Firstly might I apologise for the ridiculously long time it has taken to up date this one. I kind of lost the thread of it and then life and other stories took over...but hopefully I can now get back onto it :)
They had split up.
Lucifer would certainly be able to slip around the place easier on his own particularly if he had to get the old mojo working and, even if they were playing warring spouses, flirting in front of your 'wife' was probably not the best move. Chloe had sent him to scout out the front office and she was sitting, pretending to mind her own business on a bench; her back to the sparkling blue of the lake and breathing in the sun. On another bench beside her were their temporary cabin neighbours – Donnie and Angela – who looked deep in a rather intense conversation and Chloe was trying not to look like she was eavesdropping on the whispered argument even though she was. You never knew when that one word or comment might set off the Detective fireworks and from the tone of their conversation it sounded as though this other couple had been here before.
She pretended to ignore them, eyes closed and soaking up the sun, until she felt her cell buzz in her pocket. Fishing it out she saw it was her ex-husband. "Hi Dan" she smiled, turning slightly away from the arguing pair beside her.
"Hey Chlo, how's it going?
"Oh" she replied, knowing she could not really speak as it was almost inevitable Dan was either calling for an update from their end or to let her know some news that might help. "Okay, that's not a problem although it isn't a very good time at the moment" Chloe continued, pretending it was some kind of stranger calling her and it was a bit inconvenient right now.
"Not alone huh?" Dan replied, catching on that he might have caught her in an inappropriate moment.
"No, no" Chloe responded, flicking her hair over her shoulder and keeping it casual as she turned her attentions to the whisper of the breeze through the trees above her. A random thought ran through her head that this was a rather idyllic spot and any other time she might like a little holiday here if it wasn't potentially a hunting ground for a murderer or a therapy camp.
"Lucifer?" Dan asked.
"No" Chloe replied, shifting a little in her seat again.
"Ah, okay" he responded, taking a sip of take out coffee and realising that he had to be rather careful with the questions he was asking her so she could frame her responses accordingly. They had had conversations like this in the past when one or both were undercover and the balance was easy to achieve. "Answer yes or no then if you can. Any progress?"
"A bit of both", Chloe replied, trying to keep up a pretence it was not a cop on the other end of the line but she could see another couple walking towards the water's edge and it seemed that Donnie and Angela's argument had now dissolved into sniping and to be honest, Chloe could barely concentrate on providing neutral answers to Dan's questions and listening in for that one juicy detail that might help. "Look do you my mind if I call you tonight? Sam and I are a little busy at the moment" she asked. She could speak openly to him once they were locked up in the cabin for the evening and share as much information that they had, not that it was a lot at the moment.
Dan laughed. "Okay, about 8? Trix is fine by the way...She says she loves you. I'll pass on a hug for you."
"That would be perfect. Thanks Dan" Chloe responded, her ex-husband's name slipping out accidentally and she cringed, hoping she had not been heard. She could hear the television in the background on his call and Trixie shouted something but her Mom could not work out what it was.
"Dare I ask how Lucifer is?" Dan continued. When she reported no problems it was a rather stilted goodbye and Chloe realised the argument beside her had stopped and the married couple were now silently brewing at each other and it felt even more awkward than before as they aired their differences to all and sundry who might walk past. Silence was not golden for these two.
"You know you didn't tell me very much yesterday about your little one? How old is she?"
Chloe jumped at the presence of Angela's voice suddenly in her ear. "Yes" Chloe smiled at her, painting on the fakest expression on her face she could muster up as she turned around to face the older woman. She wondered for a second if Angela had heard Dan's voice but she had briefly mentioned Dan and Trix in her previous conversation with the couple the other night so it was almost inevitable that it would be brought up again. "She's ten".
"Such a nice age but I thought you said you haven't been married long..?" Angela asked, the pair of them hearing a tut at the invasive question from the man sitting with his back to, and ignoring, his wife. In truth it was a touch close to the bone, but Chloe imagined, this was a camp full of married couples and inevitably there must be step-kids floating around somewhere. Step kids? What was she on about? She was acting like Lucifer was actually her husband now...
"No, no" Chloe replied, bringing her back to herself. "She... isn't...Sam's. But he's an absolutely wonderful stepfather to her" she added quickly. God, how saccharine was that. Oh for...! Chloe! Stop it! Stop it now!
