The Rival - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
Lois looked around and stepping to Perry's door, closed it.
That action piqued Perry's interest and he started to smile.
Once the door was closed, Lois and Clark moved closer to Perry's desk. Clark said, "We suspect …"
Lois interrupted, "Believe. We believe that we really haven't been being scooped. It's all been a set-up by the Star to boost their circulation."
Clark continued, "The same edition that had the story about the hotel fire there was an editorial demanding changes in the fire department."
When he paused for a breath, Lois picked up the tale, "In the same edition that had the story about the elevator ‘accident'." She used finger quotes, "there was an editorial demanding stronger building codes in view of the accident. How could he have had the editorials in the same edition? He'd have to be either a very fast writer or … have previous knowledge of what was to happen."
Clark added, "The fire chief has declared the hotel fire to be arson."
Lois gave Clark an adoring look as she said, "We have a piece of the elevator cable being analyzed. It looks like it was cut."
Clark pointed out, "And in both cases, Linda King was on scene and received a call from Preston Carpenter, confirming her location just prior to the incident."
Lois said, "Today, Linda received a call just before the Orani jewels were to be presented by the Omiri Premier. It was purely accidental that the perpetrators got themselves trapped in that closet."
"I think that proves that Linda is in the clear on these, though. When the incident failed to materialize she at least acted as if she didn't expect anything. I think we can get her to work with us to prove what's happening."
Perry dropped into his chair and looked back and forth at them. He quipped, "Listening to the two of you go back and forth like that is like watching a ping-pong match." He shook his head, "I wish the rest of my staff worked as well together as the two of you. Okay, so how do we go about proving all of this?"
Clark replied, "I think we need to approach Linda and ask her to help. The other day she asked me to walk her to the subway entrance. On the way she confided to me that Carpenter was hitting on her and she is uneasy about getting so many headlines in such a short time. I think she is suspicious."
Lois quipped, "I'm suspicious of her motives."
Clark ignored her and said, "She also confided in me that Carpenter's idol is Charles Foster Kane. Remember the movie starring Orson Wells."
At the name Wells, Lois gasped and then relaxed. He wasn't speaking of Herb.
Clark continued as if he hadn't heard her, "Linda said that Carpenter said that Kane not only reported the news, he made it. He set out an agenda for the country. Did you get that - he made the news. That's what is happening here. We think that Carpenter is manufacturing these emergencies to generate headlines."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carpenter called Stark into his office.
Once he entered, Carpenter challenged, "What happened? Where was the team of thieves? Why didn't they steal those jewels? Why didn't they kill the Premier?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know and I don't know. I wasn't there. They were only allowing so many of the press and dignitaries. At the last second those two reporters from the Planet were added to the list by Wallace and I got bumped off."
"King was there. I called and checked. If the job had gone down she would have reported it. According to the story in the Planet the team was trapped in a storeroom and captured by SWAT. That wasn't supposed to happen. This is going to make it that much harder to put the Planet out of business. Let's move ahead with the next job."
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 06
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Clark called the Star using Linda King's direct line. "Linda, Clark Kent."
"Oh, hi, Clark. Congratulations on the story."
"That's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. Listen, what are you doing for lunch?"
"No plans."
"Carpenter hasn't sent you anywhere today?"
"Not as yet, why?"
"Oh, just curious. Listen, how does the Press Club at twelve-thirty sound?"
"You want me to meet you for lunch? What would Lois say?"
"I don't know. You can ask her when you arrive."
"Oh, she'll be there?"
"Linda, she
is my wife."
"Yeah, I wish we could change that." That last was muttered almost under her breath, but Clark's super-hearing picked it up. Then she said, aloud, "I'll meet you at twelve-thirty."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After the first few uncomfortable minutes, Lois started to lose some of her animosity toward Linda, after all, here she was, happily married to the greatest guy in the world, while Linda was still single and with no apparent prospects, other than Preston Carpenter.
Between the two of them they laid out the story, what they suspected and what they already had proof of.
When they finished, Linda stared at them in disbelief and pushed back from the table. She was in a state of denial because she had a hard time believing that she had been duped so thoroughly.
To reiterate, Clark said, "Think about it. Carpenter always calls to verify your location, right? He's the publisher; he doesn't need to do that."
Lois added, "Unless he needs to make sure his man, or woman, is in place before he pulls the trigger on whatever he's got planned."
