By the time Lois wound down enough to sleep, Clark still hadn’t arrived. Cat yawned, told her that he’d surely gone home to his own apartment, and said that it was her turn to sleep on Lois’ couch.
Lois undressed and lay down in an oversized football jersey she found in her closet. Seconds later she was asleep.
*****
Early the next morning, Cat gently nudged her awake. “Lois, honey, I’m going home now. Do you want me to call someone for you?”
Lois sat up and rubbed her eyes once. “No, that’s okay. You and I need to touch base with Clark this morning, though, probably best for us to meet him at your place. And can you email Shane Johnson at the boxing commission and have him stop the fights? I’ll leave his address on your voicemail.”
“Where will you be?”
Lois turned away and slid out of bed. “I have an errand I have to run this morning.”
Cat paused a moment, then smiled and said, “No problem. I’ll look for you, when, about ten-thirty?”
“What time is it now?”
“It’s just now seven-thirty.”
Lois sat on the foot of the bed and massaged her knee. “Yeah, about then.”
“Okay. Later.”
*****
Lois entered the gym for the second time that day. At least this time it was during the morning daylight hours and she used the front door.
She walked toward the locker area where her father was examining a young man who wore a fresh pressure wrap around his waist and shoulder. “That should do it,” her dad told him. “Now, I want you to baby it for a few days and we’ll check it again. Light workouts only, lots of supervised stretching, absolutely no lifting weights, and no sparring! You wait for me to give you a clean bill of health.” The young man grinned and nodded, then stood and walked away. Sam Lane picked up a towel and was drying his hands when he realized his daughter was standing in front of him. “Lois? It’s good to see you, but why are you here?”
“Look, this – this isn’t easy for me, so I’ll get right to it. I know about the surgeries you performed. I know—”
He turned and tossed the towel into a hamper. “I have nothing to say about that.”
“Dad! I need to know! Not as a reporter, but as your daughter.”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell—”
“I will not let you shut me out!” she growled. “Not after I killed this story!”
He spun and stared with wide eyes. “You what?”
“If we’d published it, you could have been hurt, even murdered!”
“You should have written it.”
“Oh, right, so Lucy and I could visit the morgue and identify your body!”
“Keep your voice down. Besides, it’s my problem, not yours.”
“Of course it’s my problem! You’re my father! I care about you!”
“This has nothing to do with caring, Lois!”
“Right! You would say that!”
“You think I don’t know anything about caring! I know you resent me for all those times I let you down. And you should, you really should. I was a louse, a heel, but it was all because of my work!”
“Oh, yeah, your all-important work! Building machinery to beat men’s brains in!”
He snapped a hand between them as if brushing away an insect. “Not at first! At first I wanted to build replacement parts for victims of catastrophic injury. And not just athletes! I’m talking about people hurt in car wrecks or industrial accidents, those with birth defects – ” he gestured toward her bad knee “ – soldiers wounded in battle. That’s a good dream, Lois, it’s noble! It’s worth sacrificing for.”
She couldn’t control the quaver in her voice. “It’s worth sacrificing your family?”
He turned away and sighed. “You always think you’ll make it up to them. But then time gets away from you – and you never do.”
Lois thought of a dozen barbs she could throw at him, a dozen blows to land on his heart, a dozen more insults to pile up between them. But that wasn’t the story.
And it wouldn’t ease her pain – or his – in the least.
She stepped closer and stood almost at attention before him. “Did Menken kill Allie?”
Sam turned away and gazed at nothing across the gym. “I’ve been afraid to ask myself that question.” After a long moment, he seemed to stiffen, then turned toward her. “Write your story, Lois. You’re a professional. It’s your job.” Without blinking, he leaned closer and added, “Do what’s right. I will too.”
Then he turned and walked away.
*****
Lois was almost afraid to go home.
At home, she’d have to finish the story and include her father’s information. He hadn’t told her anything new, but he had confirmed that Allie was a murder victim. He may have also signed his own death warrant.