"So is Daniel her father?" Angela asked, getting herself comfortable into his conversation with the much younger woman and continuing to ignore her husband.
Chloe shook her head immediately. "Sam's brother". That was their ruse, but the line of twenty questions was becoming even more intrusive and Chloe sent up a silent thought, nay even a prayer, that Lucifer would come and find her and drag her away from the inquisition.
"So what does your husband do?" Angela enquired, clearly settling into the conversation for a while and there was nothing and nobody helping Chloe out here.
"He runs a bar", Chloe offered as flatly as she could. "I...I run it with him. Well more the books, behind the scenes you know" she added with a disinterested shrug of the shoulders and she hoped Angela had finally got the message to stop asking questions when the rather rotund and red faced Donnie told her to 'stop being so damn nosy and leave the girl alone' and they started up on each other again. It let Chloe sneak a few inches further down the bench and to dive into her cell for non-existent text messages before she sent up a second, slightly more desperate 'prayer' to the Devil in the hope he heard.
Unfortunately, even though he was only a few hundreds yards away, her pleas fell onto deaf ears. Lucifer had found accessing the office rooms was rather easy and was otherwise engaged. He'd watched, seeing Bowl Cut Genevieve leave the small building, and to his surprise and delight left it unlocked. 'Well that's one less thing' Lucifer thought as he stepped out from behind the trees where he had been pretending to have a conversation on his cell, mirroring his partner. He waited maybe thirty seconds before he stepped out into the mid morning sun squinting a little as he scanned the immediate area, just making sure nobody was interested in him. A few people milled about, a car pulled up at the gate but otherwise not a soul looked his way and for once in his life, Lucifer was quite pleased with the fact.
As no-one was bothered he stepped across and with one last glance for any spies, gently opened the office door hearing it scrape against a well trodden mustard yelloe raffia mat and having to give it a final shove to remove the obstruction before he closed it again. The room was empty, bar two desks, computers, a handful of rusty looking filing cabinets and a few examples of 'art' on the cream painted walls together with a clock that was clearly twenty minutes slow. Lucifer set about his business with an ear and an eye on the door.
By the time he heard the door open again he had found the employment file for Catherine but not the other two victims. A few rather efficient moments of speed reading later and snaps on his cell, he hopefully had enough on at least her to satisfy the Detective. There was nothing however, on the victims; absolutely nothing and it flummoxed him. He had been through every cabinet and drawer, over and under the desks, into boxes haphazardly piled against one wall but found absolutely nothing. It wasn't as though there were any other rooms off the office, not even a bathroom or even a stationary cupboard to be had where other things could be hidden.
He was about to go into one of the other cabinets again, just to absolutely check he had not missed anything when Lucifer heard feet shuffle outside the office door before it clicked open. He shot up and managed to look casual very quickly as he perched on the corner of one of the desks.
"Hello" he smiled, piling on the accent and the smarm before the woman could speak or ask why he was in there. "I am so sorry...Genevieve". Lucifer stepped closer to her, pretending to read the name badge on her too small jacket even though they had met barely a few hours beforehand at breakfast and he knew perfectly well who she was. "I was just looking for you. My wife...my wife and I seem to have misplaced a copy of our therapy timetable...I wondered if we could have another one".
"Oh!" the woman replied matching his smile. "Of course!" She went over to a cabinet on the wall where two minutes ago he had been and seen the self same documentation adorned with their fake names and she hung onto the piece of paper a little too long as he tried to take it off her.
"Excuse me" Lucifer smiled, yanking the timetable off her. "I must get back to my wife". With that he shot out of the office room, hearing the women scuttle after him. He was fairly sure she was leaning on the door frame and a little glance behind himself as he disappeard back into the trees found she was still looking, but it was more this time than simply his mojo, he genuinely wondered if he had been rumbled and the woman suspected they were more than simply a warring couple. He chewed the thought over in his mind, not wanting the Detective to be upset, angry even that he had gone and destroyed the entire operation. Bloody hell! How things change...
He relaxed a little when he saw her still sitting on the bench where he had left her, leant down and kissed her on the cheek as Chloe stood up, using it as a desperate opportunity to get away from her pursuer.
"Your wife was just telling us about your step-daughter. Your brother is so kind to take her for you", Angela started, still far too interested in the other couple and still ignoring her husband who had now got over their latest war of words.
