the purpose of which was simple pleasure. On Saturday morning, we received a radio communication from Nigel St. John, who was employed as my personal assistant. He informed me that a vital document required my signature, and because the remote fax machine on board the boat was not functioning, he needed to meet with us so that I could examine the document and sign it.
“He did meet with us, but instead of bringing a document, he gathered us all in the boat’s lounge and informed us that he planned to shoot us and sink the boat with our bodies. When asked why he would do such a thing, he replied that he was working for someone else in a criminal capacity and was operating under that person’s orders.”
“Who was it?” shouted someone from the crowd.
Lex lifted his eyes from the paper. “Shall I begin again, ladies and gentlemen?”
The reporters’ collective groan made Lois giggle. It was funny as long as she wasn’t out herself there trying to get the story.
“Very well. At any rate, the identity of the person for whom Mr. St. John was working is the next morsel of information in my statement. Oh, by the way, copies of this statement will be released to all interested media as soon as this conference is completed.”
“So keep going already!” another person called out.
Lex allowed a small smile, then lifted the clipboard again. “The person Mr. St. John claimed to be working for is Dr. Arianna Carlin.” He paused as a gasp came from the crowd, then continued. “For those few of you who do not already know, Dr. Carlin is my former wife. She had a lucrative practice as a psychologist at her office in upstate New Troy, a practice which was apparently a front for her criminal activity. Her patient list included a number of felons involved in an early release program operated by the state of New Troy, from which she may have recruited some of her associates.”
He lifted his free hand to forestall any questions. “Once Mr. St. John had gathered the four of us below the main deck, he assaulted one of my guests and shot another. Because of my own incipient paranoia, I had secreted a pistol in my pocket, and I shot Mr. St. John to death before he could slay all four of us.
“The guest who was shot might well have died had Ultra Woman not happened along. Apparently the sight of a cruiser with a runabout tied to it, sitting idly on the ocean with no one topside, piqued her curiosity sufficiently to cause her to investigate. She transported the wounded person to a hospital in Metropolis, where that person’s condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. The attending physicians believe that the person will make a full recovery.
“I must pause here to verbalize my great appreciation to Ultra Woman. Had she not appeared when she did, that person might not have survived. I thank you, Ultra Woman.”
He paused again as a murmur ran through the crowd, then he took a deep breath and continued. “My security division has, at my direction, mapped out a number of paramilitary operations to rescue those who are either close to me or are vital to the ongoing success of Lex Industries. Under my orders – and I wish to make clear that they were my orders alone, that no one else advised me on this decision – my security team attempted to isolate and capture Dr. Carlin from her home.”
He stopped and rubbed his face with his free hand. “This operation did not proceed as planned. Dr. Carlin’s own bodyguards initiated a firefight in which two of them died and two of LexCorp’s security team lost their lives. Their names are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. Several members of LexCorp’s security team were also wounded, but these injuries are not life-threatening.”
He stopped and lowered the clipboard. “I take full responsibility for this incident. I admit publically to sending those people in harm’s way, and I alone am responsible for the injuries they sustained and for – for the lives which were lost. I will submit myself to the authority of our legal system and will abide by the decisions rendered therein.” His mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t because of the circumstances. “And yes, I’m driving my attorneys insane at the moment, so you need not ask that question.”
He lowered the clipboard and sighed deeply. “I will now take questions from – wait a moment, please.”
Lois frowned as Chief Thompson tugged on Lex’ sleeve, then whispered to him. He looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.
The woman pushed her glasses up on her nose and smiled sweetly at the assembled media representatives. “Hi there, y’all,” she drawled in her honeyed Alabama accent. “For those of you who haven’t met me yet, I’m Deputy Chief Roberta Jean Thompson, head of Major Crimes division of the Metropolis Police Department. My friends call me Bobbie or Bobbie Jean. We’re kind of a new division, y’see, and we’re still findin’ our way a bit, but I do have some news which Mr. Luthor hasn’t had the opportunity to learn. And I assure you that it is very pertinent to this case.”
She pulled a sheaf of paper out of her blazer and began to read. “Early this morning, a man who had died in the Metropolis interstate bus terminal early Monday morning was identified as Bradley Carson. Mr. Carson was most recently employed as the groundskeeper at the estate of Dr. Arianna Carlin. The – y’all hold on and I’ll try to answer your questions, okay?” She smiled sweetly until the crowd calmed down. “Mr. Carson’s death was, at first, assumed to be due to a heart attack, but one of the transportation officers who responded to the report of his death fell ill the next day and nearly died himself. That’s kinda coincidental, ain’t it? We thought so too. As it turns out, Mr. Carson was carrying a large sum of counterfeit money, and when we sent a sample of the bills to Star Labs for analysis, we discovered that the money contained a poison which was absorbed through Mr. Carson’s skin. That’s what killed him, and in fact nearly killed the transportation officer.” She paused and adjusted her glasses. “We do anticipate a complete recovery for that officer.”
