Undercover Disaster

Keiko Fujiwara

Chapter Eight:

Awkward

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

As Catherine breathed in Vincent's scent, she felt him tighten his grip around her, ensuring her he DID NOT want her leaving anytime soon. She placed a small kiss on his chest before leaning over him to look at the clock. Much to her disappointment, it was close to 5 PM and she really had no interest in joining her coworkers for dinner much less the Gilmores.

"Catherine, is there any way to get out of the dinner?" Vincent asked as if he could read her mind. Catherine looked up to his concerned eyes and shook her head.

"I wish I could tell you there was but…unless I'm willing to lose my job, I have to go. Don't forget, you were invited too." She whispered as a small smile formed on her lips.

"I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all. If Thomas is our guy, which I have no doubt that he is, he has Hydrogen Cyanide in his possession—a deadly poison. He could suddenly leave the room and lock all of us in before ambushing us with it." Vincent replied as he started rubbing tiny circles along the small of her back.

"Vincent, Thomas may be manipulative and devious, but, if anything, he's ignorant. What he doesn't realize is that, earlier today, he invited you—a man capable of easily breaking down doors if need be." She smirked. "Besides, you and I team up pretty well."

"Still, the thought of what he's capable of…."

"Vincent, Thomas is many things but he won't be dumb enough to release a poisonous toxin in a room that seats nearly 500 people."

"You'd be surprise of what the desperate could do." Vincent said, adding, "Do you want me to take a look at your hands?"

"Are the bandages waterproof?"

"Yeah." He laughed as Catherine started slipping off the bed. "Where're you going?"

"It's almost 5:05 PM, Vincent. Dinner is less than an hour and there's NO WAY I'm going to join everyone without showering first."

"I think you look fine as you are." He smirked, sliding off the bed to gently tackle her to the floor. As he leaned over her and tickled her sides, she squirmed and laughed from his soft, torturous touch.

"Vincent, stop!" she pleaded while his fingers glided to her lower abdomen—her tickle weakness.

"Say the magic words." He smirked. He loved teasing her, especially knowing that she was laughing too hard and too much to speak. To silence her delightful giggles and squeals, he pressed his lips against hers. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her into the bathroom. She couldn't argue with killing two birds with one stone, could she?

He pinned her against the wall next to the shower without removing his mouth from hers and he managed to summon enough concentration to turn on the shower before stepping into it. Catherine kept her hips tight against his as the water drummed on their naked bodies. He hummed when he felt her lightly buck against his hips but he knew that if they didn't stop now, they'd never finish their shower.

"Catherine…" he muttered as he slowly removed his lips from her. She instantly took his lips back in hers as he felt her moan into his mouth. He easily submitted to her want and they soon found themselves sitting on the shower's hard tile with their legs and arms wrapped around each other, making passionate love.

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

"Where the hell is she?" Tess asked as she looked at her watch. It was thirty minutes until they had to meet Thomas and his wife for dinner and she DID NOT like being late. Plus, she wanted to see what Cat was going to be wearing.

"She's probably getting ready as we speak. Calm down, Tess. The dinner isn't until 6 PM. There's still time." Evan said as he straightened his tie. "You should just go back to your room and give her a call."

"I've called her five times in the past twenty minutes. Even Vincent isn't answering his phone."

"You have Vincent's number?" Evan asked as he gave Tess look of surprise.

"What? Cat's phone was dead so I wanted his number just in case I couldn't reach her."

"Look how well that's turned out." Evan stated. "Hmmmm…both Cat and Vincent not answering their phones? What on earth is going on in their suite? Wait…you don't think she'd be that irresponsible to…" Before Evan could finish his question, Tess darted down the hallway and jiggled the handle.

"Damn!" she cursed. Evan walked down to her and said, "You were a maid, right? Wouldn't that mean you'd have a master card for all of the rooms?"

"Evan! You're a genius!" Tess beamed. She dug her hand through her purse and pulled out the master card. "Voila! This should do the trick."

But before she inserted the card into the swipe, she paused.

"What's wrong, Tess?"

"I'm just preparing my mental status of what we might be walking in on." She stated. "I don't mean to sound like a perv but you should probably too. Who knows what we might stumble on in there?"

