Chapter 5
When they finally returned to their hideout, Bentley dashed inside, bolted up to his room, and went through every picture that had been taken by Sly of Carmelita. Working quickly, he found two pictures that showed off Carmelita's pretty face and trim figure very well. One was a close up of her face…probably taken after Sly had run off, leaving Carmelita to follow after him. Bentley grinned at the picture, seeing how Carmelita's face was furious at being outwitted, but determined to capture the ever elusive Sly Cooper. A perfect picture of how she truly was, he thought. The other picture was taken of her---again by Sly---from a distance this time. You could easily see Carmelita's entire figure in it, seeing the lovely vixen with no problem at all. These should do quite nicely, Bentley thought, quickly printing the pictures on quality paper.
When Bentley finally finished, he found both Murray and Sly sitting watching a soccer match. "Hey, guys! I am going out for a little while, okay? Be back soon," Bentley said.
"Got it, Bent," Sly said, his eyes never leaving the match. "Be careful out there…"
Bentley hustled out to the team van, his leather valise filled with the pictures Madame Sing has asked for, carrying as well the bag containing Carmelita's jacket and jeans. He started up the vehicle, and with some hesitation made his way downtown. Fifteen minutes later, the van gingerly pulled up around the corner from C'est Sing. Tucking his valise under his arm, and gathering up the bag in his other hand, he headed inside.
The lovely Yuri looked up, as her administrative assistant informed her of Bentley's arrival. She chanced a quick look in the nearest mirror, found herself presentable, and got to her feet to greet her client.
"Good morning, Madame Sing," Bentley said in greeting as he moved into Yuri's office. "I've managed to procure those 'items' you asked of me yesterday…"
"So quickly?" Yuri questioned, most impressed. "That is wonderful, of course. Now, let us see what you have for me, hmm?"
Bentley handed over the bag first, opening it for her.
Yuri retrieved the slightly worn leather jacket, and was somewhat impressed when she saw its quality and cut. "This girl of ours has exquisite taste," she said, looking the jacket over for size and shape. "This shall prove most helpful…though, I would of liked a pair of her trousers as well, alas…"
Bentley then grinned. "They're in there as well," he told her. "I sort of figured they might…well, come in handy."
Yuri looked over to the proud, yet embarrassed turtle. "How very thoughtful of you, Monsieur Bentley. Merci," she said, flashing him a thankful smile…one that left the bashful Bentley blushing.
"Ah, think nothing of it, really," Bentley managed to reply, adjusting his spectacles nervously.
"Clothing, very good," Yuri replied, surprised that she was charmed by the shy turtle seated across from her. "Now, may I assume that you also have those pictures I asked for then as well?"
Almost before she finished her sentence, Bentley slid the pictures across to her.
Yuri looked up, more impressed at his organization, and smiled. "Hmm. My my, I can see why you are so smitten with this Carmelita. She is quite a pretty young lady, I see." Yuri eyed Carmelita's coloration and curvaceous figure. "Yes, very pretty indeed. I may wish to keep some pictures of the finished product…if I may be so bold to ask?"
"Of course, Madame Sing," Bentley responded, under the spell of Yuri's beauty and charm.
Yuri grinned to herself, then eyed the photos of Carmelita's face. "Ah, a determined one this girl is, nes pas? Full of fire too, if I do not miss my mark. Am I correct?"
Bentley watched Yuri move over to her PC, slipping the first picture into the scanner attached to the device. "Oh, yeah, Madame Sing…that's Carmelita all right…determined and fiery," Bentley assured her.
Yuri's lovely face was illuminated by the light of her monitor's screen, as she started working with her computer. Bentley found the effect rather attractive…yet unsettling too. "Now, I have scanned in both of your wonderful photos. Now, please…may I have her name again?" Yuri asked. "Oh, and my dear Bentley…please, I must insist you call me Yuri."
Bentley grinned at that. "Sure thing, Yuri! Her name is Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox," Bentley answered at once.