At home, she’d have to wait for the boxing commission to send Cat the confirmation that they’d stopped the fights. If that happened, some young men would go home uninjured tonight instead of to the hospital or the morgue. And they’d have to include that information in the story.
At home, she’d have to call Cat and Clark and tell them that her father was caught up in the story, neck-deep in the scandal surrounding the Fight of the Century. He might serve time in prison. He might lose his license to practice medicine. He might even be killed by the gangsters who had trapped him into serving them. More grist for the story mill.
At home, she’d have to face Clark. Did he love her like she loved him? Or was he just comforting her? Was he just supporting her in her struggle with PTSD?
It was almost too much for her, especially her fears concerning Clark. But if she didn’t go home, she’d spend the rest of her life wondering. As scared as she was, the prospect of not knowing was worse than the harshest reality she could have faced.
But the thought of going home was almost unbearable, so she went to Cat’s place.
She opened the front door to see Cat angrily pacing the floor in front of Clark. After an instant of near terror, she realized that they were both fully dressed except for Cat’s stocking feet. She was obviously angry about something.
Clark’s head bent down until his chin hit his chest. He looked resigned to his fate, whatever that was.
Cat saw Lois as she closed the door. Lois couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her friend so angry that she snarled like her namesake. “I just got off the phone with Perry,” Cat growled. “Apparently we’ve – and I quote – ‘lost our edge’ and ‘our performance has slipped,’ so we each have new assignments which are – and I quote again – ‘commensurate with our current demonstrated abilities’.”
Lois blinked and said, “Huh?” At least whatever was irritating Cat was work-related and not about a relationship problem with Clark.
Clark lifted his head. “You have the auto show tomorrow afternoon. I have the police academy graduation on Monday at mid-day. Cat has an interview tomorrow night with that hot young actress who thinks water has feelings. Perry called them ‘good little confidence builders,’ given the big story we just blew.”
Lois took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We can’t be surprised by this. We knew something was coming.”
Cat raised her hands to her side, then dropped them. “Not something this stupid! This girl thinks water has feelings! That it’s alive! That we’re being cruel when we drink it without respecting it and paying homage to it! You two may have kiddie stories but I’m interviewing a mental patient!”
Lois almost laughed at her girlfriend, but then she remembered the auto show where she’d be bored to tears. “Great. Do we have a response from Shane?”
“I was about to check when the messenger from Satan called with our new assignments.”
Cat turned and clicked on the “check messages” tab on the email client. Sure enough, Shane Johnson had sent a return message. They crowded around the end of the table and silently read.
It wasn’t good news.
Shane agreed that their allegations were serious, but without some kind of hard evidence that the augmented fighters were dangerous to the other boxers, the commission wouldn’t stop the scheduled fights. The binder they’d found wasn’t admissible in court, which was where this case would end up if the commission stopped the fights without real proof of danger to the other fighters. Worst of all, he reluctantly agreed with the commissioners. As things stood, the contests that evening would go forward.
Lois’ face hardened. “We have one more option. We have to use my dad.”
Cat froze. “You know what you’re saying, don’t you? If Menken figures out what he’s doing—”
“He won’t. Daddy Dear can talk a hungry dog off a hot dog stand. How do you think he hooked up with all those nurses?” Neither Cat nor Clark said a word. After a long moment, Lois sighed. “The upshot of it all is that Menken won’t have any idea what hit him when we drop the hammer on his head.”
*****
Lex Luthor knew he was a brilliant man. He understood that fact as well as he understood that the sun would appear to rise in the east in the morning, that summers in Metropolis would be all but insufferable without air conditioning, that the fights that evening would set pay-per-view records across the country, and that compared to him, Max Menken – despite his ability to get a job done as long as he was closely supervised – possessed the intellectual wherewithal of a colony of termites.
That last fact was currently frustrating him almost beyond control.
