Undercover Disaster

Keiko Fujiwara

Chapter Seven:

The Best Decision Ever Made

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

Catherine looked at the man she thought Vincent was talking about and muttered, "Black suit?"

"Yeah." Vincent replied as the man continued to talk with Greenbrier guests. "That's not all I smell right now."

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked, looking up at Vincent whose eyes were locked on target with the man in the black suit.

"I can smell a distant stench of blood mixing with his scent. He probably tried to wash it off but didn't clean off all of it. I also can smell a slight odor…I think it's gas." Vincent answered, looking at Catherine for a second.

"Vincent…that man is Thomas Gilmore—Greenbrier's CEO." Catherine stated gravely. "You said he smells of blood and gas?"

"Yeah."

"I think I've figured out why he wanted an explosion besides wiping away any evidence to peg against him." Catherine said as she stood on her tiptoes to whisper into Vincent's ear. "Like I mentioned earlier, Thomas was the ONLY person to know when we wouldn't be working in on the crime scene. He probably cut the crime scene suite's gas lines while EVERYONE was eating breakfast in the Main Dining Room. Do you ever recall seeing him around?" Vincent shook his head slightly, urging her to continue her theory. "I guessing, he decided on an explosion because, one, it'll destroy all of our evidence, two, there was a possibility of killing some of the NYPD investigators, three, it wouldn't really hurt his reputation because he could claim that the room was under construction like he's told the guests and something must accidentally caught on fire before the entire suite exploded. He also needed a distraction, Vincent."

"And that's why he has blood on his hands." Vincent added, "He wanted everyone to hear the explosion and check the damage while he drags Eliza Summers's body into your suite. I've confirmed Evan she was poisoned so she was already dead when he brought her to the bathroom. He then slits her wrists, lets her blood flow out of her body before sticking his fingers into it to write that threat on the bathroom wall."

"Exactly." She smiles, looking at him. "You know, Keller, we make quite the team."

Vincent smirked but his face fell when Thomas was making his way over to them. Catherine turned around and Vincent held on to her hand as tightly as possible without breaking her fingers.

"Why hello, Mrs. Davies. How is your stay at Greenbrier?" Thomas asked, ignoring the look Vincent was giving him.

"You can cut the crap, Thomas." Catherine stated boldly, taking a step towards Greenbrier's CEO.

"Pardon me?!"

"You heard me. We found another body earlier today—one of your staff members: Eliza Summers."

"That's terrible!" he exclaimed as sweat started to drop from his head.

"One of your employees confirmed one of my coworkers that Eliza Summers was the maid working the shift on crime scene's floor during the victims' times of death. She also mentioned that Eliza went missing shortly afterwards. Wanna tell me about that, Thomas?"

"Excuse me?"

"I want to know why you did not include Eliza's name on the list you gave me. There is no record of her quitting her job or resigning so why did you not include her name? Was it because you knew she was dead? That you killed her? Huh?!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Davies, but you are stepping way out of line!" Thomas glared at Catherine.

"Just so you know, we found a total of seven bodies during our stay here, Thomas Gilmore. Because Greenbrier has a serial killer on the loose, we have to take precautions. Therefore, that's why I called the local precinct and told them what was going on. They'll be sending a team up here as soon as their able. Oh, and no. They won't be undercover. Like I said, Gilmore, I'm on to you and once I can tie the murders to you, you can kiss your reputation goodbye!" Catherine said with conviction as she returned the glare towards the CEO.

"This ends right now, Detective. You point your finger at me one more time and I'll make your life a living hell during your stay at Greenbrier." Thomas threatened, bending down to be at eyelevel with Catherine.

Catherine didn't even flinch. She simply smiled and added, "By the way, there was only ONE person at Greenbrier other than my coworkers who knew my undercover name was Mrs. Davies. Can you guess who?"

Thomas's left eye suddenly twitched before he straightened himself up. "Think what you want, Detective, but that won't stop me from my dinner tonight. From what I believe, your coworkers don't see eye to eye with you on this case. So, if you value your job, you better keep yourself inline tonight during dinner. I wouldn't want you to lose your job over something so trivial. Oh and bring the young man standing beside you. The more company, the better."

