Part 25
The woman pushed Lois out of the ladies’ room. Luthor was standing, holding a hand to his shoulder as the water from the overhead sprinklers showered down on him and Clark.
“Lex?” Lois asked. There was blood on his hand.
“It's nothing. I'm fine,” Luthor assured her. Lois didn’t believe him, especially after she caught the guilty look on Clark’s face. He also looked like he might be sick.
Lois wondered exactly what happened.
The leader of the invaders looked furious, pointing his gun at Luthor. “No second chances.”
They were herded once again to the conference room, only this time, the leader wasn’t taking any chances. He handcuffed Lois and Luthor together, Jack and Clark together. Perry was handcuffed to one of the rolling chairs.
“We're now operating under the buddy system,” the leader announced grimly. “If one of you is missing or tries anything heroic, your buddy dies.”
Perry addressed the empty chair. “No heroics, buddy.”
The leader gave him a grim smile and walked out.
Lois stayed still for several minutes, deciding what to do. She pulled a hairpin from her hair and made quick work of the handcuff that tied her to Luthor but she stayed seated next to him. It wouldn't do to make her move too quickly. A part of her was scared to death while another part was already outlining the story.
"This is going to make an incredible story," she told Luthor. It was more to keep her spirits up than anything else. "I mean, how many journalists have had this kind of opportunity? To be in the belly of the beast, part of the event, not just a casual observer. Just like those guys in the Bagdad Hotel."
Luthor didn't say anything but was leaning heavily against her. After a moment, his head fell on her shoulder.
"Okay, so we don't share the same enthusiasm, you don't have to fall asleep," she said, nudging him. He didn't wake up. She moved in front of him to check on him. He was pale and clammy -shock. She opened his jacket and saw that his shirt was soaked with blood.
There was no more time. She moved over to Clark and Jack, staying low, out of sight.
"Lois, what are you doing?" Clark whispered as she undid his handcuff.
"Lex is really hurt," she told him. "You have to do something."
"What can Clark do?" Jack demanded. Lois glared at him and he had the sense to shut up.
"Lois, you don’t know…" Clark began.
"I know more than you think, Clark," Lois interrupted. "If he dies, and you could have stopped it, it'll haunt you the rest of your life."
Clark stared at her and she realized how scared he was. He was almost as pale as Luthor.
"Clark, please try…"
He nodded and moved closer to Luthor. He gently removed Luthor's jacket to expose the wound. "The bullet went straight through, but he's losing a lot of blood," Clark said after a moment.
"We have to close the wound," Perry told them.
Lois just looked at Clark.
"I'm going to need three tea bags, a cup, an orange and a pack of gum," Clark told them. Jack and Perry gave Clark incredulous looks. Lois simply nodded.
"It's a remedy I learned from a Borneo medicine man," Clark explained. "It should stop the bleeding."
It took Perry only a few moments to collect the ingredients.
"Open the tea bags and combine the leaves," Clark instructed. He turned to Jack. "Chew as many sticks of gum as you can." Finally Lois: "Squeeze some orange juice into the cup. The oils and tannin from the tea leaves, combined with the peppermint from the gum and the ascorbic acid from the orange juice form a very potent healing mixture."
Lois hurriedly peeled the orange and squeezed out as much juice as she could. She seriously doubted the concoction would do anything aside from adding germs to the wound, but it was keeping Perry and Jack busy. Even though she was watching for it she almost missed Clark lowering his glasses and focusing a hard stare at the bullet would. There was a faint smell of burning flesh.
"Kent?" Luthor murmured. He was obviously slipping in and out of consciousness. Lois just hoped they'd been soon enough to save him.
"Don't worry, you're probably a little dizzy but you'll be fine," Clark assured the billionaire. He looked at Lois. "Is it ready?"
Lois held the cup out to him. It looked like something she might find in the back of her refrigerator, even though it smelled better. Clark took Luthor's handkerchief, tore it in half and wet both halves in the solution. Then he placed one piece of fabric on the entrance wound and the other on the exit wound. Luthor winced, but made no other sound.
Based on what Lois had seen while on the crime beat, Luthor was damned lucky to be alive.
Luthor struggled to sit up. “Lois, help me up. I'm fine...” he insisted.
Instead, Clark pressed him back to the floor. “You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Clark said simply.
The building shuddered.
“What was that?” Lois asked.
“An earthquake,” Jack speculated.
The building shook again.
