Sly Cooper 5: Promises Made By Thieves

Chapter 42: Sly

To avoid suspicion of being seen jumping in the water twice near an unconventional place to dive if anyone saw Dimitri the first time, he split up with us and jumped in the water farther back. From what he just said through our comms, he's nearing the pipe.

I just split from Murray, McSweeney and Carmelita a minute ago, all of them going into a café while I go in to get the interview attempt going.

I'm also carrying a resumé on me Bentley quickly put together and printed. I'm supposed to be going as Donovan King, a mixture of my old enemy Don Octavio, and my big old frenemy from across the ocean. I do my best to both memorize what this paper says about my skills and 'education', but I think I'm going to have to improvise most of this. And I try to just shelve how Carmelita reacted about something as tepid as getting a little snack. We deserved them. McSweeney deserved them. Thieving can be a stressful business. The last thing I need is to be mothered about it.

But now that I'm thinking about it, something in my throat catches. My stomach begins churning.

"Sly, you all ready?" I hear Bentley through my comm.

"Uh, roger."

"Okay."

"I'm going in."

I let myself into the warehouse, getting the attention of a few guards who were chatting carelessly just before I got within their sights.

"Hello," I say with a smile. I don't have my cane with me, but I'm actually not panicking because I have lots of backup. If something goes wrong, I'm not being thrown in prison again. "I, uh, saw an ad for a labeller in your warehouse and I was wondering if Roger, or, whoever was in charge here, had time to interview me."

"Uh, sure, kid," says one of them. "I'll go see if he's available. Just stay there."

He walks away, his way of walking not suggesting suspicion, and I decide to walk to the wall and lean on it casually. I also look around a bit. Just rows of shelves with cardboard boxes, the shelves going all the way up to the ceiling, and forklifts driving around bringing skids down whenever there's an order that requires it.

"We're on our way," I hear McSweeney say.

"And I'm in position," says Bentley. "Just have to wait for the distraction."

Roger walks over after a minute. From the sound of his door opening, it must be a very heavy one. Can't be a regular office door. He and I are actually around the same height. A lot of his workers are taller than him. He must have a lot of close high-up friends because people seem relatively scared of him. Realizing he might be a lot stronger than he looks, I find myself showing a bit of worry. It's not a good feeling. "Um, hello," I say. "I wanted the chance to be interviewed, so I came here?"

"I didn't have an interview scheduled," is what he first says.

"Yeah, I know," I say, deciding to rub the back of my neck. "I just wanted to prove I'm serious in my work ethic. Is it okay if I leave my credentials with you if you don't have time for me?"

"Well...there is something I'm kind of in the middle of..." He then ends up having an odd little grin. "But I guess...let me look at the clock...yeah, I have time for a small interview." Roger looks me up and down. "You look relatively built. Pretty scrawny though. I was looking for labellers, and this position does not only require the ability to label, but the ability to move heavy boxes."

"I've had a fair few jobs that I think would nonetheless make me appropriate."

"We're now right near the car," I overhear Murray saying. "Should we go for it?"

"Not just yet," answers Bentley. "Let's hear the response."

"I guess we could maybe size you up, Mr. uh, King. Come to my office. No dilly dally."

I begin walking, with a light grin. I'll be able to see inside his office.

"Problem, guys!" I hear through my earpiece, making me lightly jump.

"What's going on, Dimitri?" I hear Bentley respond.

"The gunk is really clogged up. There's a lot more than anticipated and it's taking more time getting through."

"Don't worry, just keep out of sight, see what you can find in there, and report back."