Clark added, "Like the elevator cable. Lab results are back. Definitely cut. It was no accident. You just happened to be there. Just like you happened to be at the fire which has been declared to be arson. Convenient timing, wouldn't you say?"
Lois pointed out, "Just like Carpenter happens to have an editorial ready to run in the same edition for each incident."
As Lois and Clark had been reciting all of their evidence, Linda had slowly relaxed and moved back to the table. It was quite a convincing litany. Linda slowly exhaled a big breath and said, "I feel so … so …"
Lois provided, "Abused? Duped? Used?"
Linda snapped, some of the old hostility coming to the surface, "What are you, a
thesaurus?"
Clark, ever the peacemaker said, "Why don't you both put this on hold? We have a lot of work to do."
Lois gave Linda a look which clearly said that she was excluded and said, "We? ‘We’ is an inclusive term Clark, one used to indicate all people present. That would be a clear misuse."
Following along on her earlier theme, Linda snapped at Lois, "What are you now, a
dictionary?"
Trying to prevent any more fireworks, Clark said, "Bottom line, it's a Planet story."
Lois nodded and agreed, "Absolutely."
Clark added, "Which we can't possibly prove or print without Linda's help."
Linda was mollified by his statement, "Exactly!" Still not sure what part she was to play, she asked, "What am I supposed to do? Walk up and say, 'Hi, boss, where are you staging your next disaster?'"
Clark downplayed her concerns by saying, "All you need to do is get Carpenter out of his office long enough for us to get into his computer.”
Linda was mystified and asked, "How?"
Lois threw another barb, " You could use your 'other talents.' It wouldn't be the first time."
More reasonably, Clark said, "You said he'd been hitting on you. Maybe you could ... hit back?"
Linda saw that they were serious and started thinking how to go about it and nodded her head in understanding and agreement. Her part would be the simple part.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They left the Press Club separately, but they all headed in the same direction. They all entered the Star building separately. Linda came in the normal way, through the doors in the lobby while Clark flew himself and Lois to the roof.
They had made arrangements to meet on Carpenter's office floor. Linda was a little surprised when she found Lois and Clark waiting for her. She pointed to Carpenter's office door and then herself. She pointed at a door across the hall and then at them.
Lois nodded and used her lock picks to open the office door so that she and Clark could hide.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Linda opened Carpenter's door and boldly stepped in.
When she entered she found Carpenter in the process of donning his jacket and so preoccupied that at first he didn't notice her. When he did, he smiled, but then it turned to a look of disappointment as he said, "I'm afraid I've only got a few minutes. What can I do for you?"
Linda had been thinking all the way back from lunch as to what tack to take and she had come up with a very plausible topic, one which would play to his overinflated ego, "Well, I think the question is: What can I do for you? I just read the latest sales projections. Soon the Metropolis Star will be the most widely read paper in the country. It's all because of you. Congratulations."
Carpenter stopped what he was doing to smile and say, "May she be a beacon for the nation."
She realized that Lois had been right. If she wanted to completely control this situation she would have to use her ‘other' talents, her feminine wiles. She changed her tone to what almost amounted to a ‘come hither' as she said, "I was hoping you might like to join me for lunch. As my guest. To celebrate."
Linda was disappointed when Carpenter said, "That's very tempting. But as I said, I'm somewhat pressed for time today."
She knew that she had to be able to control his movements. She couldn't allow him to interrupt Lois and Clark in their activities so she decided to pull out the ‘big guns'. She swayed over and perched on the edge of Carpenter's desk. When she did, her skirt hiked up to show a lot of leg.
When she saw Carpenter stare at her display she knew that his weakness for women was obvious. She also knew that she had played her trump card at just the right time. She slid her hand over her bare thigh which he followed hungrily with his eyes and she said, "Preston, even a busy publisher has to eat."
Carpenter swallowed hard and said, "After the other night, I wasn't sure you shared my interest in moving our relationship beyond just business."
Linda put on a pouty face and said, "Now who would have guessed a charming man like you could have any insecurities?"
She slid off the desk. As she did, the movement pulled her skirt that much higher and showed even more leg, but as she stood it fell back to just shy of knee length. She swayed over and started playing with his tie. She asked, "So, can we 'make it happen’?"
Carpenter offered a compromise, which wouldn't fulfill her commitment, "Maybe we should just eat here."
