CHAPTER 2
As Lucifer and Chloe drove back from the crime scene - after this very interesting turn of events - they both remained silent. The devil was still very much surprised after all these revelations. Between the handyman in the morning, and the new information about Chloe, the day had been quite eventful, and wasn't done yet. The Detective on her side was also lost in her world, but not for the same reason. Part of her was focused on the road and the heavy traffic in Los Angeles at the moment, while her other half was set on figuring out how to sell the whole sting idea to her new boss. The more she thought about it, the more she realised having Lucifer around when she explained her plan to the Lieutenant was a bad idea. Now all she had to do was break the news to her partner and hope he wouldn't take it the wrong way. If her short experience with him taught her anything, it was that despite his bravado, he had a hard time dealing with rejection or exclusion in general. She finally parked her car and turned off the ignition. This effectively pulled Lucifer out of his thoughts.
"This isn't the station," he states. "I thought we were going back to the precinct to talk to the Lieutenant."
"I will talk to him a bit later on." She searches his eyes to convey what she didn't say but he avoids her on purpose. "I think it's best if I talk to him on my own and if you could stay away from the station for a couple of days."
"I see." He simply replies, surprised and a little hurt because her current words were in complete opposition to her actions this morning when she argued with their new boss. "I wouldn't want to impose and make things worse." He opens the car door. "Thank you for the ride home, Detective." His voice is neutral in an attempt to hide whatever was happening in his mind.
Chloe grabs his arm before he can go. She feels the need to explain her decision so they wouldn't part this way. "It's not that I don't want you there, Lucifer." She quickly says. "It's just…" She pauses and locks her eyes with his. "It's just the Lieutenant isn't a big fan of yours and given the importance of this future operation, I thought it would be easier to ask him for the permission to start the undercover operation, and even though I think you are a very important asset to our team, I just want to make sure all of the chances are on my side." She smiles at him and his features soften as he understands what she meant.
"Very well, Detective." He reluctantly agrees. "Although I don't understand why this imp is so set on getting rid of me, I get your point." He smirks. "I'll forgive you, if you come by later and fill me in on the details, AND bring some burgers along. I think it's time we have a do-over, don't you agree?"
Chloe smiles, surprised, as she recalls their ruined meal. They were supposed to meet one evening after they closed a case to have a celebratory burger in a nearby bar, but a fight exploded under the pretence that Lucifer hit on one of the regulars' girlfriend, and put a premature end to their near-date as Doctor Martin called it. Both hadn't mentioned the moment since it happened months ago, which is why it was unexpected to her that Lucifer decided to bring it up now, but at the same time, he was Lucifer, so anything could happen when he was involved.
"I'll stop by later to fill you in, and I'll bring burgers." She winks and Lucifer closes the door and heads for Lux.
After some intense negotiations, Chloe finally managed to get her boss' approval to build the undercover operation. He was rather open to it until she mentioned Lucifer's name. It took all of her restraints and self-control to not just tell this idiot to go to Hell, but in the end, she managed to convince him that if they caught the killer this way, he would be the one to get the glory, hence helping his career to move forward and scratch his ego in the process. After he agreed to have Lucifer on-board, the rest was easy and he let her choose her surveillance and tactical team, including a brunette forensic scientist. She left his office, happy with herself and headed for Ella's lab, but she was MIA. She stumbled on Dan on her way back to her office.
"Hey Dan, do you know where Ella is?"
"Hey. Yeah. She left about ten minutes ago to get to a body discovered in Joshua Tree Park. She should be back in a couple of hours I think."
"Okay, thanks." She grabs her bag. "Can you please tell her to meet me at Lucifer's around 5:30? Cell reception there is really bad."
"Sure." He looks at her, curious. "Is everything alright? Why do you want her to meet you there? Can't you guys meet here?"
"We need to discuss a case." She simply offers not willing to share anything with Dan yet. "I need to go now, but I'll see you around."
"Okay." He says aware Chloe wasn't going to share anything else.
"Bye." She replies as she heads out. She had a couple of stops to make to prepare the operation and her team before she got to Lux, so by the time she was done, she should arrive there just in time.
Los Angeles - Lux - Short before 5:30 pm
By now Chloe was well known at Lux, and the parking valet - as well as the bouncer - let her through directly. She navigated easily through the packed up club. Even during the early hours, it was already full of people who were simply here to enjoy a drink and have fun. She reached the elevator to access Lucifer's penthouse and saw two bimbos waiting in front of it. Chloe feels an odd feeling in her chest as she sees these two women pinning to go up and meet Lucifer. She approaches them silently and pretends like she didn't see them.
