Sorry to take so long between posts, but I wanted to get my Christmas story out of the way before the New Year. My time over the first week of Christmas Vacation was extremely limited because my mother, who is 85, was visiting. Now, however, I hope to be able to resume posting this on a semi-regular basis. Be aware that the writing will certainly go somewhat slowly, as I expect to resume babysitting my grandson 4 days a week, starting next week.
I know we're starting slowly, but I have to set up the situation for this story. Things should start to move more quickly by the next post. So, without more ado,
Home V: Obsession 4/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Clark, you're the smartest man I ever knew," she said. "You don't think I ..."
He hugged her. "I was just teasing," he assured her.
"Don't kid about things like that," she said, and he was horrified to see tears in her eyes.
"Honey, it was just a joke," he told her. "Don't cry."
"Sorry." Lori sniffled and wiped her eyes determinedly. "It's these darned hormones, I think. I start crying over really dumb things."
"I should have known better," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Why should you have?" she asked. "Even *I* don't know what's going to make me cry. I feel so silly." The elevator doors slid open at that point and they exited into the tall parking structure where Lori had parked the Jeep.
"Well, *I* should know better," Clark said. "Lois used to call it the 'nine-month nutsies'. It was her way of poking fun at her hormones."
Lori gave a slightly watery giggle. "'Nine-month nutsies. I like that. And I'll only have them for about five more months. Do you think you can stand me that long?"
He hugged her again. "A lot longer than that," he said. "I'd tell you to kick me the next time, but you'd hurt your foot."
Lori giggled. "I'd never kick you, even if you weren't invulnerable," she said. "I only kick bad guys."
"No, you hit them with golf clubs," Clark contradicted. "And very effectively, too."
"Hopefully I'll never have to do that again, either," she said. She triggered the lock to the Jeep's doors. "You can drive if you like. I think I'm almost past the nausea thing."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "It's about time you got used to driving again."
Clark shrugged. "Okay. Your wish is my command, my dear."
"Don't be an idiot."
**********
And now, Part 4:
Velma Chow looked around at the sound of someone calling her name as she left the 12th Precinct. Metropolis's crack reporting team of Kent and Lyons was hurrying toward her and she stopped, waiting for them to catch up.
Velma would never admit it, but she envied Lori Lyons somewhat. If she had been younger, and the marrying kind, Kent would have been the ideal partner. He was intelligent, well-educated, charming, and his looks were enough to catch even her cynical attention. Lyons, of course, was nearly young enough to be her daughter, but she had won the reluctant -- and sometimes exasperated -- respect of Velma and her superiors with her almost intuitive deductive skill. Despite the traditional antagonism between the police and the Press, Velma liked both Lori and Clark, among other things because they always gave her men a fair shake and never twisted a quote to make it mean something other than had been intended. Other journalists often did that just to stir controversy but these two seemed to value truth even over selling their news service's subscriptions and making themselves famous, which they seemed to do without any difficulty at all. If other reporters would adopt those standards, she thought, they would have less difficulty getting the police to talk to them.
The two journalists arrived and Chow raised her eyebrows at Lori Lyons' ensemble. "Congratulations," she remarked, dryly.
To her amusement the younger woman's cheeks flamed red. "Thanks," she said. "Do you have time to talk for a minute?"
"I'm on my way over to the courthouse to give a deposition," she said, "so if you don't mind going along with me ..."
"No, that's fine," Kent said. They joined her on the slidewalk a moment later. The traffic wasn't heavy at this hour in the morning, and only a few scattered individuals could be seen. Kent, she noted, kept a hand lightly on his wife's arm as the moving walk bore them along at a steady four miles an hour.
"What can I help the Press with today?" she inquired.
"You were investigating that stabbing over on Unger Street, yesterday," Kent said. "We were hoping you might have some more information than the victim's name, age and job. Any suspects?"
That case was a special one, or might be. Velma hesitated, but from experience, she knew that these two could be trusted to keep information quiet until given permission to release it. Besides, if she didn't tell them what they wanted to know, Lyons would undoubtedly dig it up herself. It was just as well, she reflected, that the woman had chosen to become a reporter rather than a cyber-criminal. She would have been a major headache for the cyber crime task force. "This information is strictly off the record," she said finally. "At least for now. Is that clear?"
"Oh?" Kent said. "All right."
"She may be another victim in a string of killings we've been following in the last three years."
"Another serial killer?" Lori asked.
