From Part 12:
How long were things going to continue to work against them? She started to put the ring back in the box but she hesitated. After glancing at the window once more, she slid the ring on her finger.
He had gotten pretty close on the ring size. It was almost a perfect fit. She held her hand up and wiggled her finger back and forth - marveling at the facets of light the diamond sparkled back at her.
After losing herself in it for a few moments, she took the ring off and put it back in its velvet box. She closed the box and started to put it back inside Clark’s coat but again hesitated.
She didn’t want to give it back. Not now... not again.
Lois sighed unhappily and fought an internal battle for several seconds, but she finally slid the box back into his pocket. Soon. She would have her chance soon. She could feel it...
She could feel something else, too. There was something else in his coat pocket – a piece of paper. She grabbed the paper with her fingertips and pulled it out.
It was folded up and wrinkled, no telling what it was or how long it had been in there – probably just trash. She’d throw it away for him. She tossed it onto her coffee table for now; it was time for her to get going to her doctor’s appointment.
**********
Table of Contents *************
PART THIRTEEN
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Clark landed in an alleyway just a few blocks down from the police precinct. He changed into his clothes and then spent a few minutes fighting traffic before he was inside the front door and looking for Inspector Henderson.
He found him in short order. “Henderson! What’s going on?”
“And a good morning to you too, Kent. What’s going on is that your boy Klein is being fingered as the front man working for Knox. I’d say there was a very good chance that he’s on the payroll for Intergang.”
“Knox? Intergang?” Clark said in disbelief. “Come on. You can’t be serious. He might have been killed last night if it hadn’t been for that bullet-proof glass.”
“Maybe Klein had a falling out with them, how should I know?” Henderson shrugged expansively. “Evidence doesn’t lie.”
“You have him on videotape?”
Henderson nodded. “We knew whoever stole that sample and trashed the lab had to have clearance. There was no sign of a break-in. The thief simply walked in, trashed the place and took what they needed. We knew it had to be an inside job - and that tape proves it.”
“May I see it?” Clark asked, waiting for the objection to come.
“I’ll have the boys down in forensics make you a copy.”
“How long?” Clark asked, impatiently.
“Couple of hours,” Henderson mumbled distractedly as he glanced down at the paperwork in his hands. “I’ll call you as soon as it’s done.”
Clark pulled a card out of his pocket and grabbed a pen off the Inspector’s desk. He wrote a number down on the card and handed it to Henderson. “I may not be back at the Planet for a while. That’s my beeper number.”
Henderson took the card and nodded at him before setting it down on his desk; then he went back to examining the papers he was holding.
It was sign of dismissal, but Clark wasn’t going to be put off so easily. “Can I at least talk to him?”
At that request, Henderson’s head came back up and he looked at Clark suspiciously. “Why? What makes you believe Klein didn’t do it?”
“Just call it a gut instinct.” There very well could be a crooked doctor at STAR Labs, but he was certain that it wasn’t Klein. And if it wasn’t Klein, Clark was going to need his help figuring out just who it was. “Come on, Henderson. Don’t make me bring Lois back down here with me.”
Henderson wavered a few more seconds before walking away and waving at Clark to follow him. “All right. If it means missing out on a visit from Lane, you can have five minutes.”
Clark smiled and followed him silently back to the holding cell. Dr. Klein looked up and, when he saw Clark, a small look of relief seemed to pass over his face. “Mr. Kent. Thank goodness. It’s nice to see a friendly face.” His eyebrows furrowed. “This is a friendly visit, isn’t it? You were there last night, you saw what happened.” Klein walked up to the bars of his cell and wrapped his hands around them.
Henderson ignored the doctor and turned back to face Clark. “Five minutes. Got that?” At that, Henderson walked off and left Clark and Dr. Klein to talk.
“Mr. Kent...”
“Clark.”
He nodded, smiling. “Clark. I did not steal that sample. Why would I do that? Why would I break in and steal a sample that I already had access to? That I was already working with? That makes no sense.” Dr. Klein let go of the bars as he was speaking and began to pace. “They say they have me on tape, but I think maybe it was someone impersonating me...”
“Dr. Klein...”
“Maybe they had a mask on or something...?”
Clark tried again. “Dr. Klein, I...”
“I don’t know. There has to be some kind of...”
“Dr. Klein!” Clark all but yelled.
“What, Clark?” Dr. Klein looked vaguely offended. “You don’t have to shout.”
“I believe you. But if it wasn’t you, who else could it have been? Henderson said whoever it was had access to the lab and the secured areas. They were even able to disable the security camera in the lab they broke into.”
“Do you remember Mandy? From last night? She was the...”
“Receptionist,” Clark cut in, trying to speed things along. He only had a minute or two left and Henderson would be coming back. “I remember.”
