Chapter Two
Disclaimers, headers in Chapter One.
******
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Lobby
12:35 am
"This is our hotel?" Sara asked, very much awake. The smile hadn't
left her face since the plane landed. She turned to Grissom, who
looked vaguely horrified. She laughed and walked farther in the
lobby, taking in everything.
"I feel like I just walked into a Dali painting." Grissom surveyed
the large room. Teal pillars, pink walls, purple accents, and
furniture he could only describe as odd adorned the lobby. A marble
check-in desk stretched nearly the length of the space. To his right
was a statue of Mickey Mouse shaking the hand of a man the plaque
identified as Leopold Stokowski. "This is..."
"Retro-futuristic?" He turned to see a man in a dark suit approach
them. "That's what we like to call it at least. I'm Michael Overbeke.
I'm a GSM here."
"Gil Grissom. This is Sara Sidle." They shook hands with Overbeke,
whose nametag only referred to him as Michael from Reading, Pa. He
appeared to be in his mid-forties and was slightly balding. "GSM?"
Michael smiled broadly as he clarified. "Guest Services Manager. I
handle the front office here. Generally I work during the day, but I
was told to oversee your reservations. I take it the bellman took
your luggage?"
"Yes." Sara said absently, her attention on the giant screen on the
other side of the escalators. Pluto had Mickey pinned to the ground
and was licking his face enthusiastically. Pluto was always her
favorite.
"Good! Follow me, then." They followed Michael to a bank of elevators
with silver doors. Stepping in, he watched as the manager inserted a
key and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. "The 14th is our
concierge level. You were booked as VIPs, so we had already assigned
you the services, but since this is our peak season we had to upgrade
several guests. I was sent a memo from operations to make sure you
two topped the list."
Grissom slanted his eyes at Sara. Michael most likely didn't know
about the reason for their visit. He wondered if those in charge were
simply making it convenient for them, or there was another
motivation. "That's very kind of you." He responded evenly.
Sara echoed his thanks, but Michael waved them off. "It's our
pleasure."
The doors opened and they exited into a hallway with a marble floor
and paintings lining the walls. They approached the desk at the end
of the hall where a concierge smiled in greeting. "This is Richard.
He's going to take care anything you need during your stay. All of
the arrangements have already been taken care of, so he'll just have
you sign the registration card and hand you the keys. Of course, if
you have any questions he can't help you out with, don't hesitate to
contact me." He handed each of them his card. They smiled their
thanks.
The rest of the check-in went quickly; once they said they were there
on business, Richard was able to eliminate his spiel about park hours
and night show times. They both listened in silence until they were
handed their keys. "You're in room 4914; that's a bay view suite."
Grissom and Sara looked at each other. She stifled a smile at his
flummoxed expression. "A suite?" She asked, slightly confused
herself. "I thought we had adjoining rooms."
"You were upgraded." Richard stated with a touch of
apprehension. "It's a two-bedroom suite. Is that okay?"
"Is that okay with you?" Sara looked at Grissom; his face had
reverted from confused back to blank. He nodded and grabbed the
paperwork from the desk. Richard led them down another hallway to a
set of double doors.
"Here we are. Again, if you need anything, please ask." They watched
as he turned and walked away.
"They're helpful." Grissom seemed suspicious.
"I think they're just like that." Sara shrugged.
"I don't know..." He slid the key into the lock and pushed the door
open into one of the largest hotel rooms he had ever seen.
"Wow." Sara turned in a circle, surveying the suite. "Look at this
place. I've never been in one this big unless, you know, I was
processing it."
Grissom nodded. It was huge. They were standing in the foyer of a
large central living area that was surprisingly ornate given the
impressionistic style of the rest of the resort. Dark wood furniture
was set off by warm colors on the wall. Pieces of modernistic table
art accented the room. His attention was drawn by the gift basket on
the small table in front of him, however. Sara followed his gaze and
approached.
"Look at this. Wine, cheese, chocolates...someone wants us to enjoy
ourselves." She waggled her eyebrows at Grissom, who rolled his eyes
in response.
"You don't think this is odd? Expensive hotel room, gifts, managers
coming in after midnight to walk us to our floor?"
"Of course it is, but it's not going to make us any less objective.
They probably just want to keep us as distant from the rest of the
guests as possible. Less questions that way." She grabbed an envelope
addressed to Grissom off the table. "What's this?"
He took the letter from her and surveyed the contents. "That gives us
about twenty minutes," he said to Sara's back as she crossed the
room to the sliding glass door "It's from Steve. We're to meet him
downstairs at 1:15 and he'll take us to the scene. Pulling it open,
she stepped out onto the balcony. "Check out this view, Grissom." She
called back.
