Table of Contents
From Part 13:“That’s between him and me. Just tell him to meet me as soon as possible.”
“Where?” He could meet Luthor here and now, of course. But, even if he disappeared and reappeared in the Suit within a few seconds, he’d lay odds that Luthor wouldn’t want to conduct a conversation in a hospital corridor.
“How quickly can you get him?” Luthor said.
Clark shrugged. “He said he’d be on standby for anything he could do to help Lois. So I imagine I could get hold of him pretty fast.”
Luthor inclined his head. “Fine. I’ll be in my limousine - it’s in the executive parking lot.” At Clark’s eyebrow-raise, he added, “I am on the board of directors, after all.”
“You’d better go and wait, then.” Giving Luthor orders was very satisfying, even in the circumstances. Before giving the other man a chance to reply, he turned on his heel and walked off.
*********
Now read on...He gave Luthor three minutes, then flew down to the car park. Luthor’s enormous limo was parked as close to the entrance as could be managed, occupying at least three spaces in the process, and the man himself was comfortably seated in the back.
As he landed, the rear door opened and Luthor emerged. Clark approached him, deliberately hovering a couple of inches off the ground to hold onto his height advantage. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Shall we?” With a smooth gesture, Luthor indicated the interior of the car.
Well, it made sense that Luthor wouldn’t want to have this conversation out in the open. No doubt the limo was soundproofed. Bulletproof too, naturally.
“So,” he said once they were inside and he’d refused the offer of a glass of what was no doubt the very finest of champagnes. “You have something you wanted to discuss with me?”
Luthor inclined his head. “You remember our... conversation this morning, of course.”
“Naturally.”
“I have some... information. It may or may not be of use. But, given that Lois is still critically ill and her doctors seem incapable of working out what’s wrong with her, it may be the only lead we have.”
Information? How long had the man had this? Why hadn’t he contacted them sooner? “What have you found out?”
“Just a name. A... source got back to me a short time ago. Does the name Griffin mean anything to you? Or perhaps it would mean more to Lois...”
Griffin? But they’d eliminated Kyle Griffin. “I know the name.” He spoke slowly, careful not to give too much away. “But I understood that the police had eliminated him from their enquiries. Apparently, he’s been out of state for the past couple of weeks.”
Luthor shrugged. “All I know is what was reported to me. But, given the reliability of the source, I’d urge you to encourage the police - and Lois, or that partner of hers, if she’s not capable of doing it herself - to check again.”
Well, it wouldn’t hurt. They had precious little else to go on. All the same, though, Henderson had been pretty definite... “How can you be so sure this is reliable information?”
Luthor gave him a condescending look. “Nobody lies to me.”
Yeah, he’d just bet. Anyone who did would probably end up in a concrete coffin. “Okay, we’ll check it out. But I have one question.”
“Yes?” Luthor plucked an imaginary speck of dirt from his trouser cuff.
“Let me get this straight... Am I right in thinking that, if Lois had been getting better, you wouldn’t have told me this?”
The other man shrugged. “There would have been no need.”
His arrogance was staggering! “Surely you realise that the perpetrator has to be brought to justice! Apart from anything else, he could try again!”
“I would assume that you are capable of protecting her. Of course, if you are not, I can see that Lois is supplied with adequate protection...”
“The best way to protect her is to ensure that whoever wanted her dead is safely locked up in police custody.” Clark’s voice was tight. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, apparently I have information to pass on.”
He pushed the door open and exited from the limo, glad to inhale fresh air in his lungs again. Though it wasn’t just the stale cigar-smoke that was objectionable about the inside of Luthor’s car.
Okay. Once he’d checked on what was happening with Lois, he’d talk to Henderson and make triply sure that Kyle Griffin couldn’t have had anything to do with this.
*********
God. If she survived this, she never wanted to
see another doctor again as long as she lived! And as for nurses with needles and tubes and receptacles and things to poke inside her with...
Her next big expose was going to be something on doctors’ salaries. Or their expense accounts.
