Table of Contents
From Part 23:"Kisses
and coffee?" She grinned back. "You do know how to spoil a girl."
"When it's the woman I love, nothing could be too much."
Lois studied his face; no glasses this morning, of course, and his hair was dishevelled from sleep. He looked younger, more carefree and, with the affectionate expression in his eyes as he looked back at her, very happy. And suddenly she realised what she had yet to say to him.
"I love you too, Clark."
The smile on his face widened still further. "I was hoping," he confessed. "But even if you didn't, after last night I figured I had enough to work with - and I was going to do everything in my power to make you fall in love with me."
That might have been interesting to see, Lois thought. Rather than waste words, though, she just leaned over and kissed Clark again. He didn’t seem to object.
*********
Now read on...Life was pretty wonderful, Clark thought a short while later as he prepared breakfast. He now knew that he was safe to be around - that there was no way that he would hurt Lois, or anyone else, by getting close to them. He was fully in control of himself.
He could touch Lois as much as he wanted. Whenever he wanted. And he wanted to touch her every single second of the day!
And, even better, Lois loved him. They hadn't talked about where their relationship was going yet, but they would do soon. As he'd promised himself last night, as soon as Luthor was behind bars he would take her somewhere nice and they would talk.
Which gave him an even greater incentive to do whatever they had to do in order to bring Luthor to justice. He would get Superman's statement to Henderson before the end of the morning. In fact, he thought, now was as good a time as any - leaving the coffee to filter, Clark found some paper and a pen and, at superspeed, drafted a statement. He'd get Lois to check it over and then write a new version, in disguised handwriting, and sign it as Superman.
A short time later, they were ready to leave for the Daily Planet. The statement was finished and signed, and Clark planned to deliver it discreetly later. "Okay, Lois," he said as they went down the steps to the street together. "I think I should drive today."
"Why's that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well, neither of us got much sleep, and I can cope with lost sleep better than you can," he told her, stifling a grin.
"Hah! That's baloney!" she scoffed. "You just want an excuse to drive my Jeep."
"Yeah, so? It's a great excuse."
"You think?" She stuck her tongue out at him - and then froze. "Clark..." she muttered, a warning in her tone.
He'd already sensed the man approaching him stealthily from behind, so was prepared.
"Hand over your wallet, bud." The demand was accompanied by the pressure of a knife at his ribs.
"Or...?" Clark prompted, at the same time signalling to Lois with his eyes to get out of the would-be mugger's reach.
"You stupid or something, pal? You feel this knife between your ribs? Let me give you a hint - it's not plastic."
Clark took a slow, deep breath, buying himself a couple of seconds to think. If the mugger tried to stab him, the knife would bend and perhaps shatter. He couldn't let that happen. On the other hand, he had no intention of handing over his wallet. He glanced briefly at Lois, who had done as he'd silently asked and had ducked down behind the pillar at the front of his apartment building. He was very glad that she knew that he was Superman - it meant that at least he didn't have to worry about her doing something foolishly courageous in an attempt to help him.
He raised his hands slowly; the mugger pressed harder with the knife. "Hey, if you want me to get my wallet, you're going to have to let me move," he pointed out.
"Okay. Get your wallet," his assailant instructed.
In one swift movement, Clark grabbed the mugger's wrist and squeezed - hard, but controlling his grip so that he wouldn't do any serious damage. It only took a few seconds before the mugger gasped and dropped the knife. Clark released him as soon as the knife hit the ground, and he bent to pick it up using his handkerchief.
As he straightened, all he could hear was the sound of footsteps receding at a fast pace.
He could easily have caught the man, but it would have meant using his powers as Clark or else intervening as Superman - either of which would mean leaving Lois alone on the sidewalk. Given everything that was going on, he had no intention of leaving her unprotected. Who knew what Lex Luthor might decide to do next? Especially since he now had every reason to know that Lois was suspicious of him. So, reluctantly, he let the mugger escape.
Lois hurried out. "I know you're not hurt, but do you want me to call the cops?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. If I report it, it'll be to Henderson."
"Why?"
"Because that's the first mugger I've ever seen wearing a hundred-dollar shirt underneath his grunge."
"Huh?" Lois stared at him. "He was
what?"
"That was no mugger," Clark said slowly. "He sure wanted us to think he was - but he wasn’t after my wallet."
Lois's eyes widened. "Yesterday that motorcyclist tried to hurt you - do you think that guy just now was after the same thing?"