With that, Thomas left Catherine and Vincent standing in the middle of the walkway as he headed back towards his office.

"Catherine, that was a pretty gutsy move; especially if he's the killer. Because he knows you're on to him, he might try and get to you." Vincent said as they started walking back towards the deluxe rooms.

"I won't let my guard down. Besides, I've just proven he's our guy." Catherine said with pride. Vincent gave her a look of confusion and she concluded, "When we first met Thomas, Vincent, he pretended that there were only 2 bodies. He saw the bodies before anyone else so he should have told us Lilly Phillips was pregnant. Either that or he could have mentioned that there were three bodies, not two. Then, after assessing the crime scene, I went to talk to him to request for that list of suspects. While you and I were on our way down the stairs, Tess later confirmed to me that Thomas was on the phone with Joe. Joe told him there were five bodies before Tess told me Evan found two more.

"When I told Thomas that there were actually three bodies and not two, he didn't correct me or tell me that Joe talked to him. He just acted surprised."

"But that still doesn't prove he's the killer." Vincent said.

"I'm not done." She smiled. "If you noticed, I said that we found seven bodies."

"Yeah…I thought that was a little odd because didn't your team only find six?" Vincent replied while noticing a big smirk playing on Catherine's lips.

"We did. Remember when I told you that I asked Joe NOT to tell Thomas of our investigation's update?"

"Yeah…."

"Well, that just proved to be very helpful. You see, WE know Thomas should only think there were 5 bodies because that was the last update he received. He knows we found Eliza's body this morning so he should have corrected me and said something like, "Don't you mean six bodies?" But he didn't. He just allowed me to bitch at him. That proves that he knows more than he's telling us. Even if he's not the murderer, he just proved to me that he knows how many bodies are out there." Catherine replied as they finally entered Vincent's suite.

"But wouldn't that mean there's another body out there?" he asked with a worried expression. Catherine placed her badge and her gun on the table and replied, "Yeah."

"Who then?" Vincent asked.

"I don't know…" Catherine's face fell. "But we'll find out, okay?"

He nodded, looking at his watch. "It's close to 2 PM. Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry…after seeing all of those dead bodies; I don't think I have the appetite to eat."

"Catherine, you need to eat. It's important for you to keep your strength up for an investigation as strenuous as this one is." Vincent said as he started rubbing her shoulders.

"I'm fine, Vincent. Besides, The West Virginia PD should be on their way over here if they aren't here already." Catherine replied before moving her neck around as Vincent's fingers gently massaged the crooks of her neck.

"Will you eat for me?" He asked, bringing his head close to her ear with his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. She slowly turned her head and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away from him and smirked.

"Okay…but on one condition."

"Name your price." He whispered before kissing her cheek.

Just as she was about to give him a reply, Vincent's phone rang. He pulled out his phone and said, "It's JT."

"Okay…well answer it. I'll be right back. I'm going to haul my things over here. Okay?"

"Take this!" he said, handing her one of his card keys.

"Thanks." She smiled before dashing out of the suite.

"What's up, JT?" Vincent asked.

"Woah. You sound annoyed. Did I just interrupt something?"

Vincent ignored his friend's question and said, "Did you just call to make sure I was alive?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, case closed. I'm alive." Suddenly, an idea popped into Vincent's head. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"

"Shoot, man." JT replied through the receiver.

"I need you to do some research and see if there are any relations between a man named Zachary Phillips and a man named Thomas Gilmore. If you find anything, call me. Okay?"

"Fine. I'll see what I can find. Later, dude." JT said before the line went dead. Vincent put his phone in his pocket and headed for Catherine's suite to see if she needed any help moving her things.

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

As Vincent entered Catherine's soon to be ex-suite, he found Catherine, Evan and Tess arguing with each other.

"I'm telling you, it's Thomas Gilmore!" Catherine stated.

