Chapter 4

Sly nodded as he walked, carrying Carmelita in his arms, into the living room. "You're in luck, Inspector," Sly told his charge, gently leaning over to let her down on to the couch. "The remote is there, the television is all yours. Enjoy!"

Carmelita rolled her eyes at him, and huffed loftily before reaching over and turning on the device. Sly chuckled quietly, and seeing that she was now distracted, he flicked out a clever, very quick hand to ruffle Carmelita's shining dark hair rather thoroughly, then dashed off in a flash, leaving her cursing him both in English as well as Spanish. "I'll get you for that, Cooper! Don't think I won't!" she promised.

Carmelita growled a moment longer, then composed herself. She then brushed her thick, wavy, raven-dark hair back over her shoulders and away from her face, tucking the more annoying strands behind her black-tipped pointed ears. Normally, she wore her hair back in a thick, long braid, but today she didn't feel like troubling with it. Able to see again, she turned her attention back to the TV, and began to do some serious channel-surfing. Much to her annoyance, she didn't find much of anything to her liking.

"Trash," she mumbled at one channel.

"What a bunch of garbage," to the next new channel.

"Who watches this junk?" she demanded softly of the next channel.

As she thumbed and grumbled her way through the variety of channels available to her, Carmelita caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. Ah, she concluded upon spotting a short fellow with greenish skin, Bentley. She see him, rather comically, trying to pass her by in the living room, without being detected. She snorted, arching a slender eyebrow at how silly his attempt was proving to be. More to allow him to salvage what little dignity he remained than anything else, Carmelita piped up, "Yo! Turtle boy…what's up with this television anyway?"

Bentley jumped, then turned toward her, his nerves jangled by being caught by the infamous Inspector Carmelita Fox. He replied, just a bit unsure of himself. "Um…yes, Inspector?"

Carmelita grumped to him, indicating the screen with a toss of her long blue-black hair. "Hasn't this thing got even a single channel I might be even remotely interested in?" she challenged.

Bentley shrugged. "Well, it does pick up over four hundred and fifty satellite channels, you know," he informed her.

Carmelita scoffed at that. "Yeah, four hundred and fifty channels of junk, you mean," she grumbled, flipping to yet another station.

Bentley smiled at the grousing detective, sympathetic to her plight. He understood her complaints, but seriously doubted that it was the TV´s fault that Carmelita couldn't find anything she wanted to watch. "Hmm, have you tried channel 405 yet? You just might like that one, Inspector," Bentley hazarded, then smiled smugly as Carmelita switched the channel and saw her eyes go wide with surprise.

"A Spanish channel?" she replied, surprised, turning to Bentley. "Now, this is much more like it!" She waited until the shy turtle was nearly free of the living room, before she tossed out, "As much as it pains me to say this…thanks."

Bentley smiled at her, nodding his head. "You're welcome, Ms. Fox. Now, if you will excuse me, I've a lot of work to do," he told her, and promptly disappeared from view.

Sly, while Carmelita whiled away the morning, and much of the afternoon, watching television, had been studying from his favorite book, the Thievius Racoonus. And now, taking a break, he decided to polish up the head of his cane. A Master Thief of his quality mustn't allow his tools to get dirty, he told himself. As he sat at the kitchen table, softly polishing the strange metal head of his cane, Sly's sensitive ears picked up a most unusual sound. "Hmm?" he asked himself, cocking both ears for a better listen. What he heard, he could scarcely believe, as he picked up the most unusual of sounds: the sound of one Carmelita Montoya Fox…and she was laughing! Yes, laughing...and it was Carmelita to boot! Sly grinned, thinking, who'd of ever thought such a thing would happen in his lifetime? He scrambled to his feet, not about to miss this once-in-a-lifetime event, tossing his cane back accurately back into its holder. He moved into the living room, where he found Carmelita, seated on the couch, nearly beside herself with soft peals of laughter.

Sly leaned back against the wall, softly smiling, just enjoying the look on her wonderful face, how her laughter was not only in her voice but in her expressive eyes as well. He shook his head, noticing how the smile on her face made her look so much more vibrant and even lovelier than ever.

