Black Rose

Ch.22 A Friend in Need

Rae ran through the snow, making her way to the cabin so she could steal the train blueprints. When she finally reached the cabin, she quickly snuck inside, but her eyes widened a bit when she saw it filled with moose guards and their annoying flashlights. Rae growled lowly, but noticed the bannisters above and quickly snuck over to the far corner, climbing up onto the thin piece of wood. Suddenly though, as she crept along, an intercom screeched, the fox instantly halting.

"Attention all cabins: There's some fellers runnin' around stealin' my blueprints. If y'all see these rats, make sure ya don't miss."

"Urgh...!" Rae growled, but pushed on. She quietly stepped onto the fireplace mantle, sliding the rolled up piece of paper out of the bass mouth before climbing onto the bannister again, quickly making her leave before she was seen. "There... That was simple enough..." She said aloud. "I should give this to Bentley before someone catches me." The fox then dashed off through the snow.

Too bad I'm dressed in all black, otherwise I could blend in easier with the snow, but I prefer the shadows anyway, so I guess it's a fair trade. Hmm... I wonder if Mira's here? I can almost guarantee Carmelita showing up sooner or later, I just hope she doesn't get in the way...

Rae sighed softly as she entered the Safe House. "Bentley, I have your blueprints."

"Rae! Thank goodness you're here! It's awful! Something terrible has happened!" He said in a panic.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Bentley, what happened?"

"It's Murray! He went out to go get a snack and got caught, by Inspector Fox!"

"Caremlita? She's here too? I mean, I figured she'd catch up to us, but not this soon."

"Sly hasn't come back yet and I'm worried he might've ran into Carmelita too..."

"Okay, just calm down for a second, we'll fix this. I'll go out and see if I can find Sly and then we'll deal with Carmelita."

"Alright, just...don't you get caught too -- I don't wanna be alone again..."

"And you won't be. Just stay here and I'll take care of this." She said before exiting the Safe House, quickly trying to call Sly through her earpiece. "Come on, Sly, pick up..."

"Sly here."

"Sly, where are you?"

"Heading back to the Safe House with the rest of the blueprints, why?"

"It'll have to wait, we have a situation."

"Okay, what kind of situation?"

"The bad kind -- Carmelita's here and she caught Murray while he was looking for a snack."

"What!? Damn... I didn't think she would catch up to us this quickly. Do we know where he is?"

"No, and I thought you might enjoy this, but either one or both of us should follow Carmelita to see where she's stashed Murray since she's bound to check up on him sooner or later."

"Alright. Let's both tail her, and once we find Murray, well...let's cross that bridge when we get there."

"Fine. Meet me by the train track nearest to the Safe House."

"Got it. On my way." He then disconnected, Rae sighing irritably.

"You know, if she didn't make thieving more interesting, I would've gotten rid of her a long time ago... She's just lucky I don't hate her guts like I do Mira..." Rae involuntarily clenched her fist. "I wish...things were different, but now that'll never happen. Now, all I want is to see her dead..." She said under her breath.