Bentley.
"Nobody has seen him in three days," Bentley was explaining to his audience.
"That's not good," Murray said.
"No, it isn't," Bentley agreed.
"What are we to do about it?" the Panda King asked.
"I guess we will have to wait and see what evidence Inspector Fox can dig up," Bentley admitted.
They didn't seem satisfied with this, but the meeting adjourned regardless.
Several days passed, the hideout being lively and boosting Bentley's spirits.
The e-mail came late one night. Bentley was surfing when it popped up and nearly scared the shell off of him. It was a picture that brought chills to Bentley's bones. It was Dimitri's signature jacket sitting in a place that looked awfully familiar.
Bentley called for Murray, who walked in eating something. Bentley was too preoccupied to notice.
"Does this place look familiar?" Bentley asked.
"Yeah it does," Murray said.
"I can't place it though," Bentley muttered, frustrated.
"It's the hotel from the ACE'S competition a couple years ago," Murray said, nonchalantly.
Bentley could see it now, the familiar setup. But why had Dimitri been sent there? And by who?
"I'm sending this to Inspector Fox," Bentley said as he rattled off an e-mail.
The next morning, Bentley woke to find Murray shaking him.
"Wha—?" Bentley asked, sill half asleep.
"Someone needs to talk to you," Murray said before rushing out of the room.
Bentley got into his chair as quickly as possible and rolled out to see who needed to see him. Inspector Fox was sitting in the dining room reading the paper. She set it down and looked at Bentley as he rolled to the table.
"I got the message," Inspector Fox said.
"It's your choice of action," Bentley said.
"Good, because I have five tickets to Holland," Inspector Fox said, waving five tickets in the air.
"When do we leave? "Bentley asked.
"Tomorrow morning," the inspector replied. She left four on the table and made her way to the door.
"Looks like we're going to Holland," Bentley said to Murray, who was standing in the doorway.
"I'll start packing," Murray said as he disappeared.
"You don't think—," Inspector Fox trailed off.
"It's too early to make assumptions," Bentley said as he rolled out of the room to start packing.
"Meet at the airport at eight-thirty sharp," Inspector Fox instructed.
Bentley nodded and turned down the hallway. Holland was the last place he wanted to go, but if it could help out Dimitri, he would go there.
The next hour or two was spent packing up what he would need to be any good in the field. Bentley packed his portable lab into one corner of his workshop and then used his space saving device to shrink it all down to the size of a suitcase. He put this in an actual suitcase and then zipped it up, hoping that nothing would be damaged.
Even though he was wired, Bentley tried to relax for the evening. There was something about going back to the field without Sly that made him nervous. The last time he had done that was in Prague, and they weren't fond memories of Bentley's.
A tense evening led to a sleepless night. Bentley couldn't catch a wink. Though he knew that rest was important, he couldn't calm his mind down. Morning came early. Bentley, Murray, the Panda King, and the Guru all headed for the airport. Bentley decided that since they were traveling with an Interpol agent, it was best to leave the team van behind, much to Murray's dislike.
They arrived at the airport a little after eight. Since they were early, they decided to wait. Sure enough, Inspector Fox's car pulled up after a few moments. She got out wearing a brown overcoat that ran the length of her body. She also had a large, red hat and dark sunglasses to mask her appearance. Taking notice of the gang, Inspector Fox rushed over.
The five went through the necessary protocol to board and then awaited takeoff. It was a fairly smooth flight, but Bentley slept for most of it. His dreams troubled him. All he could recall were voices, familiar voices.
The bus they took from the airport dropped them at a small town. The place looked nearly abandoned, with a dark looming castle on the hill and several rusted air hangers. It was all too familiar for Bentley, who had to stop and take a breather before he continued.
Bentley hacked into the abandoned hotel's security system before entering the lobby. The place looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry. The ACES banner still hung above the doors.
"It's kinda eerie," Murray said, looking around.
"I hear you, big guy," Bentley replied as a shiver ran down his spine.
They headed to their old room. Upon entry, they found it to be about the same as it had been when they had left in a hurry all the years before. Bentley quickly set up shop.
"What now?" the Panda King asked.
"We need to scope the area, try to find the lizard," Inspector Fox said as she readied her shock pistol.
"It would make sense that each of us take one place and search there, that way we can do it fasted," Bentley suggested.
"Divide and concur," Murray supplied.
"Exactly," Bentley nodded.
"I see your point," Inspector Fox said.
"I'll take the hotel lobby," Bentley offered.
"I can search the east side of town while the Panda King and the Guru take the west," Inspector Fox said, pointing to places on a map.
"I can get the fields around the hangers," Murray volunteered.
"It's a plan then," Bentley wrapped up.
He gathered his things for the field and headed out the door. Previously, when he had been in the hotel commons room, Bentley had used a disguise. This wasn't necessary this time though.
The large fireplace sat dormant in the center of the room, the spit still sitting above the ashes. The doors to the lounges that sat on both sides sat ajar, and the bar where Dimitri had worked obviously had been broken into. Something set Bentley off, which put him on edge. He turned at the sound of a scurrying noise.
"Inspector Fox?" he called. There was no response.
When he turned back around, there was something on the ground.
"That's a calling card of Sly's," Bentley said in astonishment.
It hadn't been there before. One thing was for certain, Bentley wasn't alone. He sent out a signal to the rest of the gang to come to his position. At more scurrying, Bentley turned and raced towards the noise. What he found confused him; it was another calling card of Sly's.
"Who is playing games with me?" Bentley asked. Again, there was no response.
He scooted around some more, looking for signs of someone else being there, but found none. Something crashed in the distance, causing Bentley to look in that direction. He saw someone rubbing their head as they sat up.
"How clumsy of me, but I hoped you would come," a familiar voice said.
The voice sent shivers down Bentley's spine.
"I need time to explain, before you flip out," the voice continued.
Bentley turned around and found himself face to face with Penelope.
"I should—," Bentley started before he was shushed.
"You should let me talk," Penelope finished for him.
"Why should I?" Bentley snapped.
She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a photograph of her and Bentley, handing it to him.
"I've held onto this," she started.
"I'm giving you thirty seconds," Bentley warned.
"Spice," Penelope admitted, "it was spice."
"I beg your pardon," Bentley said confused.
"You know, the stuff The Klaww Gang got rich off of," Penelope explained.
"You want me to believe that you were under the influence of a spice that made you do evil things," Bentley said, trying to corner her.
"You remember what that stuff did to Murray," Penelope countered.
She did have a point, but Bentley refused to believe her.
"Who did it to you?" Bentley asked, his curiosity getting the better of him before he could help himself.
"It was—," her face screwed up into a painful twist as she hit the ground. Inspector Fox stood where Penelope had been.
"Is that who I think it is?" Murray asked as he came up beside Inspector Fox.
Bentley only nodded.
"I thought she was in jail," The Panda King looked puzzled.
"The little weasel escaped," Inspector Fox said with a slight edge to her voice.
"She was just about to tell me what was going on," Bentley protested.
"Well she can tell us when she wakes up," Inspector Fox cuffed Penelope, "after we tie her up."
"Is that really necessary?" Bentley asked.
"You're too trusting of her," The Panda King warned.
"Okay, fine, we can tie her up," Bentley sighed. He knew deep down that his friends were right. Penelope could be, and probably still was, very dangerous. If they were going to be safe, they needed to restrain her. But a little part of Bentley wished that he could trust her again.