Chapter 24

All right, Bentley. Care to explain exactly what Phase Two might be?" Carmelita demanded, a bit impatient as always.

"It's very simple actually, Carmelita," Bentley replied. "As you can now see," he added, pointing to his laptop's display, which was reflected in the pair's binocucoms, "I now have a red dot on my computer's display. That dot represents the current location of one Keiko Zuikawa. Way I figure it…sooner or later, she's gonna want to check on her fake Lamborghini. You both with me?"

"Yeah, we are, pal. What you say makes sense," Sly acknowledged. Carmelita nodded her head in agreement.

"Great!" Bentley continued. "Now, Phase Two begins with the two of you shadowing her, taking care to keep out of her sight, of course." He then frowned momentarily as they all watched Keiko's dot enter the Consulate. "Oh, and apparently…if you can manage to swipe some yokel's security card, that'd be just awesome too. I mean, I know you two could manage it from outside…but, it'd be so much better if you could follow her closely." Bentley shrugged, looking at his displays once more. "You never do know what you might learn along the way…you know?"

"Got it," Sly assured him, then turned to Carmelita. "Up for a little exercise in pickpocket department, my love?"

"Si!" Carmelita replied, eager to finally get the chance to something concrete. "I'll water your eyes, buster."

"Super," Bentley ventured, nodding approvingly. "Now, while you two do your Houdini routine…Yuri will keep tabs on the auto auction our Japanese friend has began on the Net. Yuri---and me, when time allows, of course---will try to keep the auction stringing along as long as we can. You know…to give you two the time you'll need. Understand?"

"You betcha, pal," Sly returned, then paused a moment. "Bent, could you link up Carmelita and my binocucoms with that mapping function of yours? It'll be a big help in keeping tabs on Ms. Zuikawa."

"You got it, MT-One," Bentley replied, hoping against hope that Sly might actually stick to proper radio protocols for once.

"Thanks, Mastermind," Sly replied, then grinned over at Carmelita. "MT-Squared is signing off. The game's afoot!"

"The game's afoot?" Carmelita snorted, looking over at Sly curiously, then shook her head in amusement. "Whatever you say, Sherlock."

Sly grinned, knowing she was pretty sharp, and her clever little witticism only proved that. He gazed over fondly at his lady love. "Weren't you supposed to be finding us a security keycard, querera?" he posed to her.

"Not to worry. I'm on it, Ringtail," Carmelita assured him, as they moved out of their cave-like hiding place once more. Carmelita knelt down, noticing Sly do the same next to her. They both brought their binocucoms to their eyes, and began scanning the compound for a likely candidate for the "Master Thief Keycard Donation Program'.

"Gotcha!" Carmelita announced only a moment or three later. "Take a look, amigo. Three o'clock, thirty meters. See him?"

Sly swung his binocucom to the right slightly, then frowned as he searched where she had asked him to. He moved about, scanning…and then snorted, chuckliing. "You mean Rip Van Winkle there, querera?"

"That's him, handsome," Carmelita confirmed, grinning. "Hmm, I wonder what the punishment for being asleep at your post is?" She quirked one slender dark brow Sly's way.

"Oh, nothing too horrific, I'm sure," Sly told her, moving his binocucom away from his eyes then. "He's an embassy staffer…maybe a bad review or something, I should think."

"Well, that's not my problem," Carmelita replied, nodding her head in relief and determination. "That guy's keycard is as good as mine, fella."

"Be careful," Sly advised, putting a hand on her shoulder a moment. "You know how I worry." He grinned softly, only teasing her partly…after all, he really did worry about her.

Carmelita grinned at him fondly. "Don't worry. I'll be just fine, Sly," she assured him. "Back in a few, sweetheart." Carmelita dashed stealthily forward.

Sly watched his lovely fiancee move quickly from shadow to shadow toward her goal. Her dusky red attire and dark hair blended into the night perfectly. If Sly had not known the talented vixen was out there, he knew he'd never see her. It took Carmelita approximately two minutes to get to the guard shack at the back door of the Consulate.

