Playing catch-up on the last three sections...
Wonderful, riveting story. I loved the neat parallel of Lois and secrets, and her plea that CJ never think that keeping secrets will work between them. I tried to imagine "our" Lois making that request and... "irony" is too small a word.
Just lovely.
While the fellow's death was fairly awful, it did serve a purpose in neatly trapping Lex (especially with his "happy Snoopy dance" afterwards, ugh!), and I did like the way you made his stubborness (and stupidity) fit very nicely with his personality.
I very much enjoyed the quietish interlude, when Lois was forced to recognize that life goes on after the "next big story" and that CJ was the perfect partner. I have to admit that when Perry started chewing out the guy who kept calling in sick, I had a wild moment of wondering whether Lois was going to suggest that CJ be hired on the spot.
Then, when you so neatly tied in the Arcadia thingy... Wonderful! You do realize, don't you, that when Perry skims the article, it's also the first time that we, the readers, discover what's wrong there? Saxon alludes to it, and we see CJ and Lois react to it, but we don't actually find out what was wrong until now. BTW, I adored Perry in Perry mode. From furious boss to caring employee in sixty seconds or less!
Little typo correction from part 25: "displaying a flare" -- I admit it amused me, since CJ has a "flair" for cooking in the following section.
I'll be offline for a couple of weeks, so I might miss the next few sections. But rest assured that I look forward to reading MORE as soon as I can!
Hazel
