Prologue
I'm
Sly Cooper, but you knew that, right? So, my reputation has gone beyond borders
of the countries I've been to. Believe me, I feel like I've been everywhere. But not long ago, I was invited to have a
drink with a gentleman named Colt Mason.
He's told me via letters--As he's claimed that he doesn't want the
French Intelligence tracking him-- that he wanted to talk to me about a job he
had in mind. He said the assignment is
relatively easy-- For a gentleman of my stature (Well, that's what he told me)--
and the pay was good. After that I told
him that I was the guy for the job. We
met in a pub in downtown Paris, France.
I wasn't sure what he looked like, but he said he'd find me when he got
there. A live concert was playing that
evening. I always enjoyed coming to this
pub in particular with Bentley and Murray, the drinks were cheap and the music
was good, so we didn't care. I waited
near the door for him, enjoying the music playing from the band across the
room. I turned from the jazz band at the
opposite end of the room to face this tall Husky wearing a leather jacket and
jeans.
"Herr
Cooper (Mr. Cooper), I presume?" He quizzed,
speaking with somewhat of a German accent.
"Call
me Sly, if you want at least." He
chuckled mildly and invited me over to have a drink. Sitting down almost simultaneously he began
to speak, making it rather plain to me.
"Now
then," he began "On to business.
Was Ich spreche zu du may
change dein lieben und deine Freuindelieben (What I say to you may change your life and your friend's lives), Cooper." I, surprisingly enough, had a pretty
good ear for German.
"So
what job did you have in mind, Herr Mason."
"It's
my turn zu sprucke, heiβe mich Colt (It's my turn to say, call me Colt)." I nodded to him, the two of us still plainly
conversing. "Jetzt, dein arbeitest ist to go to le police in
Paris here. There, du should find a file
mit die name 'Walker'(Now, your job is to go to the police here in Paris. There you should find a file with the name 'Walker'). Ihre name
ist Inspector Johan Walker (His name is Inspector Johan Walker)." I stared at Colt for a second and asked him
again.
"I'm
sorry Colt, but did you say 'Inspector Walker'?
I mean, THE 'Johan Walker'?"
He nodded. Walker had been the
one to have me locked up in a max security prison. If I remembered that experience, Colt was actually my cellmate. He was the one who broke me out of there. I couldn't tell you how, but he got me
out. All I remember was being flown out
of there in a scout helicopter, and waking up feeling like had just gone
clubbing across the entire continent of Europe.
"I'm
nearly past mein prime, Cooper. Ich bin acht und dreiβig Jahre
alt (I am thirty eight years old). I don't exactly have die
tactical advantage that I did in mein zwanziger (Twenties). Das ist
why Ich habe du heir gekommen (That is why I had you come here)." I was about to reply with a great comeback,
but we were interrupted by the bartender clearing his throat rather loudly.
"Can
I get you gentleman anything." Colt turned to him.
"Ja bitte mich, zwei
bier bitte (Yes pardon me, two beer please)." He said, the
French bartender confused at first, but then put the pieces together and filled
up the glasses. He laid them in front of
us. These were rather tall glasses, but
we were both thirsty.
"A
toast, Cooper." He announced. "To fortune." I smiled playfully and raised my glass with
him.
"Fortune." I repeated.
We clinked our glasses together and began drinking. I was more thirsty than Colt was so I
continued to drink. I didn't realize it,
but Colt sure did. Unfortunately, not in
time to let me know. The bartender was
paying extra close attention to me as well.
He had an angered look on his face, glaring at me almost. Still, I continued to drink. But then I swallowed something along with
that delicious beer. Colt had shook the
thought from his head, but not before it entered mine.
"Can
I get another one?" I said, trying
to hide my nervousness. But
suddenly, I was overcome with a fuzzy,
dull feeling in my arm. It spread to my
chest and through my neck. It reached up
to my head, and I instantly felt as if I was hung over. Time seemed to slow down almost. I saw Colt talking to me.
"Cooper, are you feeling okay? Cooper?"
The once numb feeling turned to staggering pain. I clenched my teeth and held my
shoulder. The pain kept spreading to my
chest and up my throat, like the numbness that was once there. "Cooper!" He yelled.