"And I'm telling you the killer is someone else!" Tess shouted as she placed her hands on her hips. "Why would he call Joe to send for NYPD's finest if he was the killer? That's a bit of a stretch don't you think?!"

"If you just listen to me, I can TELL you why!" Catherine tried to reason.

"Ladies! Please! Now, according to my calculations, our killer would have to have an incredible body build in order to make the abrasions on the victims' bodies. But SINCE they are all blown up to tiny bits and pieces, there's no way to figure out what the murder weapon is. Whatever weapon was used on Eliza Summers was not the same weapon used on the other bodies. I can tell you that much. Her cuts were….sort of sliced like a wedge-shape blade. But it's hard to say what sort of weapon could make such a cut." Evan said, cutting the two women off from their bickering.

"Tess. Evan. Just listen to me. I confronted Thomas today and—"

"You did what?! Cat! I thought we were done with this going behind my back and stuff!" Tess threw her hands up in the air.

"Don't worry, Tess. I wasn't alone. Vincent was with me."

"Cat. Vincent is not a cop! You're lucky Thomas didn't kick you out of Greenbrier for ambushing him like that!" Catherine pushed her hair back as Tess continued, "Look, Cat, sorry for yelling like that but you need to start going by the book. Okay? Why are you so convinced Thomas is our guy?"

"Because, when I confronted him about forty-five minutes ago, I told him we found seven bodies. The last update he ever got was five bodies. He didn't correct me so I have reason to believe there's another body out there." Catherine replied with a stern face.

"Cat, look, I wanna believe you but you don't have proof." Tess stated, rubbing her temples.

"Then explain to me why he didn't correct me when I said seven bodies?!"

"I don't know. Maybe, it's because he was so shocked by your accusations, he was trying to focus on not losing his cool." Tess replied and looked at Vincent. "Next time you and Cat decide to investigate on your own, I'm going to blame you for not stopping her."

With that, she stormed out of the room, muttering something like, "I need some air."

"Evan," Catherine said as she walked over to him. "Please tell me you believe me."

"Cat, like Tess said, there isn't any proof. Sure, your theories sound tempting but without hard evidence, I can't peg Thomas as our guy. He's a business man; not a butcher. Hopefully, once WVPD gets over here, we'll be able to figure out more about the sixth murder and see if we can tie it to Thomas but as of right now, I'm with Tess on this." Evan replied before going back into the bathroom as he left Catherine and Vincent standing there, alone.

Without another word, Catherine started throwing things back into her suitcase. She didn't really care what things her hands were grabbing. She was too furious and upset that her closest coworkers didn't believe her. She zipped up her bag and grabbed her carryon before walking past Vincent. Vincent looked back into the suite to make sure she didn't leave anything behind before walking into the bathroom to confront Evan.

"Can't you see I'm a bit busy?" Evan asked as he heard the door open.

"I just wanted you to know something." Vincent said. "You and Tess should give Catherine more credibility. Despite anything that's happened over the past few days, she really respects you and Tess for the work you two do."

"The last time I've checked, Cat sees me as a player."

"I'm not talking about your personal life, Evan. I'm talking more on a professional level. I don't know if she told you this but the day you were kidnapped by Peter; Catherine personally came to me and asked if I could help her find you. If not for her, Peter would not be dead. You most likely would be in his stead. She respects enough, as a friend, that she'd ask for my help since she knew I was the only one who could find you before Peter had the chance to kill you. Got that? I didn't happen to just be wondering in the tunnels for no apparent reason. I was down there because of her. I know you guys have to go by the book when investigating but if there's something I know about Catherine, it's her instinct. If you care about her, you'd start listening to what she has to say rather than going by the very little evidence you've collected. She deserves that much."

"Oh? Like how she made me think I was a raving lunatic for two months when she knew all along that I wasn't? Try that on for size! Trust is a two way street, Vincent." Evan said before looking back on the victim.

