Chapter 2
Fifteen minutes later, the four of them found themselves outside the old, yet stately, home that currently served as the Cooper Gang's hideout. Sly, whose arms now ached a bit from having to carry Carmelita, sighed at the sight of their current home. He then smiled down at the blindfolded Carmelita. "Ah, here we are, dear lady…home sweet home," he announced. He then decided to try get another rise out of the bristly Carmelita. "Ordinarily, I'd ask you to dance, sweet lady, but…well, since that's out of the question at the moment, shall we make our way inside instead?"
Carmelita frowned, remembering having danced with Cooper before. Though wild horses couldn't of dragged it out of her, it had been a moment of great fun and excitement for her. However, she wasn't about to tell him that! So, instead, she grumbled, "No, by all means, Cooper…let stay out here in the chill. I enjoy freezing, you idiot!"
Sly chuckled quietly, enjoying their verbal maneuverings more than just a little. He pushed open the door with his foot, and carefully made his way inside, Carmelita in his arms. He headed for the nearest seat available, a large couch with plush cushions, and gently sat the beautiful vixen down upon it.
"Think we can dispense with the blindfold now, Ringtail?" groused Carmelita, still a little irritable.
"But of course!" Sly returned, gingerly untying the handkerchief and taking it from before her eyes. "I'd do anything for a chance to gaze into those lovely brown eyes of yours, Ms. Fox…"
Carmelita wasn't having any of that! "Please, Cooper. I've had a hard enough day without having to listen to all your flirty little lines, okay?" she threw back at him.
"Flirty?" Sly replied, trying to appear injured, but failed, ending up grinning. "I meant every word, Inspector!" He sat down beside her and leaned comically over to look into her eyes…which were very large and very pretty indeed.
Carmelita turned away, trying very hard not to blush. "You sure you want to sit that close to me, Cooper? Remember, Ringtail…I've still got my shock pistol handy…" she observed, a clever smile coming to her lips, as she put a hand on her weapon.
"Touchy, touchy," Sly commented, getting to his feet. He shook his head, feeling a mix of irritation and admiration. Say what you will…Carmelita Montoya Fox was quite a woman!
Satisfied that she'd put Cooper in his placeagainCarmelita began to look about her new surroundings. Not too bad, she told herself. The place was cleannot spotless, mind youkept up, and rather homey feeling actually. A far cry from what she had initially expected.
Sly stood leaning against the hearth, watching her expressive face. He could tell she was impressed, but he also knew her well enough to know she'd rather eat nails than admit to that! "What's this? No commentary from the Constabulary?" he teased.
Carmelita snorted at his cheesy line. "This place is not bad, Cooper. It's not the shabby dump I expected someone like you to call home. If it wasn't the haven for you criminal types, it would be downright pleasant," she told him. She then turned her gaze back on him. "It's stolen, I presume, yes?" she continued, waving her hand to indicate her current locale.
"Sorry, lovely lady, but I'm not saying," Sly replied mysteriously, knowing that it would irritate the smug Inspector. He then noticed Bentley come in bearing their first-aid kit. Sly took the kit from Bentley, opened it, and began rummaging through its contents.
Bentley always felt a bit uncomfortable around Carmelita. He wasn't sure if it was because she was an Interpol detective, or if it was due to her being such an attractive lady. But, whatever the case, he nearly always found himself feeling acutely shy around her. "Actually, Inspector, no, it's not stolen. In fact, it was vacant when we found it, and we decided to renovate the place. It took us nearly a year to get it somewhat habitable…"
Sly listened absently to Bentley talking to Carmelita, who oddly enough, just nodded, apparently satisfied. Hmm, a part of Sly mused, she never would of done that if it were me doing the telling. Whatever. He continued rummaging around in the kit, removing the items he needed. Once he had everything, he picked up the metal box, and moved over to sit down on the couch's matching ottoman. He placed the first aid kit down on the coffee table, and addressed her. "Carmelita" he attempted to begin, but was brusquely cut off by his unwilling patient.
"That's Inspector Fox to you, criminal," Carmelita growled, not liking his familiarity. She didn't like the odd way she felt when that damn raccoon said her name.
"Very well," Sly began again, sighing heavily. "Inspector Fox, let's see to your injuries, shall we? Before we do anything, that boot of yours has got to come off." Sly reached over to tug the tied laces at the top of her boot free, then began to loosen the tight lacing on her boot.
"Cooper…just what do you think you're doing? Get away!" Carmelita demanded, brushing his hands away. "That's my foot, you clumsy raccoon!"
Sly held up his hands, and leaned back away. "Fine. You do it then," he told her, folding his arms, and watching her with his glittering brown eyes.
