A/N and Disclaimer: Hallo again! Next instalment is here! Now, where were we? Oh, that's right, Carmelita had flopped down onto her bed with the envelope. Just when you thought she was doomed Well, anyway, hope you like this chapter, and I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Bentley, Murray or any envelopes. Seriously, I don't. Now, the story!
The sound of voices woke Carmelita from her quick four-hour nap. It was just background noise until a nasally voice told her loudly to get up before she missed lunch as well. Carmelita opened her eyes groggily, a green blur slowly coming into focus.
'Come on, lazy-bones!' the turtle scolded. 'You've been sleeping for hours!'
'Sorry Bentley,' Carmelita mumbled, swinging her legs to the side to get up. 'Guess I really needed that sleep, huh?'
Bentley frowned at her. 'You didn't do anything worth sleeping for twelve hours, though!' Once she was up, he turned and walked out of the room, grumbling, 'And Sly too! How can anyone sleep in for so long on the day of a heist?'
Carmelita could hear his voice getting further away, and smiled. Then her memories came flooding back, washing out the fog from her mind. She took a moment to remember all the important details she'd noticed last night, then her fur stood up. The envelope!
She spun, looking around her blanket and the mattress.
Not there.
She jumped up, grabbing the blanket and flinging it onto a nearby couch. Not under it. She quickly searched around the mattress, maybe she'd-
There. On the table. Carmelita breathed again. At least…wait. How did it get on the table? She couldn't remember putting it there; after all, she'd had it in her hands when she went to sleep. Didn't she?
Cautious, she picked up the letter and examined it. It was Interpol, no mistaking it. And I.S.P.'s crest was just below it. Hey, Carmelita thought curiously, how did Sly know that last night, when he had wondered out loud what Interpol and I.S.P. were doing sending letters to a person on holidays. Even she had to admit, it was pretty suspicious.
Carmelita frowned. Dammit! If she got her cover blown because of this, she would make sure they'd NEVER forget it. She flipped over the envelope and looked at the seal (not a big wax blob, just the normal sticky envelope seal). She lifted the edges, testing to see if it had been opened and re-sealed somehow. She looked very closely. It didn't look like it had been opened, but perhaps someone as smart as, say, Bentley, could seal it so it looked flawless.
Only one way to find out. She carefully pealed open the sticky seal. She breathed out when it opened nicely, without ripping. Then she became suspicious. Why should it open so well unless it's been opened already? But the letter was so close, Carmelita's curiosity insisted she see that first. She reached for it, but stopped. She looked up, to the doorway. No one. She walked over to the far side of the room, turned to face the door, and reached for the letter again.
Opening it quickly, Carmelita read the following:
'Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox,
Your services on behalf of Interpol in the case of the Cooper gang have assisted us greatly. We feel that you have spent enough time inside the Cooper gang as is necessary for their capture and arrest. In three days time, Interpol will invade the current residence of the Cooper gang's hideout, and arrest those inside. You will have until then to leave. If you are found in this residence at the said time, you will also be arrested.
If the Cooper gang do not occupy said residence at that time, we will use your information to lead us to their new location. Fail to do this, or co-operate, and you will be arrested.
Your assistance is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Interpol Strategies and Planning, Branch C.'
Carmelita raised her eyes from the paper, looking very shocked indeed. They wanted her to leave. They were going to arrest Sly, Bentley and Murray in three days if they stayed here. If they didn't, Carmelita would be the one forced to say where they went. If not, she'd be arrested.
She looked at the letter again and frowned. You know, it almost sounded like they were blackmailing her with arrest. Then they thank her for her assistance. It was almost laughable.
Carmelita looked up again from the letter, getting angry. So, she thought, this is how they treat valued officers, is it? They send me into enemy lines, leave me there until they remember about me, then order that I come back, and blackmail me with arrest. And send the letter so obviously, its no wonder Sly is suspicious!
Her hand began to crumple the letter.
They can't do this! she thought angrily, they can't make me turn my back on everyone, on Bentley, on Murray. On Sly. Fierce tears burned behind her eyes, and she threw the letter on the ground, turning away from it and storming out of the room.
She stomped down the hallway, past the kitchen, and a surprised looking Bentley and Murray, and headed for the back door. But just as she had her hand on the doorknob, Bentley called out. 'No! Carmen, you can't go outside!'
Carmelita spun, her hand still on the doorknob. 'And why not?' she asked icily, glaring at Bentley. Bentley gulped at her fierceness, but explained.
