" I'm sorry, you want me to do what?"
The words were nice and clear, but Scarpetta couldn't believe what she was hearing when She was asked it.
" You heard me. " Spat the inspector. " Your freedom, for the capture of Lupin."
Of course he was going to bribe me with my life.
" You can't be serious? And what about his gang? " She asked.
" You let us deal with that. " He said. " It's simple, we get him to come to the location and well, you do what you do best. "
The female sighed as she messed with the silver cuffs that were around her wrist. She had almost escaped, but that girlish lieutenant got in her way and side swiped her.
Scarpetta would surely have a bruise from the event that took place.
" Fine, I'll do it. " She said. " When do we start? "
" Tonight, be there around nine. " He said. " For now I want you and Oscar to scope the place out so you have a good feel of what you're up against."
" Are you sure he'll come? There are other things to steal in the city, so he might throw you off. "
He started laughing.
" You're not wrong about that, but this item he want's is worth million's. He'll come, you just worry about where you're going to stand and we won't have issues. "
The female huffed as she turned away from him.
" Can you take these off now so I can do my job? " She asked, lifting up her hands.
The inspector smirked, throwing me the key as she caught it and began to work on the contraption.
" Keep the mask on too. We don't want people to know who you are since you like to keep your identity safe anyway. "
Scarpetta stood up and left his office so she could go meet up with Oscar. She had gotten a few looks, but she ignored them and pushed on as she went to Oscar's office. I knocked lightly and waited until the tall male made his way to the door. As soon as the door opened, she was greeted with a snarling Oscar as he pushed past her.
" Are you ready to go yet? The inspector is counting on us. " Scarpetta snapped.
Oscar pushed the locks of his hair on me as he glared, probably to try and intimidate me, but I wasn't a woman to be easily daunted. He was childish and perhaps a bit jealous that I had taken over his little operation. She knew that he had fallen in love with the inspector, but never imaged she would be in the cross fire's of it all.
" Just keep up rookie, you might learn a thing or two about justice. " He spat, walking away.
Who does this mother fucker think he is?!
Scarpetta followed in suit as they made their way to the parking lot for all the police cars. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a car with this pretty boy with daddy issues.
—
" As you can see, even with the security system we set up a few other traps, but you already know how to get past those, we just hope that Lupin will foolishly set them off. "
Scarpetta listened to Oscar and the museum director as they argued. It was getting close to nine so she took another gander around the place to be sure she got it right. She knew in her mind that she would be tricked and tried to be made a fool of. She knew every trap by heart and knew easy way's to set them off. It was almost like a play that they were performing, with her and Lupin being the main stars.
She knew too well of what was going to happen.
She knew that she would have to be focused at all times and that would also require the help of some supernatural being's. Scarpetta wasn't too fond of using Zep, but he had helped her out in the past already, so why not now? He could help her get one step ahead of the gentleman thief if he really wanted to.
Oh, needing my help?
The female smirked as she nodded in response.
Very well, but you have to help me as well.
She knew what the meant, but pushed that to the side for a moment. She had to keep her mind on the prize
" Hey deer face, you ready? " Asked an officer.
" She called the white stag you moron. " Argued another officer.
The female stepped out from the shadow's and placed her mask on her face and then a medical mask to keep her mouth and nose covered.
" Alright people, get into your places we have five minutes before Lupin get's here." shouted Oscar.
Scarpetta went to the spot where she was told to stay which was where there were a number of creepy looking mannequin's wearing different mask's and clothing. She blended in really well and kept her breath, low and hushed so it wouldn't draw attention. The five minute's seemed like it took forever, but soon she could hear footsteps that she wasn't familiar with.
It's time.
She moved away from her spot and practically stayed close to the shadow's. She moved around large pillars as she was getting closer to the target. She knew that they were in the ceiling tiles and heading for the crown. All they had to do was to move one of those tiles and snake their way down to get it. She heard voice's and knew it was the thieve's, a man and a woman.
Ah, he brought his girlfriend. Fujiko was it?
Does it matter? Killing two birds with one stone.
