NOTES- Sly Cooper and related characters are property of Sucker Punch. The name Macavity, A.L. Webber and T.S. Eliot. Nee's characters own by Nee. Nee was going for a little emotion in this chapter, so let Nee know what you think. No Flames please, Nee still recovering from who happened to Nee Bonfire night... Yes Nee said who!
Ask and you shall receive, it seems, as Nee hoped more nice peeples would review and they did. Mad props to AngelLadyG and D3Fan. And here's to many more.
Ch6 - Voices From The Past
"See you later Carme, Daddy's got to go."
"But I don't want you to go Daddy." The little one wrapped her arms around her father's leg.
Officer Nathan Fox Jr. stared down at his daughter. He hated having to leave her. At just six years old she had already had so many members of her family leave, Grandma and Grandpa had left for the great precinct in the sky, Uncle Bobby was now serving eight years and of course Mum had moved back to Spain. If it hadn't been for the fact he had to work, he'd never leave his little Carmelita's side.
"But princess, I got to go to work... Say, how 'bout I set up my second radio by your bed? Hmm? That way you can talk to me and I can talk to you whenever we want, yeah? You'd like that?"
Carmelita rubbed her little eyes, having been on the verge of tears. True, Daddy wouldn't be there in the flat with her... but Daddy would only be a short way away. 'Daddy has come back before. He didn't tell lies. Daddy wasn't like the others. Daddy always comes back.'
The elder fox was still waiting for his young daughter to answer. She released his leg and looked up with the cute smile that only young children can master.
"Okay Daddy."
"It's been a good few hours now. Do you reckon she's asleep yet?" Martin had been asking that ever since they'd entered the patrol car. Nathan just smirked at his cougar partner. Martin's foul mouth was legendary in the force. So after learning a six year old would be listening, he'd been forcing himself to hold his tongue.
"Probably. Its way past her bedtime."
"Ahh, Five more minutes daddy." the radio spoke in a tired voice.
"Now, now, princess. You have school tomorrow and Martin here wants to use bad man words." Nathan had to surpress his laughter, as he talked in to his radio, having seen the cougar mouth 'bad man words'. "So turn off the radio like I showed you and I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, God bless princess."
"Goodnight, God bless daddy. I love you."
"Love you too, princess."
"You think she's turned it off?"
"You kidding? She won't do What I tell her. She's too much like her mother", the fox said in response to Martin, who was beginning to sound like an 'Are we there yet?' kid. Before they had found out for sure the car radio sparked to life...
"Car Nineteen, Car Nineteen, please respond."
"This is Car Nineteen. Go on control." Martin picked up the handset.
"Can you and Nathe go and check on the guys at pier thirty-eight?"
"Yeah, sure... Why?"
"Just I normally get a call from one of the guards there, to exchange racing tips. But tonight I get nada, so now I've got a gut feeling that's turning into full blown indigestion."
"Normally I'd argue with your gut, but it's been a slow night, so we'll check in on your gambling buddy for ya, control."
"Thanks Martin. Control out."
And with that Nathan made a sharp right and headed for the waterfront. Nathan went to put on the siren.
"Don't bother with the blues and twos, we're only checking something out. Plus I doubt the fishermen there will approve of us scaring all the fish."
"Fishermen? Don't they know nothing lives in those docks?"
"Doesn't stop these guys. It's the closest thing they've got to water."
However as the patrol car got closer to pier thirty-eight there was not a soul to be seen. These streets always had something happening in them, be it a mugging, a young couple trying to get some 'privacy' or just someone walking home from the pub. But on this night... nothing. Even the water in the docks wasn't making a sound, for the only time in living memory the city was dead silent. The two men in the car were starting to get a few gut feelings of their own.
"So... where are these fishermen then?"
"Don't know, don't care. We're only here to check the warehouse on pier thirty-eight." Martin said, trying to not sound nervous.
The car stopped outside the modest-sized warehouse which rested on the pier. Although it dark the graffiti was still visible, it made the place seem less imposing to know "Flem and Burp woz ere".
After trying the door and finding it open, both men drew their pistols and went to investigate. As soon as they stepped through the door, an awful smell rushed up to meet them, Nathan felt like he was going hurl. He knew that smell, it was blood... a lot of it. Martin went one better than Nathe as he stepped back out the doorway to be sick round the corner. When the pale cougar came back wiping his muzzle, they decided to press on in.
"Can we go now, Sssir? The sssmell isss making Iain feel naussseuosss." A small innocent child-like voice came from near the back of the warehouse.