Almost too hastily, Linda replied, "Oh, no. We should go out. Someplace nice. Drinks, champagne. Then, well, who knows? So, where should we go?"
Linda knew she had won when he said, "I know just the place."
Linda hooked her arm around his and he started to lead her out. He said, "You're a very interesting woman, Linda." As they exited the office, carpenter pulled out a key and locked it behind them.
Linda replied, "And the day is still young." Linda wasn't worried about the lock. She had just had a demonstration of how adept Lois was with picking locks.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Clark had been watching with his x-ray vision and when he saw Linda and Carpenter leave his office and head for the elevator, he told Lois so. When they were safely on board they exited the office, crossed the hall and entered Carpenter's office.
As soon as they entered, Lois spotted the computer on the very ornate desk. She headed straight for it as Clark locked the office door behind them. Lois had her eyes on the computer screen as Clark approached.
She muttered, "We're in luck. I know this program. I used to use it myself."
Suddenly the door knob rattled as someone tried to enter. They looked at one another. Lois was thinking, <Linda let us down.>
Clark was thinking, <We have to hide.>
Clark heard the jungle of keys as whoever was outside looked for the correct one.
Clark indicated the knee hole under the desk and whispered, "Quick, under there."
She looked at it and said, "It's not big enough for both of us."
They could both hear the key being inserted into the lock. As she started to crawl into the hole she whispered, "What about you?"
He whispered, "Just stay there."
She whispered, "What are you going to do? You don't have the power of invisibility."
Clark looked around for a place to hide. Seeing none, he floated up to the ceiling, over the door.
As he watched, Stark entered. He crossed to the side of the room and picked up a walking stick that Carpenter carried for show. As he did, Clark moved so that he stayed directly above him. Stark would have to look directly up in order to see him. Then Stark thought of another item he needed, Carpenter's briefcase. He snapped it shut and walked out, locking the door behind himself.
As he left, Clark floated back down to the floor as Lois crawled out from under the desk. She said, "That was close. Where did you hide?"
He decided to play a joke on her and pointed to a spindly potted plant in a corner.
Lois looked at the plant and then back at him in disbelief, shaking her head.
He relented and said, “I floated above his head. Let's not waste any time. He may come back."
Lois tapped a few keys and muttered, "We're in. Here's his sub-directory."
Looking over her shoulder, Clark was reading the screen. He questioned, "What's that file? Musings?"
Lois double clicked on it and after it opened they began to read.
Lois mused, "Looks like a personal diary." After reading further she said, "This man is very sick. In an x-rated kind of way."
Clark mused, "Let's hope that Linda doesn't have to call his bluff."
Lois quipped, "Don't worry. They're probably perfect for each other."
"Lois, this isn't helping. We're looking for proof, not scandal. Try another file." He pointed at the screen and said, "Try that one."
Lois double clicked on it, but it failed to open. Instead a password window popped up.
Lois mused, "This must be it. But we need a password to get into it."
Clark offered, "Try Kane. K A N E. Linda said that he has a Citizen Kane fixation.
Lois tried several combinations with and without capitals. None were successful, she said, "Nope. Let's see. How about .."
They simultaneously said, "Rosebud."
Lois looked at Clark with appreciation and said, "Great minds think alike. We're in."
Pointing at the screen, Clark said, "Look, there's the editorial that went with the hotel fire …"
Scrolling down through the files, Lois spotted another and said, "There's the one on building inspections that ran with the elevator accident."
Lois scrolled farther down and saw a title that looked intriguing. She opened the file and started to read, "'An eye for an eye is the only course this country can take after today's brutal assassination of Secretary Wallace at his hotel by Omiri extremists ...'" She paused in her reading, "Wallace isn't dead."
Clark's statement was cryptic, "Yet."
"Oh My God, Clark. Do you think that Carpenter plans to kill Wallace? Do you think that Carpenter's willing to kill a member of the cabinet to sell a few papers?"
Clark nodded, "I wouldn't put anything past him. I think he would even drag us into a war. And he'd also be willing to kill Linda if he knew she was on to him. Let's go."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carpenter had taken Linda to the restaurant in the lobby of the International Hotel. He had gotten them a table right next to the window which gave a complete view of the front of the hotel and the street.