Carmelita moved on cat's paws…carefully laying her feet just so, avoiding any revealing noise. Not that it much mattered, she told herself a moment later, as the embassy staffer---a middle-aged macaque with a short white beard---was snoring loud enough to drone out a brass band. It was child's play for someone of Carmelita's aptitude and skill to lift the fellow's keycard and move back into the shadows once more…him none the wiser. She shook her head as he gave out a stenotorian buzzing snore, then moaned and went back to sleep again.

"Here we are, Ringtail," Carmelita announced, holding the macaque's keycard cleverly between her index and middle finger, showing her beau her new treasure.

"Muy bien," Sly told her, bowing to her prowess. "I watched you…man, you are good, woman!" Sly beamed with pride in her.

Carmelita grinned happily. She enjoyed his praise, as well as the proud look he gave her. "De nada," she replied, sidestepping his praise a bit. "Now, don't we have ourselves a Lamborghini to find, handsome?"

Sly laughed, reaching out to briefly cup Carmelita's cheek with his hand. "There you have it! You heard the lady, Bent! Just where is our larcenous pretty friend right about now, pal?"

Bentley refreshed his displays, and took a moment to reacquire Keiko's tracking dot on it. "Hmm, at this very moment, she's half a klick in front of you both." Bentley typed in a couple of quick commands. "There! Your binocucoms should now be up-to-date. Just toggle to 'menu' to bring up the digital schematic with Zuikawa's current locale on it."

Sly did as Bentley instructed, toggling the switch. He grinned a moment later when a sky-blue schematic appeared on a black background. Various dots were moving about the schematic, but there was only one red dot on the move. "It's working, pal," Sly radioed, but only after getting a confirming nod from Carmelita.

"Swell," Bentley told them, smiling in smug satisfaction. "You two have to get to the other side of the consulate. You can either go through or over or around, your choice."

Sly considered. "Which route has the most security, Bentley?" he inquired, as Carmelita moved close to his side, listening herself.

Bentley toggled between the myriad of display windows he had up at the moment until he found the one he wanted. "Hmm, let's see," he mused aloud, studying, then toggling between each of the three. "The through route has the most security, Sly. The route with the least security would be the the over the rooftops one."

"Roger that," Sly replied, nodding his understanding. He turned to Carmelita, who smiled, awaiting his decision. "I guess it's the rooftops for us, my sweet."

Carmelita nodded. "Makes the most sense, Ringtail," she told him.

"We're on our way, Bentley," Sly informed his technical whiz. "As we're going to need our hands free, you're going to have to be our eyes and ears with regards to Ms. Zuikawa, pal."

"No problem, Sly," Bentley assured them. "I'll lead you to her, no sweat."

Sly and Carmelita moved out, staying within the shadows of the grounds whenever possible. The two sharp-eyed thieves took their time, and along the way provided updates to Bentley's intelligence…pointing out carefully concealed surveillance cameras, and a new patrol route that they encountered. Sly remarked to both his friends that there seemed to be an inordinate number of casual strollers on the grounds this evening…as the Master Thieves had to dodge more than a few passers-by along their way to their point of egress to the rooftops.

"Okay, MTs," Bentley radioed when they at least reached the ornate and strongly constructed downspout they intended to use to gain access to the roofs. "I show no patrols just now, nor any surveillance cameras pointed your way. There's no better time for you go for it, pals."

"Thanks, we're moving out," Sly replied, nodded to Carmelita, then adroitly shinnied up the downspout, with judicious use of his curiously tipped cane. Carmelita followed quickly in his footsteps, both of her canes proving very helpful in her own efforts. They both edged up and then over the stout gutters, and then crouched nearly prone on the rooftops…very glad that clouds now obscured the hazy moonlight just now. "We're hangin' with the chimney sweeps, pal," Sly radioed a moment later.