“No, she’s not a receptionist. She’s actually my lab assistant. When you came last night, it was after hours. It was time for the regular receptionist to go home for the night. I was scared and I wanted someone out front who I could trust, that wouldn’t just let anyone walk in.”
Clark nodded at him. “So you trust Mandy.”
“Yes, and she’ll help you. I told her that I trusted you. She can get you a list of doctors who have clearance access to the laboratory that was broken in to.” Dr. Klein paused, shaking his head. “I just can’t imagine one of my colleagues being involved in this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get that list from Mandy. Henderson is going to get me a copy of that tape so I can look at it. We’ll figure this out. For now, you may actually be safer inside here. Last night was proof that whoever is responsible for this thinks you are a big enough threat to try and get rid of you.”
Dr. Klein nodded. “I think you may be right. Clark, can you do me a favor?”
“What?” Clark could hear Henderson’s footsteps coming.
“See if Mandy can get you my notes and samples – the ones that are still left that I reassembled after the break-in. With me in here and not at the lab, I don’t think they’re safe there.”
“I’ll try,” Clark promised. He wasn’t sure that Mandy or anyone else at STAR Labs was going to turn sensitive scientific studies over to just anyone, but he’d do his best. If they wouldn’t give it to him, maybe he could try as Superman.
“Time’s up, Kent,” Henderson boomed.
Clark gave Dr. Klein the most reassuring smile he could muster. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
“Sure.”
Clark turned around and started walk away but Dr. Klein’s voice halted him. “Clark? One more thing. Would you tell Mandy to make sure she feeds my chimps for me while I’m gone?”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Clark found himself having to repress a chuckle. He didn’t dare look back into the man’s face for fear of losing it. “Sure thing,” he managed.
Of all the things for Dr. Klein to be concerned about... The man was innocent. Clark knew it - and he was going to prove it.
**********
Lois waited impatiently on the small, uncomfortable bed in the examination room. The nurse had said Dr. Peterson would be with her in about five minutes and that had been over twenty minutes ago.
She had alternated between reading some of the informational posters pinned to the billboard in the room and flipping through some of the back issues of “gossip” magazines in the small wicker basket on the floor.
Nothing had held her attention for very long, though. And if the doctor didn’t get here soon, she was going to be forced to walk out in this extremely undignified gown to ask if there was a restroom nearby.
If they really needed you to strip down and put one of these gowns on, did they have to keep it so cold in the exam rooms?
After a couple more minutes of staring at the bizarre pattern on the wallpaper, her mind drew her thoughts to the coat that was back at home. The coat that belonged to Clark - that was now draped across the arm of her couch. She wasn’t thinking so much about the coat, though, as what was inside the coat.
If she had known she was going to have to wait this long, she would have brought that box with her. At least then she would have had something interesting to look at.
Would he realize he’d left his coat, and that box, at her apartment and come back and pick it up before she had a chance to see it again? She shouldn’t have put it back.
What would Clark have thought if she had just put it on and kept it on?
No. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work. The man was supposed to make a big presentation of proposing, and then the woman of accepting... and then, she could wear it. The only thing was that he had already made that big presentation...
And she had turned him down. Well not exactly. She just hadn’t accepted. That wasn’t really the same thing. Was it?
She sighed and slumped her shoulders, wishing that she were sitting in a chair with a back to it – instead of on this uncomfortable exam bed. She sighed again, a little louder this time. Who was she kidding? Of course it was the same thing. And why did she think Clark was going to make a big ‘to do’ about proposing to her again – after she’d turned him down once?
What if he couldn’t work up the nerve again? Then again, he had brought the ring... Maybe she should...
A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts.
“Come in,” she answered.
“How are we feeling this morning, Ms. Lane?” Dr. Peterson walked in, his interest focused on her chart.
“Very good, Dr. Peterson. I remembered a lot last night,” she replied, feeling like an eager student looking for praise from her teacher.
“Interesting... I’m surprised at the speed of your recovery and the amount of memory you’re regaining. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Lois frowned at his choice of words. He didn’t think it was possible? But wasn’t that why he had her on the medication? “I guess I’m just a fast healer.”
He murmured something to himself as he made some notes in her chart.
As he set her folder down on the counter, the cell phone in her purse started to ring.
“Oh, that’s my cell. Would you mind?” She pointed at her purse, which was sitting next to the file he had just set down. Her cell phone was sticking out of the top of it and Dr. Peterson pulled it out.
He glanced at the display. “D. Scardin?”
“Oh, that’s Dan Scardino,” she told him, smiling sheepishly as she grabbed for the phone. “I ran out of space to fit the whole name.”