And where had Clark got to? He’d said he’d stay with her. But he was gone when she’d woken up to find herself being treated as a human pin-cushion once more. Sutton, when asked, had grunted that he thought Clark was ‘waiting outside somewhere’.
She was still dying.
They hadn’t told her that immediately, of course. It was only after she’d summoned the strength to demand an explanation for all the new samples being taken from her and the drugs she was being given that someone had got Sutton to speak to her.
She wasn’t getting better. They hadn’t found everything that miserable bastard had injected her with. And it had taken them all this time to work that out?
One of the nurses started rearranging her pillows. “Let’s get you nice and comfortable again, Lois, so you can rest.”
Rest? “Are you kidding? I have to get out of here. I’ve got things to - ”
“Now, come on, Lois, you know that you’re better off here where we can keep an eye on you.”
“Look, Nurse...” She searched for the woman’s name-tag. “Nurse Morea. I’ve just been told that if I don’t find the guy who poisoned me within the next four hours or so I’m not going to live to see tomorrow. And since the staff of this hospital aren’t doing a terrific job of finding out what I’ve been poisoned with, and I’d kind of like to stay alive, I am getting out of here.”
The effect of her words was spoilt, however, by the fact that she finished out of breath and had to collapse back against the pillows to recover.
“You see?” the nurse pointed out - unnecessarily. “You’re just not strong enough to go anywhere. You’ve been sick too many times, apart from anything else. It’s really taken it out of you. And you need the IVIG - it’s not like you can take that with you!”
“I’m not staying,” she insisted again. Then a figure just beyond the doorway caught her attention. “Clark! Clark, come here and tell...” She coughed. “Tell these people that I have to get out of here.”
“It’s okay, Lois.” He came in, side-stepping to get out of the way of a technician leaving the room. “I’ve already told Dr Sutton that I’m taking you back to the Planet with me.”
“My
strong advice is that you stay here, Ms Lane,” Sutton cautioned from behind Clark. “The IVIG still has several hours to run, and we need to be able to monitor you as well.”
“Yeah, like that’s gonna help.” They’d had the last couple of hours to monitor her, and what good had that done?
“You said it didn’t make any difference whether she had all the immunoglobin now or later.” That was Clark again. “We’ll find the other poison. Then you can treat her for that and continue the drip. Okay?”
“I fail to see how taking a seriously sick woman out of here when she needs medication and observation is going to do
any good at all,” Sutton said, his tone impatient. “If you expect me to help you, the least you could do in return is follow my advice.”
Clark took a couple of steps closer to the bed - to her. “We appreciate everything you’re doing to help, Doctor. We appreciate it very much. But
you should appreciate that time is running out - and I want my partner alive.”
Lois’s heart twisted at that faint crack in his voice on the last word. Another reminder of how much he cared for her.
He was fighting for her, too - not for what he wanted, but what she wanted. Clark thought she should stay where she was. He’d thought that earlier, that morning, and she knew him well enough to be sure he still felt that way. But he was forcing the issue for her to be able to leave.
Her gaze holding his, she sent him a silent message of thanks before sitting up again. “I’m leaving. Where are my clothes? You can just call me when the mercury test is back.”
“If you insist.” The long-suffering tone in Sutton’s voice made his views clear.
Ten minutes later, she was dressed, feeling far less nauseous than before, and was being wheeled along to the elevator by Clark. “Hospital policy,” he said, in answer to her objection. “Don’t worry - once we’re out of here I’ll get you back as quickly as possible. We have work to do.”
Like that morning? More of the same?
Getting out of the hospital still seemed like the right thing to do. But, much as the doctors seemed to be running out of options on possible poisonous substances, they were running out of options on the investigation. They had no leads. Their list of suspects had been whittled down to zero. And she was out of ideas.
Where did they go from here?
**********
By a little after eight-twenty, they were back at the Planet. Clark had flown the Jeep from the hospital to an alley just behind the entrance to the parking lot, and then driven it in from there. It saved some precious time.
