Hey everyone, Lightheart77 here with chapter 18. Wow, in just a couple more chapters, we'll be in the twenties :) Awesome!

Now I know I haven't updated for a while (wow… another 6 months… really bad on my part ^^ ;) but there is very good reasons behind that. School, school, school and… oh yes, school. BLEH! So many assignments, so little time :P College and high school can mix but it comes at a price. (Sigh) And now it is summer and I have a job! (Sigh) It may pay well, but the hours are long and then I have classes right after (don't I have a hectic life?).

But besides that, I've been doing beta-reader/editor stuff and haven't really written in awhile, so yeah… I thought this chapter would have never gotten written (be bad for you readers, so I kept going ^^ ;).

But, enough of my rambling; on with the show!

Chapter 18: What's next?

Alexa stared out the back window of the van as the dark outside began to creep to light. The excitement from the heist was still pumping some adrenaline into her system, keeping her awake. Not only that, but the same thing kept running through head, not letting her thoughts rest: Why did he say that?

Jamie and Ken were still hyped up from the job, though Ken still needed to be awake to drive of course. But Jamie looked to her friend with concern. The glazed look over Alexa's face showed signs of confusion and hard thinking, two things that were never good for her friend's mental health. "Alexa?" she questioned.

The half vixen was pulled away from her thoughts as she glanced over to the fox in the front seat, "Hmm?"

"Are you okay? You seem… dazed."

"I'm fine. It's just something that Chase said… he said that he was buying us time because his father was the real problem… what is he trying to do then…?"

"Well… I couldn't begin to guess. Maybe you can get more info when you see him next time."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Jamie frowned at her friend's sad expression, and then realized something. She hopped out of the front seat and sat next to Alexa and began to shake her, "Okay, I've waited long enough! Tell me what happened between you and Chase on your date!"

Jamie grinned when a smile came across the half-vixen's face and the gloom dispersed. "It was… nice. He took me out to dinner, and then we walked around on the street. We even went into some shops. He tried to pay for anything I seemed to be interested in. I argued that I didn't need any of it but he was so persistent," she laughed. "It was during the argument that I noticed the fountain that I had made a wish in when I was fourteen. It was then that he told me he was that kid that saved me from those thugs two years ago."

"No way!" exclaimed Jamie. "That was him?"

"Well… he had been watching me two years before that…"

"He's been watching you for four years? No wonder the guy's in love with you," Ken noted.

"Wow. He's a stalker," Jamie thought aloud.

"Shut up!" Alexa blushed though she knew it was a bit true.

"Never mind that," Jamie muttered waving the thought away with her hand. "What else happened? I know something else must a happened."

Alexa was able to regain enough of her composure to raise an eyebrow, "How?"

"Your clothes are moist," she said bluntly.

Alexa then looked at herself and realized her clothes were still wet. "Oh. I, uh… didn't notice…" she chuckled nervously.

"Well, how did that happen?" she questioned anxiously.

"Alright, alright, calm down. What happened was that I was balancing on the fountain when he told me he was that guy and well, I wasn't really paying attention so I… fell in," Alexa admitted.

Ken and Jamie then busted out laughing. Alexa blushed again and looked way, uttering the something that sounded like "Shut up…"

"Then what did he do?" Ken asked.

"He tried to save me from falling in but instead… came with me into the water."

"Ha, ha," Ken chuckled.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Jamie giggled.

"It was actually. After both of us had laughed about the situation, we went to the wooded area and—"

"Alexa!" Jamie had shock spread across her face.

"Wha—" But she then realized what could have gone through the vixen's mind. Her eyes went wide and her face bright red, "No, no, no! We hung up our soaking wet clothes to dry some. I was in my jeans and under shirt and he was in his jeans. Nothing like that happened!"

"Okay," Jamie sighed in relief, "I swear, I was about to kill you."

Alexa just rolled her eyes.

"So, did anything else happen before you had to run to meet us?"

"Well, we sat next to each other under the stars. You know, Chase is actually tried to be poetic about it too. We talked a while and then…" Her voice trailed off, as if she didn't want to have to admit this herself.

"What? Then what?" the vixen inquired.

Alexa put her hand to her mouth and whispered, "We almost kissed."

Jamie squealed and asked, "Why didn't you?"

Despite Alexa's whispering, Ken heard and muttered putting his ears down, "Okay, I'm out of this conversation."

Jamie rolled her eyes and questioned again, "So, why?"

Alexa thought about it for a second and gave a sad smile, "Time just wasn't on my side. But the thing is… I had half of me wanting to kiss him, the other half not wanting to…" She sighed. "Is that weird?"

