Chapter 7: Discretion is Not Camille's Strong Suit

Cami was oddly relaxed as she walked along the street in her first disguise. She looked like a wealthy businesswoman with a hemmed pencil skirt and matching jacket. Her hair was pinned up in a bun. Cami was uncomfortable in the high heels. How the heck do women walk in these?

Sam was behind her looking like an intellectual with fake facial hair and thick glasses. He was wearing a thick sweater and slacks. They thought it best if they weren't seen together.

They had made their disguises using clothes they had stuffed into their bags and stuff they had bought. Regardless of the fact that they were descendants of thieves, neither Cami nor Sam were quite comfortable stealing. They had been raised to obey the law. Maybe, later Cami and Sam would have no choice but to steal, but for now, they wouldn't.

Cami walked into the rug outlet thinking that Sam was right and this was very unlikely to work. It looked unusually busy. Luckily, the front desk didn't have a line. Cami walked up to the rabbit working at the desk.

"Hello, I'm looking for-" Cami started.

"A rug? Of course, everyone here is. We're very busy today, but someone will help you find the right rug." The rabbit did not look up from her computer. She was rapidly typing.

"I'll help her, Hannah." A huge tiger with gray sideburns and a lazy smile came up to Cami. She recognized him immediately: Rajan, the illegal spice lord.

"Oh!" Hannah the rabbit jumped up from her desk and knocked over her cup of pencils. "Mr. Rajan! I had no idea you were coming here today!"

"That's the point." Rajan was smiling good-naturally. "Come on, Miss." He spoke to Cami. "I'll help you."

Cami mutely followed Rajan. This was unexpected. "'Mr. Rajan'? As in the owner of all the Karpet King outlets?" Cami asked when she found her voice.

"Yes, I grew tired of the endless paperwork. I needed to talk to other people." Rajan said as he led Cami around the huge store.

"Well, I'm honored, Mr. Rajan." Cami smiled charmingly. "I don't quite understand though, why do I need a consultant for buying a rug?"

Rajan laughed. "This store is so huge, that people have gotten lost in here. After awhile, I just had employees lead around the customers so they would not get lost."

"Ah, that makes sense." Cami said looking at the elegantly designed carpets. "Although, I didn't come here to buy a carpet, Mr. Rajan."

"Oh?" Rajan turned around to look at Cami. "Then why are you here, Miss-?

"That doesn't matter, Mr. Rajan. I came to talk to you." Cami said calmly. "Twenty years ago you were an illegal spice lord, but you were foiled by Sly Cooper and his gang." Rajan's eyes got wide and his expression hardened. "I wanted to let you know that Sly Cooper has gone missing and possibly dead. Interpol is going to ask all his old enemies about him. They will ask you." Cami kept her eyes on Rajan's. "What do you know?"

"That was years ago." Rajan growled. "I haven't seen that dirty, rotten thief since he stole from me. I have done my time and I've turned my life around. I know nothing of his disappearance. Who are you?" Rajan eyed Cami suspiciously.

"I am not of Interpol." Cami said truthfully.

"That's not my question." Rajan growled. "Who are you?"

"I can honestly say you and I have never met before." Cami said truthfully. "Thank-you for telling me about Cooper. I am going to assume you are telling the truth. If I find out you are lying, Interpol will be the least of your problems." Cami said with a cruel expression. "Good-bye, Mr. Rajan." Cami walked towards the exit confidently.

Cami did not turn around. She knew that her threat was empty, but she was not going to let Rajan know that. Cami glimpsed Sam out of the corner of her eye, but she gave no indication that she saw him. Cami was not going to talk to Sam until she was sure that Rajan couldn't see them.

Sam had been sitting across the street on a bench, pretending to read the newspaper. Cami walked out, sooner than he expected and she looked completely calm and collected. Sam waited until she walked around the corner before he stood up and followed her. Sam was careful to look around if anyone was following her. They had planned everything. Cami was to find out if Rajan was there and, if he was, find a way to talk to him. If she did get to talk to him, Cami was to find out, discreetly, if he knew anything about Sly's or Carmelita's disappearance. If Cami failed to act discreetly, Sam was to watch to see if anyone was following her. Since Cami came out so soon, Sam was very certain that Cami had been extremely blunt.

Sam did not see anyone following Cami, but Cami still took a roundabout way to the closed nightclub. Sam kept following her from a distance.