“I don't think so,” Clark said. He was staring at the door. “They must be using that machinery we saw them bring in here.”
“For what?” Perry demanded. “Why would they come in here and destroy the Daily Planet?”
Clark moved closer to the door to watch through the window. “I don't think they're trying to destroy the Planet, Chief. I think they're looking for something.”
A shot rang out from the newsroom.
“Guess they didn't find it,” Clark added. He watched a few more moments. “Dragonetti?”
“Dragon what?” Lois asked.
“They said Dragonetti.”
“Dragonetti?” Perry’s eyebrows threatened to reach his hairline. “Well, I'll be damned. I haven't heard that name in years.”
“You know him, Chief?” Lois asked.
“Know of him,” Perry said. “Pino 'Pretty Face' Dragonetti. One of the fiercest gangsters in Metropolis during the Prohibition era, as ruthless as he was handsome.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Dragonetti actually built this place. He and a consortium of other high profile gangsters. They hid behind a dummy corporation and tried to launder their gin money through the real estate market. This was before the Daily Planet moved in, of course. Anyway, Dragonetti used this as his headquarters. There was even a speakeasy in the basement, right where the cafeteria is now.”
Clark motioned for them to be quiet. “They’re coming back…”
Lois went to sit with Luthor, clicking the handcuff around her wrist as the leader opened the door.
“The computer system's locked up,” he stated. “Now who can get me on-line with the computer?”
Lois opened her mouth but Clark cut her off. “I can help you. What file do you need?”
“That's not your concern,” the leader told him. The woman went over and began to unlock Clark’s handcuffs.
“Just get me onto the Metro-Comp data base,” the leader ordered.
“Metro-Comp?” Lois chimed in. “That's the old system. We updated three years ago. He won't know how to use it. You'll have to take me.”
The leader nodded. The woman released Lois’s handcuff then cuffed Clark and Luthor together. Both men gave her worried looks.
“Be careful,” Luthor ordered.
“Always,” Lois responded.
The leader dragged her into Perry’s office and pointed to the computer on the desk.
“Sit down.”
“I'd prefer to...”
“Sit,” he ordered, pushing her into the chair. “All right, give me your access code.”
Her mind spinning, she gave him the first password that came to mind.
The leader keyed it in. ‘Wrong password’ appeared on the screen.
The leader wasn’t amused. He grabbed her hair, forcing her head back. “Now, Miss Lane, I've spent the last eight months planning for this night. Your life means less than nothing to me right now, so if you don't give me the correct access code I'm going to break your lovely little neck.”
“Superman,” Lois managed to choke out.
“Superman is dead, or haven’t you heard?”
“Superman is my access code!” Lois spat.
The leader sat her at Perry’s computer. “The file is named D-P-B-L-P-R-N-T.”
Lois keyed in the letters, confirming as she went. “Daily Planet... blueprint?”
“Just call it up.”
“So you must be interested in architecture,” Lois said, trying to draw him out as the computer searched for the file on the system. “I always found this building particularly fascinating myself.”
“There it is. Bring it up,” the leader ordered.
“Yes, sir. Daily Planet Blueprint.”
The leader smiled as soon as the document appeared on the monitor. Page after page of plan drawings.
“Find the floor below us,” he ordered.
“I think that's the advertising department. Thinking about placing a personal?”
He ignored her as he studied the screen. “Now, show me the plans to this floor.”
He studied the screen and his smile got even wider. He clicked on the military style walkie-talkie he pulled out of his pocket. “Bring the equipment up here,” he spoke into the microphone.
“Now, what could possibly be here in the Daily Planet newsroom that would be worth risking your lives and the lives of everyone in Metropolis?” she asked.
“What else has man sought after without pity or remorse since the dawn of time?” the leader asked in return.
“Inner peace?”
“Cold, hard, cash.”
“Oh.” Clark had been right. These people weren’t terrorists. They were common crooks.
“Now print me out those plans,” he ordered.
“Sure. But they'll come out over there,” she said, pointing to the wide carriage printer near the coffee corner.
“Fine. Do it.”
She keyed in the commands. After a few moments, she heard the printer begin printing.
“Well, since I've already been so helpful, how about giving me an exclusive interview?” Lois asked brightly. She was still trying to make personal contact. She knew that if she could get him to see her as a real person, as someone who might be convinced to come over to his side, he might not kill her.
“We'll discuss the future later, Miss Lane,” he said. He walked out, leaving her alone in the office. She knew she didn’t dare get out of the chair but he had left her alone with a computer. She logged onto the email system.