'It's the day of the heist. If anyone sees you, and links you to the heist, they could find out where our hideout is, and we'd get arrested.'
Carmelita paused, his words sinking in, and she looked sadly at the turtle. He's right, she thought, but it doesn't make a difference. Poor Bentley will be in jail in three days anyway. She looked down at her shoes, feeling really bad that it would be her fault.
'Okay Bentley,' she said. 'I won't go outside. But is there anywhere in the house that I can go to think?' she asked, looking back up at him. Bentley pondered for a moment.
'Well, there is the attic…' he mumbled. Carmelita grinned.
'Thanks Bent!' she said. 'How do I get up there?'
'Wait a minute!' he said, surprised. 'Don't you at least want lunch first?'
'Nope,' she said quickly. 'I need some time and I need it now. So tell me!'
'But you've never-'
'I've been in an attic before, Bent. I know how to not fall through the ceiling. Come on!'
'There's no safe way to get up there-'
'Tell me where it is and I'll find out myself.'
'But there's nothing to climb on in the laundry-'
Carmelita smiled her most brilliant smile. 'Thanks!' and ran over to the laundry. For some reason that Carmelita didn't really know, Sly was in there already. She decided to make use of this extra pair of hands.
'Hey, Cooper, give me a boost will you?' she asked. Sly just smiled and nodded.
'Where to?' he asked, folding his hands to a kind of step.
'No Sly, he's not supposed to go up there!' a voice called from the kitchen. 'It's dangerous!'
'Don't worry about him, little buddy,' said Murray, swallowing the massive bite of his sandwich that had kept him quiet. 'I'll help too.'
And he got up and came over. Carmelita smiled, and looked at the ceiling as Murray followed Sly and folded his fingers together.
'Okay, you see that square there?' she said, pointing up at a faint blackish outline on the roof. 'That's where I want to go.'
So, with Murray on one side and Sly on the other, Carmelita nimbly climbed until she had a foot on each of their hands, and a hand on each of their shoulders. She spied the square above her head.
'Alright, lift me up please,' she said, and they slowly lifted her until her head almost touched the ceiling. 'and stop for a minute.'
Carmelita looked closely at the square. It didn't have any handles so she supposed she'd have to…
Carmelita pushed up on the square. It lifted up fairly easily, and she pushed it aside, revealing the dark opening to the attic. 'Okay, one last boost.' she said, and soon her head and shoulders were through the gap. She pulled herself up quickly, and found some decent footing, before turning to call back. 'Thanks!' and putting the square, which she saw was wooden, over the gap, but not covering it completely. Then she looked around.
There were wires everywhere. She supposed it was all the security. Sunlight from between the tiles and the gutter lit up the attic just enough to see outlines. She looked for an open space to sit down that wasn't too close to the opening, lest she be heard if she started talking to herself.
Over there, near that set of wires. There was a perfect space for her. Carmelita carefully negotiated her way over, holding onto beams for support. Getting to her chosen spot, she sat down cross-legged amidst the wires, closing her eyes and casting her mind and thoughts back to her letter.
Three days. That was it. The deadline. She had to think of something. Leaning back on a beam, she tried thinking logically. She needed to get out, that was one thing. But she needed to make sure the others got out, or at least escaped. So, what was she going to do? She couldn't just go up to Bentley and say 'Hey, you need to find a new hideout because my co-workers will arrest you if you don't escape.'
Hmm. Carmelita's eyes opened as she thought intently on this problem. What they needed, she deduced slowly, was information. If they knew, they could plan ahead.
'But how am I supposed to do that?' she asked the air. It's not like she could just write an anonymous letter and…
'Oh no.' she said, not liking where this was going. But her mind continued. It's the perfect plan, it told her, you write an anonymous note that explains everything they need to know, and then leave it where someone will find it, problem solved!
Right, she thought sarcastically (probably her cop side), and what if they suspect me? I'll get grilled, and they'll all know who I am. I can't let that happen.
Why not? her other thoughts (her heart, most likely) asked. You could just say you opened the letter, and say that's where you got your info.
No I can't! her cop side yelled. It says on the letter that I'm WITH the Cooper gang. Who else could it be?
Hmm.
'I guess I could leave,' Carmelita whispered, not wanting to say it, and trying not to think about it. But do you think her thoughts listened? No chance.
That's exactly what you should do, her cop side said, leave these criminals behind and get back to your job.