Menken folded the morning edition of the newspaper in his hands and put it on the corner of Lex’ desk. “Nothin’,” he smirked. “Not a word in the Planet, and if they ain’t got it, nobody else does neither.” He swaggered in front of Lex’ desk. “I told you we got to Dianello before he talked.”
“Excellent,” Lex returned.
“Yeah, it’s smooth sailin’ now. Our boys becomin’ the new world champions – everything we dreamed about is comin’ true.”
“It’s a start, yes.”
“A start? With all due respect, Mr. Luthor, with a champ in each division, there’s not much more you can do.”
“Is that what you think this is about, Max? Winning a few prizefights? Is that why I’ve invested millions in this project?”
Menken looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled and snapped his fingers. “Oh, I get it! After this we branch out into other sports, right? Football, baseball, golf, tennis—”
Luthor lurched to his feet. “Max!” He took a moment to collect himself, then calmly said, “We’ve created five men with inordinate human strength. Now suppose we can take these men and make them even more powerful? Fifty times as powerful? A hundred times more powerful? Perhaps even – dare I say it – invulnerable? Just like Superman!”
Once again, Max appeared to fail in balancing his checkbook, another task for which he was mentally unfit. Lex slowly moved across the office and tried once more to elevate his minion’s aim. “Do you see the possibilities? An army of super-men – under my control?”
Either Max grasped Lex’ vision or he didn’t. It no longer mattered. Sam Lane was far more important to the project than Max was. It was time for Max to bring Lane further into his part of the plan. Other than that, Menken was expendable.
Something finally penetrated Menken’s dense cranial bone structure. “Yeah. Yeah! I get it!” His face, which had brightened somewhat, fell again. “What about Dr. Lane? I don’t know if he’ll get on the bandwagon.”
Lex smiled thinly. “You’ll simply have to explain to him that he has a lifetime contract whether he actually signed one or not. And do remind him, Max, that the late Mr. Dianello had the same employment agreement, yet attempted to resign from the organization – unsuccessfully.”
Max was a thug. Lex knew the man could communicate with Dr. Lane on that level.
*****
Cat liked the idea of recording Menken describing the illegal enterprise. She didn’t like using a civilian in a major part of the operation. But it might be the only way to both stop the fights and begin a reconciliation between Lois and her father, so she reluctantly acquiesced.
Cat didn’t like the plan to hand off the recording either, of course, but Clark and Lois together convinced her that Lois meeting her father alone for a bagel-and-coffee brunch was safer for all concerned than the four of them having a committee meeting in front of the gym. So Cat and Clark were already seated at the far end of the outdoor café, going over real notes for a real story – Cat’s punishment story about the actress who thought water was alive, which Cat noted that Clark repeatedly forced himself not to laugh about – when Lois and her father came out with their meals and took a seat beside the door.
Cat also didn’t like having her back to Lois’ position, but she knew that Clark wouldn’t let her be hurt. He could also scan the group surrounding them for concealed weapons – something he still didn’t know she was aware that he could do.
Assuming she was right about him being Superman, of course.
As planned, three minutes into their meal Lois yelled “No! No more lies!” at her father and stood up. Cat turned as if reacting to the noise and watched. Sam grabbed Lois’ right hand in both of his and slipped the WayneTech digital recorder into her palm. She jerked back and reached into her purse as if going for her weapon but actually releasing the recorder. She stood still, glaring for a moment, then spun and stomped away to the next street corner and turned out of sight.
Sam dropped his head and took a deep breath, then stood as if carrying the weight of his broken family relationships in his pockets. Any of Max’ underlings who might be watching would believe they’d witnessed a family argument and a distraught father leaving in a cab. Also as planned, Cat and Clark finished their food and got up. They walked side-by-side in the direction opposite the one Lois had taken. After a couple of strides, Cat put her hand in Clark’s and smiled up at him. A long moment passed before he smiled back. It made them look like a couple out for a romantic mid-morning stroll. Maybe, to any curious eyes, they appeared to be making up after a problem of some kind.