He glanced back to where the bartender used to be, but soon found that
he was gone. It seemed almost
instantaneous. But I started screaming
in pain. I collapsed on the floor,
convulsing and twitching. Colt knelt
down next to me and yelled out 'Call 911! Call 911!' I wasn't sure but I felt as if I was going
into shock, but I was certain I passed out.
I felt Colt's head on my chest. I
heard my heartbeat decline, and I felt his hands press on my heart, trying to
keep my blood flowing. I heard sirens
approaching, and soon a familiar voice.
It was Carmelita! I felt the
defibrillators on my chest and the shock going through me. I awoke, in more pain than before. I was hyperventilating, trying to catch my
breath, but my pain never lessened. I
opened my eyes and saw Colt, Carmelita and a few doctors surrounding me. I heard Colt's voice first.
"He's
awake! He's awake! Cooper look at me! Was
ist dein name, man (What is your name, man)?" I
wearily replied.
"My...
My name is Sly... Sly Cooper." I
heard him enquire further.
"Gut gut, was ist mine (Good good, what is mine)?" Once again, I spoke again.
"Your...
Your name is... Colt... Mason." I
heard Carmelita ordering the medics to get me to the hospital.
"All
of you, get him to the hospital, quickly!"
I felt the doctors lift me up and place me on the stretcher. Next thing I knew, Colt and Carmelita were sitting next to each
other in the ambulance. Colt conversing
very seriously with Carmelita.
"So
inspector, what have you gathered."
I heard her reply. I thought that
I'd die of a heart attack right there when she said it.
"It
was a plot by the French Interpol police department. Mainly in collaboration between Inspector Walker, Chief Barkley, and..." She
stalled for a moment.
"Well
Inspector?" Colt quizzed,
interested to know.
"And
me... It was my fault... I didn't think this would happen to
him." Colt looked utterly shocked
at the girl who I loved for the longest time.
Him and I shared the same thought that moment. Carmelita...
How could you? And that is exactly
what he said.
"I
was foolish! Blinded by my ambition and
pride. All I wanted was for them to stop
thinking I was in love with him. How could
I have been so foolish!" She yelled
in a frustrated tone. I then heard faint
sobbing. My god, she's really upset about this.
She never wanted to do this to me in the first place. I knew that we were in the hospital. The bed had stopped moving, but not the
sobbing. The moon was high above the
hospital when I came to. The room was
still fairly lit. It seems that Bentley
and Murray had visited me as well while I was unconscious. I looked to my right, and I saw the beautiful
girl, who last night had tried to kill me, still crying in the chair next to
me.
"Are
you dehydrated at all from your crying?"
I joked, showing that I hadn't lost all of my good spirit. She looked up, her face soaked with tears.
"Cooper... I thought that you died. I didn't want this to happen to you." She stammered. I'd understand why she felt overwhelmed by
this whole thing. She was forced to
betray the one she loved for the sake of her life. I glanced aside from her for a second and
began to speak to her again.
"Listen,
Carmelita. Even though you think it's
your fault, it's not. I understand why
you were just trying to prove yourself to the other officers. You've been on my case for years, and this is
the closest you've gotten. But do you
feel, at all, relieved that the pressure is off of you now?" She looked up at me, stunned almost. She probably never thought that I could be
this deep. "Surprised? I'm just
trying to be more understanding. But the
important thing is that you came for me when I needed you most. You acted out to the French Interpol and made
them believe that you didn't love me, but at the same time; proved that you
cared about me. Think about it, I'd
probably be six feet under if you hadn't called the ER after I was poisoned." She studied me for a second, her gaze filled
with shock of how understanding I could be. She then turned her head away from me.
"S-Shut
up, Ringtail." Her shaky tone of voice
when she said this wasn't as angered as it normally was. She was holding back almost. As usual, I just took the insults and smiled warmly. Meanwhile, Colt was out in the hall with one
of the doctors.
"So,
how is he?" The doctor looked at
him rather seriously.
"Well,
we've removed all of the pathogens from his blood, so he'll make a full
recovery. He's talking with that young
Interpol Inspector at the moment. But
Mr. Cooper will be back on his feet by next Tuesday." (It was a Sunday evening, almost Monday
morning.) Mason thanked him and began to
walk away, but he remembered something first.