No way! her heart said, shocked, they're my friends! I can't just go without saying goodbye. I…I might not have friends like these again.
They're criminals! Her cop side yelled for the umpteenth time. You. Can't. Be. Friends. With. Criminals!
Tough luck, her heart said bluntly, I am. And there is one that is more than my friend. I-
I know, I know, her cop side said angrily, you've fallen for that criminal. Well why don't you just stay here and get arrested!
'Shut up!' Carmelita said forcefully to the empty attic. 'Just shut up.' She let her head fall in her hands, elbows leaning on her knees. She sighed. It looked like she'd have to take an idea from both sides. Write an anonymous letter. And leave.
Tears came once again to her eyes. She didn't want to leave this place, this comfort. This home. She didn't want to go back to feeling lonely every night, to eating soup from a cup, or some other easy-to-make meal for one. To go to work every day, without weekends, putting up with those stupid jerks and venomous women, trying to make her life hell, and succeeding. To coming this close to catching Cooper and-
Okay, maybe she didn't mind that all too much. She smiled despite her tears. That seemed to be the only fun part left in her job. And it was wrong. Her smile vanished as she remembered how many times Cooper had escaped, and the number of times she'd been yelled at by her boss. That was definitely unpleasant.
'But I guess I've got to go back.' she said, defeated. 'I mean, what would Papa say if he found out?'
'Well, guess it'd be hard to tell,' said a voice from the opening. Carmelita jumped and almost broke a couple of gadgets before spinning around to see-
A head popping out of the gap with a big grin on its face. Carmelita looked at it for a moment in shock, before grabbing her shoe and throwing it at the face. Unprepared for battle, it got hit square on the nose.
'Ouch!' it said, bringing up a hand to rub its nose. Carmelita hurriedly wiped her eyes and grinned.
'That's what you get for eavesdropping, Cooper.' she said, getting up from her spot and finding her way back.
'Yeah, well you were just as bad,' he said, smiling mischievously. 'Talking to the dead and assaulting innocent people with flying shoes.'
Carmelita was about to inform him that she was not trying to talk to the dead, since her dad was very much alive, but she caught it in time, and instead just said. 'Innocent? I think you deserved to be hit!'
Sly grinned and disappeared through the gap. A moment later his hand came back up. 'Guess you'd want this back,' he said casually, holding up her shoe. 'Though I don't even know why I offer to give it back to such a mean, uncaring person like you.'
'Oh, you don't have to hand it over,' she said slyly, snatching the shoe from his hand. 'I can get it myself.' She quickly put the shoe back on and looked down to where Sly was standing. Well, actually, he'd just gotten off the chair he was standing on. She smiled. Bracing her arms against the sides of the gap, she swiftly dropped down onto the chair, her legs bending until she was almost squatting. But she got up again quickly, and reached up to cover the gap with the wooden square she pushed aside earlier.
Smiling, Carmelita hopped off the chair and slowly walked into the kitchen. She looked around and saw no one there, then headed straight for the fridge. Ah ha! she thought, Murray didn't eat my lunch. She smiled, pulling out a long roll on a plate and bringing it over to the sink.
It was a little cold, but she hadn't eaten since last night, so she was lucky she actually chewed the sandwich before swallowing it. Dusting the crumbs off her hands and face, she looked around. That's odd, she thought, where'd Cooper go? He was just here a minute ago…
'Boo.' said a soft voice in her ear. Carmelita's fur stood up, but she didn't jump, just turned around slowly to glare at that sneaky raccoon. He grinned.
'Bentley wants to show you something for the recon work later, so he sent me to get you. Come on,' he said, waving for her to follow him.
They went down to the garage (without going outside) where Bentley was waiting and Murray was eating. Sly and Carmelita walked over to Bentley, who held in his hands a similar looking pair of binoculars to the ones Carmelita had seen Sly use in the first heist. She slowed down, walking cautiously over to Bentley and his magic machine thing.
'Carmen's had bad experiences with binocucoms, Bent, so maybe you'd better explain it from the top.' Sly advised to his short green friend, who nodded. And for the next few minutes, Carmelita got the low-down on Bentley's invention. Soon, she knew how to communicate, take photos, record, zoom, and switch it on or off, of course.
'Thanks Bentley!' she said, smiling and looking at the binocucom. He gave her a small smile then turned serious again.
