Hello all, lightheart77 here. So glad to be on the 8th chapter and I hope you all liked the last chapter and I hope you like this chapter. It will be short, and go back to how well the parents are doing. And an even newer development has occurred: it seems there is a police man on the force that may have a thing for our new thief. But, unfortunately, you must read to find out. So read on good people, read on.

Chapter 8: The Search Is On!

Carmelita sat her desk going through her files to find anyone who would be able to track them down and want to hunt down their daughter to get revenge. The problem was: there were a lot of people who'd want that. Carm sighed and began to rub her temples as she heard footprints outside her office. A knock came on the door, "Come in."

Through the door came her husband, Sly Cooper, with a morbid expression on his face and asked, "Any luck?"

"Not really," she stated, "I didn't realize how many people we've put away until I had to look through a fourth of them. How about you, Ring-tail?" she asked in return.

"I called Ken and Jamie's parents, both were not happy to hear that our daughter has swept them away into thieving," he said, sitting down in one of the other office chairs. "Let's just say, I'm was glad I was on the other side of the receiver and not talking to them face to face," he added with a chuckle.

"You can't blame them," Carm replied, looking toward a picture of her daughter with her two best friends behind her, smiling on her desk. "But we are just as worried. I mean, Ken and Jamie are like our own kids… they've been with us so much."

"So true. We feed them enough for that to be a fact," Sly said sarcastically.

"Sly," his wife muttered.

"It's true."

"Sly, this is serious. Our child is missing, her friends are missing, there's a killer on the loose trying to take her life and that book of yours, and—"

But Sly cut her off from her rambling, "I know. It's just… this is how I deal with nervousness sometimes. I try to lighten the mood a bit. And I'm telling you, this is the most nervous I've ever been," he said with a small smile. "On a job, it really was just me out on the field a lot. But now it's not just me, it's my daughter, and she could get hurt or worse. And I feel like it's my fault," he added, allowing his head to fall into his hands.

Carm stood up from her chair and lifted her husband's chin so that she could see his warm chocolate brown eyes and smoothly said, "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. Eventually, she would have gotten your book, and someone would then want to take it from her. I'm sure you meant to do it as a way of showing that she was finally a true Cooper. And I'm actually okay with that," she added with a small smile, "It just shows how alike you two really are."

That made Sly smile just a little, saying, "Yes, but she defiantly got your beauty, my sweet."

Carmelita gave a small laugh, standing up straight, and Sly joined her. It was the first time in those many hours that they had a good laugh. But it was short lived. A knock came on the door and a velvet voice come from behind the door, "Miss Fox? This is Lieutenant Will Marsh, may I come in?"

"Of course, Marsh," Carm replied.

The door opened and in came a male fox, with bright orange fur, deep dark blue eyes, and a well built body. He wore the standard uniform of the blue jacket and pants with black tie, and it seemed to suit him well. "I… I heard about Alexa," explained the nineteen-year old, "If there's anything I can do to help…"

"Yes we know Marsh. We know you would do anything to help our Alexa," said Carm sweetly. "Unfortunately, we have no leads at the moment."

"Oh, I see," he replied with regret.

"Don't worry though. Don't you have your first major assignment tomorrow night anyways?" asked Sly. "Where is it again…? India?"

"Yes, sir, Calcutta," Marsh replied proudly, "I'm going with a couple comrades to visit a party of thieves. Apparently, it was where Rajan's had his party that you two had a go in."

"Ah, I remember that," Sly stated with a smile. "We stole the clockwork wings, and gave Carmelita that rose."

"Yes, and I mad as hell, too," Carmelita added. "Who is the boss?"

"Ricardo Katz. I'm sure you two have heard of him," Marsh stated.

"Yeah, we've been trying to get enough dirt on him for years," Sly replied with a nod.

"Well, we wish you the best of luck," Carmelita added.

"Thank you. And know, as soon as I get back, I'll do my best to help in the search for Alexa," he said with a morbid note.

Sly stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "No, thank you, Marsh. Now get going. I'm sure you and the others may want to get ready for the job."

"Yes, sir," Marsh answered, heading for the door.

"And Marsh," Sly added with a smile, "There's no need to be so formal all the time."

"Oh," he said with embarrassment, "Sorry, just a habit for me. I'll see you soon," he finally said, leaving through the door.

Soon after Marsh left, Sly began to chuckle, "It seems that our daughter has another admirer."

"Yes," Carmelita agreed, "I'm afraid to tell him that she's a thief now."

"Well, I'm sure he'd find out soon enough," Sly answered back. "But, that's the least of our worries right now. We need to get back to work."

Carmelita gave an annoyed sigh, "Right, but you're helping me with reading all of these files."

"Alright, just let me give some people a call," he agreed.

"The old gang?" his wife questioned.

"The old gang," he replied taking out his phone and dialing a number.

Okay everyone, that's that. It's a very short chapter but it does introduce a new problem for the next chapter. It seems an old friend will be dropping by at the party, and who know what will happen now. And what about the gang getting called in; well, let's just find out about that later.

Hope you review and I hope t have the next chapter up soon. Thanks again for staying with my story and so review and review.