‘WELCOME TO THE COMPU-LINK E-MAIL SYSTEM. WOULD YOU LIKE TO: A) RECEIVE MESSAGES? B) REVIEW MESSAGES? C) SEND NEW MESSAGES?’
She chose the third option and quickly entered the MPD’s general email address. The leader came back into the office holding the fresh printouts. She smiled at him trying to look innocent as he sat down opposite her. Lois' eyes went back to the screen. The text box was waiting for a message.
She eyed the leader but he seemed engrossed with the plans, making notations on them. She slowly moved her hand to the keyboard. ‘S.O.S.’
The leader still wasn’t paying any attention to her. She pressed the ‘enter’ key and ‘Sending Message’ began flashing on the screen.
The computer beeped. The leader looked up and Lois smiled. The computer beeped again and this time, he looked suspicious. He came around the desk and peered at the screen. He stabbed at the escape button and the text on the screen changed. ‘Message Interrupted: Retry?’
“You've got a lot of nerve, Miss Lane,” the leader stated. “Not good judgment, but a lot of nerve.”
He roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the office. As they passed where he had been working, she managed to put up one of the sheets of notes.
The woman looked up as the leader shoved Lois back with the others.
“I'm beginning to think you were right about our uninvited guests,” he told the woman. She re-cuffed Lois and Luthor together, separating Clark from Luthor.
“Thank God you're all right,” Luthor murmured. “I wanted…”
Lois nodded, only half listening to him.
The leader had turned to the woman. “I've found it. They're bringing the equipment back up but time is definitely a factor now so get down there and help.”
The woman nodded to Lois and the others. “What about them?”
“If anyone tries anything, we shoot to kill,” the leader told her. She seemed pleased with his decision. The leader stared at Lois. “Anyone.”
The leader went back to Perry’s office, shutting the conference room door behind him.
“What did you do in there?” Clark asked. He had gone back to his position by the door.
“He had me pull up the architectural plans for the building,” Lois told them, talking fast. “They're looking for money.” She pulled the stolen paper from her pocket. “I grabbed this.”
She handed the sheet to Clark. “It's a diagram of these offices,” he said.
Luthor grabbed the sheet away from Clark. “And a very familiar name,” he said. ‘Dragonetti’ was written in the corner by the plans to Perry’s office.
“So you think Dragonetti's vault is still here in the building?” Lois asked Perry. Clark’s face had taken on that familiar, far-away look.
“Well, I always thought it was one of those tall stories, you know,” Perry said. “Like that mess Geraldo got himself into? But maybe there's some merit to it after all.” He gave Lois a thoughtful look. “According to the stories, Dragonetti had nearly over a hundred million dollars stashed away when he died. His business partner, the front guy for the real estate part, was in jail for murder, but he never told anyone where the cash was hidden. In fact there were rumors that Dragonetti had framed him for the murder he went to prison for.”
Clark seemed to come back to the here and now. “Willie...” he murmured.
“Willie!” Lois said, suddenly remembering the old man. “He's still making his rounds. He'll save us. He's a security guard.”
“He's an octogenarian,” Perry reminded her.
“He has a gun.”
“He has a hernia,” Perry shot back.
Jack interrupted. “We've got to get to him before they do. He can go for help.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Luthor demanded, gesturing with the handcuff that connected him to Lois.
Jack held up both his hands – without cuffs. “Lois isn’t the only one with hidden talents,” he said. He peeked through the glass then cautiously opened the door. “I'll be back before they know I'm gone,” he promised. Then he was through the door.
“I can't let him go alone,” Clark announced.
“Be careful, Clark,” Lois ordered.
“Hurry back, son,” Perry instructed. Then Clark was gone as well.
Once again, Lois made short work of the handcuffs that bound her to Luthor. She crept over to the door and peeked out the window. The four of the five crooks were pulling the machinery from the elevator. The leader had the plans in his hands.
He spoke to the big man, Schumak, who started toward the conference room.
Lois hurried back to sit by Luthor again. In the meantime, Perry had been busy. He gestured for her to sit in front of his creation.
“What's going on?” Schumak asked, looking around the conference room.
“We're getting tired,” Lois told him.
“So we're taking shift's sleeping,” Luthor added.
“You got a problem with that?” Perry added for good measure.