Yuri smiled, nodded, and worked further with her PC, a bevy of mouse clicks and furious spurts of typing before she looked up once again. "My word! She has achieved an unprecedented arrest and conviction rate of ninety-nine per cent! Mon Dieu! But, then again…one might expect such things from a fourth generation detective, yes? Oh my my, I must say this Ms. Fox has quite an impressive file. Oh my, yes! So many arrests, so many adventures…" Yuri continued clicking and typing. She then smiled over at Bentley. "Most of those adventures working with one Sly Cooper, I do notice…"
"Yep," Bentley returned. "Those two have a lot of history, all right." Bentley got to his feet, intrigued…as well as darn impressed that the very pretty Madame Sing---er, he meant Yuri, of course!---was so skilled in the use of technology. He moved over to see that Yuri was on the Interpol website---quite illegally, mind you---and had managed to hack into that agency's employee archives.
"Impressive. Most impressive indeed. It is small wonder how such a woman could of caught the interest of your Sly Cooper," Yuri observed, her interest piqued.
"Well, yeah…I suppose that could be it," Bentley agreed, trying hard not to look so boldly at the lovely Yuri, and to the computer screen instead. But, he found that wasn't an easy thing for him to manage.
"So…now, your Mr. Cooper's birthday is in four weeks time, no?" Yuri asked, grinning when she saw an entranced Bentley grinning foolishly as he gazed upon her.
Bentley shook his head to clear his mind. "Um, yeah…more or less, yes," Bentley said.
Yuri smiled in satisfaction. "Very good…that will be no problem," Yuri observed, feeling a bit flattered by Bentley's interest…even though she wasn't really interested in return. "So, monsieur…you will be coming here with your Ms. Fox directly, yes?" Yuri then decided to tease this bashful fellow a bit. "Or…would you prefer I deliver the clothing to you, so that you may change her into them yourself, hmm?" Yuri was by no means surprised when Bentley gaped, his spectacles practically fogging up at the very idea! She grinned cleverly, rather pleased to elicit such a reaction out of the poor dear.
"Er, no. I think it would be much better if we picked her up after you dress her, thank you," Bentley replied, taking his glasses off to wipe them on his shirt front. "We, um, would appreciate your help in that regard," Bentley added, looking a bit wilted.
"I see," Yuri responded, her eyes dancing. "Then, monsieur, you may consider it a deal, this operation of yours," Yuri said, offering one lovely slender hand to him to shake on the bargain.
Bentley stood gaping at the beautiful Yuri a moment, surprised. He then recovered, gulping, and gingerly took her flawless hand in his own. He found he shook her hand as if he were holding a butterfly or delicate crystal in his hand.
Yuri was pleased at the effect she was having upon poor Bentley…feeling very flattered, in fact. "Um, monsieur?" she inquired with a small satisfied grin. "My hand?"
Bentley frowned at what she had asked, then gasped as he realized he was still holding her hand in his own. He let go of her hand as if he'd been struck by lightning. "Um…sorry, Madame Sing," he quickly apologized, then flushed, adding, "Um, I mean Yuri."
Yuri pretended not to notice his reaction. "So, my dear Bentley…I shall see you back here in four weeks, yes? With the ravishing Ms. Fox too, I should think, yes?" she responded, just a hint of teasing in her tone of voice.
Bentley nodded, not trusting himself to words just then. "Er, um…yes, that'll be great. See you then," he told her, still feeling a bit unsettled. He tipped his hat to the lovely Yuri, and then headed outside to the van…and the trip home.
