Before Lois had time to process that they were about to be caught, she felt Clark grab her and then faster than seemed possible, they were gone from the hallway and behind a closed door. She pressed her ear against the door. She could hear 2 men's voices as clear as a bell.
"If you ask me, it's rather suspicious that 3 cameras stopped working the same night we hired new people."
It sounded like a ladder and been set down and was being climbed.
"It happens," the other man replied. "Trust me when I say that unless we have definite proof that somebody messed up the cameras, the boss will get mad at us and we'll be the ones to get the boot."
"It's a fried wire on this one. I guess we could say it's just faulty wiring."
"Sure and we'll get new cameras tomorrow. Come on let's go back to our rooms."
"Shouldn't someone guard these areas? The security guard won't be able to see them on the screen."
"If you want to, Jim, but I'm going back to bed."
"Yeah, me too. I guess."
Their heavy footsteps got further and further away until they couldn't hear them anymore.
Lois gave a deep sigh of relief. "That was close."
"A little too close. I think we should go back to bed too."
"It probably is safer to snoop in the daylight when we have an excuse for being up. I'm confused though."
"About what?"
"What happened to those cameras?"
"You heard them. They had faulty wiring."
"But how did it happen to be the ones we passed? I know they are because they obviously didn't know we were here."
"Luck?"
"Nobody's that lucky."
"Maybe we have a guardian angel."
She opened the door. "Do you ever have any logical answers?"
"Not everything's logical."
They quietly headed back to their rooms. They got to Lois' room first. "Goodnight, Miss Cane." "Good night, Mr. Flint."
sss
After breakfast, Lois had to begin her maidly duties, which was keeping the floors downstairs clean. It wasn't an easy job and it didn't mean she was excluded from other tasks. Mrs. Rodgers had told her that you never know what needs might arise. It couldn't have worked out better for Lois though because it gave her the opportunity to go through all the downstairs rooms. She was sweeping the kitchen first. The cook and kitchen helpers had already cleaned up and left, so she was by herself.
She jumped when somebody came through the swinging door and said in a deep voice, "You rang?"
It was Clark, of course. "No, I didn't ring, Lurch. What are you doing in here?"
He grinned as he sat down, "Keeping you company."
"Don't you have a job to do? I assume you haven't lost it since you're still alive and in that ridiculous penguin suit."
"I'm taking care of my job. I'm not the head butler you know. You see that outside door over there? My job is simply to open it if somebody knocks on it. It's not the most used door in the house, but I guess people use it or I wouldn't have been assigned to it."
Lois' mouth dropped open. "You mean I have to work my butt off and all you have to do is open a stinking door?"
He wasn't sure how to answer that without making her angrier.
"I bet you get paid just as much too. No, wait! I bet you get paid even more."
He shrugged and she began to furiously sweep the floor. Clark figured it wise to keep quiet for a bit until she cooled off.
At last he broke the silence, "Look at the bright side. You could have gotten a job as the cook and we know how well that would have gone."
She didn't stop sweeping but replied crossly, "Just what are you saying about my cooking skills, Clark Kent?"
He was surprised. She usually admitted she was a lousy cook. Well, except when she was trying to kill people with kindness. Every time she tried to be nice, she cooked and that could very well end up killing someone one of these days. "Nothing. I like it."
"Don't lie to me, Smallville."
Clark was glad the cameras only took in pictures and not sound otherwise they would've been in big trouble by now. She continued sweeping for a couple minutes.
She turned around suddenly and put her hands on her hips, "I know you're staring at me. I can feel your eyes on me. What do you want?"
"Nothing."
"I get it. I know what goes on in the mind of a male."
"Nothing?"
"Not a bad answer, but I know you're getting a kick out of watching me do domestic work. Men never finished evolving from the cavemen days. I'm sure you're enjoying the maid's uniform too."
"Not as much as I would if it were a French household," he quipped in an attempt to lighten things up.
Lois lifted the broom in her hands and wielded it like a baseball bat. She moved toward him at a quick speed. Clark took it as his cue to leave.
Lois rolled her eyes and decided not to pursue him, as much as she wanted to. She had to crack open this case before Clark/Chuck ran her nuts. She deserved a Pulitzer or at least a Kerth, if solely for going undercover with the most annoying man in the world.