"OMG! Isn't that the owner I just saw step into the VIP area?" She says, using her best bimbo voice.
As expected, both girls run back towards the VIP area, giggling. Chloe smiles at her easy victory, then she calls the elevator and dials in the code to get to the penthouse. She quickly gets out of the elevator as she reaches the last floor. She looks for Lucifer around but can't find him anywhere from where she stands. She walks in further until she hears his voice coming from the balcony. She drops her jacket and bag on the nearest stool and heads towards the voice. As she is about to step out, he steps in, bumping into her in the process.
"See I told you it had to be in the Jacuzz..." He stops to look at the obstacle he walked into and his face lightens automatically as he sees Chloe's face. "Detective!" His tone is instantly different. "I didn't expect you so soon. You usually stay much longer at the precinct, especially when your offspring is with the Douche."
Chloe felt a warm feeling that he would notice such things, but of course, he would. Then she finally registers his state of clothing - or rather lack of - and she clears her throat while doing her best to not stare at his chest and very well-cut and short swim trunks.
"Yeah. I had a few errands to run, but I thought I could finish early so we could go over the details of our upcoming operation." She looks away, blushing, as she realises how complicated it is for her not to stare, and Lucifer makes no move to make it easier on her. "But I was clearly too early and if it's an inconvenient time, we can always meet tomorrow morning…" She stars.
"Nonsense, Detective!" He instantly replies. "Rob here was just looking for his sunglasses he forgot the other night and I thought we could have a bit of fun. After all, you're the one who told me to go on about my day while you talked to the Lieutenant, so I did, and Rob just happened to be around at the right time."
"Lucifer I told you not to come to the precinct with me, not to invite your conquest of the previous night over again." She replies, angered both by the presence of Rob and by the fact that he could misunderstand her to such lengths. "But you know why, it doesn't matter, it's your life and you do what and who you want whenever you want to. Just make sure to be at the precinct tomorrow morning so we can work on this case."
"Come on Detective, you should know by now that you'll always come first." He replies without really thinking, not even aware of the words he spoke before he hears them himself. "What I had planned with Rob is nothing that can't be postponed, and he was just about to leave, right?"
"Right." Comes a rather disappointed voice from the jacuzzi on the other side of the balcony.
Chloe turns around and looks towards the couch of the living room, mainly to hide that green feeling she got more and more around him these days, but also to hide the blush from her cheeks as she can't help but imagine what would have happened in that jacuzzi if she had come minutes later, or what she might have stumbled on. "I'll wait for you in the living room." She simply says as they were both still half in and halt out of the penthouse.
After a couple of minutes, Rob had finally gathered his stuff and left the penthouse. Lucifer walks towards Chloe, glass in hand. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, I'm fine." She answers, her eyes staring right in front of her, as she knows he still isn't fully dressed, but also not trusting herself to not stare. "Maybe you should get dressed before we start to work?"
"Indeed." He moves to stand in front of her. "Unless you want to have a dip in the bubbles before we start to talk about the case?"
"I'll be alright, thank you."
"Very well." He agrees. "I'll be out in a minute." He ends as he heads for his bedroom.
Just as he disappeared a voice comes from the elevator. "Wow, this place is so awesome!"
"Hey, Ella. Glad you could make it."
"Hey Girl," Ella replies. "I was so happy you gave me an excuse to get out of the precinct. The Lieutenant planned another one of his meetings ." She laughs. "Where's Lucifer?"
"Getting dressed," Chloe answers, without thinking. Then she realises what she just said and tries to correct herself. "I mean, he was in the jacuzzi before you arrived and…" She stops, looking for another way to explain the situation as Ella's smirk widens. "It's not what it sounds like and what you think. One of his friends was here and…" She gives up as she admits she's digging her own grave as Ella keeps on smiling. "Never mind."
"Well good evening Miss Lopez." The Devil greets Ella before Chloe can say anything else. "Not that I don't enjoy seeing you, but what are you doing here?"
"Chloe told me to meet you guys here asap for the sting operation."
He nods and grabs his drink. "Want one?"
"Sure." She answers as she takes the glass Lucifer offers her. "Is the hunk I saw on the way up your friend?"
"Indeed he is." He smiles. "Would you like me to give you his number? You're very much his type."
"Lucifer! Ella!" Chloe interjects before the brunette can say anything to get them both to focus on the case at hand.
"Yes?" They say in unison.
"Can we please focus on the case?"