Lois was looking a little better than she had a short while ago. The anti-nausea drugs and painkillers seemed to be helping. Her mood was despondent, though. Not that he could be at all surprised. From having thought that she was cured, she’d gone back to having a death sentence hanging over her head again.
If he was feeling devastated by it, god only knew what she was feeling.
“Come on.” He touched her arm before opening his door. “Let’s get upstairs.”
She nodded. “Do they know we’re back to square one?”
“I called Perry while I was waiting for you to get dressed. Henderson’s team was still busy working so it’s not as if anyone had to be called back.”
“I don’t understand.” She gave him a puzzled look. “Why would they have stayed? When we thought I was going to be okay?”
He crossed to her side and slid his arm around her waist for support. “Because, even if you were going to be okay, someone still tried to kill you. And might try again.”
“Oh. Right.” She leaned against him as they walked. She was even weaker than she had been earlier. Maybe he should have tried to persuade her to stay at the hospital after all.
No. He needed her brainpower. One thing he’d learned over the last six months or so of working with Lois was that the two of them together were far better than either of them could ever be working alone.
Even if her brain was operating on considerably less than full power right now. Even if having to watch her in this state, able to do nothing at all for her, was tearing him apart.
“I’ve got some information,” he told her as they got into the elevator. “I’ll tell you everything once we have Perry and Henderson together.”
“Information?”
“A possible lead. I don’t know how useful it is,” he cautioned on seeing her expression brighten. “It may be nothing. But it’s worth checking out.”
“It’s a start,” she said. “Anything’s better than the nothing we have right now.”
Well, except that they had already ruled out Kyle Griffin. However adamant Luthor was that his source was reliable, if Griffin had been out of state and in close police custody for the past two weeks, near enough, how could he possibly have been involved in this?
He brought Lois straight into Perry’s office, ignoring the curious eyes of everyone still in the newsroom - and, for almost half-past eight, a lot of people were still around. As he’d hoped, Henderson followed them in.
“Lois, honey, I can’t believe it! I really thought they’d found it!”
“Yeah, me too, Chief.” She subsided into a chair. “Anyway, they haven’t, so we’ve got work to do.”
“My guys have been through all the files you pulled out, Lois,” Henderson commented. “Everyone’s checked out so far. Unfortunately, we don’t even have a suspect.”
“Well, maybe we do.” Clark closed the door. “A... source contacted me while I was at the hospital. He insisted that his information was reliable. The name he had was Griffin.”
“But we’ve already checked Kyle Griffin. He’s in Miami.” That was Henderson.
“Who is this source?” Not surprisingly, that was Lois.
Explaining about Luthor’s role in the affair would take too long - assuming he wanted to explain it at all. Especially with a police inspector around. Not that he had any interest in protecting Luthor. The guy deserved to be in jail. But there were more urgent things right now than proving Luthor’s criminality.
Catching Lois’s gaze, he jerked his head slightly in Henderson’s direction. “I’ll tell you later.” Unless she was still half out of it, she’d understand.
“Well, if you’re sure that this source is reliable...” Henderson said. “Though I think it’s a waste of time.”
“Maybe, but it’s all we’ve got!” Lois’s tone was sharp. “Unless you have any other bright ideas? You’ve been here for hours while I was having needles and tubes poked into me in the hospital. And you don’t have
anything to show for it?”
Henderson raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Lois’s accusation was a little unfair, but Clark could understand it. After all, she was the one whose time was ticking away, minute by minute...
“Yeah, it’s not like we’ve got anything else.” Perry sounded almost despairing. “If Clark’s source thinks Griffin’s involved, then it’s the best lead we’ve got.”
“Okay, I’ll get on to the guys in Miami again. And at the state Pen.” Henderson sighed and headed to the door. “Oh, just for the record, Lois,” he said before exiting, “my guys have checked out over a thousand names today. They’re all on unpaid overtime right now. There isn’t anyone in this building who doesn’t want to see the bastard caught and the antidote found for you.”