Cami did not stop at the nightclub. She kept walking until she was in the park. Cami sat down on the bench. Sam sat next to her and pulled out his newspaper.

"What did you find out?" Sam muttered.

"He says he knows nothing about it." Cami muttered. She was pretending to look watch the birds.

"What else did he say?" Sam asked, suspiciously. "Tell me everything, from the moment you walked in to the moment you walked out."

"Walked in: Rabbit at desk. Went up to her. Started asking about Rajan. Interrupted in middle of sentence. Rajan became my rug consultant. No idea why you need a consultant for rugs. Talked to him. Asked why he was my rug consultant. Said he needed to stop it with the paperwork and talk to people. Told him I didn't want to buy a carpet. Told him I knew about his time as a spice lord. Told him Dad was missing. Asked what he knew about it. He said he hadn't seen Dad since Dad stole from him. Asked who I was. Said I wasn't from Interpol. Got annoyed at me and told me to answer his question. Said I had never met him before. Said thanks for talking. Also said that I would trust that he was telling the truth. Threatened him if he wasn't. Walked out." Cami rattled off quietly and quickly.

There was a silence and Cami laughed. She knew Sam was shocked and she wished she could see his face.

"Are you serious? You threatened him?" Sam kept the paper up to cover his face. "Cami, are you incapable of being discreet?"

"No, it's just easier with the direct approach." Cami said watching the birds fly overhead. "I am impatient and discretion requires patience. Besides, he had no idea who I was." Cami pretended to inspect her nails.

"Next time, I'm going in and you are staying outside." Sam grumbled.

"Well, you have to admit, it was extremely convenient that he was tired of paperwork and decided to help the next person who walked through the door." Cami said, fixing her shoe.

"Incredibly convenient." Sam said turning the page of his paper. "Meet me at the club in twenty minutes. Make sure you're not followed." Sam continued to pretend to read the paper.

Cami stood up and started walking. She took as many detours as she could through crowds and around town. She stopped whenever she could (inconspicuously) to look for any tails. Cami knew she was being paranoid, but it was better she get in this habit now, because this adventure was just going to get more and more dangerous.

Cami slid through the back door in the club that she and Sam had managed to open. Sam was in the middle of changing out of his disguise so he was shirtless. Cami was accustomed to seeing Sam shirtless so she thought nothing of it. He was well muscled from years of playing every sport the school offered. Cami had always thought that Sam looked like Sly in build.

"What's going on, Brother Dear?" Cami asked as she pulled the pins in her hair out.

"Well, Rajan was a dead end." Sam said as he pulled his shirt on. "Who else do we have?"

Cami pulled off her shoes. "Contessa, Panda King, Dimitri, Bentley, and Murray. Don't look at me." Cami said as she began to change out of her clothes.

"'K." Sam said. He turned around and faced the wall. "Who's closest?"

"Don't know." Cami said as she tossed the jacket and shirt on top of her bag. "Panda King's in China, so not him. We could look for Dimitri. He might be easier to find, since he's famous. We could just search for him on the Internet." Cami pulled on a clean shirt.

"I guess. Where's the Contessa?" Sam asked. "Are you done?"

"No." Cami said as she pulled on a pair of pants and tossed her skirt on top of her other clothes. "She's a real estate agent. I don't know where she is. We could look it up. Now I'm done."

Sam turned around to continue the conversation. "So are we heading to an Internet café? We need access to a computer."

"Yeah, I guess." Cami said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "After school ends. We can't risk another disguise."

"Why not?" Sam asked sitting down in the booth.

"Well, my genius older brother, we only have one disguise each and I would not like to have someone who might be tailing the person I was dressed as see me with you in your disguise." Cami sat down on the opposite side of the booth. "I'd rather be me who no one knows, than be someone else who is a person of interest."

"Well, that is your fault." Sam said placing his hand in his hand. "You could have been more discreet."

"Discretion takes too long and we need to find Mom and Dad as soon as possible." Cami said, stubbornly. "I hate to ruin the happy mood, but the longer Mom and Dad are missing, the higher chance that they are dead. I'd hate to waste time being discreet or buying new disguises."

"Would you rather waste time waiting for school to end?" Sam countered.

"Fine, we'll do it now, but different disguises." Cami sighed. "Good job using my argument to win."

Sam nodded and pulled out some clothes. Cami knew that Sam was quiet because she had killed the mood.