Stakeout - PART 2

The light from the fridge nearly blinded Kai as he opened the door. He gazed into the large cooler, looking for something tasty to have for the late night watch. His stomach growled.

"You're hungry? At this hour?" Lloyd asked Kai, trying his best at making shadow puppets.

Kai frowned. "Most likely." He closed the fridge and went straight to the cupboards. He reached in and pulled out a box of cookies. "You like cookies?" He held out the box to Lloyd.

The boy shook his head. "I'm just tired. Why can't we go to sleep? It's not like we'll catch the thief during our first night." Unaware of his arm in the cookie box, Lloyd groaned. The red ninja smirked of satisfaction.

"Guess you did want a snack," he quirked his shoulders and took a seat on top of the table, letting his flashlight sit by his side. He looked to Lloyd. "You may be right though, we may not catch the thief just yet – but we might get a few clues to whom it is."

Lloyd nodded.

"I just want my hair gel back. Say, what did you lose?"

Lloyd's head perked up and he caught the curiosity in Kai's eyes. "I uh, well to be honest, nothing. I was reading comic books. And they're all still here."

Kai jumped off the table and picked up a walkie – talkie that Jay had built for each pair. Pressing down on the button, spoke into it:

"Hey, Zane, mind checking in the bedroom to see if Lloyd's comics are still there?"

"Of course, Kai."

They waited in silence, Kai crunching down on the cookies as every minute passed.

A buzz came in and Kai picked up the talkie. "I only see one comic. How many were there to begin with?"

Lloyd's jaw dropped and he ran up to Kai, reaching for the talkie. Just now was he losing his comics? "Zane? Zane! There were 5 copies in total! And now there's only one!?" He panicked, walking around the kitchen.

Kai set down the walkie – talkie and signaled for Lloyd's attention. "Hey, don't worry. We'll find that crook and make him – or she – pay!"

"Speaking of she, where is your sister, Kai?" Zane asked.

"Cole, I don't like this."

"Like what?"

"It's dark – and, and it's freaking me out!"

"Well then turn on your flashlight, genius!"

The light flicked on and Jay found himself held up against the rail. "Hey, it was your idea for a stakeout." Cole brought up, shining the light in Jay's eyes. Jay clawed at the air, then jumped out of the beam, blinking stubbornly.

"Give me a reason I should hate you," Cole said towards Jay, tossing the flashlight from one hand to the other. "I mean, this idea, it's great and all, but it's also kind of pointless."

"How would this be pointless? It's fun! Right? You're having fun… right?"

"Not at the moment – but think about it, if the no good criminal were to be one of us, don't you think they wouldn't try and steal stuff on this very night?"

Jay rubbed his chin, then gasped loudly. He walked up to Cole and looked him straight in the eyes. "You're not saying you're the thief… are you?"

Cole pushed Jay away. "No. No I'm not. You saw how I reacted when I lost my sketchbook! And plus, if I were the thief, you think I'd come out here and night watch with you? I thought it was sort of a good idea, but I guess you're just here now, accusing me of the situation!"

Seeing the frustration in Cole's eyes made Jay reconsider his words. "Okay, okay, fine I'm sorry… heeeey, you know who we haven't checked in with yet? Zane! He's got no partner on the night watch, and he said through the walkie – talkie when he went to check on Lloyd's comics, that they're missing!"

Cole reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out the talkie. "Hey, Zane, how's everything going?"

"I am fine, Cole."

"That's nice, mmm, yeah, that's nice…"

"Jay? Is that you? Is there something you wanted to tell or ask me?"

"Aw, no. Everything's fine here. Say, Zane, did you say that Lloyd's comic books were missing? All but one?"

"Yes, precisely. Are you pointing fingers at me? Because if so, I will have you know that I surely did not steal anyone's belongings."

Jay stuffed the walkie – talkie closer to his mouth. "Come on, Zane! Admit it!" Cole shoved Jay to the side and picked up the walkie – talkie.

"Sorry, Zane. Jay just thought…"

"It is fine. I understand why he would think that -" and Zane cut off right at that very moment.

Cole shot Jay a death glare and then felt his body growing tired. He rubbed his eyes, his vision of Jay moving from side to side. "Jay, it's getting late," he told him, lowering his flashlight. "Can we please go to bed?"

"No! Night 1 is not over yet! Just a few more hours!"

Zane scoured the dim hallway, shining his headlight up and down. He looked at the wall clock and checked the time. It was exactly 2 o'clock AM. He sighed, thinking that Jay's idea wasn't a very clever one. But if he just wanted to have fun, then Zane understood perfectly.

He felt his gears slowly getting stiff, so he quickly rushed to the bedroom to take out the stash of oil that he managed to hide. Whoever was stealing their stuff had to stop…

He then noticed something quickly rush past him. All he saw was a black blur. Getting closer to where he had noticed the movement, he bent down and shone the light on his first clue.

Here's a hint:

It was black.

A/N so I don't have an official update schedule... So Yerp.