"Oh
yeah, Doctor?" He turned back to
Mason. "After he fills out the
paperwork, revert the insurance information and payments to me, I'll take care
of them for him."
"Awfully
decent of you sir." The Doctor
replied happily.
"Herr
Cooper ist ein dear freund auf mein (Mr. Cooper is a dear friend of mine). It
is die least I could do for him."
The doctor smiled and continued down the hallway. Colt walked down towards my room where
Carmelita was wiping away the rest of her tears.
"Do
you feel better now that you've talked to him?" She nodded.
"A
little...I didn't realize how compassionate he was."
"There's
more to him than you think, Inspector."
With that she continued down the hallway toward the elevators. Colt came into the room and stood in the
doorway.
"Ah,
Mason, come on in." He sat down in
the same chair next to my bed.
"Listen, I've instructed the doctor to revert the insurance
information to me. I'll pay for
everything." I smiled thankfully.
"That's
pretty decent of you." Mason laughed.
"Du kennst, das war
die same thing that the other doctor hat zu mich gesprucht (You know, that was the same thing that the other doctor said to me)." I laughed with him. "Now then, Cooper, I talked to the
doctor and he said you should be out by Tuesday."
"Man,
that's the best news I've heard all day."
We laughed again and wished our goodbyes and Colt left. Seeing nothing else to do, I began to doze
off. I dreamt very pleasant dreams that
night. Carmelita and I, having a
romantic, candle-lit dinner. Kissing
each other tenderly. Retiring to her
apartment room, and making some love. The
only difference between this and other encounters, was that there wasn't a
shock pistol involved. On the outside,
things weren't so pleasant. A shadowy
figure appeared in the door, holding a syringe.
On a small metal plate, was a tiny vile of trihydrogen-nitride, what
most would call liquid Ammonia. He
plunged the syringe in the top of the container and filled it up full with the
fluid. The figure smiled at me and said:
"Nighty
night, Ringtail, you dirty thief."
There was a click of a handgun and Colt, in a commanding voice spoke:
"Put
the syringe down, Walker." Walker
did as he was asked and surrendered the syringe.
"I
must ask," he said to Mason,
sounding somewhat irritated, "Why must you defend a thief. A criminal.
An outcast. He doesn't care about
you. All he wants is money. Riches and power. That's all he wants Mason." Colt didn't flinch in the slightest.
"He's
a good man, inspector. And judging about
how you were about to end him; he's no coward, like you, either."
"But
why Mason? He just wants more of
everything. Why do you have to be so naïve about this?"
"Because
he's my friend. And don't we all want
money and power? Look at him Walker. Look at what you've done to
him. Don't you think you've done enough
to hurt him? Carmelita never did agree
to this plot of yours. And if you kill
him now. So help me God, I'll kill you
where you stand. No one, hurts my
friends and gets away with it. You hear
me? No one. Now get out of here, before you wind up in
the stretcher next to his." Brooke
left the hospital with no damage done.
Colt had saved my life for the third time in a row. What's even better, is that he never expected anything in return
from me. "Such a pushover, er ist." Colt left the hospital, satisfied that I was
safe.
Footnote: I made up Walker by the way
Chapter I-
Back on my feet.
It was a
clear and sunny Tuesday afternoon and I was finally let out of the
hospital. Murray and Bentley were there
to pick me up.
"Hey
Sly! Are you feeling better?" Bentley asked.
"Yeah,
I feel like I could take on the whole Interpol myself." I bragged.
I actually did feel pretty good.
It was the first time in a while that I could say I was truly happy. But for them it was hard to tell the
difference otherwise.
"So
Sly, maybe we could all go out to dinner tonight to celebrate your recovery! It's on me." Murray said.
I nodded and we drove off to our favorite restaurant. It's a small diner in Paris called Le
Float. Let me just say for the record
they have the best root beer floats in all of Paris.
"So
Sunday night, Colt talked to me about a new job offer." Bentley and Murray paid close attention.
"Well,
what is it?" Murray said, sounding
impatient.