"You bet I will," Carmelita informed him with a proud nod of her head. She bent over to untie her boot, and with each successive tug, the pain in her swollen foot increased. When she tried to wriggle her foot loose from her boot, she gasped with pain so severe that she flopped back into her seat, panting, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. "All right," she managed to say finally, after the pain abated to tolerable levels again. "Maybe not," she said quietly, not liking to admit there was anything she could not do herself. She knew her boot had to come off, so she swallowed her pride, and gestured curtly to the smugly smiling raccoon seated beside her. "Don't say a word. Just go ahead and get the damn thing off of me, Cooper…but, be careful, this is my foot you're dealing with, not a slab of meat, okay?"
"Ms. Fox, I'm always careful," Sly assured her, then grinned that damn charming smile of his again, adding, "Especially with the lovely dainty feet of the ravishing Inspector Fox…"
"Cooper!" Carmelita warned him with a growl, her brown eyes flashing. Why did he always have to say stuff like that?
Sly took her warning in stride, smiled, and gently eased off her boot. He winced at each and every gasp, groan, or moan from Carmelita as her tender foot was eased from the boot. "There we are, dear girl," Sly told her, giving her shapely leg a little caress. "Oh, my," he then added, seeing her poor foot was swollen to nearly half again its normal size. He reached for her sock, and with delicate careas if he were handling the most delicate of crystalhe slipped the thick sock free, and winced again at the sight of her poor foot. There was a long shallow cut that exactly matched the curve of the fox trap's jaws, with deeper puncture wounds where its cruel teeth had bitten her foot. While the cut was hard to look at, it was nothing compared to the deep, angry purple bruise that enveloped her foot, except for her heel and toes. "Aw, you poor thing, that has got to hurt," he observed in a kindly voice.
Carmelita was touched by his concern, but was uncomfortable in acknowledging it. He might think I'm weak, she convinced herself, and chose to react like the veteran policewoman she was. She rolled her eyes, and growled, "Well, duh! It's broken, Ringtail. Of course, it hurts, you idiot!"
Sly didn't rise to her barb, ignoring it. He then got on with his medical tasks, picking up and opening the foil pouch containing an antiseptic swab. He noticed that Carmelita's nose twitched at the pungent smell of alcohol and iodine from the swab. "All right, my brave Inspector, are you ready for me to start? You might want to grab that pillow, Ms. Fox…because this is going to hurt," Sly told her.
Carmelita grunted, readying herself for the pain to come, and growled softly to him, "No problem, Cooper. Let's just get on with it, all right?"
Sly can see she's still worried, despite her bravado, but knows there is no other way but to get the job done. He gently got a grip on her leg above her ankle with his free hand, and then began running the medicated swab over her wound. It was very hard to disregard Carmelita's yelps of pain, as well as her very unladylike swearing, some in Spanish, some in English. Sly doesn't spare her the pain, more concerned in making sure her cuts are good and clean. By the time he's finished, Carmelita has tears in her eyes again. Sly doesn't know why, but the sight of her with tears in her lovely eyes is almost as painful as a physical blow to his chest. He reacheswithout even a thoughtout a hand to gently caress the crying vixen's cheek, trying to comfort her in her time of need. He then realized what he's doing, and snatched his hand away before she could get angry and begin to berate him again. "There, that's over," Sly told her in a quiet voice.
Carmelita opened her eyes, and chanced a look into his face. Perhaps it was the pain making her see things…but, was that compassion she saw on the raccoon's face this moment? Nah, couldn't be, she tried to convince herself. But, she's still not certain…
Sly watched her intently, then smiled. "Feeling better now?" he asked.
Carmelita could only nod, not trusting her voice at that moment. Her foot still burned a bit…but, it did feel better now. What do you know, she mused to herself, Cooper's good for something…
Sly then picked up an ACE bandage, and then looked back at Carmelita, who was still breathing a bit heavy. He smiled a disarming smile, and held up the bandage for her to see. "Bentleyhe's the closest thing we have to a doctorsays you've gotten three hairline fractures in the bones in your feet, poor girl. As they are such tiny fractures, no cast is necessary, thank goodness. But, he insists I wrap your foot in this, and then later when you can walk again, he's got a special shoe to support your foot until it's better. May I?" Sly arched an eyebrow, asking for her consent.
Carmelita is heartened by the news. She had been afraid she might have to be fitted for a cast…and by these three criminals? She shuddered at that thought. But, while her foot throbbed, at least it was better than she originally feared. "Go on, Cooper," she commanded softly.
Sly gently lifted Carmelita's injured foot and placed it in his lap. She watched as the nimble thief deftly weaved the elastic protective bandage around her foot and ankle. When he was done, she tried to wiggle her toes, and to her surprise, the pain was slight and bearable.