He walked out onto the patio and immediately looked down. He
regretted it. The hotel was an a-frame and the effect was rather
dizzying. He stepped closer to Sara almost subconsciously. Adjusting
his eye level he looked out over Bay Lake. He could see lights
dotting the shoreline on the other side. The silence and the moon
reflecting off the water created a serene setting that was almost
jarring compared to anything else they had encountered that evening.
He felt Sara's arm brush his as she pointed out to an island in the
center of the lake. There was a single light on one end. "That's
Discovery Island. It used to be a nature park until they condemned it
a few years ago. They said it was because there just wasn't enough
interest anymore, but in reality the buildup of bird feces had gotten
to a such toxic level that hazmat suits had to be worn to
decontaminate the area. It's more dangerous than asbestos."
He looked at her; she knew how to create a mood. "And you know this
how?"
"I read a lot."
"You read too much, Sara."
"Says the pot to the kettle."
He smiled and walked back into suite. "We'd better change. It's hot
out there."
Sara looked down at her own sweatshirt and jeans. It had been a lot
cooler when they left Vegas. She looked at the doors on either side
of the living room. "Which bedroom do I get?"
Grissom walked to the one to his right. Looking in he saw a small
suitcase, a backpack, and a familiar silver case. "Your things are in
here." He looked back a moment. "Is that all you brought? We could be
here a week."
She shook her head. "I moved to college with less stuff than that."
"Right, I forgot who I was talking to." He walked across the room to
his door.
******
Grissom, cell phone pressed to his ear, saw Sara emerge from her
bedroom several minutes later. She looked much more comfortable in a
sleeveless blue top, black pants, and her standard black ankle boots.
He listened to Catherine in one ear while watching Sara open and
close the cabinets behind the bar. "We just got in about thirty
minutes ago...The flight was fine...The hotel is interesting." He
covered his left ear with his hand as Sara yelled from the kitchen.
"Grissom! There are little Mickey Mouse shaped butter statues in the
fridge!" She cackled.
He glared at her while trying to hear the phone. "Yes, that's
Sara...We're sharing..." He sighed. "It's not like that; I think
they're trying to bribe us. Our suite's bigger than the lab. So, back
to the original purpose of my call, how are things there? Nick's
case...No, she has her own bedroom." He answered, looking at the
ceiling. He winced as another drawer slammed. "I should go. We need
to get to the scene and I have to install child locks in here." He
heard Sara snort in response. He hung up the phone and turned to look
at her, bemused. "Are you ready to go?"
She was already out the door.
-----------------
TBC in Chapter Three
Disclaimers, headers in Chapter One.
******
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Lobby
12:35 am
"This is our hotel?" Sara asked, very much awake. The smile hadn't
left her face since the plane landed. She turned to Grissom, who
looked vaguely horrified. She laughed and walked farther in the
lobby, taking in everything.
"I feel like I just walked into a Dali painting." Grissom surveyed
the large room. Teal pillars, pink walls, purple accents, and
furniture he could only describe as odd adorned the lobby. A marble
check-in desk stretched nearly the length of the space. To his right
was a statue of Mickey Mouse shaking the hand of a man the plaque
identified as Leopold Stokowski. "This is..."
"Retro-futuristic?" He turned to see a man in a dark suit approach
them. "That's what we like to call it at least. I'm Michael Overbeke.
I'm a GSM here."
"Gil Grissom. This is Sara Sidle." They shook hands with Overbeke,
whose nametag only referred to him as Michael from Reading, Pa. He
appeared to be in his mid-forties and was slightly balding. "GSM?"
Michael smiled broadly as he clarified. "Guest Services Manager. I
handle the front office here. Generally I work during the day, but I
was told to oversee your reservations. I take it the bellman took
your luggage?"
"Yes." Sara said absently, her attention on the giant screen on the
other side of the escalators. Pluto had Mickey pinned to the ground
and was licking his face enthusiastically. Pluto was always her
favorite.
"Good! Follow me, then." They followed Michael to a bank of elevators
with silver doors. Stepping in, he watched as the manager inserted a
key and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. "The 14th is our
concierge level. You were booked as VIPs, so we had already assigned
you the services, but since this is our peak season we had to upgrade
several guests. I was sent a memo from operations to make sure you
two topped the list."
Grissom slanted his eyes at Sara. Michael most likely didn't know
about the reason for their visit. He wondered if those in charge were
simply making it convenient for them, or there was another
motivation. "That's very kind of you." He responded evenly.
Sara echoed his thanks, but Michael waved them off. "It's our
pleasure."
The doors opened and they exited into a hallway with a marble floor
and paintings lining the walls. They approached the desk at the end
of the hall where a concierge smiled in greeting. "This is Richard.
He's going to take care anything you need during your stay. All of
the arrangements have already been taken care of, so he'll just have
you sign the registration card and hand you the keys. Of course, if
you have any questions he can't help you out with, don't hesitate to
contact me." He handed each of them his card. They smiled their
thanks.