Schumak looked over them, peering at the two figures under the stack of blankets. After a long moment, Schumak seemed satisfied. “No, no problem. Better for us you all go to sleep.” He laughed at his own joke and closed the door behind him.
“And they wanted me to throw this stuff away,” Perry mused. Lois took a closer look at the figures beneath the ‘Halley’s Comet’ blanket - 'Elvira' and the GOP elephant Perry had protested was a historic artifact.
Luthor seemed weaker, leaning against Lois for support. "Now that I know it's money they want, all I need is five minutes alone with their leader."
"I don't think they'll go for it, Lex," Lois said. "They have no reason to trust you, and they've already got a bird in the hand."
"It's worth a try. As soon as Kent and the kid get back I'll begin to negotiate," Luthor told her. "It's only money, Lois."
"A lot of money."
"But what is it really worth?" he asked. "It can't buy a perfect blue sky, the symphony of waves crashing against a rocky shore, a hand to hold when you're alone."
He took her hand in his and kissed it tenderly. This was a different side to Luthor than she was used to. He seemed sincere as he gazed into her eyes. There was something hypnotic in his gaze. She could get lost in those eyes.
The elevator dinged. Lois peeked through the glass. The crooks were all in Perry’s office and Lois had doubts they noticed the elevator’s noise or the doors opening.
Cat Grant sauntered out of the elevator and headed straight for her desk.
“We're saved!” Lois told the others. “Ca…”
Perry laid a hand on her arm. “Shhh. Don't draw their attention to her.”
Perry, Luthor and Lois all started waving frantically at Cat through the window. She was busily pulling lingerie out of her desk drawer, obviously trying to make a decision. She saw them waving and waved back, holding up one of the teddies for their approval. She chose one, waved again and disappeared back into the elevator.
“If I'm alive on Monday morning, she won't be,” Lois promised.
There was a sharp sound in the distance. Lois frowned. It had sounded a little like a gun shot. “Did you hear something?”
“Faintly,” Luthor admitted.
Lois looked over at the group in Perry's office, still unloading their tools. Apparently they hadn’t heard the noise. She spotted Clark and Jack crossing the floor one at a time. She breathed a sigh of relief as Clark sat down next to her. He snapped the cuffs back on his hand and then to Jack’s wrist. Lois watched him study the decoys. Then he grinned at her.
“Did you find Willie?” Jack asked.
Clark nodded. “Help's on its way. What have they been doing?”
“Futzing around with those fancy tools,” Perry told him. They watched as Schumak and one of the other men carried jackhammers into Perry’s office. The leader and the woman followed with chain saws and picks.
“What the...” Perry murmured. Two of the men in Perry’s office were dragging his desk across the office. It didn’t seem they cared what they damaged in the process.
“Not the Elvis box!” Perry protested. His complaint was cut off by the roar of a motor starting.
“They're not doin' what I think they're doin'…” Perry breathed in horror.
The little group watched as jackhammers tore apart the floor of Perry’s office. The noise was horrendous and the dust was overwhelming.
“Looks like they've found Dragonetti's vault,” Clark commented.
“And it's been there all the time,” Jack said. “Right under the chief's... nose.”
The office was in shambles. Sparks flew as metal hit metal. The machinery noise ground to a halt.
The woman pulled down the visor of a welder’s helmet and lit a welding torch. The leader stepped over to the conference room and opened the door.
“As you can see, we found what we were looking for...” he announced.
“Dragonetti's vault,” Clark said.
“I'll double the amount in that safe if you release us unharmed,” Luthor offered.
“From what I've heard, I'd be better off out there with the hounds of hell on my tail than you, Mr. Luthor,” the leader told him.
The woman came out. "We're close."
"Good,” the leader said. "I think it's only fitting that after all the trouble he's gone to, I allow the mastermind of this plan to do the actual unveiling, don't you all agree?"
"I knew he wasn't smart enough to think of this on his own," Lois muttered to Clark under her breath.
"Besides, I know you'll all enjoy meeting him," the leader continued. He spoke into his radio. "We're ready for you, sir."
The elevator dinged as if on cue. The doors opened and Jimmy stepped out, his hands in the air. Behind him walked the familiar figure of Willy the security guard. He was holding Jimmy at gun point.
"Willie?" Lois and Clark said together.
Her heart sank. "But this means…"
"Help is not on its way," the leader told her with a smirk.
Perry seemed stunned. "Willie, how could you? Why, I recommended you for this job."
Willie looked at him through watery eyes. "Would you have recommended me if you knew I had a prison record?"