It was the only part of the plan at which Lois had narrowed her eyes. Cat knew she objected, and she knew why, but any of Max’ people who saw them would report a coincidence instead of a backup plan to cover Lois. Those guys didn’t think women were smart enough to fool them. That thought was the second reason Cat pushed for that detail.
The first reason was, of course, the chance to be close to Clark. And Cat knew that was the main reason Lois hadn’t voiced her objections to the image they projected. Lois didn’t want either of them to know she was jealous of Cat. Clark, being a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of man, might not believe it if it were the morning headline in the Planet, but Cat could read Lois like a first-grade primer.
*****
The three of them sat at the news floor’s conference table and listened to the end of the recording for the second time. “You killed Dianello, didn’t you?” Sam’s voice said.
Even on the recording, Menken sounded greasy. “It’s a dangerous business, Doc. I’d hate to have to waste you too.”
Lois’ hand shook as she flicked the recorder off. “I knew he was into something bad but – this?”
Cat’s heart ached for her best friend, but showing that here and now would just embarrass her. She put her pencil down and asked, “Clark, you read shorthand, don’t you?”
“Yes, as long as it’s not too fancy.”
She pushed her pad toward him. “Can you read what’s on here?”
He looked at it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. I assume you want me to type up a transcript for the commission.”
Cat nodded. “You’re the fastest typist among the three of us, so yes, please get started on it.”
Lois sighed. “My father’s not law enforcement or any kind of attorney, so Mayson may be able to get an indictment for Menken from this and make it stick. His lawyer can’t yell entrapment.”
“We’ll send her a copy, too,” said Cat, “but the boxing commission has to see the transcript and hear the tape as soon as possible. Lois, you call your guy at the commission, Clark will type up the transcript, and I’ll copy the audio file. The commission will need one, Mayson will need one, and we’ll keep a third copy and the original here for safekeeping.”
Lois reached for the phone, but Clark stopped her with a touch on her forearm. “Where’s your dad now?”
“I don’t know. We thought we’d both be safer that way. He plans to surrender to the DA’s office as soon as the fights are stopped.” She wiped her face with her hands. “We’re going to spend some time together when this is over. Assuming, of course, that – that Menken – that he—”
Clark touched her hand and she grabbed his wrist with an almost desperate fervor. “He’ll be fine, Lois,” Clark said. “You’ll see. You’ll laugh with him again when this is over.”
She closed her eyes. “Don’t let your mouth write checks your body can’t cash, Kent.”
“I’m not. I’m telling you how it’s going to work out.” He gently brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Trust me on that.”
Cat couldn’t take any more. She stood and said, “This needs to be in the afternoon edition. I’ll get started on the print story and call Perry so he can okay it. The fights are tonight, so we don’t have a lot of time.”
Her heart didn’t have much time, either, thought Cat.
*****
There was a near-riot when the ring announcer told the crowd, the radio listeners, and the pay-per-view TV audience that the fights were postponed pending the outcome of the state boxing commission’s investigation and that Menken was suspended pending a ruling on misconduct charges. Luthor watched from his luxury box as Garrison all but went crazy at the news, demanding to fight Superman and refusing to leave the ring.
Menken had reported that Dr. Lane insisted that increasing the speed and power of the surgically enhanced fighters wasn’t healthy, that the men augmented in that manner would have serious self-control issues, that they would exhibit symptoms similar to various forms of arthritis, and would have drastically shortened life spans. Tommy Garrison was already the next thing to being out of control. He’d literally thrown three security officers, all of whom were former NFL players who were still in good shape, out of the ring to the concrete apron below.
Luthor lifted the paper and spoke out of the side of his mouth. “This is not good, Max. Not good at all.”
Max pressed his hands together and asked, “Now what?”