'Alright you two,' he said, addressing Sly and Carmelita, who both turned to look at him. 'We need some recon photos before we pull off tonight's heist, so Murray will drive you close to the petrol station, and then you have an hour. After that, Murray will drive the van past, and you'll have to climb in, whether you have or haven't taken any photos. That's the most amount of time I can allow for you outside so you don't get spotted. Hopefully it'll be enough.'
'Don't worry Bent,' Sly reassured his pessimistic friend. 'It'll be more than enough time for us, we're experts!' he said, grinning at Carmelita. She gave him a wobbly smile.
'Yeah, experts.' she mumbled, looking back down at the binocucom.
'Well, 'The Murray' has finished his hotdog, so he can warm up his baby and get going.' Murray announced, and Sly nodded.
'Okay, be back shortly,' he said to Bentley, grinning. 'Let's go, Carmen.' And with that, Sly and Carmelita jumped into the back of the panel van, Murray hopped into the driver's seat, and they were off.
Carmelita sat down, and immediately sunk deep in thought. Sly and Murray joked between each other, but Carmelita sat stiffly, a pressing thought etched in her mind.
What was she going to say to Interpol?
She had decided long ago that telling them the truth would probably not be the best thing, so now she had to think of what she could say. Though maybe she should leave some bits in, to make it seem real. Oh, this was confusing!
She sighed, and rested her head on her palm, her elbow again on her knee as she sat in the back. Okay, what could she say?
'You alright Carmen?' Murray asked from the driver's seat, glancing quickly in the rear-view mirror at the glum fox in the back. She briefly took her head off her hand to nod, then put in back down again. Well, she certainly couldn't mention becoming friends with Bentley and Murray. She glanced up to see Sly sitting back, arms crossed, but with a concerned look on his face.
'You sure?' he asked, keeping eye contact with her. She nodded again, and looked back at the floor. She couldn't mention her feelings towards Cooper either. So what could she say? Hmm, let's see. She looked at the back of the front seats, squinting in concentration. She could say that there were hostilities when she first arrived, after all, Bentley didn't accept her straight away. What else? She could say that the gang did a lot of planning before heists, and all plans were different for each job. That would also mean that Interpol couldn't say they could know exactly where Sly was going to next from what he left.
She grinned. Perhaps she wouldn't say that Cooper left evidence and criminals for her to arrest. After all, that make her job seem easy, and it was anything but simple. What else? Perhaps she could leave out Bentley's many security alarms. After all, she thought with another grin, she could let Interpol find that out for themselves.
Hmm, perhaps it would be enough. And who knows, maybe they wouldn't ask her anything at all. After all, they said this was supposed to help her catch Cooper, wasn't it? She sighed, her thoughts decided. She would write the note when she got back to the hideout after this recon work, help with the heist, then leave.
She blinked back her watery eyes, looking back on her plan with a reluctant humour. Since when was she so comfortable with criminals or leaving friends? She mentally shook her head. She was becoming far too fragile for her own good. What happened to the old Carmelita, the one who could take anything anyone threw at her, and wasn't dependant on anyone?
She died of loneliness, her heart told her cruelly.
Her cop side was about to throw back some snide comment when Sly interrupting the feuding sides.
'Carmen?' he asked carefully. She looked up at him, and he looked surprised to see her react so quickly.
'Yeah?' she responded casually, taking her head off her hand and sitting up straight.
Sly smiled. 'Thought you were still out of it, seeing as that's the fourth time I've called to you.' He grinned at Carmelita's surprised expression. 'Yeah, well you must have been thinking about something really important, my- te.'
Carmelita raised an eyebrow. Sly gave her a slightly nervous smile. 'Heh, myte, I meant to say mate. You know, uh, the Ozzie slang for friend.'
Carmelita raised her other eyebrow. Even Murray turned to look at his friend for a moment.
'I was debating whether to say it or not, so I got stuck halfway through.' Sly covered casually, wishing Carmelita's eyebrows would go down. After a moment, they complied. So he continued.
'Anyway, I was trying to tell you that we're five minutes away, so get ready to jump out.' He said quickly. Luckily, Murray took the conversation from there.
'Yes, little buddy,' Murray began, talking over his shoulder as he neared the innocent-looking petrol station. ' We are almost there.'
Carmelita leaned over the passenger seat, looking out the windscreen at the slowly emerging building in the distance. This was it.
The beginning of the end.
A/N: I know the end sounds dark, but never fear! I won't let a sad ending darken the story! Sorry to all those people who wanted some massive twist and have the story go somewhere completely different. Sorry. Anyway, until the next chapter!