She looked at her notes again. “Let’s see – ah, yes. A nineteen eighty-three Buick sedan ran off the interstate and crashed in southern Virginia late Monday afternoon. Both occupants of the car were dead when Virginia state troopers arrived on the scene. There were no indications of the causes of death for these occupants, and when the Virginia troopers discovered a large amount of cash among the victims’ belongings, they immediately took precautions and contacted the Metropolis police department. They also sent a sample of the money, which turned out to be counterfeit. It also had the same nori – I mean, neurotoxin embedded in the fibers.” She turned to Lex and grinned for a moment. “Them three-dollar words throw me sometimes, y’know?”
She lowered the paper and swept off her glasses. “We have identified these people as Yvette Jones and Roger Pulaski, known associates of Nigel St. John and Dr. Arianna Carlin. They had among their belongings several unlicensed firearms and alternate forms of identification, along with a cell phone with several numbers which have drawn the interest of Federal authorities. Now y’all please don’t ask me any more about those numbers because I cain’t tell you anything about them. That aspect of the investigation is a matter for the FBI.”
A man in the crowd burst out, “You mean this is a Federal case now?”
“No,” answered the chief. “The FBI and the state of Virginia and the Metropolis Police Department are all cooperating on this case. We intend to capture Dr. Carlin and subject her to the full extent of Federal law, New Troy state law, and Virginia state law.” Thompson grinned lopsidedly. “This lady seems to have been very, very naughty.”
A woman shouted, “So what happens to Lex Luthor?”
Chief Thompson replaced her glasses and lifted the paper again. “At this time, the city of Metropolis is not bringing charges against Mr. Luthor. We believe that he acted rashly but not illegally in attempting to capture Dr. Carlin. His security team trespassed on Dr. Carlin’s property, but they did not initiate hostilities and discharged their firearms – which were legally owned by and registered to LexCorp Security – only in their own defense. Now, that don’t mean that charges might not be filed later on, if we receive information which might justify said charges. The ones what hadn’t been filed yet, I mean.”
Another woman called out, “What about the machine gun and the bazooka and the tank?”
The chief looked startled. “Tank?” She turned to Lex and smiled. “You have a tank, Mr. Luthor? I’d love to see that little toy of yours.”
Lex’ eyes widened for a moment and he shrugged. “Oops. I guess we ought not to be startin’ rumors,” said the chief. Then she turned to the microphones. “As I said, the city of Metropolis is not bringing charges at this time. Now I got no idea about any possible Federal legal action. Y’all will have to talk to someone else about that. All I can tell you is that from the testimony we have received from Mr. Luthor – who, I must say, has cooperated fully with this department – and from the security team which approached Dr. Carlin’s house, Mr. Luthor’s team was tasked with capturing Dr. Carlin, not shooting her. Thank you. That’s all I have.”
She smiled widely and turned to step back into the row of spectators. Lois was impressed. The woman looked like a pushover, but she had steel under her sensibly stylish outfit. Lois suspected that even Ultra Woman would have a hard time intimidating her.
For one of the few times since Lois had met Lex, he looked puzzled and uneasy. He leaned over to one of his attorneys and whispered into the man’s ear, then listened to the response.
Lex then straightened his suit jacket and returned to the podium. “Thank you, Chief Thompson. I will now accept questions from the media.”
He pointed to a tall man in the middle. “Bret Summers, WMET news! Mr. Luthor, what will you do with your security service?”
Lex’ eyebrows rose. “What will I do with them? What do you mean?”
“Will you disband your Imperial Storm Trooper security service and allow the police to do their job?”
“Ah. Touché, Mr. Summers. No, I will not disband LexCorp’s security division. The people employed by my companies deserve to be safe while at work or while traveling to and from their jobs. The mission of LexCorp Security is to protect LexCorp’s people and physical assets from harm, and they will continue to perform that function. Next, please?”
“Mr. Luthor! Barbara Watterson, Metropolis Star! Do you believe that you would be celebrated as a hero today if your mission to capture Dr. Carlin had succeeded?”
Something changed in Lex’ eyes, something Lois suspected only a few could have picked up. “I suppose we’ll never know that, Ms. Watterson. And I prefer not to speculate. Next?”
“Eduardo Salinas, Daily Planet! Do you intend to mount any more paramilitary operations in the future?”
Lex frowned. “No. One of the things the District Attorney has made clear to us is that we are not law enforcement and we are not to behave as if we were. I completely agree with that sentiment, and I have instructed LexCorp security to remove any such plans from the active files and shred them.”
