~Art Institute of Chicago~
Overhead security lights dimly lit the gallery walls. The detectives appeared in the room to find the On the Terrace painting still hanging on the wall. The oil canvas depicted a woman who was of a maternal nature and a little rosy-cheeked girl, perhaps Mother and Daughter. Both were wore hats with spring flowers embedded in them, looking very content.
"Are we too early?" Zack asked, looking around.
"You're just in time detectives." A familiar voice answered.
The woman stepped out of the shadows into the dim light. Her semi-ebony curly hair was cut shoulder length. She was wore a light blue cashmere sweater and slacks. Her glasses lenses reflected the dim light, as if she had headlights for eyes.
"Carmen?" Ivy asked.
The woman stepped forward, and stood in a signature pose.
"Nice to see you again det..I mean Ivy and Zack. You've both grown into quite extraordinary adults from what I've heard." Carmen smiled.
Zack and Ivy were dumbfounded, their mouths hung open. Mike and Lily only stared at the former elusive thief, whom they've heard so much about. They could see why their parents admired her, why anyone would. The way she stood was statuesque. She gave off a vibe of elegance, vast knowledge and kindness; just being in her presence felt majestic.
"I've heard a lot about you Ivy and the new training program you've implemented. Using the most effective movements from a variety of combat arts and merging them into one unique style, very impressive. And Zack you're quite the man now, I see." He blushed and stood a little bit taller. Carmen laughed.
"When I heard about the improvements you've made with the C.H.I.E.F. program and the C-5 corridor, at first I didn't believe it. A 100% accuracy location rate is very hard to achieve. I'm proud of you both, of all the former detectives."
Zack and Ivy didn't know what to say, as they were still getting over the initial shock.
"So..where have you been all this time?" Ivy broke the silence.
"Well…"Carmen sighed. "I do owe you both an explanation." She paused for a moment, to organize her thoughts. "A few days after I rescued Avalon I was sitting in my den thinking about how and why the indecent occurred. No, I wasn't thinking about Lee Jordan, my thoughts were on a deeper plane."
She ran her fingers through her salt and pepper hair. "You see, I've always wanted to have a family but my current life style was far from family friendly. So to satisfy my motherly affections I geared them towards you detectives. Then after then Avalon incident the affections became too much. You see knowing that I had a father made me feel not so lonely, then that was taken away and the loneliness retuned, even more so."
"Did you ever find out if he was your father?" Zack inquired.
"No. He felt that if we were related then there would be some type of mutual connection."
"Was there?"
"I don't know, we didn't spend much time together to establish...anything. I'm not going to lie, I was heartbroken. And yes, we could've done DNA testing but he didn't believe in that sort of thing, and I had to respect his wishes; even though, I had to fight the urge to take a sample and run." Carmen paused. "So I decided that the best thing for me to do was to start over."
"Start over" Ivy folded her arms. "..how?"
Carmen laughed, "I created a temporary new identity for myself, of course." She winked at Ivy. "I decided not to disband VILE, instead I ran it from afar giving low degree difficulty assignments, which is the reason why you two never inherited it. You never fully read the Will so you didn't see the clause I had written in stating that if it can't be proven that I died or was captured then the contest prize was null and void. Also, if there was ever a biological heir(s) then he/she or they would inherit VILE."
She took out a small remote control from her back pocket and pushed a button. A screen appeared, similar to the Chief's. A video from the train ride in Siberia played. Lee Galese had just finished explaining the contest rules. Then two legal documents appeared on the screen.
"Here are two documents of the Standard Criminal Empires Succession portion of my will. One was from that day" She pointed to the one in the left pane. "and the other is the revised one. I've amended the previous language that erases the contest and inserts inheritance rights to my children."
"Children? How many do you have?" Zack asked.
Carmen smiled, "I have five."
Zack and Ivy looked at each other and mouthed the word five then looked back at Carmen.
"You really must've wanted a family. I can barely handle my two" laughed Zack.