She smirked under the mask and could only agree with Zep. This was too easy, but she was sure to not underestimate the two of them. Zenigata was quite clear on how these two worked, but she knew very little about Fujiko or the rest of the members. She watched the two thieves, as Fujiko helped lower Lupin down carefully to where he was close enough to the crown. She knew one of the traps was close by so she decided to set it off, which caused the two looters to be confused, but it gave Scarpetta to throw one of her knives at the rope holding Lupin and caused him to fall onto the ground.
The crown hit the floor and Scarpetta managed to grab it before the male thief did. She began to run into the hallway where she first trap was in hopes that Lupin would follow her.
" Lupin! Get the crown! " Screeched Fujiko.
Scarpetta began to laugh as she made her way to the main door and threw the doors. All twenty officers stormed the building as she leaned against the car and realized that it was Zenigata's. She held the crown to the older male and all he did was smile as he waited next to her.
" That didn't take long. " He said. " Just keep that mask on a bit longer. "
Scarpetta kept the crown close to her as she waited for the officers to come out from the building. She was starting to get a bit anxious since Lupin was in fact a master of escape, but she had seen him fall, but he didn't chase her.
" Do you have a radio with you? " She asked.
" Yeah, why? "
" Tell your men to get to the roof. "
" Why? " He asked, taking out the radio anyway.
" I have a gut feeling. " Scarpetta said.
—
"Who the hell was that? "asked Fujiko.
" How the hell should I know, but it look's like pop's decided to amp up his game."
Fujiko groaned as they crawled out of the air vent and into one of the offices. The exit wasn't far from her, but they knew there would be police everywhere.
" The roof. " Said Lupin.
Fujiko followed the male as they went though doors and flights of stairs to avoid any officers.
" Lupin this was a huge disappointment, not only does that bitch have the crown, but she also has us trapped. "
" Tell me something I do know."
Little did the two looters know that there had been traps set all over the stairs and they were tripping over what little wire there was. As soon as Lupin hit one, a huge band from above them went off, making them cover their ears in pain.
" Ouch! what the hell was that? " called Lupin.
As soon as the pop went off, police officers flooded the stairs from the bottom and the top, trapping them both.
" Ah shit!" Spat Lupin.
—
" Sir, we have managed to catch both Fujiko and Lupin. "
" Excellent, be careful come back, I'm heading back to the office with white stag. "
"Alright sir. "
" I have to say, not bad for a rookie. " He said getting in the car.
" What about his other thief members? "She asked, getting in the car with him.
" They have already been apprehended. "
That honestly didn't take long to do, but she had been a bit suspicious from the beginning. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt the need to get out of this car really bad.
Hey, Scarpetta don't freak out, but that's not the inspector.
She didn't dare to remove her mask since she knew what they meant. She just looked out the window and was pretending to act oblivious to her situation. She knew this gut feeling was all too good to be true. In her mind, she was trying to figure out who he could have done this and that's when it hit her.
Surly Zenigata was still back at the station, waiting for his crew to come back. He wasn't joking when Zenigata said the Lupin was a master of disguise.
" Hey, Zen. Can you stop at a convenient store? I just need something to snack on. "
" Sure thing kiddo. " He smirked.
Oh Lupin, you just wait.
Get ready to a count of three, his friend's are close behind us.
As soon as the car was parked Scarpetta jumped out with the crown in her grasp. She didn't bother to look behind her because she knew that there would be a chase and she was out numbered. She wasn't sure if she could take down all four of them, but one at a time was alright. She would have to go somewhere that was isolated, but have easy escape routes.
" Come back with my crown!" Screeched Fujiko.
Scarpetta heard a gun going off, but the bullets were missing her as she jumped around and dodged them.
She could tell that they had underestimated her and what she was really capable of. Scarpetta wasn't sure that reviling Zep to them was such a good idea since she was on watch by the police. Speaking of which, that useless lieutenant Oscar should have been here by now. If he's so great at his job, why didn't he take notice of Zenigata's odd appearance?
Scarpetta, take a left, there's an abandon building that should be lots of fun.
She smirked from under neither the mask as she did what she was told and practically stormed her way over there with no trouble. She burst through the door and made her way up the stairs. The place was large enough that she would have time to make a great escape. She would have to rely on Zep for this part since he was quick to find the best hiding spots and exits.
