Chapter 4
"Looks like we have ourselves a little company," Keely said, as grabbed her flashlight and walkie-talkie. "I just knew this job was too good to be true."
"Yeah, me too," Phil said. "But what can you do when duty calls?"
"Not pick up the phone," Keely replied, humorously.
"Ha, ha...it was a rhetorical question. Now, let's quit wasting time and apprehend this shoplifter real quick. I want to get back to my break."
Phil and Keely tip-toed quietly around the mall on full alert, in hopes of finding the whereabouts of the shoplifter. The duo soon realized that this task wasn't going to be as quick as they thought it would.
"Phil, we are never going to find this guy," Keely said, frustrated. "We've searched through numerous departments and hallways for nearly half an hour."
"Don't give up yet, Keel. I think I might have a little gadget that will help us in our search," Phil said, reaching into his pockets. "Ah, found it."
"What gadget do we have with us today, Mr. Diffy," Keely replied.
"It's a little something on my Wizrd called the Ultrasonic Ear. It allows the user to hear even the slightest sound in a 500 mile radius."
"Wow, I'll tell ya, that Wizrd can do anything," Keely said.
"Well, not exactly. It won't save you any money on car insurance," Phil replied, humorously. "Anyway, all I have to do is set the frequency and point the Ultrasonic Ear in the direction I want."
Phil proceeded to listen through his Ultrasonic Ear to clue in on the criminal. Much to his delight, he was able to pick up a few readings in the mall.
"Great!" Phil exclaimed. "I think I now know the location of our suspect. Based on these readings, our shoplifter should be somewhere near the shoe department. Come on, let's go."
Once they were at the shoe department, the two of them surrounded the area, blocking out all of the shoplifters' possible exits. As Phil approached the departments' cash register, he caught a glimpse of the suspect.
"Ah ha!" Phil shouted, shining his flashlight on the suspect. "I caught ya red-handed. Put your hands in the air and don't try any funny business. Keely, I found our thief! Hurry up and get over here!"
Just as Phil took his eye off of the suspect, he took off, knocking down a wall of shoe boxes for a distraction.
"You'll never catch me, copper," the thief said, while he was running off.
"Actually, I'm a security guard, but thanks for the compliment!" Phil shouted, at the running suspect. "Keely, Keely, we've got a runner at ten o'clock. Do you read me?" Phil said, into his walkie-talkie.
"Yeah, I read ya, Phil," Keely replied. "Except it's only eight-thirty, not ten o'clo..."
"Just go run after him!" Phil interrupted. "He's coming in your direction."
Just as the criminal was running out of the shoe department, Keely caught sight of him. She was on the move, chasing him around the toy department, nail salon, and then, around the arcade.
"Phil, I can't keep up with him. He's too fast. I need some backup. He's heading toward the food court. I'll meet ya there."
"Alright," Phil replied, sprinting out of the shoe department. "We're gonna stop this guy dead in his tracks."
After a long run across the mall, Phil reached the food court, where he saw the suspect running ahead and Keely far behind, out of breath.
"I'm here, Keely," Phil said, catching up to her. "This guy isn't gonna make it much further."
"I don't think I'm gonna make it much further," the thief said to himself. "I need another distraction to throw these guys off track. Hold on, there's a couple of banana peels near the smoothie machine. Perfect, let's see them try to get past this."
The thief ran over to the smoothie machine and grabbed the banana peels, which he concealed in his pocket. When Phil and Keely started to close in on him, the thief threw the banana peels behind him, out of his pocket.
"Banana peels!" the two of them shouted. "The cause of the disappearance of the last two security guards."
However, the moment they shouted the warning, it was too late. Keely slipped on one of the banana peels and dove head-first into...a wall of mustard boxes!
"Keely!" Phil shouted, fearing she might've been seriously hurt. "Trying to hurt my friend will ya, you're definitely not getting away from me now."
The chase continued and the thief was getting closer and closer to the main exit of the mall. It was the moment of truth. Phil needed to do something quick before this guy got away.
"What am I gonna do?" Phil thought to himself. "He's too far ahead of me. I'll never be able to catch up to him. Wait...the exit sign! If I can just zap that sign with my Wizrd, it could fall right on top of him! However, I only have one chance, I gotta make it count."
Phil grabbed the Wizrd out of his pocket and carefully aimed it toward the exit sign. Sweat started to flourish all over him and his heart pounded furiously. The thief was just steps away from getting away with the shoe departments' money.
"One...two...three!" Phil yelled, pressing the button on his Wizrd.
A stream of laser light launched from the Wizrd and missed the exit sign!
"What! I...I ...missed," Phil said, watching his shot clearly miss the sign.
Yet, miraculously, the laser light managed to hit a glass window near the exit, which ricocheted back to the exit sign, as it fell on top of the now-apprehended, criminal.
"Heh, a bullseye!" Phil exclaimed, wondering how the laser ever managed to bounce back to the sign.
Phil was so relieved that he almost forgot about Keely's accident back at the food court. He rushed over to her aid.
"Keely, are you okay?" Phil aksed, with a worried expression on his face.
"I think I'll be fine," Keely replied, getting up on her feet. "Did you catch the thief?"
"Yup, because of some...strange reason, I was able to get him."
The duo headed back over to the fallen thief, to report him directly to the police.
"Thought you could actually get away, huh?" Phil asked, looking into the eyes of the criminal.
"Yeah, well I could've gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids..."
"Okay, okay, pal...enough with the classic TV catch-phrases. They're not gonna help you where you're going," Keely interrupted.
"I don't know about you, but I think this job is a little too much for me," Keely said.
"You're tellin' me, " Phil replied. "I'm completely done with this whole crime fighting thing. I'll just leave it to the pros. Let's go home."
The two, sweaty, worn-out, ex-security guards headed home, back to their simpler and safer lives.
"Ten-thirty, if we hurry, we might still be able to catch the last episode of the home-decorating channel marathon...," Phil mumbled.
"What was that, Phil?" Keely asked.
"Oh, nothin'," Phil replied, smiling to himself. "Nothin' at all..."