Jamie's ears went down as her expression changed to one of thought, "Well…" her ears perked and she snapped her fingers, "I bet it's because you're still getting to know him. And well… it is a bit confusing with all that's happened so far. I'm sure if things are suppose to progress to something good, they will."

"I guess…" Alexa muttered sadly. She shook her head and said, "Well, let's get off that subject. Do we know where we're headin' next?"

"Um… no way we're going back to your father's old hang out; the police will be expecting us there. But Ken and I were able to pack up the essentials expecting this sort of thing would happen. So there's no need to go back there. Also, since the cops know about us setting up in India and Paris in the same areas that your father was in, your parents will most likely have cops around all your dad's old hideouts by now."

"So much for using the old safe houses," Alexa sighed. "Oh well. This gives us a chance to set up our own safe houses."

Jamie nodded, "It shouldn't be too bad. For the next safe house, we could even stay a little longer."

"I find that better than having to pack up in a rush," Ken noted, sticking out his tongue in disgust.

"Yeah," Jamie agreed, "And that's how we spent our evening while you were on your date."

"Oh…" Alexa muttered, a bit embarrassed but she then whispered with a grin, "Did you guys at least have a good time without me being there to fawn over you two?"

Jamie smiled and whispered back, "Yes. We started talk about almost everything. It was…" she giggled, "nice."

"That's great," Alexa looked to Ken and continue in a whisper, "I'm glad you two had more time to yourselves." She cleared her throat and spoke loud enough for Ken to hear, "So, any ideas for where we're gonna go for our next job?"

"Um… I was thinking some place cooler, like… snowy maybe?" Jamie questioned.

Alexa nodded in agreement, "That could work. Who would think that a bunch of summer vacation teens would go somewhere up in the mountains?"

"That would be cool," Ken chimed in. "I've always wanted to go snowboarding."

"And I haven't been skiing in forever," Jamie said eagerly.

"Then it's settled," Alexa decided. "Some place cold… cold… let's see, there are plenty of places in Europe…"

"On it," Jamie hopped up and got on a laptop and typed up a couple of things. "Interesting… there seems to be activity in Switzerland."

"Really?" Alexa looked over Jamie's shoulder and asked, "What kind of activity?"

"What other kind of activity are we interested in, Alexa?" Ken laughed.

Alexa just stuck her tongue out at him while Jamie just rolled her eyes. "I suppose Ken is right about that. Our kind of activity, crime activity, seems to be brewing, although Swiss is known to be a peaceful neutral country."

"So, then what's up? Are the penguins taking over the snowy terrain?" Alexa chuckled at her own joke.

"Come on, Alexa, this is serious. Mysterious deaths and disappearances that are connected to this specific gang and—"

"I know, I know," Alexa muttered. "I didn't mean to be harsh like that. Who's the main suspect?"

"Fyodor Borislav. He's from Russia apparently but moved into Swiss territory because, well… no one else was there." She clicked up a picture of the guy. He was a huge black bear, with an army style hair cut and eyes black as coal with hatred echoing in them.

"Hmm… So we're dealing with the big man himself, huh? This will be interesting. So, how about it? A job taken?"

"Definitely," both other teens agreed.

Alexa then yawned, "But let's worry about the details tomorrow. For right now, let's find a place to park it for the night," she looked out and saw the sun cut in have over the horizon, "or morning. It's definitely been a long day."

Jamie yawned too, "The feeling is definitely contagious. Ken, do you see anything that might be an okay place?"

Ken shrugged, "I don't know. Since we're outside city limits, most of the places here are farms. We may have to sleep the van."

"You know what, I'll agree to that," Alexa mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I just want to sleep."

"Me too," Jamie yawned again. "What do you think, Ken?"

"There's a clearing up ahead. We should be fine this far out," Ken stated.

"Sounds good to me," Alexa she sat down in the back side seat and leaned up against the wall of the van, putting her hat over eyes. "Let's get there and get some well deserved rest."

Sly sighed, "Please, Ezio. Can't you tell us anything?"

The old tortuous shook his head, "I'm sorry, Sly. You know that I can't do that."

"Mr. Tancredi, reconsider. We need to find them. We think they're in trouble," Marsh begged.

Ezio only sighed, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I only made a deal with some good people. I did not realize it was stolen property. I'm afraid that I have purchased it for a very expensive price, so I don't think I can give it back."

Bentley and Murray looked to each other trying to figure out what to do next. None of them have ever dealt with sort this of problem before: having to get an old friend in trouble.

"Okay, listen guys," Hideaki muttered. "Can't you just leave? We bought the thing fair and square and the money is from a reputable bank account. There's nothing you can prove."

"But, but—" Marsh stammered.