She finally heard the other thieves starting to enter the building, but she didn't stop once to look back. She was running into darkness which was a good cover on her part, but she had a bad feeling about this. Surely one of the police cars would have followed the van that was carrying the looters. She knew the plan had gone to shit so it was hard to tell what odd events were to take place. She might even lose this crown is she wasn't careful, but her freedom was more important and she would do anything to stay out of jail. She wouldn't be able to survive without the drugs that she needed and they were in fact illegal. Everything she had was under that table, but it helped with the craving's and even made her stop consuming flesh. Zep didn't seem to have a problem with it and even encouraged it.
She ran into one of the empty rooms and slid under one of the old bed's and waited for the sound of footprints to come. They were at least five minutes behind so that gave her enough time to make a plan before they decided to kill her or whatever their plan was.
"Where the hell did she go?!" shouted a male.
" Hell if I know! " Shouted Lupin.
It would seem that Lupin and his gang parted ways to try and find Scarpetta. It would make it easy that way unless they were setting traps just for her. She wasn't sure jumping out this window was an option since the drop could badly injure her. She could see the dim light from the outside, but not one sound of a police car could be heard. She could still hear the male's bickering about Scarpetta's location, but something was off about it. It was as if they were putting on some sort of act to lure her out of hiding or they knew where she was at and were just playing with her.
Scarpetta, they know where you're at.
She gripped the bed, getting ready to flip it up and use it as a block to hold her escape the two men. She could see their feet clear as day and too that at a sigh to throw the bed up and gave it a swift kick so it knocked them over. She jumped over it and went back into the long and winding hallways, determined more than ever. She wasn't sure how long she could keep this up since she still had to avoid Fujiko and whoever she was with. Finding and exit seemed almost impossible by this point, but she had to try and give this crown to Zenigata. She was going to prove that asshole wrong and put him in his place, along with that pretty boy Oscar.
" Hey bitch give me that crown! "
Oh god. Not her.
The older female was pretty close by so Scarpetta had to keep a close eye out. She could get easily side swiped or even shot at for just this damn crown alone. She decided that now was a good time to pull out her whip even though she hated using it. The best part it when it comes into contact with the person she's cracking it at. It electrocutes them and practically paralyzes them. She would use it on Fujiko if she had to or just use it to grab things and throw them at her, like this trash can for instance.
" Stop or I'll- "
CRASH!
Right under neither her leg's, Fujiko tripped of the trash can that had been tossed at her. It caused her to lose her gun and hit the ground hard which caused a loud echo.
" Fujiko!" Yelled Lupin. " That's it!"
Scarpetta heard him pulling his gun, she must have poked the bear a bit to hard. However, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve even if she was to get hit with a bullet.
Are you thinking of using me anytime soon?
That didn't sound like a bad idea, but at the same time she didn't want to cause to much attention to herself. The point of the med's was to keep the two of them balanced so things like this wouldn't happen. She didn't want to be perceived as the monster people claim her to be.
"No, not ever. "She said, in a whisper.
BANG!
She had miss calculated and was instantly hit in the shoulder with such force that she was knocked down before hitting a wall. She dropped the crown as it made a loud clank and rolled over into a dark spot of the building.
" Lupin! What the hell did you do that for!? "
"I didn't do it! " He claimed.
She groaned in pain as she made an attempt to get up and start running, but she tripped over her footing and landed on what was left of medical supplies. The table flipped up and landed on its side and landed right next to her. The loud crash was enough to wake up a small village if there were any people around. She was helpless now, she could use Zep right now, but she wasn't going to. Even if she was going to lose her life right now, she wouldn't care about it.
" Lupin what do we do? She's going to die. "
" Hand's up! "shouted Oscar.
" Yeah, that all fine and dandy, but you have a hurt officer here. " Said Lupin.
" Shut up! She's not an officer! She's scum just like you! "
Scarpetta took a peek from her mask and realized that they were completely surrounded by officers. There was no way they could get out without being shot at unless they wanted to try their luck with a window. She could see her own blood pooling around her, but she wasn't getting hazy like most would.
What a prick!
" Get them now and get some medical attention to white stag. "shouted Oscar.
Yeah, get me some medical help you fuckwade.