Bentley grinned, imagining what any potential eavesdropper might be able to get from that comment. "Understood," he said. "Now, you want to progress clockwise, MT-Squared…I'll tell you when."

"Roger-dodger, old codger," Sly replied, making Bentley wince and shake his head. Sly then turned to Carmelita, who was crouched down, her limbs splayed on the pitch of the roofs, looking like some sort of beautiful spider-woman. "I ought to call you 'Black Widow', doll-face," he teased.

Carmelita grinned. "Now that doesn't bode very well for you now, does it, handsome?" she countered quietly, her brown eyes very clever just then.

Sly grinned, then licked a fingertip and made an imaginary mark on an imaginary chalkboard. "Score one for the lady," he told her. "C'mon, querera…let's jet."

The two Master Thieves scurried along the Consulate rooftop, moving in the direction Bentley had directed. Twice, Sly called for them both to halt…as he could see a new JSDF Marine patrol cluster out in the open. Any movement on their part could attract their attention, and that would be disasterous. After a minute, the new guard patrol moved out and dispersed…and the two Master Thieves continued on.

"Okay, MTs," Bentley then cautioned. "That's it. Now, take a look at your ten o'clock position."

Sly and Carmelita did so, and noticed a line of four long warehouse-type structures, then a line of six shorter structures with a pair of sliding doors, all facing the same direction, further out. "Got it," Sly called. "What are we looking for, BT?" Sly added, grinning as he head Bentley sigh loudly. Carmelita put her hand over her mouth to muffle her soft giggle.

"Cute," Bentley grumped, but continued. "You need to head straight ahead, bypass the warehouses, and head for the hangar-like building fourth from your right."

"Can do," Carmelita radioed, nodding to Sly. She rose up to her knees, then moved precipitiously to the edge of the roof she stood on. She looked at the intervening fifteen meters between her rooftop and the nearest warehouse. "We got a problem, Ringtail," she observed.

Sly moved up beside her, and watched as she indicated the chasm that seperated them from one rooftop to the next. Sly grinned. "Not a problem, gorgeous," he announced in a whisper, slipping his backpack free once more, and opening it.

"Let me guess," Carmelita mused aloud, watching him work. "Another one of those rappelling guns?"

"That's right, beautiful," Sly answered. "Never leave home without it…" He cocked the device by drawing the arms forward until they clicked into place. "Firing one," he announced, followed by the device's comical 'sproing' sound. The grapnel sailed over the apex of the warehouse roof, then Sly secured the gun to one of the dragon figures that adorned the roof's edges. He then activated the device's winch, and the line went taut. "After you," Sly coaxed, indicating Carmelita should go first. "After all…beauty before brains, you know…" He grinned.

Carmelita rolled her eyes, grinning. "I've got you beat in both departments, Ringtail," she quipped cleverly, then Rail Walked across the cable quickly. Sly shook his head, chuckling silently. He then dashed across himself, and joined Carmelita on the warehouse rooftop. "That's cute, buster," Carmelita then mentioned, indicating his now empty looking backpack. "But, we still got one more rooftop to cross to, and you seem to be out of whatchamacallits…"

"Au contraire, Mademoiselle," Sly corrected her. "Observe!" He unhooked the grapnel from the roof, and pressed the switch on the hook's shaft. They both heard a soft 'click' and then there came a soft whirring, buzzing sound.

Carmelita frowned, wondering what was going on. "What are you---?" she began, but stopped herself as she saw the rappel gun softly bump the edge of the rooftop they were on and whisk silently into Sly's hands. "Clever," she confessed with a shake of her head.

"Only the best, little lady," Sly quipped, stashing the gun back in his backpack once more. "Let's get moving, shall we? Time's a-waistin'…"

The two of them dashed on stealthy feet from warehouse to warehouse, leaping between the closely set building when necessary. They chose to run on the westerly side of the rooftops, keeping the point of the roof between them and the busy Consulate building. In thirty seconds, they were across from the hangar they needed to get to. Sly performed his trick with the Rappel Gun again, and they Rail Walked their way on to their target's roof. "Okay, BT," Sly called in. "We're here."

