Part 17 - Marked
Friday, two days after Ward Visit
A single letter lay alone on her desk, the words "FOR LOIS LANE ONLY" written sloppily across it.
She stared at it for a moment, wondering who on earth had sent it.
Clark caught the odd look on her face and went to her, quickly finding the cause.
Picking it up and opening it, Lois found this:
Lane,
Not enough time to meet, but thought you'd want to know they're going to do something big soon. Something involving the D.A. in the Mafia case.
Word is that he's been marked.
All I know.
B.B.
PS
You owe me.
Chinese, all I can eat.
"Bobby…"
"Should we call the police?" Clark asked, having read it from over her shoulder.
"No, at least not until we know more," she answered, closing the letter. "In the meantime, let's go talk to the DA."
O o O
"We thank you for agreeing to meet us on such short notice," Lois began, sitting down beside Clark, across from the district attorney.
Lois looked around at the quiet, quaint coffee house they were within. The DA, Mr. Oscar Campbell, had agreed to meet with them over his coffee break.
"You're welcome. When I was told you wanted to see me, I knew you would only come to me for a good reason. I know you're friends with Henderson, so friends of his are friends of mine," he said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Oh, how this coffee beats that sorry excuse for a liquid at the office," he muttered before putting it down to give them his full attention.
"Yes, thank you, and this is important. We have gotten some information that you need to know about, because, well…it involves you, Mr. Campbell. We have reason to believe that you have been targeted by Greg Sarkov's people, the Mafia."
He leaned back a bit, the color draining from his face.
"Where did you get this information?"
"From a reliable source. They haven't failed us yet," Lois answered. Clark stayed quiet, gauging the man's reaction.
"And you were told…when exactly?" he asked.
"This morning."
Just then, Clark felt his cell phone vibrating. He took a glance at it and found it to be Perry.
"It's Perry, I'll be right back," Clark told them apologetically, but he couldn't not take this call.
Lois continued talking to Mr. Campbell as Clark answered his phone, leaving the table and exiting the coffee shop to stand in a secluded spot near the side alley.
"Kent, a source of yours and Lane's has called," he said, skipping the pleasantries.
"A source? Why haven't they called me or Lois?"
"Apparently Lane turned off her phone, and-" He paused, as if he had quickly decided to keep what he was about to say to himself. "Anyways, all he said was that it was imperative that I told you this word: 'Today.' He said you'd know what that meant."
Clark held back a gasp and quickly turned to where Lois and Campbell were sitting beyond the brick wall to find them calmly talking, still drinking coffee. He then turned his gaze elsewhere, scanning the street and surrounding buildings, and then, he saw something.
"Thanks, Chief, I've gotta go!" he exclaimed, hanging up without so much as a goodbye.
He shot into the alley, already knowing no one was watching and knowing that seconds counted.
O o O
Within Coffee House
Campbell could not believe what he had just been told. He had been marked. He was a walking dead man.
"Mr. Campbell, I'm sure the police will put you in protective custody," Lois said, trying to reassure.
"It'll be the FBI," he softly corrected as the realization of what this truly meant sunk in.
"Mr. Campbell, if it makes you feel any better, I might be able to talk to S- "
But Lois couldn't finish her sentence, for in that instant several things happened in quick succession.
The unmistakable sound of glass shattering into a million pieces.
A rush of air.
And the sudden appearance of the color red.
O o O
Nanoseconds Before
Superman shot into the coffee shop, going right to where he knew the bullet was headed. It was already whizzing through the air, halfway to its target. His eyes turned toward the large window where the bullet was propelling onward, easily penetrating through the glass.
Blurring back into focus the instant the bullet made contact, his arm outstretched and his palm blocking the path to Campbell's head, Superman watched the bullet meet his skin and compact in on itself. Mushrooming, it bounced back and fell, landing with a ting into the empty coffee cup below.
"Don't move," he ordered, his eyes directing their sights through and beyond the broken glass, and to a roof's ledge.
And just like that, he was gone.
O o O
Everyone within the area was in shock, both by the fact that a bullet had just been fired into their vicinity and that Superman had appeared out of nowhere to stop it.
The coffee manager staggered over to Lois and Mr. Campbell's table, both of whom were now staring into the coffee mug.
"I-I've called the p-police," he stuttered, casting a sideways glance over to his newly broken window, glass all over.
Police sirens were heard soon after and before too long the police were there.
"Ms. Lane, is everyone alright?"
Lois looked up to see Henderson standing near the entrance, glass covering the floor before him, his face concerned but relieved at the same time.
He approached, looking at the still petrified Mr. Campbell before he forced his eyes down to what the three near the table were looking at.
"What is that? A bullet? What on earth did it hit?" Henderson asked, picking up the mug and looking more closely at it.
Just then there was a slight breeze as someone entered, giving the answer.
"My hand."
Everyone in the coffee shop (which was Campbell, Lois, Henderson, some cops, and a few customers) turned.
"The sniper is in one of your squad cars, Inspector, and Officer Mathews has the rifle," Superman continued, going to Henderson who was holding the mug.
"Sniper?"
Campbell gave a cough, deciding now to speak.
"Yes, a sniper... and before you ask Bill, the target was me," Campbell interjected, quite miserably actually.
"You!? Why? Never mind, we'll talk later." He looked to Superman after glancing into the mug. "Amazing," he muttered to himself.
"Can you take it from here, Inspector?" Superman asked.
"Yes, thank you," he answered, tilting the mug, letting the bullet slide down its side.
Superman nodded and gave Lois a small smile, before stepping out and flying off.
"Lois, I heard the shot, are you alright?" Clark asked, coming to her as she stepped out of the coffee house.
"Yes, I'm fine." She paused for a moment. "Well, Bobby was right. What did Perry want anyways?"
"He was contacted by Bobby to tell us 'today'."
"Whoa…I guess we owe Bobby more than just one order of all he can eat Chinese."
"Yeah."
O o O
The shaded room was shrouded in thick cigar smoke, the man at the head of the table holding the source.
"Boss, he failed."
"I know," he stated, his face in darkness.
"Superman was there."
"I know."
"He couldn't have known he was going to arrive."
"Perhaps."
"Sir, what do you want us to do?"
"Change our approach." He then threw a newspaper onto the table. "Change our approach, gentlemen."
The men around cast their eyes down on the paper which showed a photo of Superman smiling, surrounded by ecstatic children, the headline boldly displayed above it.
Superman Visits Children's Ward
O o O