"So," Bryce asked, glancing over the tablet he was reading from to look at the car's dashboard clock, "when do you wanna switch off?" He looked at Carmelita. The fox kept her eyes glued to the road as she drove.
"I don't know. I'm not used to having someone else go along with me," she said.
Bryce's stomach growled. The red tiger smiled sheepishly and hid his face behind the tablet, even though he knew Carmelita couldn't see him. "Well," he said, "it looks like we're going to have to stop for lunch soon. How about we switch then?"
Carmelita grunted in the affirmative, momentarily removing a hand from the wheel to take a peppermint out of the container she had placed into one of the car's cup holders between the two front seats. Bryce looked back down at the file he was reading on the tablet.
It had been sixteen days since Carmelita had been called into Commissioner Reeves' office and the two had started their partnership; sixteen days of Bryce learning every single thing he could about Sly Cooper and his gang in between tracking their movements and trying to pin down where they were. The two Interpol agents had managed to narrow it down to somewhere along the north-eastern border of Spain when a call came in: someone was claiming to be Sly Cooper's current target .
The claims came from a Spanish businessman named Rainier, and it was his file that Bryce was reading. Rainier was a toad who inherited a fortune following his parents' accidental death. According to the reports, Rainier had very little business sense and quickly set about wasting the family fortune on flights of fancy. It seemed like he was all set to flame out and go bankrupt until a few years ago, when his fortune suddenly started to flourish once more.
A day ago he had called the police and told them that one of his guards had seen Sly Cooper stalking around his castle. The information reached Interpol and, after some quick fact checking to confirm how likely his claims were, Bryce and Carmelita were ordered to go down to see if he was telling the truth and, if he was, to catch Cooper.
Given how close their destination was to Interpol headquarters, the upper brass had decided to just have them drive there to spare the expense of a flight. Annoying as the drive was, it gave Bryce some time to check up on Rainier. He discovered that, given how quickly Rainer's company had risen from the smouldering embers, Interpol suspected foul play and launched an investigation. Said investigation was halted in its tracks when it failed to turn up any evidence.
Bryce relayed this information to Carmelita, adding, "Don't you think it's a little suspicious?"
Carmelita raised a disbelieving eyebrow. When she realized that Bryce couldn't see it because her face was angled towards the road, she said, "What? They didn't find anything so they stopped looking and went back to focusing on the real problems. Like you should be right now."
Bryce ignored her last sentence and spoke again. "Well, look at the timing. The investigation opens, and then closes two weeks later." Bryce turned to face Carmelita. "Doesn't that seem a little rushed?"
"Mmm." Carmelita's mind started to wander as she considered the possibilities. She realized what she was doing and pushed it away, refocusing on her driving. "I don't like it either, but rush jobs happen all the time. Besides, Interpol investigates every time something like that happens, and nothing else involving him has popped up. What makes you think this is any different?"
Bryce picked up a peppermint and started twirling it in his fingers. "None of the others were targeted by Sly Cooper," he said. He unwrapped the candy and began sucking on it.
Carmelita knew what he meant by that. Cooper had a reputation for only going after other criminals. But she still wasn't convinced. "Maybe he's getting greedy. Either way, our job is to go after Cooper, not Rainier."
"Yeah, you're right." Bryce closed the file, but not before saving it on his tablet. He pulled up a map app and scrolled through the area in front of them. "Looks like there's a diner coming up soon; you wanna eat there?"
"Sure." Carmelita turned off of the highway. "Just don't take too long. The sooner we can get to Cooper the better. Who knows what they could be doing?"
At the Cooper Gang's Brand-New Safe House
"Sly," Bentley called from the back of the van. "Remember to make sure you keep the table away from any windows."
"Don't worry, pal," Sly called over his shoulder at the wheelchair-bound turtle. "I remember." The racoon lifted up the small circular table and began carrying it into the gang's new safe house; it had only been established yesterday so they still had to bring in all the equipment.
"Uhh, excuse me, Sly," Murray said, balancing the fridge he was carrying on one arm so he could tap the racoon on the shoulder with his other hand. "Could you…?"
"No problem, big guy." Sly stepped to the side so the pink hippo could carry the fridge through the door. While he and the rest of the gang decorated the house, Sly thought about why they had come to the little Spanish village.
Mission Start Monologue
About a month ago, me and the gang were robbing a dirty museum curator who was making forgeries of the paintings he was supposed to be displaying and putting those in the showroom, selling the real ones on the black market. While I was in his storeroom, taking the remaining genuine paintings from him, I noticed a box in there with them. What can I say, my curiosity got the best of me.
Inside I found what looked like part of a very old map, and my thieving instincts went wild. I grabbed the little paper and took it back with me, leaving my calling card in its place. It wasn't until I was back at the safehouse that I felt the urge to crack open my family heirloom, the Thievius Raccoonus, and check the piece of paper. It was an exact match for the paper used to make some of the earliest parts of the book. I thumbed through those parts and found out about the Cooper family armory. I showed the piece of the map to the gang and explained it to them. Bentley got right onto figuring out where the rest of the pieces were. After weeks of searching and asking around, he finally got a tip.
It turns out one of the pieces is being displayed by this Spanish nutcase who calls himself 'Lord Rainier'. He lives in a castle in the Spanish countryside, and has all of his servants live in houses around it.
Rainer grew up in the lap of luxury, with his parents giving him everything he could ever ask for. Then, when his parents died, he snapped. He didn't know that he had to actually work to stay rich. First he was deluded, believing that the money would never stop as he kept on buying useless things. Then, when funds ran low, he became desperate, investing into anything. As his money ran out, he became more and more paranoid, until he refused to leave his castle. Then, one day, the money came back. He suddenly started making public appearances and smart business decisions.
Turns out, despite his lack of business savvy, he has a way with numbers. He can remember every single thing he had ever bought or sold. When he got desperate enough, someone called him up and offered to fix his empire if he would keep the books for their international smuggling ring. He accepted, and the rest is history.
Still, even with all of Bentley's contacts, no one could tell him who exactly Rainier is working for.
A small amount of worry crept into Sly's head as he pondered that last fact, turning it over and over in his head. Sly shrugged it away. It wasn't important right now; right now he had to focus on the mission. He glanced out the window and saw that the sun was almost all the way down. He looked around the safe house. Everything seemed set up.
"Hey, Bentley," Sly called. Bentley had already parked himself behind his desk and was looking over his computer.
"Yeah?" the turtle asked, not looking up from the screen.
"I'm gonna go out. Let me know when you've figured out what you want me to recon."
"I'll send you the coordinates over your binocucom." Bentley nodded.
"Great." Sly picked up his cane and headed for the door. "Later, Panda King," he said to the massive bear with fireworks strapped to his back who was meditating on the couch. He didn't get a response but he didn't expect to, meditation and all that.
Sly exited the house and looked around, a grin on his face. He jumped up to the nearest rooftop and began running around, grateful for the chance to stretch his muscles.
A/N: Yeah, this story is going to alternate between the perspective of the Interpol squad, and Sly and the gang.