Clark shrugged. "It's about the only thing I can think of. I mean, apart from the shirt, if he was a genuine mugger why go after me? You're holding a purse and car keys. I might or might not have a wallet on me. And also, you're an easier target than a tall guy like me. So, no, I think he was planning on stabbing me. I just don't know why."
"Lex Luthor," Lois said flatly. "We worked that much out yesterday - he wants to stop us."
"Yeah, and he's clearly given up relying on lowlifes to do his dirty work for him," Clark added. "This guy has to be one of Luthor's own people." He held the knife up. "I didn’t touch this, so it'll have our would-be mugger's fingerprints on it. Can you call Henderson and ask if he can meet us somewhere?"
**********
"I warned you two to be careful!" Inspector Henderson muttered twenty minutes later in the diner around the corner from Clark's apartment. "We all know that this guy's dangerous."
"Clark can look after himself pretty well," Lois said dismissively. "Plus we're reporters, Bill. It's what we do."
"Get into trouble? Put your lives at risk? Make yet more work for people like me?" the detective suggested dryly.
"Let's see if you're still saying that when we finally get him put away," Lois retorted.
"We're not there yet," Henderson warned. He turned to Clark. "From your description, I'd hazard a guess that your mugger is Nigel St. John."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "And he is...?"
"Luthor's assistant," Lois interjected. "I met him once. I had dinner with Luthor not long after the White Orchid Ball - I'd asked for an interview and Luthor suggested we do it over dinner. Not that he actually answered any of my questions, but anyway... St. John was there. I got the impression that he was pretty indispensable." Lois paused, casting her mind back to the attempted mugging. She hadn't got a good look at the mugger, but she did remember that the man had white hair underneath the woollen cap he'd worn, and that his straggly beard had also been white. "Yeah, that could have been St. John. Though the accent was different..."
“From what we know of his history, he seems to have been a former British spy,” Henderson commented. “Changing his accent is probably child’s play to him.”
“That explains a lot,” Lois murmured, remembering the wariness she’d felt around the older man, the uneasy feeling she'd had that he saw more than he pretended.
"If there are prints on the knife, that should confirm it," Henderson said, then paused to take a gulp of coffee. "I'm pretty sure we have St John's prints on file. As long as I can get a match run without the precinct leak catching on to it."
"Good luck," Clark said. "Oh, by the way, while you're here, Superman dropped this off with us earlier." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the statement. "He says he hopes that it will help, and if you need anything else just let him know."
Henderson reached across the table to take the paper, then scanned it quickly. "This works. Tell him thanks." He drained his coffee. "Gotta go. I'll let you know if anything comes up on that knife. Contact me if you find out anything else - but be careful."
"You want to watch it, Henderson. If you don't, someone might actually think you’d care if something happened to us," Lois drawled, winking at her old sparring partner.
"Yeah, I'd never want that to happen," Bill deadpanned, getting to his feet. "Nah, it's only that I don't want to add to my workload - I get little enough sleep these days as it is."
"Mainlining caffeine could work," Lois suggested.
"Yeah, yeah. My bloodstream's already 90% proof." He started striding towards the door, then abruptly halted and came back to the table. "You're slipping, Lane."
"I am?" Lois raised one eyebrow.
"Yeah. You didn't ask for your copy of that document you gave me."
He was right. Lois mentally kicked herself. "So, you got it? Hand it over."
"Kent, if you ever manage to teach this woman manners, let me know," Henderson commented, but handed Lois an envelope. "There you go. But I warn you, if you print this before I say you can..."
"For once, Henderson, I'm on your side," Lois said firmly. "He needs to be put away - there's no way Clark or I will do anything to interfere with that."
The detective nodded, then left.
"Better get to the Planet before Perry thinks we've quit," Lois said to Clark, who grinned.
"I doubt that'd be his first thought about you. He's probably wondering if he should start calling the hospitals."
She swatted his arm. "Yeah, right. Come on, let's go." They needed to go, she thought, before she forgot all about work and decided to spend the day kissing her unbelievably handsome partner instead. The way he'd just smiled at her... The memory of the previous night, and the knowledge that he was all hers, just made her want to grab hold of him and drag him somewhere they could be alone.
But they really did have work to do. And that included getting Lex Luthor put away.
"We should tell him about the bugs, too," Clark commented as they got into the Jeep.
"Yeah. Discreetly, though. After all, if Henderson thinks Luthor's planted a spy in his precinct, why wouldn't he try to plant one at the Planet?"