"I don't know if I have the mind capacity to be mentally scarred—especially concerning those two." Evan replied as Tess inserted the card.

"Too late. Door is open, might as well use it to our advantage. Besides, if they aren't getting ready for the dinner, I'm going to literally divide and conquer by any means necessary." Tess said as she started walking into Vincent and Catherine's suite. "Also, it's my job to be a detective."

"Right you are." Evan agreed.

As Evan and Tess explored the suite, they came upon the bedroom. "It looks like a tornado happened here! Look at all of the…oh…Evan, I think it may be wise if I go in alone. We definitely do NOT need to provoke you or Vincent any further during this investigation."

Evan nodded, knowing Tess was right. The less he sees, the better his mood will be for the dinner. As he took a seat on the couch in the bedroom, he decided to wait for Tess rather than leave the suite altogether.

Tess ventured forward, hearing the shower water running. As she walked closer to the bathroom, she couldn't help but blush as she heard two voices of different pitches, moaning with pleasure. 'Oh dear,' she thought. 'This will be awkward. That's for sure.'

Knowing she mustn't delay the inevitable, she slowly opened the door and gasped in shock as she saw two frosted bodies making love through the shower door. Somewhat pissed that her partner would allow herself to get carried away this close to dinner, she literally marched to the shower door and yanked it open, causing two pairs of eyes to look immediately at her.

"Tess!" Catherine exclaimed as blushes appeared on all three of their faces.

"Damn straight it's me. Do you have ANY IDEA what time it is?! You have TWENTY-FIVE minutes to get ready for dinner. I can't BELIEVE you'd be this irresponsible of all times!" Tess fumed.

Catherine suddenly felt ashamed as she allowed her arousal to cloud her judgment rather than taking the case more seriously. "I'm sorry, Tess."

"You better be! Like I said, you have now twenty-four minutes to get ready! Evan, Andrew, Sam and I will already be at the Main Dining Room. I'll tell Thomas and his wife you two will be ten minutes late so you better get your asses in gear and get ready for the dinner!" Tess demanded before spinning around to stomp out of the bathroom.

As she stormed off, Vincent and Catherine quickly finished their shower, they dried themselves off and walked out of the bathroom, not realizing Evan and Tess were still in their bedroom. Tess was waiting to make sure they obeyed her command and Evan was there simply because he thought it would be rude for Tess to walk to dinner alone.

All four of them froze in place. As Tess's eyes immediately started looking around (basically anywhere that wasn't directed at a naked Catherine and a naked Vincent), Evan couldn't tear is eyes off of Catherine's exposed body. Suddenly, Vincent became very aware of Evan's lustful gaze, he instantly pulled her behind him to block Evan's view. This of course caused Evan to lose interest and he stood up and gulped.

"Well, I think Tess and I will be off then. Isn't that right, Tess?" Evan said with nervousness. If Vincent didn't hate him before, he definitely did now.

"Yeah…I think that's a good idea." Tess replied awkwardly. Evan grabbed Tess's arm and literally dragged her as he bolted out of the suite. He knew what Vincent was capable of and he DEFINITELY DID NOT want to chance fate tonight.

"That was…totally awkward…" Evan said as they walked away from the deluxe room building.

"Yeah…I think it was more traumatizing to see them stark naked than to see them making hot sex in the shower." Tess replied. "I think I'm going to need a drink."

"Me too." Evan said. "I suggest we not speak of this to anyone. I'm sure as hell Vincent and Cat won't either."

"My lips are totally sealed." Tess stated. "Come on. Let's get there as fast as possible. I don't want to listen to Wolansky gloating about arriving to the Dining Room first."

Evan nodded his head and they picked up their speed.

~BEAUTY AND THE BEAST~

Neither Catherine nor Vincent spoke a word when they dressed for the evening. They were still too in shock from what happened not even an hour before. Catherine wore same dress she wore at her father's wedding and Vincent wore the same tux as well (since that's basically the only dress suit he owns anyways).

As he helped her clip her necklace behind her neck, he finally managed to say something, "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Vincent, it wasn't your fault." Catherine replied while she released her hair after he finished clipping her necklace.