She sighed and grimaced, her temper clearly gone. He hated the hopeless expression which replaced it. “I know. I guess it’s all just getting to me.”
Moving to stand beside her, Clark laid his hand on her shoulder. With a faint choke which tugged at his heartstrings, she covered it with hers.
As he turned his hand over and their fingers intertwined, his breath hitched slightly. Which of them needed the comfort of their touch more?
*********
“So, who’s this source?”
Leaning against the conference table as Clark closed the door, Lois demanded the information she’d been itching to have from the moment Clark mentioned an unnamed source.
He looked a little uneasy. Surely he wasn’t going to refuse to tell her?
“Well, he’s Superman’s source, really.”
And that made a difference? She continued to look at him, silently insisting on an answer.
“Lex Luthor.” His response was almost immediate, suggesting that he hadn’t really intended to hold out on her.
Lex?
Lex was his unnamed source? Lex knew who might have tried to kill her?
“How on earth would he know?”
Clark sighed. She knew that sound. And that expression. It was the way he behaved when he thought she was wrong about something. Not that that happened very often. “Lois, Luthor’s... He’s not what you think he is. It’s a long story and we don’t have time to get into it now, but just believe me when I say that I think he’s behind a lot of the crime in Metropolis - including murders.”
She was dizzy again. Spacing out. That had to explain it. Otherwise... Well, there was just no way that Clark could have said...
“Lois, I know even with what I told you earlier the idea’s never even occurred to you and it’s difficult to take in. Later, if we have time - ”
He halted abruptly. She knew why.
Time. It was the one thing they didn’t have.
Ignoring the lump which had appeared in her throat again, she said impatiently, “Look, just get on with it. What did he tell you?”
He released a harsh breath. “Okay. It started this morning - you know I took the sample to LexLabs?”
“Yeah. You said you talked to Lex.”
“He told me that he has... connections.”
She listened in silence as Clark explained the rest. Lex offering to use his unspecified connections to obtain information. Lex passing on the information he’d acquired - and the fact that he wouldn’t have told them what he knew had she actually been cured.
“So he’s actually admitting that what you know about him is true?”
“Not exactly.” Clark came to sit beside her at the table. “Well, yes, in a way, but he knows I can’t do anything with it. He even said so. And even if I told Henderson where Griffin’s name came from it’d mean nothing. Luthor could easily explain it - I don’t know, paying someone to dig for information. A lawyer who’s done criminal defence work, maybe.”
“Yeah.” Lex Luthor, some sort of criminal mastermind... It was as if her entire world was shifting on its axis. Only for the umpteenth time today.
“We’ll have to investigate him.” The statement of intent was automatic. Only when she’d said it did the implication hit her...
The chances of her being around to do it were slim to nothing. And, given the way Clark was so carefully avoiding looking at her, he knew it too.
She reached for his hand. “I’m sorry. I wish it was going to happen.”
He turned to face her, agony in his eyes. But when he spoke, she could hear the determination in his voice. “I haven’t given up yet, Lois. And you better not give up on me, either.”
Give up? No. Accept the inevitable truth? That was different. But not a conversation for now.
Just as long as there was enough time, at the end, to say all she wanted to say...
“Okay, so Lex thinks it’s Griffin. And Henderson’s off checking with his contacts. And we’re...” Back to business. It was safer. For now, anyway.
“We’re what?” He blinked, as if he were having difficulty coping with the shift in conversation.
Precisely. “What
are we doing?” She stood abruptly, regretting it immediately as she swayed again. Clark caught her hand and steadied her. “Clark, time’s ticking away and we’re doing
nothing! There’s got to be something we can do!”
He gave her a steady look, but his eyes looked haunted. “Do you want me to fly down to Miami and talk to Griffin personally?”
She had to stifle a giggle as an image of Superman holding Kyle Griffin aloft by his collar came to mind. “It’s tempting.”