"Willie, just because you did something bad in the past doesn't mean you have to turn to a life of crime in your sunset years…" Lois began.
"I just got out ten months ago," Willie told them.
"Oh. Well, nothing you did could possibly be as bad as armed robbery and kidnapping," Lois tired again.
"Murder One," came Willie's response.
Lois swallowed hard. "Oh."
"You killed someone?" Jack asked. Lois couldn’t tell if he was excited about the idea of meeting a killer or scared.
Willie gave him a horrified look. "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous. I couldn't hurt a fly."
"Then why were you in prison?" Clark asked.
Willie sighed. "My 'partner' wanted everything for himself. My part of the money, my girl. Him and a crooked cop framed me for a killing I didn’t do. I lost a lifetime because of Dragonetti and I swore, if I ever got out, I'd come back for what belonged to me," Willie told them. He chuckled dryly. "Dragonetti got his due, though. He was gunned down a week after I went to prison."
"Willie, they're going to send you right back to prison for what you've done to us," Clark reminded him.
"But you weren't supposed to be here!" Willie protested. He turned to the lead crook. "And you broke your promise. You said no guns."
"I lied," the man said. "About a lot of things." The man grabbed Willie and handcuffed him to Perry's free hand.
"Fuentes, what do you think you're doing?" Willie demanded.
"Sorry, Pops. You're a liability."
"But I'm the one who told you about the vault in the first place."
Fuentes gave him a sardonic smile. "And I'll always remember you fondly for it. But we've got to make a clean getaway and you're not exactly at your physical peak."
The woman stuck her head out of the office door. "We're in."
"Good. Load the bags."
"What about us?" Lois asked.
"Remy!" Fuentes yelled.
The woman stepped over to him, carrying two of the heavy canvas bags.
"I believe I've come around to your way of thinking," Fuentes told her. "We'll take these up and meet you at the chopper. They're all yours." He scanned the little group and made a decision. "Except her…" He unlocked Lois's handcuff. "We may need a hostage if anything goes wrong."
Lois watched Luthor struggle to his feet. He lunged at Fuentes but Remy simply pushed him away.
"You can't just kill them," Lois protested.
"You'd be surprised what you can do for a hundred million dollars," Fuentes said. He pulled her along with him. Lois looked back to see the woman pointing her gun at the remaining group. Clark was helping Luthor to his feet.
"I suppose this means I can't have the interview," Lois said. She gave Fuentes a weak smile. She hoped Clark would be able to handle Remy and rescue everyone else. Everything was riding on Clark. She just hoped he realized it.
Fuentes dragged Lois out the roof access door. They were followed by Schumak and a man Lois still didn’t have a name for. The men looked around the roof in confusion.
"Where's the chopper?" Fuentes asked.
"I don't know," Schumak told him, dropping the bags he was carrying.
"Newberry!" Fuentes yelled.
The third man grimaced. "He can't even drive a car."
"Then who took it?" Fuentes demanded.
"Superman's ghost?" Lois suggested.
Fuentes grabbed her arm and pulled her back inside the building. The others followed as they headed back to the elevators.
"Down to the garage," Fuentes ordered. "We'll take the van."
Before Fuentes could touch the call button, the entire floor was plunged into darkness.
Lois took a deep breath then screamed. "We're up here!"
"Shut up or I push the button," Fuentes hissed at her. He pulled out a small flashlight and swung it around. They appeared to be alone in the hallway. "Schumak...? Blackman?"
There was no answer. Fuentes seemed nervous.
"I told you. It's Superman's ghost. He used to like hanging out on the roof here."
"And I told you unless I make it out of here with the money, the whole city goes."
He dragged her back onto the roof and headed for the ledge. She heard footsteps on the roof and looked over Fuentes’s shoulder to see Clark and Jack running toward them.
“Clark!”
Fuentes pulled Lois over the ledge, onto the window washer’s scaffold hanging off the side of the roof. Fuentes was still holding the bomb, but he was using his free hand to keep a hold on Lois. In turn, she tried to grab the device away from him.
“I'm going and I'm taking you all with me,” Fuentes snarled at her. In desperation, she grabbed his wrist and simply bit down. He dropped the device and it skittered over the edge.
She didn’t have time to be relieved. Fuentes lunged at her, pushing her against the safety chain. Then she slipped and went under the chain. It was a long way to the pavement. She closed her eyes. “Superman, where are you?”