"Believe it or not they're all well-behaved. I couldn't have asked for better children. Two live a normal life and have families, yes I am a grandmother. And the younger two are in college. My youngest is a few years older than you Mike." Carmen winked at him, he blushed. "And I'm sorry for putting you both through that contest. It was ridiculous, but at that time I didn't have any heirs and I wanted to ensure that VILE would be in good hands, even if it was disbanded."
Ivy wanted to ask the next question, but hesitated. She got over her nerves, "May I ask who the father is?"
Carmen's smile disappeared and was replaced with a somber look. "He was a man I was seeing at the time."
"What!" Zack exclaimed.
"Oh come on now Zack. You didn't think I'd forgo having personal relationships did you?"
Zack blushed, "Yes, I was 14 at the time."
Carmen smiled and nodded, "We meet while I was staying in one of my safe houses. I went out for groceries and we bumped into each other, literally. He wasn't watching where he was going and knocked the groceries out of my hand. Being the gentleman that he was he replaced them, and walked me home. We saw each other for awhile before I felt comfortable enough to tell him who I really was and what I was really doing on my out of town business trips."
Carmen smiled at the memory, "He accepted me, and I couldn't have been happier. I got rid of my fake identity. And a few weeks later he proposed, but I told him I wasn't ready."
She looked down at her hands feeling a bit shy about having this conversation, "He said he'd wait, but after what happened with Avalon I knew it was time."
Ivy could tell something was bothering her former nemesis. "You talk about him in the past tense. What happened?"
Carmen looked away and wiped a tear from her eye, "He passed away a year ago."
Ivy's face turned into solace, she almost started to cry seeing her idol in emotional pain. Zack shoved his hands in his pockets. Mike and Lily watched how emotionally connected their parents were.
"He suffered a heart attack. He's always been a mellow person and for him to have a heart attack shocked me and the children. The doctors said it was from cholesterol build up in his arteries. It turned out to be a hereditary condition; therefore, unavoidable. "
"Oh Carmen I'm so sorry." Ivy approached the former thief and hugged her. Zack did the same, along with Mike and Lily.
The detectives pulled back. Everyone was feeling better.
"Ok, so where's the new you?" asked Ivy, wiping a tear from her eye.
Carmen looked to the left. On cue a young woman appeared dressed in her mother's scarlet garb.
"I would like to introduce you to Maricarmen Sandiego, Carmen for short."
"How do you do?" Maricarmen extended her hand to Ivy then Zack.
Both former detectives were stunned, it was like looking into the past. The only difference was her deep green eyes.
"You look exactly like your mother" Zack said in awe.
Mike and Lily stepped forward, their detective instincts took over. The old and new thief stood right in front of them, now was their chance to make ACME history. The fastest time a crook, in this case crooks have ever been caught.
"I look forward to catching both of you" said Mike. Lily nodded; she didn't take her eyes of both criminals.
"He's definitely like you Ivy" said Carmen. "And I bet you're like your father?" she looked at Lily.
"She sure is" said Zack and patted his daughter on her head.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you Mike, but I can't be prosecuted for my crimes. I've achieved international personal immunity status, since my crimes never have any underlying harmful agendas and all items were always returned."
There was a pause then Carmen spoke again, "Well shall we get on with what we came here for?" She stepped aside to allow her daughter to take the spotlight.
"Ger her!" shouted Lily.
Carmen ran in the other room and towards a dangling rope. She jumped up, getting a good grip. It zipped into the air. Lily and Mike grabbed the other rope. When they reached the roof Carmen was gone. All that was left was the two stolen paintings. They rejoined their parents.
Zack turned around to talk to Carmen. She was gone.
"Like Mother, like Daughter" he said.
The young detectives returned, with defeat written all over their faces.
"You'll get used to that kiddo" Ivy said to her son, ruffling his hair.
The Chief appeared.
Lily was excited, "We met Carmen and the new Carmen."
"How fitting" the Chief said blandly.
A confused Zack looked at his sister, "Why aren't you freaking out like before?"
"She sent me a message explaining everything. I don't know what to feel. I'm mad, glad and sad for not being a part of her life all these years, but I understand. And I guess having her back is better than not having her back at all." He perked up, "It looks like Mike and Lily have a new Carmen to chase. Come on you two I've got a lot of stuff to teach ya."