Carmelita didn't even notice Sly's entrance into the room, and continued to laugh as she gazed upon the TV screen, where a sixty-year-old man, stood blinking foolishly at what appeared to be a talking post office box. "Oh, I can't believeHAHAHAHAthat sap fell for that old trick!" she groaned with laughter. She laughed more as the silliness on screen continued, her dark hair falling back over her ears and shoulders to obscure her eyes. "Come on now! You're sixty years old! You should know better than to fall for a trick like that!" she chastised the old man on TV, laughing all the while.

Sly smiled, shaking his head at her happy laughter. He moved up behind where she sat, and leaned over and to one side, so he could look down into her face, which at the moment was partially covered in the dark waterfall of her wavy hair. "Well, I'm certainly glad to see you enjoying yourself, Inspector," he observed with a grin, his brown eyes laughing. He raised an eyebrow, smiling his most charming smile at her, which made Carmelita (whose cheeks are still pink from her bout of giggling) flush crimson.

Carmelita reigned in her laughter abruptly upon seeing the grinning face of her raccoon rival, and crossed her arms, only to frown at him. "Hmph! Well, I was enjoying myself…that is, until you had to come to ruin it, Cooper…"

Sly only continued to smile. "Very well, dear Carmelita…be that way. Though, I myself, found your laughter and giggling quite attractive, you know," he confided, his eyes filled with mischief.

Carmelita's eyes narrowed dangerously, as she fired off her reply to him. "I do not giggle, Ringtail," she informed him brusquely. "I'm an Inspector with Interpol." She held her proud head high, her brown eyes flashing.

Sly leaned over to look her in the eyes before responding in a mellow, very masculine voice, "Trust me, Ms. Fox...I know you're an Inspector. You make a point to tell me, each and every time we meet. However, that fact doesn't mean that you're not a woman too. And, womenin my experiencecan giggle if they so choose. And, you, my gorgeous Detective, were giggling...and most fetchingly too, I might add," he told her.

Carmelita chose to ignore his flattering remark, though she did seem to find that she didin her heart of heartsappreciate him noticing she was a woman. After all, a part of her told herself, not nearly enough men did in her life. She pushed that rather sensitive observation to the back of her mind, and changed the subject by looking down at her watch. "Okay…it's nine o'clock...what's on next?" she asked.

Sly blinked, rubbed his hands together in happiness, then jumped over the back of the couch to take a seat beside her. "Woo! That means my favorite show is going to start now!" he announced, eyeing her, then daring to shift himself over inch by inch closer to her.

Carmelita shifted quickly away to the far seat on the couch, uncomfortable with him being that close to her. "Is that a fact? Well then, Cooper...this must be your lucky day, because my show just ended. Here, knock yourself out…" she remarked, tossing him the remote control. However, she couldn't seem to resist making one further comment, "…literally!"

Sly smiled at her cleverness, and to let her knew he took no offense, he quickly blew her a kiss, which she blithely ignored. "Aw, the nice things you always say to me. Sheesh, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're getting sweet on me, Carmelita." He smiled, flicking his glance her way, as he switched channels.

"Like I've said before, Cooper…in your dreams," Carmelita retorted, holding her chin high and proud. As the channel shifted, she lifted an inquisitive eyebrow as the show started. "CSI? What exactly is a CSI?" she asked, her brows furrowing in her confusion.

Sly looks over at her, and smiled his most fetching smile, which made Carmelita blush once more, irritating her even further. "C'mon! You're kidding me, right? You're a cop, remember?" Sly commented, watching as the cast was rolled through in the opening credits. "Gee, and here I thought all you gorgeous law enforcement types knew what CSI stood for…"

Carmelita fumed at that…as well as the effect all his flirty flattery was having on her, making her unsettled. She hatedabsolutely hated!not knowing something that Cooper knew! "All right, can the commentary, raccoon boy. So, you going to tell me or what it means or not?" she razzed him.

Sly again flashed his famous smile at her again. "Well, for your information, CSI stands for 'Crime Scene Investigation', O Curvaceous One."

