𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 - 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞

one | first part

-ONE-

"Izzy...come on, baby, wake up." Sarah tried to wake up her sleeping daughter.

"I don't wanna wake up, mama..." Groaned Isabella, curling into her mother's chest as Sarah lifted her up in her arms.

"But you're going on a mission today with Daddy and Inspector Das, right?" Laughed the woman. She was aware of the little girl's affection towards the Inspector at INTERPOL, and didn't hesitate at that moment to use it as a potential excuse.

With those words, Isabella immediately jolted awake, and patted her mother's arm like an excited puppy, saying, "Mama, let's go! I wanna go and--and do the mission!"

Sarah kissed Isabella's head and began to get her ready, the girl talking constantly about nonsensical things.

--Time Skip--

"You're not a cop." Said Inspector Das, getting out of the car whilst John walked along her, holding Isabella's hand.

"You're right, I'm not." Chuckled John.

"You know what I mean, Agent. Your badge is no good here." Replied Das. Isabella began straying a little, and the Inspector lovingly added as she faced her, "Bella, sweetheart, stay with me please."

"So no American cowboy stuff." She then sharply turned to John.

"Don't worry. Left my chaps at home." John replied.

"You sure about this?" Das raised an eyebrow.

"I know how he thinks. He's gonna do it today. Trust me."

"All right, then, here we go."

They entered the huge museum, which was so very crowded, that Isabella got quite overwhelmed. Noticing this, Inspector Das immediately lifted her up and placed her on her hip, keeping the crowd wonderfully at bay simultaneously.

She snapped at the director of the museum in Italian, till he spoke in English, "Impossible."

"I’m not asking. You need to shut the museum down, evacuate your visitors, and seal all ingress and egress points immediately." She scowled.

"And Interpol has the authority to compel me to do so?" He asked in a thick Italian accent.

"Don’t test me, Director." She replied in a warning tone.

"You should listen to her." Said Isabella in a matter-of-fact tone.

"And who are you? Her bodyguard?" Asked the director mockingly.

"This is Special Agent John Hartley of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit." Das then nodded towards Isabella and added, "And this is Agent Isabella Hartley from our Training Sector. He’s a consulting profiler who specializes in art crime, and this little one's part of a program for the budding agents of our recruits."

"You don’t look like a profiler. Or a father." Noted one of the side men.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." John frowned.

"Forty-one hours ago, Agent Hartley received credible intelligence that the most wanted art thief in the world, a man named Nolan Booth, intends to steal the Egg of Cleopatra today." Interjected Das.

"Who provided you this information?" Asked the Director.

Sensing that Isabella was getting bored, (for the girl was beginning to reach for Das's gun.) Das asked her, "Who gave us this information, Bella?"

"The Bishop." Replied Isabella simply.

"You cannot be serious." Scoffed the Director. "My dear, The Bishop is nothing more than a boogeyman story in the art world. It’s a catch-all concept. It’s someone to blame when you and your friends in law enforcement are too incompetent to solve the case."

"Listen to me, unless we stop it, that egg is gonna be stolen today. In fact, it may already be gone." John scowled.