Chapter 48: One Very Expensive Tree

Nick asks Jake how he would steal from the most expensively decorated Winter's Eve tree in the world.

"I can't believe that he even got us into this hotel," Nick whispered to the raccoon in the dark brown suit. "Heck, I can't believe that Chief Bogo even wanted you in the room with THAT!" The red fox in the blue sport jacket and khaki pants was pointing toward the hotel's Winter's Eve Tree.

Jake grinned as he sipped his drink while staring at the festive, glittering tree before them. "Why would anyone even decorate a tree with about fifteen million bucks in jewels, silver, and gold?" he asked in an awed tone. "That's like hanging up a sign to every lowlife burglar which says ROB ME!"

"That's why Bogo asked me, to ask you, to look it over," Nick replied as he carefully sat his expensive china cup of coffee down. "He wants you to tell me how you'd try to get around security."

"I wouldn't do it," Jake chuckled as the raccoon looked around the room. "Security is too good to hit the place right now."

"So it's impossible?" the fox asked.

"Nothing is impossible Nick, but it's just that I wouldn't even try," the raccoon replied before he hopped down off the bar stool and after shoving his paws into his suit jacket, walked closer to the tree. A simple red velvet rope kept him from getting too close. He glanced to see that Nick had joined him and then that two huge bulls in black suits were closely watching them.

"Come on guys, a sly fox and a shifty raccoon standing together," he finally called over to the guards. "How do you know that we are not just a distraction?" One of the guard's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly looked around elsewhere, but the other bull just gave them a thin smile.

"Jake!" Nick hissed. "We're supposed to be undercover!"

"That larger bull is Larry Ferdinandson," Nick explained with a smile. "We know each other from some previous work I have done, legit stuff that I did after I got out of jail," he quickly added.

The muscular bull approached them and looked both the raccoon and fox over with an experienced security guard's cynical eyes. 'Jake Runnel, it's been a long time, and this must be your pal Nick Wilde?" he snorted out in a sarcastic tone. "A former thief and a former street hustler, oh joy this must be my lucky day!"

"How's those horns hanging Larry?" Jake greeted the bull with a smile. "I'm here purely out of professional curiosity and you know that my pal Nick is now a cop."

"So much for being undercover," Nick sighed.

"I told the owners that they should have hired your firm do the security for this monstrosity," Larry said as he watched two well-dressed antelopes by the rope. "Instead they chose to do everything in house."

"Larry, I wouldn't touch handling the security for this no matter what they offered," the raccoon replied. "However, I have to admit security is tight. Say, are they doing double guards at night?"

"You know I can't answer that!" the bull laughed. "Still, I'd bet that even you Jake couldn't steal from this tree!"

"You're probably right," the raccoon seemed to admit. "It would be a rather tough thing to even try."

"During the peak times of the day, the tree would be the most venerable," Nick offered. "There are a lot of mammals to keep track of in the bar before and after dinner, so why not start a fake fight and then when everyone is looking elsewhere, you can slip in and pick a few of the baubles off of the tree?"

"Crude in an old washed up hustler's mind sort of way," Jake laughed. "You're thinking as if this was shoplifting or a snatch and grab. If this was a mall, that might be an issue, but this is a five star hotel and only the most socially connected are invited into this room to have a cocktail and admire the tree."

"Okay, then what about rappelling from a balcony during the predawn hours?" the fox asked.

"Nope, too exposed even at night," the raccoon answered. "Cameras, security guards, and sensors are too good."

"Tunneling up from the basement below?" Nick continued.

"I'm sure Larry's team has two or more guards in the room below, along with cameras," Jake replied. The bull didn't confirm the raccoon's guess, but gave a knowing smile instead.

"So Jake how would you do it?" Larry finally asked in an interested tone.

"In the confusion while decorating the tree or taking it down," Jake offered. "I think during decorating."

"Why then?" Nick asked as he cocked his head in curiosity at where the raccoon was looking.

"Because someone already took a nice sized red ruby and left a cut glass replica behind," Jake answered as he pointed to a stone on the tree.

"What do you mean? Please don't tell me it's a fake!" the bull desperately snorted out as he lowered the rope and he, along with Jake and Nick, got closer to the tree. Reaching up, he snatched the ruby and held it to the light. "I can't tell, are you sure?"

"My bad!" Jake simply stated as he looked up at the bull. "It seems to be real after all."

Satisfied, the bull hung the ornament back in its place and ushered the raccoon and fox back outside of the ropes. "You scared me for a moment," Larry grunted as he put the red rope back into place.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself from trying," Jake laughed.

"Trying what?" the bull quickly asked in confusion as he looked down at the now grinning raccoon.

"To win you're little bet," Jake answered as he held up a small black diamond ornament in his paw. "You challenged me to steal something off the tree and I did so while you were looking at the ruby. I pawed this off of one of the lower branches."

"Jake!" Nick snapped at his best friend in disbelief. "I can't…" the fox went silent and then shook his head. "Actually, I can believe that you would do that."

"Hey, he challenged me!" the raccoon replied as he handed the bull the diamond.

"So do I need to arrest you?" the fox snorted out in an amused tone. "Or are you going to give everything back?"

"Give what back?" Larry asked as he looked first at the fox and then the raccoon.

"Oh, I forgot I still had this," Jake snickered as he held up the sterling silver ornament hanger in his paw. "Oops!"

"Yeah, oops," Nick scoffed as he grabbed the raccoon by his shoulder and pushed him towards the door. "We're leaving before you get yourself into real trouble."

"But, he did challenge me!"

"Come on coon, you can buy me lunch."

"I always buy you lunch…" the bull heard the raccoon playfully complaining as the two friends left the room.

"Raccoons!" Larry sighed as he hung the ornament back on the tree and then scowled at the grin the other guard was giving him.

"Well you did bet him!" the other bull laughed.

"Shut up, dude!" Larry grumbled. "Just get back to work."

The five-star luxury Kempinski Hotel Bahia in Marbella, Spain, has a Christmas tree decorated with an estimated 15-million dollars' worth of jewels, furs, gold and silver ornaments. The decorations include a 3-carat pink diamond, nine 3-carat black diamond decorations, 3,000 Swarovski crystal encrusted ostrich eggs garnished with gold-leaf and diamond dust, and even a red oval diamond worth over 5 million dollars!