“Shred them?” shouted Eduardo before anyone else could. “Isn’t that destroying evidence?”
“No, it is not. Those are copies. The originals are held in archive storage and cannot be accessed by any but LexCorp’s legal team. We are merely removing the possibility of another operation like the one to which we are referring here.”
Lois picked up the remote and clicked off the TV. She knew the kinds of things the media would throw at him. Had she not been involved with him, she would have thrown some of them herself.
But she couldn’t get involved in the story. She hated to admit it, but Perry was right. She was too close to it, and too close to Lex, to be an objective and disinterested observer. She cared too much what happened to him, and there was no way for her not to slant what she wrote.
She could, however, do some good as Ultra Woman. She decided to drop in on Deputy Chief Roberta Jean Thompson and offer her official testimony. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in authority except Bill Henderson since the shooting, and she thought it would be a good idea to get her side of the story down on paper.
Then maybe she’d fly some extra patrols. Lex would be busy all day, and Lois hated being inactive. Should something happen with Rebecca, Clark could contact her immediately.
Maybe catching a few criminals would help to settle her mind.
Then she had a thought. Lex had told her that one of Arianna’s guards had been captured, but no one had mentioned it during the press conference. That meant that Arianna probably didn’t know about it yet either.
A sly smile grew on her lips. Maybe Ultra Woman could have a heart-to-heart with that person, just to ask a few innocuous questions. And maybe Bill Henderson could get her in to see that person. As a professional courtesy, of course.
*****
Corrections Officer Jack Wilson was beaten. He knew it, and he knew the scary woman in the starry skin-tight outfit knew it. The only thing he didn’t know was how to admit it.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and nearly gave him an aneurysm. “Officer Wilson, I wish to converse with the woman who was captured during the firefight at Dr. Arianna Carlin’s residence. I am Ultra Woman. Surely you cannot believe that she represents a danger to me, or that I would allow her to escape.”
Somehow he ripped his eyes away from her chest and took a breath. “Look, Ultra Woman, I know who you are and I know you keep your word. I just don’t have the authority to let you in to see her.”
“I must speak with her now.”
“She’s not even in the general population yet!”
The eyes behind the cowl narrowed. “You need not raise your voice for me to hear you.”
He sighed. The sense of restrained power coming off her mixed with her apparent total lack of understanding of what she was doing to him by just standing there, all capable and confident and sexier than any of the porn stars in his collection at home. He didn’t know how to deal with her.
The women from the DA’s office were usually plain – at least they dressed plain when they came to visit jail inmates – and he knew to react to them with hands-off respect and eyes at eyebrow level. Some female prisoners were loud, some were flirty, some were violent, and some were like the one Ultra Woman wanted to see, cagey and full of fake smarts. He knew to treat them like a lot of Hollywood people treated extras, the ones they called “scenery that eats.” And the few female visitors were no mystery to him either. They were real people, but they cared nothing about him except how to get past him to their loved ones. Those he tried to shield from the worst aspects of the jail and its temporary inmates.
But he had no idea how to deal with this woman, who exuded confidence and sex and power and control and rock-solid determination all at once.
He realized that she’d said something he’d completely missed. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
The muscles on one side of her face tightened for a moment, like she was forcing herself not to pull his arms off. “I suggested that you pick up that telephone on your desk and contact your supervisor. If you are unable to grant me access to this prisoner, perhaps he or she is able.”
Jack grasped at the idea like a drowning man would reach for a rope. “Yeah! I’ll do that.”
As he dialed his supervisor’s number, he realized that he’d have to get rid of his porn collection. No two-dimensional bimbo on any video screen or printed page could ever compete with the complete, real-life woman in front of him.
The knowledge that he’d never have any chance with her – not if they were the last two humans alive in the entire universe – made no difference.
*****
Karen Vollmer shuffled into the interview room and plopped down on the chair indicated by the corrections officer. Another conversation with the police, another set of questions, another set of pat answers. She knew that as long as she acted like she was nothing more than a hired gun, they wouldn’t dig any deeper and find out just how much she really knew.
That was her ace in the hole. That was her leverage to use against Dr. Carlin when she got out of this stinkhole. And she’d use it for all she was worth.
They’d kept her isolated since her arrest, and she was hoping for a new cell. The one she’d been in smelled like the previous occupant had been incontinent, and the odor was starting to get to her. Just because the bed sheets were freshly laundered didn’t mean the mattress wasn’t soaked with all sorts of bodily fluids.
The door opened behind her and she heard the guard leave. Maybe that meant that the real dealing would start.