Looking out the window, Carpenter saw Stark when he arrived. He also saw the two men he had with him. They were dressed in conservative business suits and looked like they could be secret service. As he watched, Stark and the other two approached a parking valet and a gardener that were both working in the front of the hotel. As he watched the five moved out of sight around the building. Smiling in satisfaction, he turned back to the conversation he was having with Linda.
As he turned away from the window, Linda leaned toward him, giving him a chance to look down her bodice and asked, "So tell me, what's next for Preston Carpenter? Running for president?"
Carpenter was distracted by her display and said, "Perhaps. But only as an interim step."
Linda smiled sweetly and asked, "Interim to what?"
As he replied, he lost his lecherous stare at her breasts and the light of fanaticism she had seen once before lit his eyes, "My next goal is to convince the governments of the world that we need an International Federation. A United Nations with real teeth. A government to govern all governments."
As Linda heard the words, they sounded at least a little altruistic, but the megalomania behind them was very evident. She decided that if she played along she might get more information, "And who could possibly head such a body?"
She knew she had struck a nerve when he smiled a self-satisfied smile. She was hoping that he would declare his motives, but the moment was lost when his body-guard, Stark, approached the table and whispered in Carpenter's ear.
After Stark had delivered his message, Carpenter turned to Linda and said, "Excuse me. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Linda's curiosity was aroused so she asked, "Can I come with you?"
Speaking to her as if placating a five year-old, Carpenter said, "Why don't you order dessert for us?
Linda watched as the two men left and then turned back to the window. When she did, she saw a taxi pull up and Lois and Clark pile out.
Linda knew that things must be breaking in order for them to show up. She looked for Carpenter, but he was nowhere to be seen. She pushed away from the table, threw down her napkin and strode quickly from the restaurant, meeting Lois and Clark in the street.
Linda was indignant that they had shown up when she was pumping Carpenter for information. "What are you doing here? You'll blow everything!"
Clark cut her off, "Carpenter is going to kill Secretary Wallace!"
Lois added, "He's already written the editorial. We found it on his computer. All he needs is your 'exclusive' report."
Clark looked around and then said, "Stay here. I'm going in to warn the Secretary."
Lois knew exactly what he needed to do and said, "Go."
Linda gave Lois a skeptical look and repeated his command, "'Stay here.' Guess we know who calls the shots on your team."
Lois rolled her eyes and replied, "Linda, what you don't know would fill an encyclopedia."
Linda replied, "I just know what I see."
Lois wanted desperately to be in on the action and looking around said, "Stay here. I'm going after Clark." She started to run off.
As soon as Lois turned to move away, Linda was right on her heels muttering to herself, "Nice try, Lane. You're not freezing me out of this story."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When Clark left Lois and Linda on the street he headed into the hotel. He was determined to simply warn Secretary Wallace of the danger and let his security detail handle it since there was no immediate threat. When he had looked around, while out in the street, he had surveyed the surroundings and had not seen any gunmen or any other threat so he didn't think that Superman needed to intervene.
As he entered, he looked around for Secretary Wallace and his entourage. He didn't see any signs of them so he decided they must still be in his suite. The quickest way for him to reach that would be the stairs, so he disappeared into the stairwell.
As the door to the stairwell was closing behind him, Lois and Linda entered the lobby through another door and stopped to look around.
When they did, Linda spotted Carpenter, Stark and two others, one dressed like a gardener and the other a parking valet were entering an elevator. Linda pointed and said, "There they are."
After the doors had closed they approached and Lois noted that the indicator was going down. She noted a nearby stairwell and said, "Come on," and led the way through and down the stairs at a run.
Lois and Linda paused at the landing only long enough to stop gasping for breath from their run and Lois cracked the door and peered out. When she did she saw Carpenter and his men moving down the corridor.
Lois saw them pass through a set of swinging doors. As soon as they were out of sight, she threw open the door and the two women followed them. Lois saw the plaque that read Banquet Kitchen and sneaking up to the door, raised her head only high enough that she could peer through the porthole style window that was inset.
Linda looked through the other window. They both saw Carpenter and Stark and the other two huddled around a table.
Lois whispered, "One of us should notify the police. The other should stay on the story."
Linda replied, "Great idea. You take the police."
Lois looked at Linda and said, "I thought you'd handle that."
Linda replied, "Think again."
Before Lois could stop her, Linda pushed through the doors silently.
Thinking, <Clark is going to kill me.> Lois followed her through.
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