"Relax,
big guy I'm getting to it." I
stopped him. "So you guys know
Inspector Johan Walker, right?" The
two nodded. Everyone on my team has had
a previous incursion with him at some point.
"Well,
Colt needed to collect information on him, but he says that he tried hacking
from an Interpol server. But Walker kept
his files locked down tight. That's
where we come in. Bentley, what I need
you to do is find out some way that I can get to his computer and access his
secure files directly from his computer.
Murray, there's going to be a lot of roadblocks from the police station
back to the hideout. Make sure the tires
are retreaded and you might want to tune up the engine a little more. We're going to do this. Colt said he'd swing by our place tomorrow to
discuss logistics."
"What
about you Sly?" Bentley questioned,
unsure of my part in this heist.
"I'm
doing what I was born to do. I'm going
to break into the French Interpol and steal the secure files from Walker."
"But
how are you going to get into the computer?" I placed a smirk on my face.
"Here's
the thing, Colt's personally assisting us with this mission." Murray and Bentley looked at each other for a
moment. Bewildered at why a gentleman of
his stature and reputation would like to assist us.
"But
Colt's like... like..." Murray had forgotten what previous occupations
Colt had had.
"Military
Lieutenant Colonel?" Bentley said
flatly. Murray pointed at him.
"Yeah! That's right Lieutenant colonal." Murray said.
Bentley, of course was quick to try to correct him.
"For
the last time Murray, it's pronounced colonel."
"That's
what I said, colonal."
"No,
your pronouncing it like it's spelled."
"Isn't
that what you're supposed to do?"
"No,
it's pronounced Colonel." They
continued their back and forth as I kept shaking my head at the two. After dinner with the guys, we headed back to
the safe house. It was rather late, so
we all headed to bed. I took off my blue
sweater and stared through my open window at the vast city of Paris. But then, I saw a figure leaping around
chimneys. The figure was
unmistakable. It was Carmelita
again. I figured she saw me, since she
appeared to be looking in my direction.
My guess was correct as she leapt onto the window balcony on the
emergency exit.
"You
look lovely tonight." I said
sweetly, trying to ease her up.
Unfortunately for me, this wasn't the case.
"I'm
not here for your lines, Ringtail."
I raised an eyebrow as she crept into my room.
"Might
I ask Madame?" She glanced at the
ground and then gave me a grave look.
"I
know what you're planning, Cooper."
I smiled.
"I'm
going to assume Mason told you." I
said, trying my best not to fire up her temper.
"Who
said anything about Mason?" I
tilted my head for a second.
"Well,
I was unconscious and a lot can happen in the time I was out." She shook her head.
"It's
not that, it's something else that your new friend Mason told me."
"He
gave me a call personally from his hotel room to my office. He told me about how Walker tried to kill you
in your sleep." A wave of worry
crashed over me. "Listen Cooper, Walker
isn't any pushover, despite what Colt said, he is cold and cunning. If you give him too wide of an opportunity,
he will kill you."
"Do
you really think he hates me that much?"
Carmelita nodded.
"He
gripes about you all the time when he's at his desk." I laughed playfully.
"I
guess you weren't the only one who got a hard time out of me." Carmelita scowled at me. It was more than obvious that she didn't
appreciate my levity. She never has in
the past anyway.
"I'm
being serious, Ringtail!" She
yelled, thankfully enough not waking Bentley or Murray. "If you get caught, he's not even going
to flinch. No hesitation. He'll whip out his shock pistol and fry your
tail off if you're not careful." I
still retained my good-natured smile.
"Don't
forget, I'm always careful, remember?"
She was about to protest, but thankfully enough, the evidence of
previous incursions had supported my conclusion.
"Just
don't get yourself killed, okay?"
But of course, I inquired further.
"Listen,
if he could kill me then I could kiss you tonight." She looked up at me, feeling somewhat
irritated from this comment.
"Dios. Cooper,
I know you're trying really hard, but just not tonight okay?" I didn't answer her. I simply stood gazing into her deep brown
eyes.
"Wow." I breathed out. "This light makes your eyes look even
more beautiful." She still tried to
back away.
"Stop
it Cooper... I'm warning you." Immediately after she finished, while trying
not to cut her off, I spoke again.
