Chapter 37
"So where is he now?" Lois was fidgeting.
Clark looked over at a spot a little below the living room window and concentrated. "About twenty miles outside of Metropolis." Turning back to the table, he helped himself to some more potatoes. "There's plenty of time. Besides, if I go after him now, we won't know where he's heading."
"We know where he's heading – back to jail!"
"I'm with Lois on this, sweetheart. I don't think you should risk letting him get away. Who knows if you will be there next time!"
"Relax, both of you." He looked at Lois. "And I will be there. I will be keeping a closer eye on you, believe me."
"Oh, that's comforting. My own personal 'big brother' watching my every move."
"Brother? Ouch," Clark smiled as he took another bite. "And this is really good, Lois. How much did mom help again?"
"I only guided," Martha assured him. "Lois did it all herself. She's a quick learner."
"Wow, Lois, I'm impressed. This is—"
But Lois wasn't even listening to the praise. She was deep in thought. "Smallville, you said maybe I 'should stay that way for now.' What did you mean by that?"
"Just that. I think you should play dead for a while. Give whoever it is who wants you dead so badly a chance to think you are, and the pressure's off them."
"Lois, it might be a good idea. You could stay here and give Clark a chance to find out what's going on with all this while you're safe."
"You mean act like that guy succeeded? Actually play dead?" She shook her head. "No way! We need to—"
"Give him another chance? No, Lois, I'm serious. I'll talk to Perry." He frowned. "Though I'd probably better ask him as Superman. He'd be more apt to go along with him on something like running an obit for you—"
"Smallville, it would be a lie. Perry will never print it. Professional integrity won't allow it." Her voice started becoming strident.
"This from someone who thought masquerading as Stiletto was a good idea!" Clark matched her in volume.
"There's bound to be some law against—"
"There is a law against trying to kill you and escaping from jail and—"
"Children!" Martha cut in on both of them. "Now, calm down. You're both on the same side, remember?"
"Sorry, mom." Clark lowered his voice and calmly continued. "Lois, it's a good idea. We're going to do this."
Lois looked at him through narrowed eyes. When was it, precisely, that Clark had changed into this newly confident man from the one she could so easily manipulate? On one hand, she wasn't a bit sure she liked the change; on the other, she realized she was extremely turned on by it.
"Okay, I'll go along with it. But who's going to pay for a funeral and all the costs? Did you think about that, Smallville?"
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I don't think we really have to get into that. Your father would probably want you buried alongside your mother, so we wouldn't have to worry about doing an actual funeral here. The obituary would be the main thing. Then the death certificate…I can get," he paused, "a friend of mine to help with that, if we need it."
Lois made a face. "Smallville, this is decidedly creepy. You seem way too prepared for this."
"If you wouldn't go flirting with death on a daily basis, maybe I wouldn't be," he teased, as he got up from the table. His eyes were glued on that same spot he'd been checking diligently for the past hour. "I need to go. He's almost there."
*******
With plenty of time to spare, Superman made it to Metropolis to observe Benson park his car in an alleyway and head for the back entrance to the jail. He watched in amazement as every person the man came in contact with merely ignored him as he made his way through the corridors of the building until he came to the cell he'd left several hours ago. No one said anything to him. No one expressed any surprise. It was positively eerie.
Fighting his impulses to challenge the personnel at the jail, he satisfied himself that the door of the cell was indeed locked. It was all he could do for now. More than ever, he knew the decision to fake Lois' death was the right one. Something was definitely odd here.
Superman's visit with Perry White yielded positive results.
"Lois Lane's obituary?"
Perry was incredulous at first. But once he learned more of the story, he was onboard completely. "It won't do though to stop at that. She's one of my best reporters. We wouldn't just run an obit in the back. We'd have to do it up right. A full story, below the fold, mind you. We can't give it better than that out of our own modesty, but bottom right corner, I'd say, would be about right."
"You don't have any problem running it? No ethical—"
"Son, if Superman says it needs to be done, then that's good enough for me. I'll handle the retraction and any problems that arise when the story proves to be untrue. Besides, I think the F.B.I. agents that have been breathing down my neck about her stories lately will be relieved. Quite frankly, I'm surprised they didn't think of it. I take it you've got her squirreled away somewhere safe?"
"Yes. I think so."
"I'd like to know how you managed that. Lois is…well, let's just say she can be uncooperative at times."
Superman smiled. "I can handle Miss Lane."
"I guess super powers come in handy with that." Perry leaned forward in his chair and added, "But something tells me you're not one hundred percent invincible one hundred percent of the time. You know, I'd love to hear about why that is some of these days…off the record, of course, off the record."
"Mr. White, I—"
"Oh, don't worry about it. Tell me when you're ready, that's all. I'll write up your article myself. It'll run in tomorrow's edition. Anything else I need to do for you?"
"That would be quite enough. Thank you."
"And I supposed Lane and Kent," he emphasized the name just slightly, "will be writing the complete story once everything falls into place?"
"Of course."
"Good. Then I guess we're all set. Good evening, Superman."
Exiting the office, it occurred to Superman that he had, in effect, been dismissed. Even in the presence of the super-hero he professed to be in awe of, Perry White was still very much in charge.