Lucifer felt Chloe gently put pressure on his abdomen where she was laying her hand. He got the hint."Yes, Daniel is good to us to take her" he spluttered before rapidly changing the subject. "I was thinking my love" Lucifer started, addressing Chloe alone. "A walk around lake?" He had to tell her what he had, or indeed had not found in the office and the spot near Angela and Donnie was not the right place.
"Good idea", she responded. "Excuse us". Both Chloe and Lucifer stepped away and categorically refused to look back.
"They don't look like a couple in need of therapy", Angela observed, crossing her arms and finally addressing the man beside her who had been deliberately ignoring practically everything around him.
Her husband huffed. "It's amazing what a few days away can do. You should try it and leave your baggage at home for once!"
By the time they had escaped, Chloe had slipped her arm into Lucifer's elbow and they were strolling along the sandy path alongside the lake in peaceful companionship, hearing the ground crunch underfoot and the breeze that had picked up ever so slightly. "I'm sure we don't have to keep up the pretence all the time", Lucifer offered, casting a glance around the almost deserted area.
"No its fine" Chloe offered, feeling rather cosy cuddled up to him. "Best we do..."
"Oh, okay" Lucifer replied, slightly taken aback, but a gift horse of his Detective hanging onto him was not one he was going to turn down. They walked further along the side of the lake, arm in arm and way away from the line of cabins. "Shall we have a sit down?" Lucifer asked, gesturing at a felled tree that was lying further up the bank. It was clearly quieter there and he needed to tell her about the office. Chloe nodded and he pulled her up the slight slope so they both sat. Out of instinct, he put his arm around her shoulders, not thinking straight until she made a surprised noise. "Sh... sorry" he exclaimed withdrawing and remembering this was meant to be a professional arrangement.
"It's fine, Lucifer" she replied with a laugh, but utterly unable to look him in the eye. "I don't mind".
Lucifer smiled. He was not used to this relationship business, even if it was a fledgling one. "Okay.." With that his arm went around her shoulder slightly tighter and she snuggled closer. There were advantages to the devil being in your life. He was toasty warm and she could easily have stayed here for hours with the sun beating down on her face but over the other side of the lake, Lucifer saw not so subtle movement. "Bloody hell I think I'm being stalked", he muttered, shifting about on the fallen tree.
"Stalked?!" Chloe asked with a little laugh, not catching on.
"Yes by that strange little witch" he replied, nodding across the water.
"Oh you mean Genevieve?" she asked, turning in the hug to see the woman standing watching them on the opposite side of the lake.
"Mmmm" he replied, oddly annoyed. "She erm...she caught me in the office. I think I was able to mojo my way out of it, but..." He shrugged, dreading she was about to yell at him for it. "I pretended I lost our timetable..."
"Well we just have to be careful" Chloe responded nodding cautiously. What's done is done; she can't rewind time so there was no point in saying otherwise or ticking him off for not being careful. She knew he could charm the birds out of the trees if he wanted to so she could well believe that he had put the other woman off. "Let's keep our heads down for a day or so, go to all the classes and see where we go...Did you get anything at all from the office?" Chloe looked up and saw he was clearly uncomfortable. "Come on" she said, running her thumb over his knuckles, forgetting their mission for a moment. "I spy a crush. Old Lucifer would have relished the attention".
"Yes, well, Old Lucifer has kindly taken leave of absence. I am supposed to be a married man at least for now. If you can act then I can too..." he offered, wanting to take this seriously but wondering how much 'acting' he actually needed to do. "There was some information on Catherine but not the rest". He fished his phone out of his pocket and briefly scrolled down the photographs he had taken, showing her the details of the employment file that Chloe would study in earnest later on this evening when they were without fear of interruption.
"Hmmm" Chloe wondered. "Maybe there's a second office or its kept off site. If its off site, we have no chance". She thought for a second. "Whilst we keep our heads down we can explore a little more and see if there's somewhere else. Maybe Ferguson has an office on site too. He must have one here; maybe in that main building" she mused as they settled into a slight silence.
Behind them another couple appeared out of nowhere and for a flash of a second Chloe wondered if they had been overheard, greeting them a forced smile as they wandered past. "This is a retreat for couples who are meant to be in trouble and we are not acting like one", she continued, taking her hand from his and budging a few inches away from him as she suddenly remembered the real reason they were there.
Instead of being offended, Lucifer smiled, eyes sparkling. He relished a good old fashioned argument with his Detective, even if it was a pretend one, and he was all in for that!