"If only I didn't 'start' anything when you said you were going to shower, we wouldn't have been ambushed by Tess and then seen by both Tess and Evan." He stated as he adjusted his tie. She slipped her feet into her shoes and placed her gun and badge into her purse before strapping it to her shoulder.

"It was both of our faults. Neither one of us slammed our foot on the breaks when we came to a stoplight." She said as she looked into his eyes.

He smirked, "Nice analogy."

She laughed and offered her hand after he finished putting on his left shoe. He entwined his fingers with hers while they left the suite.

"Dinner sure is going to be an awkward one. That's for sure." Catherine said and Vincent totally agreed.

Just as Tess predicted, Vincent and Catherine arrived to the Dining Room ten minutes late. As they walked to their seats, they felt as if they were walking on the Red Carpet of Shame while everyone stared at them.

"Ah. Glad for you to finally join us." Thomas stated. "How are you feeling, Mrs. Davies? I heard you weren't feeling well earlier."

"Oh…Um…I feel better now. Thank you." Catherine hastily replied as she took her seat between Evan and Vincent. "I was very grateful to have a very attentive doctor by my side." Catherine smiled as she leaned against Vincent's shoulder.

"Very attentive indeed." Evan coughed before Catherine threw mental daggers towards him.

"I believe we haven't officially met." Thomas smiled as he placed his hand out in front of Vincent. "I'm Thomas Gilmore—the CEO of Greenbrier. You are?"

Vincent took his hand to try and look appreciative and replied, "Vincent Zalanski."

"And you are a doctor?" Thomas asked.

"Yes. I practice in ER medicine."

"Where do you practice?"

"I'm a private doctor. I mostly attend to those who cannot make trips to the hospital. It allows me to get to know my patients more on a personal level." Vincent replied as his mind tried to rewind itself and remember what story he told Evan and Tess while on the plane.

"Well I'm glad you could join us. Have you been to Greenbrier before?"

"Yes. Once but it was a very long time ago. I was with my family then." Vincent replied.

"Oh? I don't remember a family by the name of Zalanski. Were you perhaps adopted?" Thomas asked as Vincent mentally cursed.

"Yes," Evan smirked. "Were you, Vincent?"

Catherine elbowed Evan in the gut as she thought of a really quick cover up story. "When Vincent says 'family,' he normally refers to the people close to him. I remember Vincent telling me a story that he came to Greenbrier with his roommate's family the Kellers. Unfortunately, the Kellers' youngest son couldn't come so they asked Vincent to take their son's place since they both shared the same first name anyway and the Kellers did NOT want to throw away a plane ticket."

Vincent looked at Catherine and mouthed a "Thank you" as Thomas replied, "Ah! The Kellers! Yes I do remember them!"

"Out of approximately ten thousand guests per year, you remember a family from years ago?" Evan asked in disbelief.

"As CEO, I make it my business to learn every family's name who has been here. I make it my business to remember. Do I necessarily remember faces? No, but I cannot forget meeting Michael Keller. I assume his family is the family you are talking about?"

Vincent and Catherine nodded.

"Splendid! It's a small world after all. How is his family?"

Vincent's expression tensed and he said, "I haven't heard or seen the Kellers for ten years. All I know is that Jason and Matthew Keller, Michael's two eldest sons, died on 9/11 as the Twin Towers were struck. Vincent, their youngest son—a roommate of mine—was killed in Afghanistan in 2002."

"Oh my…I'm sorry to hear that." Thomas said with almost no emotion whatsoever. While Catherine rubbed his right leg underneath the table to support him,

Suddenly, Catherine noticed something. Thomas's wife hasn't arrived yet.

"Thomas, is your wife ill?" Catherine asked without hesitation. She could have sworn she saw him tense his muscles for a second and he stated, "Why yes. She came down with a nasty bug earlier this morning and has not felt herself since."

"Oh. I hope she feels better." Catherine replied with a fake smile. "I'm sure Vincent wouldn't mind taking a look at her."

"No!" he immediately shouted. "I mean, no. My wife doesn't do well with strangers when it comes to her health. No offense but she'd rather see our family doctor in the morning."