"She still trusts you, Evan. It wasn't a matter of who she could or couldn't trust. The only reason she even lied to you and the rest of the world was because I asked her to. She kept my secret quiet because of me. It had nothing to do with whether or not she could trust you. That's why she lied whenever you brought up my attacking Peter. She lied because I asked her too. Nothing more. Nothing less." Vincent started making his way out of the bathroom before turning around to say, "Oh. And for the record, in case you didn't hear, I was with Catherine when she confronted the CEO. He smelled of a combination of gasoline and Eliza's blood. If that doesn't count in your books then I don't know what will."

With that, Vincent left to find Catherine as Evan started contemplating on what Vincent said.

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

As Vincent walked into his suite, he found Catherine thrashing pieces of a broken vase against the wall in front of her. He smelled blood oozing from her hands and he walked over to her, grabbed her hands before she could throw another shard and said, "That's enough!"

"Let me throw it!" she exclaimed with a broken heart.

"No!" his voice rumbled like thunder as she struggled against him. "Catherine, that's enough." His voice softened. He hated seeing her like this. He had no idea that the fact her colleagues wouldn't believe her would affect her like this. Shakily, she released the mini shards that were in her hands before she felt him kiss her on the forehead. He pulled her to the bathroom without a word and turned on the faucet before placing her bloodied hands underneath the water. She flinched as the water cleansed her open cuts.

Vincent gave her a towel to dry her hands before guiding her to his bed. He picked up his briefcase and opened it up. He took out the antiseptic and poured a little bit on a ball of cotton before cleaning the cuts on her hands.

While he gently cleaned and bandaged her hands, she suddenly said, "I thought it was my job to speculate suspects and to never dismiss theories until proven otherwise."

"Catherine, they'll come around. Hopefully the WVPD will be able to find evidence to peg against Greenbrier's CEO. It'll just take some time." Vincent stated before bringing her newly-bandaged hands to his lips.

"Vincent, we don't have time. There are already six bodies and one body possibly out there. Who knows what could happen after tonight. There may be another murder happening as we speak!" Catherine replied.

"Whatever happens, Catherine, promise me you won't go looking for trouble."

Catherine removed one of her hands from Vincent's gentle grip and caressed his cheek. "Vincent, you know I can't do that."

Vincent nodded, upset that she couldn't make a simple promise for him but glad because she didn't lie to him. He kissed her forehead as he heard her stomach rumble. "Are you still wanting lunch?"

She nodded and looked over to where the broken glass was.

"Don't worry about the mess, Catherine. We can just leave it. Okay?"

Catherine nodded once more before Vincent stood up and walked over to the phone for room service. Catherine slid off the bed, walked to her carryon and pulled out her phone charger, remembering she needed to charge her phone. She made her way to an outlet and plugged the charger in before connecting the cord to her phone. She decided she needed air so she opened the door to the suite's balcony and walked out on it.

Vincent placed the phone back on its base and noticed Catherine standing outside. He opened the door and surprised her by wrapping his arms around her from behind. "You know," he stated, "This is the closest we'll ever get to a fire escape while we're in West Virginia."

Oh what Catherine would do to be sitting on her fire escape again. She hated being so far away from home and this whole investigation drama isn't helping either. She leaned her head against his chest as she snaked her hands along his arms. "I'll be glad once this investigation is over. A lot has happened already and it hasn't even been a full day yet." She turned in Vincent's arms and gazed into his eyes. "You have no idea how happy I am to be here with you despite all that has happened."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Vincent smirked, knowing it was true. Even if he had to crawl to Greenbrier from New York City, he would.

She smiled as she brought her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. Catherine didn't hesitate to wrap her legs around his waist as their lips continued fusing together. Vincent gripped her buttocks to support her weight (among other reasons) and carried her back inside towards the bed. Before he trapped her against the bed, she lifted off her shirt and threw it on the floor as she welded her lips back to his. While keeping her pelvis latched to his waist, she slipped her hands underneath his shirt before pulling over his shoulders.

"Catherine…" he muttered between her kisses. "We…need…to…stop…"

She held him closer to her before replying, "Give me…one damn….good reason."

Vincent moved his lips to her neck and lightly sucked on her skin. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door and someone shouting, "ROOM SERVICE!" Vincent removed himself from Catherine and chuckled.