"We aren't sure. There's a tenuous link between this one and the killings of four other women, but it's not enough to label it a serial killing."
"What's the link?" Lori asked.
"Every one of them knew the same man."
"You think he's the killer?"
Chow shrugged. "If he is, we haven't been able to prove it. Two of the victims were killed when he was known to be elsewhere, with several witnesses present, and there hasn't been any physical evidence to tie him to the crimes. Alibis often don't really mean much, but this time they seem to be airtight. Naturally, however, he remains a 'person of interest'."
"I can see that," Kent said. "Can you tell us his name?"
Velma shrugged. "I don't see why not. I don't have to tell you that this is sensitive information. The guy is innocent until proven guilty, remember. His name is Connor Cooper. He owns the Hobs Fitness Center."
**********
"I can't believe Connor had anything to do with any murders," Lori said flatly. "I know him pretty well, remember. He wouldn't hurt a fly."
Clark made a left turn onto Melon Street, two blocks from Kerry's. It was nearly the lunch hour and the traffic was noticeably heavier than it had been half an hour before. "I didn't say anything," he pointed out. "If Velma had enough evidence, your friend would be in jail. Besides, in two of the cases, the killing apparently took place while he was somewhere else -- and with a bunch of witnesses. Still, that doesn't mean there's no connection at all."
"He's not a killer," Lori said.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Clark said mildly. "But if he isn't the killer, then what *is* the connection? I take it you don't think it's coincidence, do you?"
"I don't see how it *can* be," Lori said reluctantly. "I suppose it's barely possible that that's all it is, but I don't believe in coincidences like that."
"Neither do I." Clark turned into the parking lot for the restaurant and took the last parking spot. "I guess I can't talk you into taking a fitness class at some other place."
Lori cast a sideways glance at him. "You guessed right. Since we were enrolled in the class before the killing, it's a perfect cover for some snooping."
He cut the engine. "That's what I thought. I gave Ned a call while you were over at the snack machine. He's going to dig up as much information on the cases as he can find."
"You agree with me, then?" Lori asked.
"Well, let's put it this way. I trust your judgement, and the law says he's innocent until proven guilty -- and if I don't help you, you'll investigate on your own, anyway, so I might as well give in gracefully."
Lori put a hand on his arm. "Thanks, Clark. I knew I could count on you."
He lifted the hand to his lips. "Always," he said.
She blinked back the infuriating tears that seemed to appear with annoying regularity these days. "I love you, Clark."
"And I love you," he said. He fished the handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the single teardrop that had leaked onto her cheek. "But if you go in there with smeared makeup, your dad's going to wonder if I'm mistreating you."
She giggled and leaned forward to check her face in the mirror. "Or Mom will hope we're getting a divorce. I think I look okay, don't you?"
He looked her over critically. "Well, I think you're beautiful with or without makeup, you know, but I guess you'll pass inspection."
"Then let's go. I'm hungry."
"Big surprise there," Clark said. He opened his door and got out. A quick glance at the restaurant told him that Lori's parents had already arrived and were waiting in the seating section. "Your mom and dad are here," he added.
Lori took a deep breath, and he could hear her heart rate speed up. She was nervous, he realized in surprise. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"What else?" she asked in a wry tone. "I think Mother's picked up on my appetite."
"Oh, you mean that doughnut comment this morning?"
"Yeah. She thinks I eat too much sweet stuff."
"Well, order something healthy while we're here," he advised. "You can pick up anything else later."
She cast him a skeptical look. "You don't know Mother, do you? She's got that 'I'm on a mission' look in her eye."
He chuckled. "Well, they'll only be here for four days. You certainly look slim enough to me."
"Clark, I'd look slim to you if I was fifty pounds overweight!"
"Well, maybe, but you aren't, and it doesn't matter how much you eat while you're pregnant. Junior there will burn it up and then some without any problem at all. Has Ronnie spoken to you about supplements yet?"
"She says she's starting them next month."
"Okay. Anyway, since your mom will be back in LA, you'll be able to eat what you want."
"All right." She took a deep breath. "Lead the way."
Clark took her arm and they proceeded around to the front door.
Robert and Mariann Lyons were seated along with several other customers along the wall, and Robert got to his feet as they entered. The lunchtime crowd was heavy, and Clark could smell the aromas of the superbly prepared food wafting around him.
"Smells good," Lori said.
"It certainly does." They crossed to her parents, and Robert gestured to his chair.