The rest of the check-in went quickly; once they said they were there
on business, Richard was able to eliminate his spiel about park hours
and night show times. They both listened in silence until they were
handed their keys. "You're in room 4914; that's a bay view suite."
Grissom and Sara looked at each other. She stifled a smile at his
flummoxed expression. "A suite?" She asked, slightly confused
herself. "I thought we had adjoining rooms."
"You were upgraded." Richard stated with a touch of
apprehension. "It's a two-bedroom suite. Is that okay?"
"Is that okay with you?" Sara looked at Grissom; his face had
reverted from confused back to blank. He nodded and grabbed the
paperwork from the desk. Richard led them down another hallway to a
set of double doors.
"Here we are. Again, if you need anything, please ask." They watched
as he turned and walked away.
"They're helpful." Grissom seemed suspicious.
"I think they're just like that." Sara shrugged.
"I don't know..." He slid the key into the lock and pushed the door
open into one of the largest hotel rooms he had ever seen.
"Wow." Sara turned in a circle, surveying the suite. "Look at this
place. I've never been in one this big unless, you know, I was
processing it."
Grissom nodded. It was huge. They were standing in the foyer of a
large central living area that was surprisingly ornate given the
impressionistic style of the rest of the resort. Dark wood furniture
was set off by warm colors on the wall. Pieces of modernistic table
art accented the room. His attention was drawn by the gift basket on
the small table in front of him, however. Sara followed his gaze and
approached.
"Look at this. Wine, cheese, chocolates...someone wants us to enjoy
ourselves." She waggled her eyebrows at Grissom, who rolled his eyes
in response.
"You don't think this is odd? Expensive hotel room, gifts, managers
coming in after midnight to walk us to our floor?"
"Of course it is, but it's not going to make us any less objective.
They probably just want to keep us as distant from the rest of the
guests as possible. Less questions that way." She grabbed an envelope
addressed to Grissom off the table. "What's this?"
He took the letter from her and surveyed the contents. "That gives us
about twenty minutes," he said to Sara's back as she crossed the
room to the sliding glass door "It's from Steve. We're to meet him
downstairs at 1:15 and he'll take us to the scene. Pulling it open,
she stepped out onto the balcony. "Check out this view, Grissom." She
called back.
He walked out onto the patio and immediately looked down. He
regretted it. The hotel was an a-frame and the effect was rather
dizzying. He stepped closer to Sara almost subconsciously. Adjusting
his eye level he looked out over Bay Lake. He could see lights
dotting the shoreline on the other side. The silence and the moon
reflecting off the water created a serene setting that was almost
jarring compared to anything else they had encountered that evening.
He felt Sara's arm brush his as she pointed out to an island in the
center of the lake. There was a single light on one end. "That's
Discovery Island. It used to be a nature park until they condemned it
a few years ago. They said it was because there just wasn't enough
interest anymore, but in reality the buildup of bird feces had gotten
to a such toxic level that hazmat suits had to be worn to
decontaminate the area. It's more dangerous than asbestos."
He looked at her; she knew how to create a mood. "And you know this
how?"
"I read a lot."
"You read too much, Sara."
"Says the pot to the kettle."
He smiled and walked back into suite. "We'd better change. It's hot
out there."
Sara looked down at her own sweatshirt and jeans. It had been a lot
cooler when they left Vegas. She looked at the doors on either side
of the living room. "Which bedroom do I get?"
Grissom walked to the one to his right. Looking in he saw a small
suitcase, a backpack, and a familiar silver case. "Your things are in
here." He looked back a moment. "Is that all you brought? We could be
here a week."
She shook her head. "I moved to college with less stuff than that."
"Right, I forgot who I was talking to." He walked across the room to
his door.
******
Grissom, cell phone pressed to his ear, saw Sara emerge from her
bedroom several minutes later. She looked much more comfortable in a
sleeveless blue top, black pants, and her standard black ankle boots.
He listened to Catherine in one ear while watching Sara open and
close the cabinets behind the bar. "We just got in about thirty
minutes ago...The flight was fine...The hotel is interesting." He
covered his left ear with his hand as Sara yelled from the kitchen.
"Grissom! There are little Mickey Mouse shaped butter statues in the
fridge!" She cackled.
He glared at her while trying to hear the phone. "Yes, that's
Sara...We're sharing..." He sighed. "It's not like that; I think
they're trying to bribe us. Our suite's bigger than the lab. So, back
to the original purpose of my call, how are things there? Nick's
case...No, she has her own bedroom." He answered, looking at the
ceiling. He winced as another drawer slammed. "I should go. We need
to get to the scene and I have to install child locks in here." He
heard Sara snort in response. He hung up the phone and turned to look
at her, bemused. "Are you ready to go?"
She was already out the door.
-----------------
TBC in Chapter Three