“I need you to do one more favor for me. After that, both you and the fighters will be moved to a safe location and suitably compensated.”
“Um – what’s the favor?”
“The only loose end – and the only witness – is Sam Lane. Get him out of the way and all this disappears.”
Max looked at the floor. “Well – uh – we don’t know where he is. He’s kinda already disappeared himself after this morning.”
Luthor smiled as he prepped a cigar. “In light of this story, would you not also vanish? Dr. Lane may be out of touch, but his daughter is not. We can use her to get to him.”
Garrison was still ranting about the stupidity of the commission, Superman’s alleged cowardice, his own ultimate greatness, and anything else he could come up with as Max slipped out of the luxury box.
Luthor pressed a hidden button on the panel before him to activate a numeric touchpad, then tapped in the access code. A panel to one side opened to reveal a .25 caliber semi-auto pistol and full magazine beside it. He knew he’d probably need it very soon.
*****
Lois decided that she could walk down the steps at work as easily as she could take the elevator, so she led the team down the last flight of stairs to the Planet’s lower lobby. Clark walked on her left side while Cat trailed the others. Perry had gotten their story in the evening edition and had promised to give them quality stories from now on, pending them completing their respective punishment assignments. Lois gave Clark a quick smile, then glanced behind them to see Cat’s body language tell Lois how much Lois’ blossoming relationship with Clark was hurting Cat.
As much as Lois loved Cat, Lois hoped she was right about her friend’s feelings. Sacrificing Clark to assuage Cat’s feelings would be too much to ask.
She heard the lobby door spin open and watched Lex Luthor stride across the lobby to her. “Miss Lane!” he called out. “I’m glad I found you. I was hoping these rumors about your father were unfounded.”
Lois fixed her eyes on his face. “I’m afraid not.”
Lex’ eyes grew intense and he leaned in closer to her. “Lois, your father is a visionary, and I have nothing but utter contempt for those who have led him down this path. That’s why I’ve come here today to find you and to make this pledge: I will do everything in my power to see that your father redirects his energies to help the injured and handicapped.”
Interesting, thought Lois, how quickly I went from “Miss Lane” to “Lois” in Luthor’s address to her. She put on her best grateful face and purred, “I don’t know what to say.”
She sensed Cat slip behind Luthor. She appreciated the support but didn’t think she needed it at the moment.
She also saw that Clark held his ground and let her handle the situation. He was close enough to provide backup but too far away to interfere with Luthor’s noble act.
And it was an act, not reality. She could see past the façade he put forth and realized how self-centered he really was. Now that the boxing story was put to bed, the three of them could focus on whether or not Luthor was somehow connected to “The Boss” of Metropolis. The information Menken could give them would help them immensely and probably reduce the time Menken would have to spend behind bars.
As that thought coalesced, Max burst through the garage access door. “Well, ain’t this touchin’.”
Lois noted the heavy bulge under his left armpit as Cat took a slow half-step around Menken’s position. “Hey, Max, I think someone’s looking for you. I think it’s the District Attorney. She’s a personal friend of mine and—”
Menken snatched a .357 Magnum Colt Python from his shoulder holster and yelled, “Awright, let’s nobody get heroic here!” He lurched at Lois and grabbed her arm. “Back off! She’s takin’ a ride with me.”
“Haven’t you caused enough trouble?” shouted Luthor.
Menken gave the rest of them a greasy half-smile. “Hey, I’m just warmin’ up.” He yanked Lois off-balance and dragged her outside.
She thought about taking his legs out from under him and stomping his hands, but if she missed the kick or didn’t hit him hard enough he might start shooting wildly. It wasn’t worth the risk to the others around them. Cat took a step toward them, but with her free hand Lois signaled Cat to back away and follow. In unison, as if they’d rehearsed it, Clark and Lex turned to each other and said, “I’ll go for help!” and ran in opposite directions.
Menken shoved her into a waiting car. “Drive north!” he ordered her. “Head for the gym!”