"Good point." Clark nodded in agreement. "I'll keep an ear out. We better tell Perry not to disturb the bugs just yet, though - we don't want Luthor tipped off too soon that we're onto him."
"True," Lois agreed. "But he's not going to be happy about it!"
Twenty minutes later, they finally made it to the newsroom. As she exited the elevator, Lois groaned inwardly at the thought of having to find somewhere to work for the morning. She glanced longingly over at what had used to be her desk...
...and saw her Lois Lane nameplate displayed prominently.
"What -?" She stopped dead, staring at it.
"Ah, Lois. And Clark. Just as I was beginning to wonder where you two had got to," Perry drawled from somewhere close to her left ear.
"Chasing leads. Meeting sources." Lois shrugged. "What we're paid for, basically."
"I just better see something for tomorrow's edition," the editor grunted. "Oh, by the way, you got your desks back."
"So I see!" Lois exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Wendell Dalton called me at home late last night," Perry said, betraying by the curl of his lip his opinion of the Planet shareholder. "He said that,
on reflection, he wasn't convinced that it worked in a newsroom environment. That he wouldn't want to have the paper's best reporters
inhibited in any way." The editor rolled his eyes. "So you can get off my back now and start turning in some front-page stories, okay?"
“On reflection, huh?” Lois commented sarcastically. “Nice to know he has the ability to think for himself every once in a while.”
"Perry, there's something we need to tell you about," Clark said quietly. "Your office?"
The editor shrugged and led the way, closing the door once the three of them were inside. "So what's up? You made some progress?"
"Yes, actually, though nothing we can print yet," Lois said. "This is related, though. Clark discovered last night that at least some of the newsroom phones are bugged."
"You're kidding!" Perry exclaimed. His expression furious, he added, "If this is Luthor, the paper'll sue him so fast he won't know - "
"There's more," Lois interjected. "The computer I was using has some sort of Trojan programme which records everything the user writes. With the hot-desking policy in place, there was no guarantee that I'd be using that particular computer - "
"So every computer on the floor could be compromised." Perry's face grew redder.
"Yeah, that's my guess," Clark said. "Look, I know it goes against everything we stand for - but you shouldn't get the bugs removed just yet. The fewer reasons Luthor has to believe that we know what he's up to, the better. He saw Lois at the Metro Club last night."
Perry pulled a face. "I keep telling you to be careful, Lois! Okay, I don’t like it, but I'll do what you say. In fact, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to call a friend of mine who works in... well, let's just say that he's in security. I'll get him to check this place out just so we know what's what. But he'll do it discreetly. And for the moment, you two kids should find somewhere else to work, and don't call in until I tell you it's safe."
"We'll do that," Clark said. "Anything you need here, Lois, or shall we go?"
"Let's go." They could work at Clark's place again - after all, everything they needed was there. It seemed unlikely that they'd be able to break the Luthor story today in any case. They could check out a few different leads, see whether any other evidence against the billionaire might be forthcoming - if the guy was going down, she wanted him going down for a very long time. The longer the better.
**********
The telephone buzzed. Impatiently, Lex Luthor reached for it. "I thought I said I didn't wish to be disturbed," he bit out abruptly.
"And I thought you'd want to talk to me," Toni Taylor's voice said in his ear. "The minion who answered your phone seemed to agree."
"You shouldn't be calling me here!" Lex snapped, angrier now.
"So how else am I supposed to contact you?"
"You aren't. I contact you. That's how it works."
"So you don’t want to be told that the Toasters are refusing to do that little job you wanted taken care of today?" Toni enquired, in a sarcastic tone which really infuriated him.
"What the
hell is their problem? They're being paid enough!"
"They're getting a prima donna complex," Taylor said, dropping the sarcasm and sounding frustrated. "My contact even said something this morning about the
art in what they do, if you can believe it. And they said that the factory doesn't fit in with the nature of their performance."
"They want more money," Lex said disgustedly. "Tell them I'm prepared to increase their fee by five hundred, but that's all. And this is the last commission they'll get from me. I won't work with anyone unreliable."
"No?" Now Toni sounded more sure of herself. "So why do you employ that ex-spy?"
Lex frowned. He knew who she meant, of course, but why...? "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on. You know who I mean. That creepy British guy."
Nigel. What had she heard? "Nigel St John is a highly-valued member of my staff."
"Yeah? And right now the cops are after him. Apparently he tried to mug some guy in broad daylight - I mean,
really! Don't you pay him enough?"
"You must be mistaken," Lex said stiffly. "And, if you have nothing else of importance to discuss, you'll have to excuse me. I am quite busy at the moment."