"What? What will you do? You don't even have your shock pistol to
threaten me with. Which tells me, that
you didn't mind being around a thief like me." She took a step back, but soon realizing that
she was standing against my wall.
"Of course, with eyes like those, you don't even need the shock
pistol to stop me in my tracks."
Feeling her temper rise, she tried to retaliate.
"Just
stop Cooper. Stop talking about my eyes
and let me go." The edge to her
voice started to creep up.
"Fine,
you have an even more beautiful face anyway." She grunted.
I knew she wasn't in the mood for my flirts, but I didn't care. I had my love for her driving me toward
her. My flirts weren't working, so I
thought it was time to try a different tactic.
"Listen, if you are this certain that Brooke is going to kill me,
then by all means, just plainly warn me.
But if he is as strong as you say, then there is a hundred percent
chance that I'll be gone forever. And
think about what we'll lose. Is it
really worth losing me? The one who
loves you and would do anything to be with you?" It worked!
She seemed to have softened from my other tactic. I simply closed the gap. I had kissed her... Finally, and after so
long. I finally got to hold her and show
her how much she means to me. But what
was even more astounding was that she was kissing back. She was enjoying this. Almost as much as I was. I cupped my hands on her beautiful face and
continued to kiss. The thought went
through my head wondering how many cherry stems she's tied. She was in fact, a wonderful kisser. She grabbed my undershirt and pulled us
closer together. This had to be the best
day I've ever had. A dream had come
true. For the first time in my life. I could hold her, I could love her, I could kiss her. We fell back onto my bed, she was still
making out with me, and I was doing the same.
After a long, blissful French kiss.
She let go of me. We gazed into
each other's eyes yet again. She wiped
the sweat from her brow as she leaned back up.
"So
you do care." She closed her eyes
and smiled. Man, this had to be the
first time I've seen her smile at me.
"You
know I do, love." With that she
leapt out the window onto the emergency exit and climbed down the building. Best of
luck, Cooper. She thought to
herself. I knew she'd be worried about
me, but this was for the safety of not only me, but also to Colt, to Bentley
and Murray, and especially Carmelita.
The same feeling of worry came back when I thought to myself: I just hope Walker doesn't know about this.
Chapter II- Man with
the Plan
Mason
arrived at the hideout late in the afternoon.
I should say that his espionage services have done him well. The plan was more well laid out than I could
have ever thought. Overall, Murray is a
diversion to the Interpol, Colt's getting him a brand new ride. Murray has never been happier. And it's a nice car too, I've never seen him
behind the wheel of an Chevy Camaro.
Colt had just taught Bentley a new automotive field. He calls it "pursuit tech." I asked him about it, and he said that he
used it back in Germany during his street racing days. I still don't know what exactly they do, but
I'm excited to find out. One thing I had
to ask him, however; was why he insisted on not showing any sort of guard
placements. At this point, I'm wondering
how much room he has in his sleeves.
Because he had a lot of tricks to pull.
But at that night. We all piled
out of the van and went over the plan once more. Colt then handed me a handgun. It wasn't a shock pistol, which confused me.
"What
kind of gun is this?" I asked him.
"G18-S. Ein und zwanzig 9mm rounds. Fully automatic, sound and flash suppressed. No one will see or hear you shoot
it." I gazed at the gun, impressed
at its variability.
"Impressive. What are you using?" I asked him.
He appeared to have some rifle.
"M16A3-S. Zwanzig 5.56mm rounds. Also suppressed and fully automatic." I nodded in approval at his weapon
choice. "Personally, I liked your
gun better. Sometimes, it pays to be the
swift and silent type." I studied
my weapon again and smirked at it. I
placed it in the holster that Colt gave me.
For the moment, I kept my cane in hand.
"Alright,
operation ist ein los (Is a go). Murray,
distract the authorities." Murray
tightened his gloves and hopped in his car.
Colt walked over to talk to him last minute.