*****
Clark stepped outside and swirled into Superman’s suit. He’d intended to follow Lois and Menken, but then he saw Cat in her Porsche not far behind them. He also heard Garrison inciting the crowd, screaming, “I want Superman! I want Superman! Where are you, Super-putz?”
The five enhanced fighters were pumping up both themselves and the crowd. He knew Cat would watch over Lois. He also knew that Garrison and his cohorts had the potential to seriously injure several people, maybe even kill them. That was unacceptable.
He slipped into the arena through an open skylight and landed in the ring. The crowd’s boos shifted to cheers almost immediately, and Garrison turned to glare at him. “Well!” he shouted. “The hero has decided to grace us with his presence! Love your pajamas, by the way. You goin’ to the opera wearin’ that cape?”
“You need to end this now.”
Garrison slammed his gloves together twice. “Oh, I’m ready to end it. You ready to go down, Super-dummy?”
Superman shook his head and crossed his arms. “Garrison, you can’t hurt me. Why don’t you just come along quietly and let the police take care of you?”
Garrison stared back, then broke into near-hysterical laughter. “Oh, really? Me come along quietly? You’re gonna be the quiet one in about a minute, all stretched out on the canvas.”
Superman sighed. “There’s no way to talk you into surrendering?”
Garrison lifted his hands into position. “No!” he snarled.
“Okay. Remember that I tried to talk you down. I’m sorry for what I’m about to do to you.”
“Sure,” he cackled. “Sure. Hey, we’re fighting Marquis of Queensbury rules, aren’t we?”
“Why not? Marquis of Queensbury rules, folks.”
Garrison lifted his hands and called out “Marquis of Queensbury!” then tried to sucker-punch his opponent.
His right cross bounced off Superman’s chin. The hero didn’t move an inch, although he did hear a bone in Garrison’s right hand snap. The boxer glared at his opponent, then launched a left hook at Superman’s right eye.
Superman easily dodged the fist and nudged Garrison in the chest with the heel of his open hand. The boxer staggered back a few steps, then tried to land another left.
The hero blocked this punch and captured the other man’s right wrist with his left hand. “I’ve seen this movie,” he said, “and I know how you think it goes. But John Wayne ends the last fight with something like this.”
Superman threw a right hand at Garrison’s face but stopped an inch from the man’s forehead. Then he flipped out his index finger and knocked Garrison out cold. Had there been the wooden doors of an Irish pub behind him, he would have smashed into and then through them onto the street.
The crowd went wild. Superman had to turn his enhanced hearing off to keep from being temporarily deafened. He lifted one hand and waved at the cheering fans, then signaled for the announcer’s microphone. “Folks,” he said, “thank you for your support. I have another appointment I need to keep, but don’t worry. I’ll be around.”
He lifted from the ring, followed by ear-splitting cheers, and exited through the open skylight.
*****
Cat followed Lois and Menken in his car, her purse on the passenger seat. She’d picked them up about two blocks out – a simple matter, since she knew Menken’s destination, and since Lois was driving like a stoned teenager trying not to get pulled over by the police. When Lois stopped at a dark street behind the gym, Cat went around them and took the next turn. She clipped the holster to her waistband and her weapon was in her hand before the car door shut.
She moved parallel to Menken, staying in the shadows of the poorly lit alleys, until he suddenly stopped as four of the enhanced boxers ran out of the gym’s side door. “Max!” one shouted. “Superman knocked out Garrison and he’s coming after us!”
“Then you guys take him when he gets here!” Menken snarled back.
Superman chose that moment to touch down and face them. “I suggest you gentlemen ignore that advice and surrender. It’ll hurt less.”
“Get him!” yelled Menken.
One of the boxers punched Superman in the back of the head and the hero stumbled forward a step. The other three began pummeling him as hard and as fast as they could as Menken secured his hold on Lois and pulled her away. Cat glanced at Superman, who’d straightened up and swept most of the blows to one side, and she decided he could take care of himself. She rechecked her pistol and slipped down the dark side of the alley, following Menken and Lois.