Bentley frowned, and shook his head. "Great," he replied. Now, there should be a skylight somewhere on the roof. Find it, and let me know when you're both in position."

"We're on our way, pal," Carmelita responded, and nodded to Sly, who followed in her wake as they began to search the rooftop. It was only a moment before the two found the aforementioned skylight. Sly and Carmelita nodded to one another, then took opposite sides of the skylight, and cautiously peered over the skylight's edge to look down. "In position, BT," Carmelita radioed in a whisper.

"Roger," Bentley replied, and waited. "What do you see?"

Carmelita smiled over at Sly then pointed down silently. Sly nodded, and grinned. "Looks like we found the party, pal," Sly barely whispered to his friend.

For below them, they could see none other than Keiko Zuikawa, who was smiling down at the beautiful Lamborghini Diablo Roadster. "Nice," Carmelita said, after she edged over to lay beside Sly. "We know that was car's a fake, but I'm still impressed."

"Shh," Sly cautioned his lady love. "Tap us in, would you, Bent?"

"Consider it done, you two," Bentley replied with aclarity.

Five meters below our two Master Thieves…

Keiko Zuikawa stroked the Lamborghini replica once with a loving fingertip, grinning a clever smile. She then called out something sharply in her native Japanese.

Keiko watched as six figures, four men and two women dressed in automotive mechanic coveralls, moved beside her, two meters away, then all six of them bowed deeply from the waist. "Konbanwa, Zuikawa-sama," they intoned with respect.

"Konbanwa," Keiko returned, bowing only her head to them. She was their superior, after all. "Even as we speak, my samurai, our scheme is coming to its fruition. The car before you currently is going for fifteen million four hundred and seventy-eight thousand U.S. dollars. Not bad for a day's work, neh?"

The six individuals laughed softly, impressed by their clever boss.

"But, as wonderful as that might be, it is only the icing on the cake," Keiko informed them, her dark eyes hardening. "The real triumph, my samurai, is that I will have hoodwinked my sorry excuse of a father once more, forcing him to unwittingly buy a car from his wayward daughter. Only, instead of buying back his own property this time…he will be buying a fake, a counterfeit!"

"Banzai!" the six henchpeople softly crowed, cheering their superior, their mentor, their leader. "Banzai, Keiko-sama!"

"You getting all this, Bentley?" Sly asked, even as he looked over into Carmelita's lovely brown eyes.

"You bet I am, guys!" Bentley informed them. "Every single word, chums."

"May I offer you my most heartfelt congratulations, Zuikawa-sama?" a short, Oriental wolf, whose fur was a white and cream color posed to his boss. "This was a masterful ploy, and you have orchestrated it flawlessly."

"You may, Tokokuze-san," Keiko allowed, smiling humbly at his praise. She then raised a cautionary hand. "But, we must wait still…everything has not quite yet fallen into place, my lieutenant."

"Hai!" a smug-looking mallard fellow hazarded. "But, Zuikawa-sama, even you must agree that this counterfeit car scheme is the pinnacle of your brillance, ney?"

"The pinnacle? I don't know about that, Tone-san," Lady Zuikawa argued softly.

"Of course it is, Keiko-sama!" Tone (pronounced Toe-neh) insisted. "Why, it is even far more clever than that masterful pyramid scheme you devised back in '99!"

"Oh?" Keiko asked, intrigued. "How so?"

Tone bowed, excited. "Back then, you risked everything on that, at any time your cover could of been discovered. However, now...well, my daimyo, even if someone does figure out what you---I mean, we---have done, they cannot touch you! You are the cultural attache, and as such, have limited diplomatic immunity from prosecution. Brilliant!"

Keiko smiled, nodding her head thankfully. "Your answer pleases me, my dear Tone-san. And, as a reward for your initiative, you are now personally responsible for this detail. The protection of this auto is now yours. Do not let me down, Tone-san." Keiko then turned to leave, but stopped a moment. "Now, my samurai…I leave to leave you, to watch over the internet auction, you see, and make certain my idiot father pays what he can for his 'Diablo Roadster'. Again, do not fail me, my friends."