But the woman who sat down across from her wasn’t a cop or a lawyer. She wore a skin-tight deep blue outfit dotted with tiny sparkles that caught the light. Her clothes flowed with the movements of her body as if it were a second skin. Even her cowl fit over her head as if she’d been born with it. The clothes might have belonged to a stripper or a hooker, but no one she’d ever known could have worn that suit without looking the part. This woman’s body language said she was all business.
It was the eyes, though, that scared Karen. They were hard and dark and angry. And they were staring at her. Just staring.
Karen knew she was fidgeting, but she couldn’t sit still. That flat stare seemed to look right through her – no, it seemed to look inside her where she didn’t want anyone to see, where she herself didn’t go, into the depths of her soul and her guilt.
It was too much. She couldn’t keep silent.
“You just gonna sit there and stare at me?”
The stare continued for a long moment, then the woman said, “Do you know who I am?”
“No. Wait, you’re an exotic dancer and you want a job reference. No, you’re the new Princess of Wales and you need my fashion advice. No, you’re – “
The woman leaped to her feet and leaned over the table. “I am Ultra Woman!”
Oh, yeah, that was genius, Karen, smart off at someone who can fry you with her eyes. Real good choice.
Ultra Woman slowly returned to her seat. “Do you have any more witticisms to offer or are you prepared to answer my questions?”
“Uh – uh – I – uh – I’ll answer. The questions, I mean, I’ll answer your questions.”
Ultra Woman nodded. “Good. According to police records, there were five people at the estate guarding Dr. Carlin, plus one non-combatant. The names of the armed occupants were Karen Vollmer – you – Roger something, you do not recall his last name, Beth-Ann Reynolds, Paul Snider, and Yvette Jones. Is that correct?”
She was going over old ground. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. “Yes.”
“What was your function?”
“Me? I was one of Dr. Carlin’s bodyguards.”
“Dr. Carlin had five bodyguards?”
“Yes.”
“Why so many?”
“Hey, everybody’s got to sleep and pee sometime.”
“So you had rotating duty assignments?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“To keep everyone fresh and alert, yes?”
“Uh-huh.”
Ultra Woman leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs in a figure-four pattern Karen rarely saw in a woman. “Tell me, Ms. Vollmer, are you aware of the disposition of your former colleagues?”
Karen frowned in thought. Why ask that one, and why now? “I know the guys who took down the estate killed Paul Snider when he opened up on them. I don’t know where anyone else is now.”
“I have permission from Inspector William Henderson to enlighten you as to their whereabouts. May I proceed?”
Karen shrugged and the woman kept speaking. “Mr. Bradley Carson – the groundskeeper whose name you did not recall – died at the Metropolis bus terminal. He had in his possession a large amount of cash which was laced with a toxin which he ingested by skin contact. Yvette Jones and Roger Pulaski were found dead in a wrecked automobile in the state of Virginia. The cause of death was the same as Mr. Carson’s. Beth-Ann Reynolds died at the scene of the battle. Her machine-gun position was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and destroyed. She died instantly.”
Karen was horrified. And she knew it showed on her face. Carlin had killed them – had killed them all, even Beth-Ann, just to make herself safe. She was the only one left alive. The only one who could name names and give dates.
And Carlin would come after her next.
“Please!” Karen grabbed the table for support. “Please! You have to protect me! You have to keep her away from me! She’s going to kill me if you don’t help me!”
Ultra Woman’s eyebrows bent down. “Me? Protect you? Ms. Vollmer, I protect the innocent. You do not fall into that category.”
“But I – I have information! I can tell you things! I know things that will hurt her! But you have to help me! You have to protect me!”
“In truth, Ms. Vollmer, I need not do any such thing.”
Before Karen could babble another syllable, the door behind her opened. She stiffened, knowing that Carlin’s killer had found her.
“Unfortunately, Ultra Woman,” said a man’s voice behind her, “I do have to protect her.”
Ultra Woman stood and stepped to one side. “There is a chair here for you, Inspector William Henderson.”
“Thank you, Ultra Woman.”
Karen stared at him. They’d foxed her. They’d scared her so bad that she’d blurted out the truth, that she knew far more than any mere bodyguard should know. All they’d done was tell her some story about Beth-Ann and the rest and she’d caved.
If she spilled her guts Carlin would find out. If she didn’t, Carlin would still come after her to keep her from telling all she knew. If the police tried to protect her, they might keep her alive until Carlin’s trial, which might be years from now. But without that protection, her life expectancy in prison was next to zero. Karen might not live to be convicted of the lesser charges they’d already brought against her.
Either way she was screwed.
Henderson set the same small recorder on the table in front of her and switched it on. “Now, Ms. Vollmer, let’s you and me have a real talk.”
Yep, she was totally screwed, all right.