“I’ll do it if you want me to.” He was completely serious. But it wouldn’t work. Kyle Griffin had faced down FBI agents with semi-automatic weapons and still refused to provide information or give himself up, once she’d blown his cover and sent the police after him. He’d behaved as if he were willing to die rather than be arrested - and he nearly had been.
Regretfully, she shook her head. “Threatening Kyle Griffin doesn’t get anyone anywhere. If he is behind it, we need to find who he was working with. Because we know one thing for sure: he wasn’t the guy in my apartment this morning.”
Who he was working with...
“Before... One of his associates was the one who finally talked to me,” she said, excitement beginning to flow through her. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier... I should have but it’s like I’m seeing everything through molasses... He’s out of jail! I need to - ”
Breaking off, she whirled to head for the door. And lost her balance again, tumbling down...
... to be caught by Clark. He spoke gently, reassuringly, but again she could hear the note of fear in his voice. He knew, as well as she did, that time was running out... that hope was ebbing away just as surely as darkness was falling outside. “Easy. Here. Sit. And tell me what you want - I’ll get it.”
“My rolodex.” Breathing heavily, she subsided into the chair.
Her rolodex. Their earlier conversation came back to her with a rush, almost stealing her breath away. She hadn’t even thought about making a will.
Of course, her stuff would go to her parents... but that wasn’t necessarily what she wanted. There were things... personal possessions, special things... she wanted Clark to have. Mementoes.
Before she could think better of it, she grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and began to scribble. Even if she didn’t get it witnessed, it would still count as an expression of her wishes.
“What are you doing?” The horror in Clark’s voice made her fumble with the pen.
“Just... just making some notes.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.” He wasn’t fooled, of course, and she was hurting him again. Okay, he wasn’t giving up on finding a solution, but she wasn’t either. She was just... preparing for contingencies. Couldn’t he see that?
She didn’t say that, instead just shrugging and looking away.
His mouth compressed. “Here’s your rolodex.” Putting it down on the desk, he retreated to the wall, leaning against it, hands in his pockets, not looking at her.
“Thanks.” She flicked through the index cards, looking for Benny Costello. Finding the contact information, she reached across for the phone. But her fingers refused to grip it, and then the card fell from her grasp. “Oh, sh - ” She squeezed her eyes shut and stifled a sob.
“Here.” A gentle hand lay on her shoulder, and the phone was moved to within her reach. And she hadn’t even heard him move.
“So,” he said as she was about to pick up the phone. “You think Griffin might have worked with this guy? Costello? Or that he might have told him what he was doing?”
“It’s possible. I don’t think he ever found out that Costello turned snitch. That’s one thing about Kyle - he tends to think that everyone’s as committed to what he’s doing as he is. I think Benny said once that it’s a family trait - ”
“What did you say?” The urgency in his voice, as he interrupted her, made her stare at him.
“That he thinks everyone’s - ”
“After that!”
“Well, Costello thought that it runs in Griffin’s family - ”
“That’s what I thought.” He drew in a deep breath. “We need Henderson.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain in a minute. Wait there.”
As if she could go anywhere! She shifted her hand from the phone and sat back, closing her eyes as the world began to rotate again around her, slowly but still dizzyingly.
“What’s this about, Clark?” Henderson’s voice recalled her to the present, and she opened her eyes. Carefully. The world stayed still this time.
“We’ve been assuming that Griffin means Kyle Griffin,” Clark said, leaning against the desk. His hand reached for hers, and she folded her fingers around it. He hadn’t even looked at her. Had he even been aware that he’d done it?
“Yeah?” An arrested look came over Henderson’s face. “Someone else?”
“Maybe. After all, you said it couldn’t be Kyle. But what if it was - ”
And, in that precise moment, she saw the answer too. “His father!”
“The toy guy?” Henderson looked faintly sceptical, but then he nodded. “I’ll check him out. See if it fits.”
“Kyle’s father.” The words came out softly. “For revenge?”
Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know the guy, remember. But it’s worth checking.”
It was. It was as least as good as any other idea they’d had that day.
**********
...tbc