Before the Taylor woman could say anything more, Lex replaced the receiver carefully in its cradle; he'd have loved to slam it down, but he had no intention of allowing that woman to have proof of how furious he was.
He would deal with her in due course - but soon. As for Nigel...
Lex got to his feet and paced across the room. Could it possibly be true? Could Nigel possibly have taken leave of his senses so far as to do something so utterly
stupid? So amateurish!
A mugging! And a botched mugging, at that!
For crying out loud, Kent wasn't that big. Or that muscular. And his job was mostly sedentary, wasn't it? Armed with the element of surprise and some kind of weapon, even a man of Nigel's age should have been able to take him. And Nigel was considerably fitter and stronger than most men his age.
This was the third time in two days that Nigel had failed miserably to execute a simple request. How difficult could it be to put one excessively irritating man in the hospital? How difficult could it possibly be to find out *exactly* what that nosy reporter, Lois Lane, was up to and how much she knew about things she should know nothing about?
Nigel had had his last chance, Lex decided angrily. He didn't employ passengers. He'd already given Nigel more chances than most employees would get - only St John's previously impeccable record had seen him through thus far. But it was obvious that St John was past his sell-by date. The man was in his late sixties now, after all - the onset of senility was probably close.
Well, he was fired. As of right now, Nigel St John no longer worked for Lex Luthor.
Lex paused as he contemplated the one thing which might make him hesitate about getting rid of his assistant - the fact that Nigel, more than anyone else among his senior staff, knew enough to cause him serious trouble with the police. But then, Nigel himself equally had reason to worry about involving the police: he had enough of a criminal past to ensure that he would die in prison should he face trial. And since Lex himself had always had the forethought to leave no evidence of his instructions to his senior assistant, Nigel would find it difficult to prove that his recent actions, including some murders, were at his employer's behest.
And then there was Toni Taylor, Lex reminded himself as he returned to his desk. That woman had turned out to be a most unreliable business partner. She was in no way trustworthy. Nor did she appreciate how privileged she was to have someone of the stature of Lex Luthor assisting her.
He had been very foolish indeed to agree to that contract she'd foisted on him. And even more so to allow her to keep it. That was the kind of incriminating evidence which he had always taken great care to avoid. He should have had Nigel steal it from her safe days ago.
Well, it would have to be stolen now. Lex couldn't possibly allow that document to remain in Toni Taylor's possession.
He spun on his heel. "Ni -"
Breaking off abruptly, Lex shook his head. There was no way that he could entrust such a sensitive task to St John any more. There was no way that he would entrust
any task to St John. Nigel, as he had already decided, was fired.
"Nigel!" he shouted, cool anger in his voice.
There was a pause. Then, instead of the sober-looking St John, Mrs Cox entered the room. Glamorous as always, she was looking particularly sexy today, Lex considered, and he briefly contemplated postponing his dismissal of Nigel. But Mrs Cox would wait; he'd suggest a working lunch, he thought.
"I wanted Nigel," he said abruptly, but gave her one of his charming smiles as well - he only wanted to remind her who was boss.
"Ah. Well, there seems to be a problem, Mr Luthor," she said, her low, sultry voice doing wonders for his bad mood. "No-one has seen him for the past couple of hours. He left earlier saying that he had an errand to run for you, but he never returned. Would you like me to have someone track him down?"
What was the point? It wasn't as if he had any intention of doing anything other than firing St John, Lex thought. And, given Nigel's disappearance, he could add dereliction of duty to the list of complaints justifying dismissal without notice.
Nigel could wait for a couple of hours. So could the document in Toni Taylor's safe. Lex smiled again and strolled towards Mrs Cox. "That won't be necessary, my dear. However, there is one thing you can help me with."
She understood his meaning instantly, and ran her tongue around the edge of her lips. "I would be delighted to assist you in whatever capacity you need."
"Close the door," he instructed; he followed her over and, once the door was closed, he turned her around, pressing her briefly against the wooden frame with his body. Then he moved back. "That is a charming blouse you're wearing today."
"Thank you. Would you like it?" she murmured huskily.
"That would be very kind." He gave her a feral stare, raking her body with his gaze, and watched as she unbuttoned the crimson silk garment. When she'd finished, she pushed the material aside and allowed it to fall off her shoulders, revealing a sheer black lace bra, and then down her arms. Lex stepped forward to catch the blouse before it hit the floor.
Yes, Nigel could definitely wait. Some things just shouldn't be rushed.
************
...tbc*********