"Jetzt
pay attention Murray, this car is a high heat level. This means that as soon as the police spot
this vehicle, they'll be gleich am du (Right on you). If you need to repair your vehicle or
replenish your pursuit tech, just drive through a gas or repair station. There should be a marker on any of the ones
you see. Drive through it and it will
fully repair your vehicle. Make some
noise, Murray." He patted on the
door and in a flash, Murray was gone. I
heard sirens wail all the way down the street.
One police car came flying back in a heap of metal. I don't think the driver made it though. So
that's what it does. I thought to
myself.
"Bist
du fertig für ein break in, Cooper (Are you ready for a break in, Cooper)?" I placed a devilish smirk on my face.
"You
know it." He nodded at me.
"Well,
let's get started." I looked at my
cane and then looked at him.
"So
how exactly are you planning to get to the roof?" I realized that he had some kind of hooked
metal plate on his wrist, the kind that's used on dockyards. It was attached to a long steel wire. He waved it in front of my face.
"Meet
the hook blade. I'll race you to the
roof." He leapt up to the first
balcony behind the alley way. I don't
know where he acquired this sort of equipment, but apparently tricks weren't
the only thing he had up his sleeves. I
latched my cane to the balcony and used my weight to swing myself up to the
balcony above him. Mason was catching up
quick, not only letting the hook blade do the work, but also allowing his free
hand to allow extra distance. I tried to
step it up a bit, launching myself up two levels and latching onto a third with
the cane. Mason attempted to retaliate
by using the retraction of his hook blade to launch him up another level. It was going to be close, but I just barely
beat him to it.
"Okay
Bentley, we're on the roof." Colt
checked his magazine and knelt down next to me while I talked to Bentley.
"Great
job you two. There should be a narrow
ventilation tube. Go in one at a
time. Try not to make too much noise or
the two of you will get spotted."
"Roger
that," Mason replied. "keep us posted, out." Radio transition broke off. He pointed over to a broken air vent. "Gleich über da (Right over there). That's the vent." I looked over and saw it. I'm pretty sure that one at a time, we could
crawl through it. But when we got
closer, I wasn't so sure.
"Tell
me Cooper, hast du Half Life gespielt (have you played Half Life)?" I looked at Mason, who was currently entering
the vent.
"A
little, when I was in High-School. Good
times."
"Richtig,
meet Half Life: Source." He slid
down through the vent, which was at the top floor, and logistics showed that
Brooke's office was at least three floors down from the roof. "According to logistics, there should be
a men's restroom gleich um die ecke.
We'll sneak in through there."
"Right." We continued through the tight vents. Colt then took his hand and bashed it
open. "Great we're in, how are the
cameras coming Bentley?"
"Almost...
Got it! All cameras are down, Sly. You're clear to proceed."
"Great
job Bentley." I congratulated. We continued down the halls, traveling
quickly and quietly. I was about to call
the elevator, but Colt stopped me.
"Wait,
Cooper. We don't have proper clearance
to use the elevators. We need to take
the stairs." He pointed toward the
door with an 'emergency exit' sign.
Thank goodness for French safety policy.
Because of it, the door was unlocked all of the time. We hurried down the stairs to the third floor
from the top. But we ran into a
problem. A guard was standing in the
middle of the hallway. Hiding around a
corner, I peered over and saw him. I
turned to Mason.
"Now
would be a great time for one of your tricks." He pointed at me.
"Du
bist richtig (You are right)." he
put his hand to his earpiece. "Ace,
do you see Cooper and I?" From our
earpieces came the voice of his sniper, Ace.
"Yeah,
I'm starring right at you." Colt
waved to him and Ace waved back.
"Do
you see the guard over in the middle of the hallway?" Ace turned his rifle to study the guard.
"Yeah...do
you want me to put him out?" Colt
nodded and pressed his earpiece again.
"Roger
that, take him down." I was
concerned for a moment, until I realized that the kill was clean. But I found out that it wasn't a kill at
all. Ace was using tranquilizers. "Viele
danke, Ace. (Many thanks, Ace)" Colt then picked up the slumbering guard by
his shoulders and began carrying him to the Janitorial closet that the guard
was standing next to. "Get the
door, Cooper." I opened the door
and Colt placed him in there.
"Why
did you do that?" I quizzed. Colt looked at me rather seriously.
"Hiding
the body, making it look like no one was here." I smirked.
