Chapter 20
"No, I think I want the desk over there."
"Lois, I've moved it four times already. Are you sure?" Clark was letting the irritation show through in his voice.
"Yes, I'm sure. The light's better there. We can both enjoy the window. Yeah, that's where I want it."
"Okay, but this is the last move," he warned, and he moved the desk.
"Great. Perfect." Lois was obviously in a good mood. Clark was just trying to keep his own on an even keel. They were officially in the new office and it was a certifiable mess. "And now this…" she moved a small table over to a spot by the door, "…yeah, that's nice."
"Glad you're happy. Now, mind if we get some work done?" Clark placed their new chairs in their respective places and started unpacking the boxes containing their computers. As he was crawling under the desk to hook up the various cables and lines, he heard Lois' cell ring.
"Hello? Oh, hi!"
It was all Clark could do to make himself not hear the conversation crackling over the line, but he really didn't need to anyway. It had to be Oliver on the other end.
"I suppose. Where? Okay, I'll see you there." The silence that followed got the better of him and he peered through the desk to see the look on Lois' face. It was one of pure calculation.
"Clark?"
"Hm?"
"I need to meet someone. Want me to bring you back something for lunch?"
He crawled back from beneath the desk and looked up at her from the floor. "No, thanks, I'm good, Lois." She grabbed her purse and, tossing a winning smile at him, left.
Clark got up and surveyed the room. Boxes, file cabinets, and the contents of all the drawers in both of their former desks lay scattered about, waiting to be assigned their new places. At least with Lois out of the way, he didn't have to go at such a maddeningly slow speed. Three seconds and a few gusts of wind later, everything was put away, hooked up, and the office was ready for business.
He had just sat down on his side of the desk when Perry White entered without bothering to knock.
"Clark! How do you two like the new office?"
"It's great, Mr…uh…Perry. Thanks."
"Where's Lois?"
"She had to meet someone. I think for lunch." Clark's eyes flickered to the clock, noting the time. It was way too early to be taking lunch. When was he ever going to get better at lying?
But Perry thought it of no consequence. "That's fine. That's fine. I wanted to have a little talk with you anyway." Perry sat down in the chair across from Clark.
"A talk?"
"Yeah. Is the blue okay? I figured it was one of your colors. And after all the scuttlebutt around the office, well, you do know it's my job to make sure I hear it all."
"Right, sir. You didn't get this job because you 'know how to yodel,'" Clark quoted one of Perry's own oft-used phrases.
"Exactly. Yeah, dark blue carpet, light blue walls. This is nice. And the private bathroom, how do you like that?"
"Oh, that? That…was a complete surprise. None of the other—"
"Except for my office, you're right. None of the others has one. But mine doesn't even have what that one has."
Clark looked at him in confusion. It was a small bathroom, but certainly not that out of the ordinary. But Perry had already gone on to another subject.
"Now regarding Lois, I just want you to know that if this doesn't work out, things can always go back to the way they were…or to something different. Whatever helps. Whatever helps. You two are getting along okay, I take it?"
"Yes, sir, we're fine. Lois is…" He searched for the right words, but Perry interrupted once more.
"'Lane and Kent.'" Perry used his hands as if writing out a banner headline. "I want that Senator story on the front page by Monday, with pictures, if you have them. That can start off the media blitz."
"Media blitz? Sir—"
"Yeah, my idea. I just thought we'd do a bit of advertising. Create some buzz. No pictures at first, don't worry. I want the public to demand it. I have great hopes for you two." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "But Clark, make sure you go with Lois to meet that source of hers on that one. The F.B.I. is nosing about…she did tell you that?"
"No, she didn't." Clark was now upset. He wished he'd listened in on that phone call after all. What if it wasn't Oliver?
"Figures. I told her to. She doesn't exactly follow orders real well, does she?"
"Not really." Clark had to smile.
"You'd think a military brat…I was in the military. Did I ever tell you about that?"
"No, sir, you didn't."
"Yeah, I requested and got a post in Germany, just like the King. Well, it just might help you understand Lois a bit more if you could learn a little about military life for the families."
"Sir, I don't think you can learn about that kind of thing from a book. You probably have to live it."
Perry shook his head. "You may be right, son, you may be right." He looked at his watch. "Oh, the time. I should go. Now, if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know. I want this to work out…for you, for both of you."
"Yes, sir. I'm sure it will." Perry White smiled a wide smile and left Clark, who was more confused than ever.
After he thought over the conversation, he got up to go look at the bathroom that was so different. He looked all around and could find nothing out of the ordinary. It was nice with the same light blue color scheme, big mirrors, and even a shower. That might prove useful for any all-nighters they'd have to pull. Yes, it was extremely nice. He'd give Perry that, but it was so totally unnecessary, given there was one just across the hallway.
When he reached for the light switch, he suddenly became aware that the light in here was coming from more than just the light fixtures that lined the mirror. He looked up to see a skylight set recessed into the ceiling, and he breathed, "I'll be…"
He let himself float up to examine it. The skylight was four feet square and the dome was capable of opening directly to the roof with a simple latch. A second dome covered this, with a much heavier base. Clark tested it. He'd guess it would take the strength of ten men to lift that one, which ensured a degree of safety from someone entering from the outside.
Impossible to open… for anyone without super-strength.
********
"Hello?" Lois looked around the abandoned garage for her companion. The odor of used oil, gasoline, and fifty years of grime assaulted her nose. She was ten miles outside the city limits in an area she shouldn't even consider being caught dead in, much less walking around in, alive and unarmed.
"Anyone there?" she called out to the emptiness.
She was relieved to hear a gruff voice from the shadows answer, "Did you bring it?"
"Yes. Did you?"
"You alone?"
"Yes." The only sounds she could hear clearly were a soft scratching in a dark corner and a car horn blaring in the far distance. "Aw, come on, this is getting creepy," she complained.
"Sorry." A young boy of perhaps eighteen separated from the darkness to her left. "I just had to make sure." His voice shook and she was sure he was more afraid than she was.
"That's better. Here." She handed over an envelope and he tore it open the minute it touched his fingers. "Where are the pictures?"
"Okay. I'll get them. Just a minute." He turned and she heard a few various squeaking noises. He'd obviously hidden them away in some metal container. "Here you go. And you won't tell where you got them?"
"Of course not." She was already opening the manila envelope and looking through the pictures it contained. "Wow! These are…"
"Yeah. Just nail the S.O.B., Okay?"
"Oh, I intend to. But look, why are you doing this? I know, for the money, but there's something else, isn't there?"
"Yeah. The money is just going to help me disappear so they don't come after me too." He sniffed and wiped at his nose. "Connie was my girlfriend."
"Was?"
"Yeah, you'll hear."
And he was gone, melting once again into the dark, shadowy corners of the building.
Lois walked out of the dilapidated garage and back toward her car. As she reached for the door handle, she heard a voice behind her.
"Miss Lane?"
Chills shot up her spine immediately. The secret meeting in the garage hadn't really scared her. That voice did.
"I'll take those."
Lois turned around and jutted out her chin defiantly to a sharply dressed man in a black overcoat and hat. "Over my dead body."
"Your choice."
She watched, wide-eyed, as he leveled a gun at her heart and fired.
She never even screamed.