Before she moved out of sight, she saw Superman toss three of the boxers against a chain-link fence, spin it around them, and spot-weld it shut with his heat vision. The fourth man lifted his hands in a combat stance, but when Superman put his hands on his hips and shook his head, the man turned and ran like a sprinter.
She chuckled and kept going. Time to focus on covering Lois.
*****
Superman glanced after the fleeing boxer and decided that it would be a better use of his time if he found Lois and saved Menken from her. He glanced around, using his x-ray vision, and discovered how much lead-based paint still adorned the walls of this part of the city. So he took to the air in the general direction of Menken’s path.
He flew until he heard a single gunshot.
*****
Menken yanked Lois along the alleyway and yelled, “Will you get moving! I’ve got to meet someone and you’re making it harder!”
“You need to surrender, Max! All this will get you is a world of hurt.”
“Hah! The Boss will take care of us!”
Lois spotted Cat in the shadows, her weapon in both hands and pointing down. If necessary, Lois would break away and let Cat deal with the desperado. But that was the option of last resort. Lois didn’t want to risk having Cat kill someone.
It would be best if Max would just surrender, but he wasn’t going to do that. So Lois tried to fall so that she could knock Max down and take his weapon away. She braced herself and jumped at him the next time he yanked her arm behind him.
And, of course, her bad knee gave out and she went down to the asphalt facing Menken.
But rather than grab her again, Max stepped away from her and started to say something to someone else. As she pushed herself up on her good knee to face him, a small-caliber pistol snapped behind her.
Menken went down like a marionette whose strings had all been cut at once.
He lost his grip on his weapon and waved his hands aimlessly. Lois lurched to his side and saw that whoever had shot him had hit him in the left side of the neck, right in the carotid artery. She slapped her hands over his wound just as she’d been trained, even though she knew it was useless. He’d bleed out in seconds and she couldn’t stop it.
His blood pumped out between her fingers even as she sought to stem the tide. His breath became erratic and rapid as his heart and lungs fought to keep him alive.
The effort was futile. His eyes glazed over and his blood stopped flowing, then his entire body went limp. The last noise he made was a burbling exhalation that shook Lois to the core.
She’d lost another one. And maybe she’d lost too much of herself this time.
*****
Cat watched as Lex Luthor slipped his gold-plated – given his financial status, what other material could the shiny yellow be – .25-caliber semi-auto into his coat pocket. Clark chose that moment to round the corner toward which Menken had been dragging Lois and approached quickly.
“Lois?” he said softly. “Are you—”
She leaped to her feet without looking at him. “Don’t – don’t touch me! I have – my hands – I’m covered in blood!”
“I believe Miss Lane has had a bad shock, Mr. Kent,” Luthor said silkily. “I believe – yes, there is a police car and an ambulance rounding the corner.”
Cat watched silently as Clark’s fingers curled into claws. “That bullet better not have hit her,” he snarled.
Lois shook her head. “I’m not hit. He – Menken – Lex shot him.”
Clark slowly slipped beside her. “You still need to be checked out by the EMTs, Lois. Okay?” She didn’t respond. “Lois, please come to the ambulance with me. They’ll make sure you’re okay.”
“Mr. Kent, perhaps my personal physician—”
“How many times did you shoot, Luthor? How many bullets did you put in him?”
Cat holstered her weapon on her belt and stepped out of the shadows. “He only fired one round, Clark.”
Luthor’s head snapped around and his face showed total surprise for a brief moment. He obviously hadn’t anticipated another witness to the incident, one who his attorneys couldn’t discount due to emotional upheaval.
Then he resumed his thin, superior smile and nodded. “Thank you for verifying my account, Ms. Grant. For a moment I feared that Mr. Kent might assault me out of concern for Lois.”