It wasn't efficient, but it was practical in the least. We rounded the corner to the offices on the
other side of the building and there was another guard. Colt called his sniper again. "Ace, we have another guard."
"Got
it, I'm targeting." The shot was
fired, but it bounced off of the guard's boot.
"Damn it!" Ace
cursed. The guard began running down the
hallway. I took my cane and smacked the
guard in the face. He lay rolling on the
floor before Colt smacked him again in the head with the back of his gun to
knock him out. "Nice teamwork. He's going to be feeling that tomorrow." Colt laughed.
He sighed and motioned for me to come forward. The door the guard was standing in front of
was also ID locked. Thankfully enough,
Colt pulled one from the guards we took out.
After unlocking the door, we glanced around the offices of the Police
department. We looked around for a while
until finding a cubicle with the name 'J. Walker'. Colt fired up the computer and plugged a
flash drive in.
"You
in Bentley?" Colt asked.
"Alright,
I'm in. Downloading all
records." Colt then called to me.
"Cooper,
look through his desks and see if you can find anything." I pulled open his bottom file cabinet, and
already, I was starting to find things.
He had all of the newspapers regarding all of my heists and even a
newspaper titled Famed I.E.S. agent
listed MIA. Followed by, Famed I.E.S. agent listed MIA lives! But the last one almost tore me apart. Cooper
parents killed by bandits in Paris,
child lives after massacre. Shocked by this report, I read it further. "'Judging by the reaction of local
residents, this house was robbed in the light of day. Only one object appears to be missing. It seems they stole only a book. Really, nothing truly important it seems, I
do however, feel terrible for their young boy.'
Said by an intrepid I.E.S. investigator.
The child who survived is to be placed in a foster home." I finished reading the article and I sunk
down onto the ground. Colt looked back
at me after collecting the flash drive.
"What's
wrong, Cooper?" I handed him the
paper. His eyes grew wide with
shock.
"Mein
Gott. (My God)" He breathed out. "This bastard new... I
knew..." I looked up at him. "I remember now."
"Remember
what?" Colt shook his head, as if he was trying to shake the thought
away.
"Nothing,
I'll tell you later." Bentley's
frantic yelling came on our earpieces.
"Slyyy! You're taking too long!" I got up, still
holding the papers, which I stuffed into my pocket.
"Keep
your shell on, Bentley." Colt
snickered.
"Really? More turtle jokes?" I smirked smugly at Colt, who was still snickering.
"Whatever,
we can take the elevator now that we have their ID cards. Let's get going." We ran down the halls rather hurriedly to the
elevator. After calling it, we swiped
the ID card and went up the hallway.
Someone must have noticed, because the elevator stopped just before the
roof. It seemed as if the entire French
police force was waiting for us up there.
Colt and I let bullets fly out of the elevator. A combination of both
shock rounds and bullets soared through the elevator.
"It's the
SWAT team!" I yelled to Colt before
unloading another twenty rounds. Colt
took cover and pressed on his earpiece.
"Ace! Top floor, we have heavy units keeping us
from the roof. I'll knock them out with
flash bang." He then pulled out a
thin cylinder with several holes in it and a pin on the top.
"What
is that?" I yelled to him.
"A
flash bang grenade! Close your
eyes!" Colt lobbed the flash bang
into the hallway. I heard a pop and the
officers were all stumbling around. But
before I could reengage, Colt held me back.
"Wait..." All of the sudden, a helicopter began to
shoot out all of the windows on the side of the building. Many of the other officers were wounded, some
even killed. There was a lot of
blood. I wasn't used to this kind of
combat, though I've seen some disturbing things in the past. Colt and I peered out the elevator to see two
gentlemen in a scout helicopter raising their fists in the air. Colt pressed his earpiece.
"Danke
für die assist Henrich. Und du
Erik." They waved and Erik then came on
the earpiece.
"Good
to see you guys again, we'll meet you on the roof." With that, we rounded the corner to the
stairs and took the last few steps to the roof.
We swung open the door as Erik's chopper began to hover over the roof. Henry was ushering for us to get to the
chopper. Colt grabbed Henry's hand as he
pulled him back up. He was about to help
me up when I felt a stinging pain in my side.