Sly put a hand on Marsh's shoulder and said, "Come on. There's nothing more we can do." He glanced over to Ezio and said, "Thank you for at least protecting her privacy. I think she would be glad to hear that you still keep your word."

Ezio nodded, "I feel it is best to do this, especially since she left a note for you." He pulled a piece of paper from his shell, and held it out to Sly, "She must have ran into you after she gave Hideaki this note, but I suppose she really didn't have time to talk."

Sly took the note and read it out loud, "'Things seem to be getting more confusing on my end. But I'll figure out what's going on soon enough. Once I do, I think I can finally come back home and be grounded for life, like I figure I would be. Sorry for the trouble. And Marsh…'" Sly's voice drifted off as he read in his head. He looked over to the fox, and held out the note to him for him to read himself.

Marsh took it and read:

And Marsh, please understand that I can't return those feelings. You've always been more like a brother to me more than anything. I do love you Marsh, but not in that way. I want you to do me a favor. Find someone other than me; someone who can make you happy; someone who can get to know you differently and can see you in that way; someone who won't cause you this much heart ache. Please do that for me.

Marsh nodded his head. He figured it was like that but that didn't make it any easier to read it. He continued to read the note after the portion to him. "'And to everyone, be careful. Though these people are after me right now, I don't know if they'll go after you too. But I guess we will meet again soon enough. So, until then, bye.' …She's in one of the biggest jams she's probably ever been and she's still worried about all of us."

"That's Alexa for you," Sly muttered.

Murray wiped away some tears and asked, "What we gonna do Sly? Alexa is able to take care of herself, along with Ken and Jamie but they're a lot younger than us when we finally went off stealing stuff. And most of the guys we stole from wouldn't show mercy, even on a bunch of kids."

Bentley sighed, "Murray's right. What if they do slip up? We can't be there to help them out…"

Panda King then stated, "Perhaps the only thing we can do now is wait."

"What? Wait? We can't just sit around and wait," Penelope retorted, her voice breaking with the thought of losing them. Bentley grabbed her hand and she wrapped her arms around him, nearly falling in his wheelchair. "Isn't there anything we can do?" she whispered.

No one knew how to answer. Hideaki stepped forward. "Look. We really have no idea where they are heading, but it's obvious to me that you all shouldn't worry so much." Everyone in the room looked to him. "From just what I've seen, they all care about each other; so much they wouldn't let anything happen to one another. Besides, if you all keep worrying about this, there's no way you can hope for the three of them to make it through this," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sly smiled and looked to Ezio, "Your apprentice seems to have his head on right. We should probably take that advice."

Ezio smiled and put a hand on the young leopard's shoulder, "Yes. He'll become a good successor."

"H-hey, hold-up, old man," he stuttered with embarrassment. "You're not dead yet."

Sly chuckled but sighed, "Come on everyone. We've got to start looking for leads."

"Good luck my old friend," Ezio called as the grouped walked out.

Sly and the others went through the door, quiet and left to their thoughts. Penelope and Bentley were out in front, holding hands. Then Murray and the Panda King were next, looking down at the ground as they went ahead. Then Marsh and Sly brought up the rear as they looked around to see the other cops, huddling around their cars, waiting for orders.

Sly broke the silence, "So, in the note Alexa says 'she can't return those feelings'… what is that about?"

Marsh's face turned red, "I… uh, well… admitted m-my feelings for her and I…" he cleared his throat, "I guess I was a bit over eccentric. She… didn't admit the same feelings. I had figured she had always liked me just as a brother figure, but I thought maybe I had a chance to make it more than that." He sighed, "I kinda knew it but to read it and know for sure… it hurts."

Sly nodded his head, "Yeah. Hearing that sort of thing can go deep. But, I wouldn't take it so hard. Alexa is… different from other girls. I think it's going to take a really strange situation and guy for her to fall in love. Besides, she grew up with you. She wouldn't want you to get hurt. She probably wanted you to find someone who isn't in a crazy family situation."

He laughed sadly, "That wouldn't matter to me. But… it can't be helped. I'll do what she asked. She's wise and usually knows what she's talking about. And I think… she might have feelings for that other guy, the one we don't know about. I kinda got that feeling whenever I saw them together."

"I see." Sly patted the young man's back and said, "She would be proud of you for making such a hard decision."

The fox grinned, "I would hope so." He looked up to the sky, and the sun was raising high in the horizon as he mumbled, "But… I still want to find her. I want her to be safe."

"That makes the two of us." Sly then announced, "Let's get a move on guys. Time's a wastin'."