"Oh…that's why…" Catherine blushed as she pulled the covers over herself. Vincent slipped on his shirt and walked towards the door before opening it. Catherine pretended to be asleep as a man rolled a metal trolley into their room. He removed the dishes and placed them on the table. "Have a nice afternoon, Sir." The man said before trolleying out of the room.

"Still up for food?" Vincent laughed before taking a bite out of a roll.

Catherine slipped out of the bed and made her way to Vincent. She took the roll that was already in his hands and bit a huge chunk out of it.

"Hey! That was mine!" he smirked.

"Oh? I didn't see your name on it." Catherine said as she picked up the basket and walked about five feet away from the former doctor. "If you want another one, you're going to have to work for it."

"Who knew you could be this dirty, Catherine Chandler." Vincent sneered as he walked up to her. Before she could say anything, he deliberately kissed her passionately. As her attention was more focused on their lips, he opened one eye and quickly grabbed two rolls and held them behind his back as he departed from her. "So…how am I doing?"

"You're halfway there." She smirked. Suddenly she noticed he had one of his hands behind his back.

"Vincent Keller, you did NOT just kiss me so you could steal a roll or two, did you?!" her eyes widened.

"Well…you DID say I had to work for them. I'd say catching you off guard is talent all on its own." He smirked before taking a bite out of one of the rolls he stole.

"You're such a dirty player." She chuckled as she tapped him on the shoulder.

"You were the one who came up with this kinky idea in the first place." Vincent said as he finished the first roll and started on the second.

She placed her hands on her hips as she watched him proudly eat his roll. She then looked at the time: 2:45 PM. Since Tess and Evan both told her to 'lay' off of the Thomas Gilmore theory, she really didn't have anything to do for the next two or so hours so a smirk played on her lips.

Vincent took the basket out of her hands and placed it on the table. He could hear her heart beating as fast as his own. In a way, it was like he could read her mind because the look she was currently giving him had nothing to do with rolls anymore. He knew she wasn't hungry for food anymore. No. She was hungry for other reasons. She watched him remove his shirt before he brought his hungry lips to the base of her neck. As his lips brushed against her skin, he didn't realize she had unbuckled her jeans and shrugged them off until he felt her bare legs embrace his torso. He brought her over to the bed, hastily placed her down and yanked off his own jeans before aligning his body with hers.

Vincent suddenly pulled back with concern.

"Vincent?"

He stayed silent, unsure of how to get the words out.

"Vincent, you can tell me anything. You know that right?" Catherine whispered as she stroked his face.

"Catherine…it's been a long while since I've done anything like this…"

"It's been quite a while for me too." She smirked and added, "If you're worried about what might happen, don't be. I trust you, Vincent. You should start trusting yourself."

"What if…What if I hurt you?"

"You won't."

"You don't know that, Catherine." He said as he looked away. She cupped his face and caused him to look back to her as she smiled.

"Vincent, you're always telling me to take things a day at a time. I'm telling you, now, to take every moment at a time. Okay?"

He nodded slowly as she kissed his cheek before she brought her lips to his ear, whispering, "I love you, Vincent Keller."

Suddenly a look of astonishment replaced his look of concern as he leaned slightly backwards. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his lips back to hers; convincing him just how much she loves him. The reality of her confession came back to him and he lightly pulled away from her, saying, "I love you too, Catherine. I've always loved you."

Somehow she managed to flip him over and trapped him against the bed.

"Neat trick." He smirked.

"Just one of my many talents." She whispered into his ear before kissing him. Vincent found her bra hooks and unlatched them, one by one, before slowly sliding the material off of her body.

From that point, there was no stopping the Beauty or the Beast from making the best decision of their lives—love.

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

Keiko Fujiwara:

I know this chapter was slightly shorter than previous ones but what do you think?

I'm not very great in writing romance scenes (in depth if you know what I mean) so I decided to stop it here to spare you from mental scarring.

If you want a 'romance' scene, use your imaginations. ^_^;

Please let me know what you thought about this chapter!

I really appreciate reviews!

Thanks! X3