As I collapsed on the ground, I turned around and saw Walker standing
there with a .44 magnum. Two SWAT
operatives stood slightly behind him.
They opened fire on the chopper trying to bring us down. Henry took the machine gun and held them
back.
"Sly!" Colt yelled my name as he reached for my
hand. He pulled me into the chopper as
we flew off. Erik looked back and saw
that I was bleeding out from the bullet wound.
"How
is he?" Erik quizzed. Apparently, it never occurred to him that I
had just been shot.
"He's
hurt, badly. He's going into shock and
he's bleeding out." I grunted
hard. This hurt far worse than any shock
pistol could. I felt dizziness fall over
me. Colt straightened me out, trying to
keep me awake. He pulled my shirt off
and inspected the wound.
"It's
a heavy caliber handgun. It went pretty
deep. I'm going to have to dig it
out. This is going to hurt." The pain from the digging was
excruciating. "You should just be
thankful it didn't hit your shoulder blade, it could have shattered the bone." Colt yanked on the bullet again, trying to
dig it from my back. I yelled in
pain. Man, it was agonizing. But he finally got it out of me. He poured some hydrogen peroxide on it to
keep infection out of it, and then thoroughly bandaged it. "Are you going to be okay,
Cooper?" I nodded as Colt put some
morphine in me, but I knew that I had to stay awake. Think
of Carmelita, think of Carmelita. I
kept repeating to myself. I couldn't die
now. I've just begun to hit it off with
her. And for the record, she was right
about Walker. I just focused on the
passing buildings, making sure I kept my breath. My side still hurt, but not as much since it
was bandaged and drugged. I then heard
Murray's voice on the chopper's radio.
"Hey
guys! I'm out of pursuit tech and
there's still like a million cops on me!"
Erik nodded to Henry, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat. He then climbed out of the cockpit and
mounted the machine gun.
"We
see you Murray, we're coming to help."
Erik called. We flew faster, and
saw Murray being tailed by at least twelve city enforcer vehicles.
"Colt,
get on the other .50." Erik
said. Colt then took hold of the machine
gun and began shooting down the police cruisers. There were more holes in those cruisers than
I could find in Swiss cheese. "Alright
Murray, you should be clear. Police
radio is issuing an alert that officers are not to engage. Henry, Mason, nice shooting." The three of them celebrated their victory as
Erik began flying away from Paris. I
asked him where we were going.
"The
French Interpol are most likely to track you back to your house, this is why
we're going to my beach house estate in Calais.
Don't worry, Murray, Ace, and Bentley are already on their way. Grab some shuteye, Cooper. You need to rest now." I closed my eyes and dozed off. Meanwhile, Bentley and Ace are having a nice
conversation on their way to Calais. But
at a tollbooth out of Paris. One officer
in particular stopped them, and of
course, it was Carmelita. She opened the
back of the van to see Ace pointing his Desert Eagle at her.
"Dios! Relax, I'm not here to arrest you, Mason sent
me." Ace looked at Bentley.
"Well,
she said she knows Colt." Before
Bentley could inquire further, Ace called out to her.
"Sure,
climb on in." They passed the
checkpoint and continued on their way to Calais. Ace pulled off his mask to reveal that he was
a tiger, rather muscular and packed with armor.
He studied Carmelita for a second.
"So,
how did you know Colt previously?"
She starred at him for a moment.
"He
told me to come here because he knows..."
Bentley finished her sentence.
"Because
Mason knows you care about Sly."
The inspector glared at Bentley for a moment.
"I
tried to warn Cooper not to do this mission.
It was too dangerous, even for him." Her face darkened. "But I was more worried that Inspector Walker
would kill him." Ace looked at
Bentley, both of their faces full of concern.
Murray was enjoying his ride to Calais.
He was tailing the Cooper gang van, trying to manage his speed so he
wouldn't get spotted. It had been about
an hour and a half, but Erik, Mason, Henry, and I made it to Calais first. Erik took me to Colt's downstairs safe house,
where I was treated for the bullet wound.
I don't remember much. I remember
having flashbacks of the time my parents were murdered. It almost makes me wish that I didn't find
that newspaper.
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