Cat glared at him. “I’m just telling the truth of what I saw, Mr. Luthor.”
The police cruiser skidded to a halt and two officers popped out on either side with pistols drawn. “Everybody freeze!” the driver shouted. “Now slowly raise your hands!”
Cat, Lex, and Clark complied immediately. Lois lifted her gaze to the approaching officers once Clark whispered something to her that Cat didn’t catch. Lois’ hands rose haltingly, still dripping.
“Bob?” Cat said to the officer from the passenger side. “Bob Jenkins? It’s me, Cat Grant. I can tell you what happened.”
“You can, huh? Yeah, I recognize you now, Cat. Come on over here and tell me the story. Are you armed?”
“Yes. Smith and Wesson nine-millimeter auto on my belt, right side. Shall I bring it out slowly or let you come get it?”
“Stand very still and open your jacket slowly so I can see it.”
She did as she was told. Jenkins slipped on one latex glove, then pulled her weapon out of her holster and checked the magazine and the chamber. “Leland? Mag holds sixteen, has fifteen, round in the chamber, but it hasn’t been fired recently. Barrel’s clean and cool to the touch. There’s no odor.” To Cat, he said, “I’ll have to keep this for evidence, but if everything checks out you should be able to get it back in a couple of days. For now, why don’t you sit with the other lady in the back of the ambulance? She looks kinda shook up.”
“No,” Lois said brokenly. “Let – let Clark sit with me.”
Jenkins finished bagging Cat’s weapon and turned to the ‘other lady.’ “Who’s Clark?”
“That’s me.”
“If you’ll hand me your weapon very slowly, sir, I’ll check it out.”
Clark shook his head. “I don’t own any firearms and I’m not carrying one. May Lois and I go to the ambulance now?”
Luthor said, “I am armed, officer. I have a .25 caliber semi-auto in my right outside coat pocket.”
Leland moved two steps behind him. “Clark and the lady with the short hair can go get checked out. I’ll get this man’s statement, Jenkins. You get the redheaded lady’s story.”
Cat watched Clark take Lois’ elbows and guide her to the EMTs. She didn’t look good at all. Menken’s death, right in front of her, had obviously hit her hard, quite aside from the information the man had taken with him to the other side.
Other side? thought Cat. Now I’m thinking like Clark, talking about eternity.
Maybe that was better than just thinking about death.
As Officer Jenkins took Cat’s statement, she got more and more antsy about the time it was taking, time she would have preferred to spend looking after Lois. She knew that Clark would watch over her like a guardian angel, but fear for Lois’ state of mind began nibbling at the outer edges of her psyche.
The bites got deeper as the minutes passed.
*****
For Lois, the next hour passed in a blur. She knew the EMT had taken her vitals and helped her clean her hands. She accepted the woman’s gentle order to be strapped into the gurney in the ambulance, along with the thin nasal oxygen cannula she looped over Lois’ face. She even remembered Clark holding her hand all the way to the emergency room.
He helped two nurses transfer Lois from the ambulance gurney to a bed in one of the ER cubicles. Then he stood beside her and held her hand until her eyes came back into focus and she could see and hear the monitors flashing and beeping beside her head. The red LED clock on the wall showed her that Menken had been dead less than two hours.
“Clark?” she whispered. “I think I’m okay now. You don’t have to stay with me. I’ll be fine. I’m sure Cat will be here soon.”
He smiled. “She’s here, waiting for me to leave so the nurses will let her in to see you. And I called Dana Friskin. She’s coming, too.”
“Good. Um – what about my dad?”
“As soon as you’re ready to let me go, I’ll put him in a safe place for the night. And I’m sure Lucy will try to invade the area soon.”
Lois smiled and lifted his hand to her lips. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
He stroked her hair and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s my privilege, Lois. You just get some rest and get better.”
She knew – or at least hoped – that she’d rest easier and heal faster if she believed that Clark loved her as much as she loved him.