Alexa woke with a start. She moaned as she ran her hand down her face. She had a dream about Chase. He had betrayed her and her friends, and then she had to see them die… she shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking that way. They didn't need treachery in the gang. She remembered how her father was betrayed. The idea wasn't that appealing.

She looked up and saw Ken and Jamie across from her, and smiled. Ken had his arm around her and Jamie had her head laying on his chest with her arms wrapped around his waist. Those two really are so cute together.

Alexa stretched, grabbed the Thievius Raccoonus, and headed out the van. The morning sun bathed her body, making her shield her eyes and close the door quickly before the light could wake up the other two sleeping teens. Her eyes soon adjusted and she looked up to see the blue sky with wisps of white streaming across. "What a beautiful day." She sat down besides the van to lie out in the sun, and let the rays warm her fur.

"I wonder… how things are going with Chase," she thought randomly. She then gave a sigh, remembering previous moments, "Why did he have to say that… and do I really like him…?" She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, "More questions to drive me insane."

I almost expect him to pop up and say something like "Why do you doubt me so?" She opened her eyes as if to look at him but no one was there. But… he's not here… I wonder how he can keep finding me like this though…

Day light went through the windows of Chase's hotel room as he paced back and forth. He only got a few hours of sleep but the information Ryu had just given him had kept him up pacing all night. Ryu sat on the bed, cross-legged, watching his friend cross back and forth, making it to one wall and then turning and going to the other.

"I know the new news is overwhelming, but if you keep pacing like that you're going to create a hole and fall through the floor," Ryu stated.

"I can't help it," the ring-tail muttered. "The fact that Father might come himself with the other four is anxiety inducing!"

"Calm yourself. As I said, it was a rumor that was going through the compound," Ryu explained again.

"Still…" Ryu shook his head and put his foot out far enough to trip up the teen. Chase wasn't expecting it and fell on his face with a thud and a muffled, "Ow…" He got back up to his feet, rubbed his face and growled, "Ryu!"

"Now that you've stopped pacing, I'll tell you how you'll be prepared for Father if he comes. I finally got myself my own cell phone. That way, when I hear news that's true, I can just give you a call with the phone so Father won't hear the conversation."

Chase sat down on the floor rubbing his head in thought, "But… doesn't he monitor what you and the other four buy? I recall Father being that paranoid."

"I'm on free range right now. So I was able to buy my own phone and to cover the tracks even more, I paid in cash."

Chase nodded, "Okay… Cool. This could work."

"Of course it will," Ryu declared. "Remember, we need to stay positive."

Chase sighed, "Right." He looked at the time, hopped to his feet and began to gather his things, "I better get going. Don't want Alexa to get too far ahead of me."

"I'm curious, Chase… How do you keep up with her and her gang?"

"Simple," he grinned. "I put a tracker in the last place she'd ever look."

Ryu cocked his head, "And where is that exactly?"

Chase pulled on his coat and with is bag in hand, opened the door and replied, "In the Thievius Raccoonus," and he shut the door behind him.

Ryu chuckled, "That boy really is too smart for his own good sometimes."

Jamie opened the van door and gave a big yawn as light bathed her. Her eyes adjusted and she looked over to see Alexa sitting in the grass next to the van, reading the Thievius Raccoonus. "You're reading it again?"

"Hmm," she looked up from the book and smiled, "Yeah. You never know when you might find something you didn't see before."

"Why didn't you wake us up? It's probably the late afternoon."

"It is the late afternoon," she laughed. "Anyways, I didn't want to wake you guys. You looked so cute together and I'm sure you needed the sleep."

"I suppose…" Though the vixen did blush at the thought of when she again woke up in Ken's arms.

"So is Ken up too?"

"No, not yet."

Alexa jumped to her feet handing Jamie the book, "Then I'll drive. We've stayed in one place long enough."

"Yeah, those cops are probably still searching and we do need to keep moving…" Jamie stated.

"Then we're off," said Alexa as she jangled the spare key.

Soon enough, the gang was on the road again, not realizing that the other member was right on their trail.

WAHOO! Finished! (Sigh) That took a lot work. Again, sorry for not getting it in sooner. Like I said, things have been crazy on my end (work, school, friends, drama… the list seems to go on).

So let's see, we've learned the next job is going to be in the mountains, Chase does have a tracker on Alexa (in the very last place I thought anyone would look), and Father may come and with 4 others (don't worry, you'll learn about them in due time).

But you all know the drill: Review, PM, whatever! I just hope I left anticipating the next chapter. I really hope you true reviewers would make a guess as to what's gonna happen next as well. If the ideas are really out there (something I wouldn't even expect but are still pretty possible for my characters), I might just use it in the next chapter. :)

So, till the next chapter and I hope you all have an easier summer than what I'm doing :P

Later!