Carmelita growled quietly, then blinked. Curvaceous One? she repeated in her mind. Cooper must be hitting the thesaurus again, she teased him mentally…though, a part of her felt an excited soft of tingle run up her spine. But, she wasn't about to give that rogue the satisfaction of knowing he was effecting her in any way, so she growled. "Yeah, right…blame me for not knowing. Like I have all this free time to watch TV, huh? Not likely, what with having to keep up with the likes of you, Cooper!" she fumed. "This is the first time in ages I've had the chance to sit down and actually enjoy a few hours of TV. Heck, the last time I could was right after you escaped from my helicopter. You remember, right after we defeated Neyla, that is."

Sly nodded. "I remember, Inspector. And, may I add what a shame it was to see the alluring, yet two-faced, Neyla got her come-uppance," he told her, and was surprised when she gave him an agreeable nod in reply. "But, enough on that...let's watch, it's a new episode!"

The two oft-time adversaries sat down to watch, and were both rather surprised and pleased that they both enjoyed the show almost equally. After a while, an engrossed Carmelita turned toward Sly, offering slowly, "I'll bet you ten francs, Cooper, that it was the son, the one who wasn't allowed to go to college, that did it."

Sly, watching intensely too, turned toward her and countered, "Oh, come on, lovely lady…you got to be kidding me! Ain't no way it was that snotty nosed brat! Trust me...it's going to be that wife of the neighbor…you know, the one who got tired of his taking everything without asking. Now, as to your bet...you're on!"

After the show ended, a very pleased Carmelita turned to a stunned Sly. Sly blinked a few times before saying quietly, shaking his head, "Damn! I can't believe it wasn't the neighbor's wife."

Carmelita smiled, and held out a hand, awaiting her winnings, before saying in fluent Spanish, "Pierda y gane el zu el mismo genio, Cooper."

Sly shivers slightly, loving Carmelita even more when she speaks Spanish, it makes her already lovely voice even sexier! "Excuse me, but you just said?"

Carmelita smiled. "Just an old Spanish saying, Ringtail. It means, 'Lose and win with the same temper'. But, that's not what's important, Ringtail. C'mon, you owe me ten francs, buster!" She grins, beckoning for him to give her the money she's won.

Sly grumbles good-naturedly, but fishes in his pockets for her ten francs, and hands it over to her. "Here you go, Ms. Fox," he informs her, pressing the notes into her slender warm hand. He thinks a moment, the gives her a clever smile. "Er, you don't, er, by chance, um, play poker, do you, Ms. Fox?"

Carmelita smiled as she pockets her winnings. She resumes her place before she responded, "Sorry, Cooper, playing cards for money…it just isn't my cup of tea." She thought his question odd, but…after all, this was Cooper she was talking about now, right?

Sly arches an eyebrow, liking her answer. "Oh, really? Then, if that's the case...er, might you be willing to wager using something else then? Say, um, what about a nice, friendly game of Strip poker?"

Carmelita blinked, her heart suddenly racing in her chest. A part of her prepares to offer up a sizzling comeback about his racy scheme, but then turns, looking the handsome thief up and down. A part of her, the competitive part, latches on to the idea. Wouldn't it be grand if she could embarrass that scoundrel Cooper? Inwardly, she smiles wolfishly, ready to risk it to put Cooper in his place. She responded with seeming nonchalance. "Strip poker, eh?" she mused, and was surprised that Cooper wasn't the only one who was surprised. "Tell you what, Cooper...you'd better go and get those cards of yours. And make it quickly...before I come to my senses!"

Sly looked at Carmelita stunned, his senses whirling, his heart pounding in his chest. He had prepared himself to weather the torrent of scorn he expected his saucy reply would garner him. But, he had hardly thought that she would of made this response! However, with a laugh, the raccoon sprang to his feet to fetch his cards, calling back over his shoulder, "On my way, Carmelita! Just you hold that thought now!"

Carmelita watched him disappear from view, the sound of his rummaging about for cards loudly filling her ears. Girl, she told herself, just what have you gotten yourself into?