Dr. Peterson handed her the phone and frowned. “I’ll come back,” he said stiffly.
Lois frowned as she watched him shut the door. That was a little rude – especially after she had waited so long on him. Surely he could be polite enough to give her just a minute or two...
Oh, the phone!
“Hello, Lois Lane.”
“Lois, I was afraid you had decided to avoid me,” Dan’s silky smooth voice teased from the other end.
Had she really liked him? Honestly? Well, maybe, just a little. But whatever she had felt for him before was long gone. “Avoid you? Now why would I do that?” she managed sweetly.
There was a long pause on the other end. “Umm, okay. Well, then where are you?”
That was a little nosy. “Look I know you said you’d meet me at the Planet this morning to go over some stuff, but I’m sure I told you about my other appointment this morning.”
“Appointment? What appointment?”
She hadn’t told him? How strange. Well, she wasn’t going to get into it right now. Her cell minutes cost a fortune and she had just managed to talk Perry into this phone. She didn’t want him to decide to take it back. “Never mind. I’ll be in a little later, after my appointment.”
“Uh, okay. What time?”
What time? She looked at her watch. She was about to tell him to give her a half an hour but then she remembered – she had told Clark she would meet him at the prison to talk to Bill Jr. after her appointment. That was going to take some time.
“Actually, Dan, I’m sorry. I forgot. I have another appointment after this one. I...”
“Ahh. So you are avoiding me. Listen if this was about...”
“No. Honestly. I’m not avoiding you. I have an interview to go to with Clark.”
“With Clark... I see. Work related, I’m guessing.”
Of all the nerve! Where did he get off asking that? She bit down on her tongue before she could say something nasty. She took a deep breath and managed to remain civil in her reply, “Yeah. Listen, I’ve gotta get off here, but I’ll meet up with you at lunch... say one o’clock at the Penny Loaf, it’s a deli a few blocks down from the Planet. Do you know where that is?”
“I do. It’s a date.”
She grimaced. Why did he have to be so flirty? Did the man have no self-respect? She had dumped him, after all. “It’s not a date. Clark and I will see you there.”
She closed her phone and looked back up at the door, frowning in disgust. Now how long was she going to have to wait again before the doctor came back?
**********
Mandy nervously played with one of her red curls as she looked around conspiratorially. “I’m afraid I can’t give you Dr. Klein’s notes or samples. I can get you that list you’re wanting, though. I’m getting ready to go on break right now, Mr. Kent. Do you want to buy me a cup of coffee?”
The look on her face was practically begging him to say yes. “Sure. I could use a cup myself.”
“Okay. I have to go by the lab first to log out. Just follow me and then I’ll take you to the break room.”
Clark followed Mandy through the winding maze of hallways until they stopped in front of a door labeled “Chemical Lab – 511A”. “I’ll be just a moment,” she told him, “you can come inside.”
He followed her inside the lab and over to a computer station. Mandy glanced up at one corner of the lab and then moved so that her back was facing the corner but Clark could still see her face. “Mr. Kent, don’t look at me. Don’t act like I’m talking to you,” she whispered the words so quietly that a normal person would have had trouble hearing her. “Scratch your cheek if you understand me.”
Clark reached up and scratched his cheek. Mandy walked over to a computer station, keeping her back to the wall. “Stay close enough that you can hear me. I can’t talk any louder.”
Clark scratched his cheek again.
“Since you’re trying to help Dr. Klein, I trust you, Mr. Kent. Bernie didn’t do this.” Mandy typed on the keyboard, keeping her eyes and mouth, face forward. “It’s not in him. Someone is setting him up and as much as I hate to think it’s one of the other doctors... I’m inclined to agree with you. And if that’s the case, then I have to be really careful. I don’t want those goons coming after me.” She edged her way over to the printer sitting on the other side of the desk. “I printed off the list of doctors with access, for you. I’m also printing off Dr. Klein’s notes on the formula for Project Nirvana. I’m going to go remove the sample and put it in my purse. When you go with me to get me a cup of coffee, I’ll slip it to you.”
Clark reached up and scratched his cheek, trying to keep the motion casual.
“I want to help Bernie, really I do. But please don’t involve me any further. The Board of Directors asked me a lot of questions, as well as the police. The less I know, the better off I am... and Dr. Klein. But I’ll do this much, for Bernie. He’s been like a father to me. He gave me a job here when no one else would give me the time of day. I owe him this much.”
She took the badge from around her neck and swiped it across a keycard reader. “I’m going into the cold storage vault to retrieve the sample. Just wait for me here.”
She handed a computer print out to him and walked off. Clark glanced down at the list. There weren’t too many names – that should help narrow it down. He checked his watch. He was going to be late meeting Lois at the prison.
**********
To Be Continued...