"Hai, Lady Zuikawa!" they all intoned as one, bowing again.

Keiko turned and left the hangar/garage. After the imperious Japanese heiress/car thief left, it wasn't too long before her six associates---her samurai, as she called them---too left the garage, leaving the counterfeit Lamborghini alone once more. Apparently, Lady Zuikawa or none of her henchpersons, thought the car was in much danger of being discovered.

"They're gone, you guys," Bentley radioed a moment later. "Now's your chance. I'll keep an eye out…now, move!"

"Couldn't of said it any better myself," Sly teased, tapping Carmelita's hand. She nodded, and the two of them unpinned the skylight. Sly retracted the Rappel gun once more, and then they heaved the heavy skylight open. Sly affixed the Rappel gun to a sturdy lightning rod on the rooftop, and then affixed the gun to his belt. He then got to his feet, and motioned Carmelita over to his side. "C'mon, querera…"

"What are you up to, Ringtail?" Carmelita questioned, moving over beside him.

"Watch…and see!" Sly said, just before he encircled Carmelita's svelte waist with his arm, pulled her wondrous form to him, and waited until she put her arms around him. "Geronimo!" Sly softly hooted, and then stepped the two of them off into space.

"Eee!" Carmelita squeaked as she felt them plummet…but only briefly, as the Rappel Gun then gently unspooled, allowing the two embracing Master Thieves to rapidly, yet safely, descend to the concrete floor below. "You could give a girl some warning, you know," Carmelita pointed out as her feet touched down.

"What, and not enjoy how hard you were hugging me then?" Sly told her, grinning.

Carmelita tried to scowl at him…really, she did! But, somehow, she just couldn't find it in her heart to be mad at him. She reached up and tweaked his ear once in retribution. "You could of just asked if you wanted a hug, Sly Cooper," she pointed out.

"Aw," Sly said, teasing her. "Now I have to ask? What about spontaneity, huh?"

"You!" Carmelita laughed softly, then took his hand and moved over to the sleek yellow Roadster. She gazed down at the gleaming sleek sports car, and shook her sable-haired head. "Even if it is a fake, this is one sweet looking car, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Sly agreed, he then noticed something on the workbench on the far side of the car. "What have we here, I wonder?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" Carmelita pointed out, and the two moved over to see what was what. "Well, I'll be... Hey, Bentley…I've found the blueprints for this counterfeit car," she observed smiling.

"Yeah, and I've found a tube that has blueprints for a number of other ones," Sly added. "Most likely some of her old work, or some of her next, or both."

"Nicely done, Team," Bentley congratulated them. "Things are really coming together now, folks. We've got Ms. Zuikawa's confession of running this scam, we've got her blueprints, or schematics, or whatever, and we've found her counterfeit car. Is that sweet or what?"

"Don't get too cocky yet, BT," Sly cautioned, despite the feeling of euphoria they all were undoubtedly feeling…and rightfully so. "We may now have the goods on Keiko Zuikawa. But, the evidence is not in Interpol's hands just yet. Don't you think it might be prudent, let's say, to secret our fake car here to a place of safety? You know, so that Interpol might be able to match it to the blueprints Carmelita found?"

"Good point, Sly," Bentley observed, nodding, then thinking to himself. "Well, Murray waiting outside the western Embassy gate. Hmm, I guess you two could escort him into the garage, and clear him an escape route to our base. How does that sound?"

"Not a bad plan, Bentley," Carmelita begrudged, then added, "However, how do you plan to get Murray in here, pal? I mean, there are all those troublesome checkpoints between him and here…all with bright, young JDSF Marine guards manning them, remember?"

"Good point, Mademoiselle," Bentley countered, his voice gaining confidence again. "But…not to worry, Carmelita, because, dear lady…I have a plan."