Yuri couldn't help but smile, and then went over to her desk to retrieve her personal sketch book. She then sat down on the setee in her salon, and got to work, glancing numerous times at the pictures Bentley had given her. "Ah, I have a good feeling about this one, yes. This costume shall make the good Inspector look as if she has been a master thief for ages," Yuri promised herself, pausing to erase an errant line of two. "Oh, yes. Yes, indeed…"
Now, speaking of Carmelita then…she must have been prescient or something, for all of her predictions that she had relayed to Kitty that morning did indeed come true. She had endured the base stares of the less than tactful male constables on her way in…feeling their eyes upon her, making her skin crawl. Then, after following up on some leads with Kitty, she was about to go to lunch when she had been called in to see the Chief. Chief Rob then had proceeded to chew her out good for not managing to nab Cooper…again! As she finally managed to take the time to scarf down a quick half-sandwich, a quartet of female constables and detectives gossiped horridly about her---and well within her own hearing!---discussing rumors to the effect that she had actually let Cooper escape…but only after hours of passionate kissing between her and the Master Thief!
The capstone to a truly agonizing day for Carmelita had come when she was preparing to leave for the day. It was then that she found---as she had predicted earlier---the Rose Sapphire right there upon her desk…along with Cooper's infuriating calling card. Then, to add insult to injury, Carmelita and Kitty had been ordered---in no uncertain terms!---to return the jewel to its rightful owners…only to catch said owner---as well as his gang of thugs---in the act of brewing up a batch of crude heroin. Carmelita had called for backup, and before a half hour had elapsed, she found herself in the process of cuffing the ringleader of the drug pushers herself.
As she drove back to headquarters with Kitty, Carmelita sighed, as her partner started in again about Cooper being some sort of modern-day Robin Hood. Her head was beginning to throb again, but fortunately something finally went her way, and Kitty was silenced effectively by her being cordially greeted by the newest exchange constable, one Ling Chu of the Tibetian Police. The quiet, confident, and handsome Snow Leopard greeted Kitty with a polite bow, and afterward Carmelita had to nearly drag the obviously smitten vixen away with her.
Carmelita grinned, thinking, he was a nice enough fellow, grateful that he at least never ogled her, but gave her the respect that was her due. Actually, Carmelita then recalled, which had caused her grin in the first place, she noticed he looked with a great deal more interest at young Kitty, who had seemingly fallen head over heals for the cute fellow. "You can can tell him you love him later, Kitty," Carmelita growled, her eyes twinkling. "I'm tired and want to go home."
"Huh?" Kitty replied then, finally tearing her eyes away from the handsome Tibetan.
Carmelita chuckled. "This is a new look for you, Kitty. Head over heals…that's you, girl…" she observed.
"I am not!" Kitty denied. And, proceeded to do so again, each and every time Carmelita mentioned this to her along the way home.
Carmelita just smiled back. "Oh really? So…I take it you don't recall the very first time you saw him and he introduced himself to you, hmm?"
Kitty blushed, folded her arms before her chest and frowned. "That was different," she replied wanly, as Carmelita eased the car to the curb outside the house they shared. The two got out and headed to the door.
"Was it now?" Carmelita accused, grinning. "How did that go again?" she quipped. Then she went into the act that infuriated Kitty time and time again. She stood still before Kitty, then bowed as Ling Chu did, with her hands clasped before her, bowing from the waist with preciseness. "Good morning. My name is Ling Chu…of the Tibetan Police Force. It is a distinct honor to meet you. May I ask you your name?" she mimed, then did her best impression of the calm confident Tibetan. Carmelita then jumped over to stand beside Kitty and in a breathless, shaky voice, she said, "I´m in love!"
Kitty stormed inside after Carmelita opened the door. Carmelita followed after her, still laughing…until she was struck in the head by a pillow that usually resided upon the couch. Carmelita only laughed even more at her.
"Hey! It was a slip of the tongue, that's all!" Kitty protested.
"Sure…of course it was, Kitty dear," Carmelita responded, grinning hugely. That only started the two arguing again.
"I am not in love with him…or any guy!" Kitty screeched.
"Oh yes you are," Carmelita crowed in reply, infuriatingly calm in Kitty's opinion.
"Gah!" Kitty growled, her cheeks red…both from her embarrassment as well as her anger at Carmelita for continuing to bring the matter up.