"Of course, Detective." Lucifer says.
Ella doesn't say anything but can't help but smile as she sees Lucifer's obliviousness to Chloe's jealousy. She joins them to sit at the table. Chloe takes out a very thick case file and opens it in front of her. She splits it into three different piles.
"So here is the backstory for the case."
Before she can continue, the elevator opens again. "Another guest to the party, Detective?" His voice has a tinge of irony in it.
"In a way. Something was missing." She jokes then she walks towards the delivery guy. "I ordered burgers." She says as she brings a brown bag to the table.
She feels the ping of guilt because she kinda used Ella to avoid being alone with him and also because she knew this isn't how Lucifer envisioned the revisit of their failed first attempt. She truly thought he had forgotten about this moment, and after all that happened recently - specifically after his words and concerns for her today - she wasn't entirely sure anymore she could stick to her rule of keeping it professional between them.
"And guess what, this time we have condiments." She adds, in an attempt to make a joke. Lucifer slightly smiles at her inside joke but she can sense his slight disappointment that she invited Ella over. But he is sure there would be plenty of other opportunities to revisit this meal option. With this last sentence, she decides that to go back to the case is probably the safest option for now. She sits back down as Ella grabs her fries.
"This is your backstory, Ella." She hands Ella one of the piles. "You will be Ellaine Gomez, a 30-year-old computer genius, under the guardianship of your lovely Godfather, Lucifer Morningstar. You were put under his guardianship because you got caught after you hacked the top five casinos in Las Vegas."
"Let me guess, I hacked the machines so that only my specific combination would set them to win and I got under the guardianship of my godfather because my parents died in a horrible car crash?"
"Well, we didn't mention the car crash, just that your parents were unable to take on the responsibility of your guardianship."
"Are you sure this is a fake backstory, Miss Lopez?" Lucifer says gently.
Ella looks away. "Well for some of it yes."
"What do you mean?" Chloe asks.
The brunette stares at her food, not sure where to begin. After what she said, she either told too much or too little, but she had no choice but to come clean to her friends and disclose some of her past. She takes a breath and finishes her glass.
"Back in my teenage years, my parents had a horrible car accident and died. I was left to be raised by my brothers and my Abuelita. When I reached my sweet sixteen I decided to pay the City of Sins a visit." She looks up slowly. "I needed cash, I was a smart girl so I gambled a lot. It didn't take long for me to realise that counting cards was way more efficient to win than to rely on sheer luck. Unfortunately, it didn't go unnoticed to the casinos' security and I got caught." She pauses and finishes her drink. "They arrested me and blacklisted me from all casinos there. But given my past, my age and what happened, they decided to let me off with a simple warning, no probation or juvie time, so none of this was entered in the system."
"Ella, I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I had no idea. If this is too close to home, we can always…"
"It's fine, Chloe." She seems relieved. "I never told you about this because I was scared of how you would react." She admits.
Chloe stands up and walks over to Ella. She hugs her. "You're my friend, a tribe member." She starts. "What you did in the past is the past, everyone has to carry their burden." She walks back to her seat. "And this happened before or after your grandma taught you how to pick locks and you stole cars for your brothers?"
"That was way before." She replies, truly happy to have been able to get this off her chest without changing their opinion of her.
"Besides, like you once said to me, Miss Lopez. What did you do that was so bad, rebel against your family." Lucifer adds, a sincere smile on his face.
"Thank you, Guys. This means a lot to me."
Chloe hands Lucifer his file. He opens and scoffs.
"What is it?"
"Why does Miss Lopez get a secret identity and I don't?" He points at his fake story. "I mean I know you don't mess with perfection but what's the point of going undercover if I remain myself?"
"Well first, we're going undercover to catch a killer, not start a roleplay." She continues before any reply can come out of his mouth. "And second, you're unable to lie so I had to do with what I had. Also, you're too much of a public figure to fake your profile. It would have taken too many resources to change your media history." She takes her last burger's bite before she continues. "So you'll be Lucifer Morningstar, Godfather and guardian of Ellaine Gomez. Which means that as long as she's your ward, wherever she goes, you go."
"And what about you, Detective? Surely you're not going to let us walk into this sting on our own?"
"Of course not, it'd be like leaving a toddler on his own." She looks straight at Lucifer as she says it.
"Detective, come on, Miss Lopez might be young, but she is certainly not a child."
"Dude!" Ella laughs. "She was talking about you, not me."
"But…" He starts, pretending to be offended.
"Anyway." Chloe interrupts him. "I will be Chloe Baxter, a brown-haired freelance journalist, who happens to be dating Ellaine's godfather."