"Here, honey, sit down."
"Thanks, Dad." Lori took the chair beside her mother, and Rob turned to Clark.
"I told the hostess that we were waiting for two more people."
"Okay." Clark raised a hand as Amy, the owner's daughter, appeared.
"Hi, Mr. Kent." Amy glanced at Rob. "Is this the rest of your party?"
Rob nodded.
"Okay, right this way." Amy looked at Lori and her smile grew wider! "Oh my! Congratulations, both of you!"
Clark saw his wife's cheeks turn pink and grinned. Since the days of the enormous drop in the birthrate, the population had stabilized once more, but the legacy remained. A baby was a big event, even more than it had been when he had been a young man. "Thank you," he said. "Amy, these are Robert and Mariann Lyons, Lori's parents. Rob and Mariann, this is Amy Burns. Her parents own this restaurant."
Rob nodded to acknowledge the introduction. Amy smiled cheerfully at them, picked up four lunch menus and led the way toward the back of the little establishment.
"Is this table all right?" she asked, indicating a corner booth.
"Fine," Clark said.
"Someone will be by in a minute to take your order," she said.
Clark saw to it that Lori was seated on the outside, in case she needed to leave the table for any reason and opened his menu. Rob glanced around the restaurant. "Nice place."
"They seem to know you here," Mariann said.
"We come here a lot, Lori said.
"I brought Lori here on our first date," Clark said.
"I didn't even know it was a date," Lori said. "Someone had broken into my apartment. Clark came over and fixed my door and then brought me here for dinner."
"Did you ever find out who did it?" Rob asked.
Clark nodded. "Gaia's Children," he said. "They were after the information that Brad gave her. They didn't find it because Lori had asked our editor to keep it for her in his office safe. That was actually the evening she and I decided we needed to investigate them more thoroughly."
"I'm surprised you asked the office intern to help you with such an important investigation," Mariann said.
Clark shook his head. "Lori was already doing some research on them for me, and I knew she was pretty smart. As it turned out, it was a winning combination." He opened his menu. "Anyway, I'm glad we decided to work together on the investigation. The last I heard from EPRAD, the ship is on course and right on schedule. They've received reports regularly that everything is going according to plan."
"That's good to hear." Rob had also opened his menu. "What do you recommend?"
"Anything you like," Clark said. "The food here is excellent."
A girl of about seventeen appeared beside them with napkins and silverware and proceeded to set the table while they studied their menus. Clark smiled at her. "Hi, Josie. How's your Math class going?"
"Pretty good," Josie said. She set water glasses in front of them. "Somebody will be here in a minute to take your order."
"Do you know *all* the employees here?" Mariann asked, sounding a little sharp. Clark saw Lori roll her eyes. He shook his head.
"No, but we met Josie last week. She's new."
"Clark has a good memory for names and faces," Lori said. "It's one of the things that makes him a good reporter."
"Speaking of reporting," Mariann said, "you weren't home when we called last night. Who on Earth would you be meeting at that hour?"
Clark took a sip of water. "He goes by the name of Motormouth Marvin. Marv is one of our most reliable informants, but he's been lying low recently. One of the persons we've been investigating apparently is looking for him, and he doesn't want to be found." This was quite true, only that meeting had actually taken place two nights before. Still, he hadn't exactly said that he'd met the man last night.
"Why on Earth not?" Mariann asked.
"It would be bad for his health," Clark said, mildly. "He wouldn't say any more."
Mariann glanced at her husband, but Rob merely began to scan the lunch choices available. Clark put a hand over Lori's under the edge of the table and squeezed. She squeezed his hand back and laid her menu on the table. "I think I'll have the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich," she said. "And maybe Cole slaw instead of fries."
Clark nodded, aware that she was cutting back on the size of her usual order considerably for the sake of her mother's presence. He was going to need to take her somewhere else after lunch to make up the difference. "Don't forget the milk," he said, letting his eyelid flicker in a wink that only she saw. "You know what the doctor said about getting your calcium."
She kicked him lightly under the table. "Yes, dear."
Clark saw the corners of Rob's mouth twitch. Mariann was nodding wisely. "Clark is right, Lori. You need to watch your nutrition very closely while you're expecting."
"I am, Mother," Lori said. "We're also taking a maternal fitness class starting this evening, on my doctor's recommendation."
"Oh really? That's a very good idea. Who is ..."
A young man approached the table. "Are you ready to order?"
**********
tbc