"Quit your belly aching Iain! Macavity already gave you a freakin' gas mask!" Another voice came this time gruffer, harsher.
"Jussst for futher referencesss, Iain brought thisss masssk from home." Iain spoke once more. "And it ssstopsss gasssesss, not the sssmellsss."
"IAIN! KOFI! SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!" One more voice entered the conversation. This one was by far the most commanding of the three. This voice continued with a sigh, "Honestly... you two are worse than children. Smee will be here soon and you know cautious she is, you so much as cut a loud fart she wouldn't be seen for dust. So just keep your big mouths shut."
"Ahh come on Macavity..." The gruff one now known as Kofi started.
"Sooo... that the legendary Christopher James Macavity. Looks nothing like his file photo." Nathan whispered from high above the three. So as not to disturb them he and Martin had climbed up on to the top one of the warehouse's shelves, to gather more information. "Wait till the guys in homicide hear about this."
"Nathe."
"Yeah. What?"
"Isn't Macavity the guy from that kiddy bedtime story? You know like the bogeyman?"
"Yep. Where do you think that story comes from? Mind you, in the story, Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin. This guy may be ginger but he ain't no cat." Nathan and Martin continued to watch Macavity conduct his business as did the other two. "That's it. I'm radioing for back up. Control, this is..."
"Sssir!" Iain's head shoot up and started to look around. "Iain'sss picking up a radio frequencccy!"
"Yeah! And I can smell fresh blood!" Kofi join in.
"Probably just more of those blasted fishermen. Kofi, make sure they join their friends." Macavity didn't want to hear this.
"Fissshermen radioing sssomeone called Control?"
"Okay, go and find the cause. I'll try to stall Smee, can't have Kofi draining someone of their blood when she arrives." Macavity said picking up the phone.
"Up there!" Kofi pointed right at them with a hint of fun in his voice.
"St! We've got to get the Fk out of here!" Martin was already scrabbling down the shelves to escape... At the same time Kofi started to push the giant shelves over.
"Hello up there! Chris sent me ta come get ya!" Kofi said as the shelf finally went over.
"Martin!" Nathan could only cling on to the top shelf and watch as his partner was crushed to death by a madman and half a ton of shelving. When Nathan's quick trip to the ground abruptly ended, he was met by a very ticked-off Macavity.
"I have just had to tell a very important, not to mention jumpy business partner, I was having delays due to the police. To which she replied, and I quote..." Macavity choughed and began a very poor impression of an Irish accent. "Ha! If you think I'm falling for that, you must be kiddin boyo. You've been arrested, haven't 'cha! And you're trying to give 'em me in exchange for you, aren't cha? But I'm not gonna fall for it..." He then continued in his real voice, "And she pretty much continued like that. Also now I have to leave pretty sharpish before your backup arrives so..."
"Wait!" Nathan's police mind told him to stall for time, just wait for back up. "If you really are Macavity, why ain't you anything like your police file or the stories say?" It was the first question he thought of, after 'What about my poor princess?', of course.
"Ahh look, Kofi, Iain, I have a fan." Macavity speech was saturated in sarcasm. "Well I know how the police love a good chase. Hell! They even chase after the innocent, like my mother... And being the generous guy I am, I give them someone else to chase. I'd let them chase me instead of actors but I've got a bum knee so... And beside the stories and cop files aren't completely wrong..." The sounds of the police man's screams echoed in the warehouse, "Christopher James Macavity is a depraved cold hearted murderer... But... then again, you just learnt that, didn't you?...Let's get out of here."
"What about him?" Iain enquired.
"What about him? He's just a cop!" Kofi's harsh words was the last one a small disobedient 'princess' heard as her father left her.
"He was also my daddy." Carmelita shut her tearful eyes. When they open once more, she was no longer a six year old in her own room but a full grown woman in a sterile white one with a daylight seeping throught a set of blinds. A hospital ward. 'That's right, there was an explosion and him.' She lie there a few seconds longer after which she removed the oxygen mask over her muzzle and looked around her. To her left she saw one or two of her fellow officers in the beds next to hers, with various injuries from the explosion. When she turned right, she was confronted with a huge bouquet of white and blue roses... The sheer size was overwhelming, no-one she knew could afford a bouquet of roses this size. She reached in to the flowers and pulled out a card of matching colours.
My dear Carmelita, Please get well soon.
P.S. The flowers were paid in full.
Even thought there was no signature on the card, experience and the colour scheme told Miss Fox who had sent the flowers. After all he'd stolen, he could afford a bouquet like this with folding money.
"Damn you Cooper." She said softly with a smile.