"Be careful what you wish for, Detective." He replies, his voice dropping low.
Chloe closes her file. "We start the sting in a couple of days." She continues, ignoring Lucifer's reply on purpose. "It's the time the techs need to build up your backstories and make sure it's rock-solid if they ever decide to check it out - which they will certainly do. And if what we were told is true, they are good, so we need to be better." She closes the main folder. "Miss Morris arranged for us to have a duplex apartment inside of the secured campus. Her spy will introduce Ella to the circle of developers a couple of days after we settle in. I've also given her instructions regarding the surveillance in the area."
"So what do we do until Miss Lopez is admitted in the circle?"
"We blend in and play house I guess, so Ella can work her magic with computers."
"It's called coding Chloe," Ella replies. "And I'll be at the top of my game, I promise."
"Great." She stands up.
"Where are you going, Detective?"
"I don't know how long this is going to last, so I'm going to spend time with my daughter before this starts. But you can reach me by phone if you have any questions about your characters." She replies, honestly.
"I'll leave with you, Chloe." Ella says.
"Well then, I'll guess I'll pop down at Lux and see what's happening there since you're all leaving me." He winks. "I'll see you in a couple of days Ellaine, and I can't for this to start. This is going to be fun, Darling."
Los Angeles - Mac Arthur Park's secured campus - A couple of days later - 9 am
Lucifer was already waiting at the gates of the secured residence as a black limo pulled up in front of him. He wore his usual Prada black three-piece suit with a dark purple silk shirt under his vest and a matte pair of the latest Louboutin Gerro shoes. He put his hand in his pocket and leaned against the wall as the door of the limo opened. He got a glimpse of Chloe in the car. She wore a simple light orange summer dress and sandals. Her now brown-coloured hair matching her skin and outfit perfectly, highlighting her blue eyes. Lucifer opened his mouth but nothing came out of it.
"Devil got your tongue?" Chloe teases him.
"Detect…" Then he remembers where they're about to enter. "Darling, you simply look stunning."
"Well, I wasn't going to look less than my best to meet you. After all, I'm now the girlfriend of one of the most eligible bachelors in LA." She replies, echoing their previous conversation about the victim. She was amazed at how easily she slipped into her character, and not sure which part was pretending and which part wasn't.
As Lucifer is about to answer, an authoritative voice breaks their banter. "If you two are done flirting, can you please get into the car so we can enter the residence?" Morgan Morris says.
Lucifer looks outraged at the tone she used. No one orders him around. Chloe looks at him, her eyes begging him to forget about this and get into the car. He huffs and finally gets in. Ella chuckles. Chloe didn't even need to talk to get Lucifer to do what she wanted. But at the same time, she wasn't anyone.
"Hey, Uncle Luci!" Ella greets him.
"Hello Miss Lop… I mean Ellaine."
"Alright, Richie." Morris says to her driver/bodyguard. "I think they're all set, you can drive us to the house now."
The car starts again and they pass the security checks without any issue and they drive for a couple of minutes before they come to a stop. They get out of the car to find themselves in front of a small house stuck in-between two apartment buildings.
"This is your house for the length of this operation."
"Miss Morris, I thought we were supposed to be in a duplex apartment."
"Yes, but I figured a house would give you more privacy in case you needed to discuss your findings or investigations. It was also more discreet to install the surveillance here, than in an apartment building. As requested, no CCTV has been placed inside the house, only on the outside near each entry point and on a one-mile radius." She gives Chloe a small tablet. "You can control them from this device. I also took the liberty of including a high level of protection on the CCTV feed to avoid any unwanted guests on your network, other than your team that is." She shows them the first floor. "This will be for our couple of the year. You have your suite with a small living room and a kitchen." She then shows the ground floor. "This will be for you." She tells Ella. "You have your private entrance at the back of the house, your suite of course and complete access to the big living room and kitchen as well."
"Thank you, Miss Morris." Chloe says, sincere. "We'll be in touch if we need anything."
"Just catch whoever killed him." She simply replies as she gets back into her car and drives off.
Lucifer offers his arm to Chloe and dangles the keys to the house in front of her nose. "Shall we Darling?"
"We shall." Chloe replies, as she takes his arm, but keeps her distance nonetheless.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Ella whispers as she follows them into the house.
So this chapter is a bit shorter than the usual but I wanted to publish at least part 1 before I went on holidays. Part 2 is already on-going. Once again thanks a lot for all the support, kudos, likes and comments!
