Epilogue: Tasteful Nudes

"Kent!" Perry White yelled. "Get in here!"

Muscles worked in Clark Kent's jaw. He didn't want to be here. Lois Lane had been missing for a month, and he wanted to be out there, looking for her...and he regretted every minute he had to spend at work, keeping up a performance of normality, when she could be hurt or worse...

He stepped into the office of the editor of the Daily Planet. Perry White had his sleeves rolled up, nicotine patches on the inside of his left arm. The old man looked like Clark felt: tired, disheveled, the bags under his eyes darker and heavier.

"Close the door," Perry said. Clark frowned and did as his boss asked.

The older man pushed a glossy magazine across the desk. Clark stepped forward and looked at it...and his heart began to race.

It was a magazine titled Tasteful Nudes. One of those small adult magazines that try to be Playboy or Hustler in an era of internet porn. The kind that caters to a vanishing market. There was a blonde woman with vivid violet eyes on the cover, staring out at the reader.

It was Lois. In a white wedding dress. Clark frowned as he flipped the pages. It was some kind of modeling shoot. There were words, but he didn't bother to read them. Each shot, Lois was wearing less of the dress. Pink nipples slipped over the white bustier. The last half-dozen pages of the spread were nude, except for stockings and veil. In the end, Lois had her heels behind her shoulders, her shaven pussy spread so that Clark could see right into her depths.

"They're calling her Loose Cuntlane," Perry said, his voice flat. "I know Lois has a sister, is that..."

"It's not Lucy Lane," Clark said solemnly. "She's a natural blonde, this is a dye job, and...boss, I know what Lois looks like. This is her, but she has to be...I mean, they could be forcing her."

Perry closed his eyes. "Look into it. Find out what's going on. If you have enough evidence, call the police. Until then, this stays between the two of us, right Kent?"

"Of course, Perry," Clark said. He **** himself to stare at Lois's face. Her smiled looked so natural. "How did you..."

"It came in our review pile. Unsolicited." Perry said. "Jimmy found it."

Clark Kent picked up the magazine. It was his first lead in a month...and he knew the World's Greatest Detective.

"I'll find her," Clark promised. "And whoever did this, I'll bring them to justice."