"There you go, Ms. Fox. All done," Sly declared, easing her foot back from his lap to the footrest of the couch.
Carmelita knew she'd be churlish if she didn't thank him, so she did, even though it galled her. "Thanks," she simply said, nodding her head at him.
Sly bowed his head to her, smiling. "My pleasure, Inspector," he assured her. He then grinned that devilish grin of his. "You've got nice feet for a flatfoot, Ms. Fox."
Carmelita frowned. Why couldn't he just let the moment lie already? He always had to go and ruin it by saying something clever…or flirty, or both! "Leave my feet out of it, Ringtail," she warned him…again.
"Simply making an observation, Ms. Touchy," Sly replied with a smile. "No need to get your nose out of joint…"
Carmelita bristled. "My nose is not out of joint, Cooper!" she growled. "I just don't like you ogling my feet is all!"
"Ogling?" Sly replied, arching both eyebrows now.
Carmelita was less sure of herself now, and a part of her knew she was overreacting to him. But, he always brought that out in her somehow. "Yeah. You heard me, Cooper," she said, defending her original statement.
"Ah, I think I get it now," Sly replied. "You're getting cranky because you're tired. That must be it."
Carmelita was ready to object to that! "Am not!" she said, then betrayed herself by yawning a huge yawn, that made her grin in embarrassment. "Okay, maybe…"
"Well, Ms. Fox, it has been a long day, after all," Sly replied matter-of-factly. "If you have no objections, of course," he added, his eyes twinkling. "I could transport you to our palatial guest suite."
Carmelita grinned at that. "Palatial, huh? This I have to see," she responded. She sighed then, and consented to allow him to carry her, putting her arms about his neck, and lifting her knees up to help. She couldn't believe that she'd already allowed this scoundrel to carry her about like some princess in a fairy tale twice today. But, really, she told herself, what choice did I have anyway?
Sly was still amazed at the feelings he felt when he carried the beautiful vixen in his arms. As he did so, he was surprised at the things he noticed…like the bewitching smell of her hair, the alluring curve of her jaw, andhe shook his head, trying to clear these distracting thoughts from it. He tried to do something to get his mind off of her fascinating form. "I'm afraid, Ms. Fox, that we haven't any feminine sleeping attire in your size, so I'm rather afraid that you'll to make due with your own clothing, until such time I can procure you something else," Sly informed her, grinning, as he waited for her anticipated rebuke.
Carmelita didn't disappoint him. She scoffed lightly at his freshness. "Hmph! Like I'd take a chance taking off my clothes anywhere near you, Ringtail. You wish, you rogue! Don't worry…this will do just nicely, Cooper, never fear," she told him, ending up fingering the lapel of her jacket.
"Of course, Inspector, " Sly replied, smiling as carried her up to her room. The room was at the end of the main hall upstairs, and the door was conveniently left ajar. Sly used his body to push it open and eased her inside without incident.
Inside, Carmelita saw a nice four poster bed, fully dressed, a small chest of drawers, and a door to what undoubtedly must be a closet. Bright hued rugs adorned the wooden floors, and scarlet and cream curtains adorned the window. "Not bad, Cooper," she remarked as he moved her toward the bed. "Not what I'd call palatial, mind you…but not bad. A girl could do far worse."
Sly grinned again. "So good it meets your approval, mademoiselle," he responded, giving himself a French accent, acting like a maitre d'.
Carmelita allowed herself to sink into the firm mattress, and sighed with pleasure. She sighed, and settled down into her pillows. It was then that she noticed that Sly had not yet left. She opened one eye. "You still here?" she asked. "If you're waiting for an invitation to stay, you've got another thing coming, mister…"
Sly laughed softly. "As alluring as that invitation might have been, I'll have to pass. You need you beauty sleep, dear lady," he told her. He then gave her very feminine figure a quick once over. He grinned as he saw the barest hint of a blush grace her cheeks. "Not that you need such a thing, Ms. Fox…you're nearly too lovely already, you know…" He then bowed slightly to her, and flicked off the overhead light. "Good night, Ms. Fox," he said softly before he snicked the door closed.
With a great degree of difficulty and determination, Carmelita managed to remove her pants, her gloves, and jacket. Dressed in her halter and her underwear, she slipped beneath the snuggly comforter and satiny sheets. After she got comfy under her covers, she thinks back to her and Cooper's many flirty exchanges of the day. A part of her enjoys the flattering comments he's made about her…but, still…she had her doubts, as always. She hates how that damn raccoon can unsettle her so! She mutters quietly to herself, under her breath. "Don't you let him get to you, girl," she counsels herself. "He's all talk, that one is…"