Catherine deliberately dropped her napkin, saying "Whoops. Clumsy me. Vincent, could you help me find my napkin?"

"Uh…sure." Vincent replied before scooting his chair back to bend down underneath the table as Catherine did so.

"Could you tell if he was lying?" she whispered loud enough for his ears only.

So he wouldn't make a sound, he nodded and mouth lipped, 'There were lies all over his face.'

Catherine whispered, "That's what I thought. I think he did something to his wife." Vincent picked up her napkin and handed it to her. "Found it!"

They resumed to their original positions and finally food was brought to them.

'I've got to find a way to snoop around his office or personal suite.' Catherine thought as she ate her food. 'I hate to think this but it may be best if I don't include Vincent in this small investigation. Since Tess and Evan think I'm lying and I don't want Vincent involved any more than he already is, I'm going to search for clues alone. I just have to figure out how to do so without anyone knowing.'

"I think all of you have done your work so diligently thus far, I want to treat every one of you to a free spa after dinner. The crime scene can wait until tomorrow. Besides, from what the young Detective to my right claims, the WVPD should be working on the case as we speak, allowing your duties to slacken for a while." Thomas stated before looking at his watch. "Look at the time! It's amazing time flies when you're having fun! I have a meeting in twenty minutes so you guys can all continue eating or you may follow Abigail to the spa treatment center."

Thomas stood up and bowed before leaving the group. "Did you think his abrupt departure was a little odd?" Vincent asked as he leaned towards Catherine's ear.

"Yeah…" 'But his meeting and the spa gives me the perfect chance to stray away from the group to do some of my own digging.' She thought. Tess stood up and said, "I'm going to the spa. You coming Cat?"

"Oh, Ummm, yeah. I just have to run to the ladies' restroom." She lied.

"Sounds good. You know where to go?" Tess asked.

"Yeah." Again, she lied. "If I'm late, assume I got lost." Catherine laughed to try to convince her partner she was fine on her own.

"Alright. Have your phone?"

Catherine nodded.

"Good. Answer it if I call you." Tess stated before getting in line to leave with Abigail.

"Say…" Andrew Wolansky started to say, "Is there by any chance the spa is unisexual?"

"Keep your mind out of the gutter, Wolansky! I swear, one of these days I'm going to glue your mouth shut!" Tess glared at her former partner as he walked towards her.

"Don't tease me." He smirked, receiving a smack to the head.

"I think I'll be heading off to bed." Sam Philmore stated. "Interrogating those workers zapped the energy out of me. By the way, none of the guests on the list perfectly matched the persona of our killer."

"Were there any close calls?" Evan asked as he stood up as well.

"Not even close. They all had alibies." Sam replied.

"How did you retrieve their alibies during a fake interrogation?" Andrew asked.

"Believe me, I have my ways." Sam smirked before leaving the group to call it a night.

Evan stretched his arms and said, "Spa or no spa. I'd rather get to the bottom of this. I'm going to go and see if the WVPD has showed up yet. If they have, I'm going to see if I can get some intel on their findings. Vincent, I would appreciate your medical expertise if you wouldn't mind assisting me rather than enjoying a free spa.

Vincent thought about it and realized that a spa, especially around a large crowd of people, probably wasn't the best thing. "Alright. Fine."

"Shall we go then?" Evan asked. One of the main reasons Evan wanted Vincent to come along was so that he could apologize for his rude behavior earlier in Vincent's suite. He was rather surprised Vincent even considered his request.

"See you later?" Catherine asked as the spa group left and Evan waited on Vincent.

"Yeah…be careful." He whispered. "Don't do anything rash." He had a feeling Catherine was going to use this spa thing as an excuse to do her own investigation so, just in case, he wanted to remind her not to think impulsively.

She smirked before kissing him. "Vincent, I'm only going to the restroom. I'll be fine."

"Regardless, like Tess said, keep your phone on you." Vincent gave her another kiss before Evan cleared his throat.

"Have fun." Catherine laughed as she watched Evan and Vincent walk away from her. She noticed that she was the only one left from the group. 'Great! Now to put the show on the road.'

Uh oh…what do you think Catherine might be up to?

Also, what did you think of this chapter? Toooooo graphic?

Please, I want your input! XD