Part 3	

	Later on that evening, Carmen sat up alone in her bedroom.  Ivy and Zack had turned in 
for the night a little over an hour ago.  Carmen had wanted to spend some time meditating 
quietly, but her thoughts were too restless.  She couldn’t help thinking of her old partner and 
mentor, Suhara.  How he used to tell her, "Focus. Let your mind be at peace with the world."  
Her mind was certainly not at peace with the world right now, that was for sure.  On this 
Christmas Eve, no matter how hard she tried to attract her attention onto something else, 
thoughts of the past kept popping up in her mind.  First of Mrs. D’Angelo, then the Chief, and 
now Suhara.  She missed all three of them greatly tonight, and she wouldn’t deny that.  "More 
than almost anything, I wish I could spend another Christmas with the Chief. Or tell Suhara 
that I’m sorry for how rude I acted the last time I saw him.  Even to finally be able to thank 
Regina D’Angelo for all she did would be nice," she thought solemnly. 

	"Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?" Carmen asked her 
reflection in the mirror.  The consensus of the empty room seemed to be, "No." And Carmen agreed.


	Ivy had been totally unable to sleep at all.  It had nothing to do with the mattress, or
the soft pillows, or even the temperature of the room.  No, everything was just perfect.  
Perfect, except for the fact that she was spending the night comfortably at Carmen’s house.  
Carmen was supposed to be her enemy, a criminal who had to be brought to justice. That’s the 
way Ivy had always seen her, though the Carmen she has witnessed tonight seemed so different. 
She was so warm, and kind, and generous, so unlike the person Ivy had thought she was.  

	"Has she always been this way toward us?" Ivy thought to herself. "Or are my eyes 
finally open for the first time?"  It just didn’t seem possible to her.  Just then, Ivy heard 
footsteps coming down the hall.  She went behind the half open door so she could see who it 
was. "Probably Zack sleepwalking", she muttered.  As she watched the shadowy figure come closer, 
she noticed that it wasn’t Zack, but Carmen instead. She was fully dressed and was carrying a 
long black wool coat on one arm.  Ivy watched as Carmen made her way down the stairs.  Ivy 
crept up behind her slowly and softly.  After Carmen reached the first floor, Ivy looked on as 
she opened a door and dropped out of sight.  "I knew it!" Ivy said. "I knew she was up to 
something!" Ivy quickly tip-toed into the next room and shook her brother awake.  

	"Zack! Zack, wake up! It’s Carmen, she’s planning a heist or something!"

	"Whaaat," Zack mumbled half-awake. "Carmen’s not up to anything, Sis. Go back to sleep."

	"She is, too!" Ivy spoke loudly as she tried to awaken her brother from his groggy 
daze. "I saw her, she got up and walked down the stairs and out a door into a basement or some 
other room. I can’t believe we fell for this entire act of hers!", Ivy said as she stormed out 
of Zack’s room.  She returned moments later with two coats and  hats she found in the hallway 
closet.  Zack stared at her dumbfounded as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

	"Ivy, you can wake me up, you can drag me out of this nice warm bed, but you can’t make 
me wear that!" Zack pointed to a short green ladies’ coat. 

	"Wear it or freeze, Zack. Your choice." Ivy smiled cleverly. 

	"Fine! Fine! Whatever!," he muttered as he pulled on his shoes. "Carmen’s gonna pay for 
this."
	
	After the tense flight through the raging blizzard, Carmen had set down her personal 
aircraft in a remote airfield in the outskirts of San Francisco.  Despite the difficulty of 
flying in a storm, the flight had proved quite uneventful.  Carmen had worried a bit about 
leaving Zack and Ivy behind in her home, but had finally decided that she could easily slip out 
without being noticed and be back before they realized she had gone.  She had managed to find 
the location of Mrs. D’Angelo’s house through her personal database.  She hadn’t realized that 
she had kept her address all these years, and hoped she still lived there. 

	Carmen felt a bit nervous as she walked in the chilly night air.  What would she say to 
her, to them for that matter ? Her hometown hadn’t changed much since the last time she walked 
along its streets, but it had been many years at that, she thought with a frown.  This was the 
first time she had ever seen snow lining the sidewalks and buildings that she had once known so 
well.  In the lamplight, Carmen could make out many people arriving and embracing each other in 
the spirit of the season.  It was a warm feeling.  She sighed, and wished she was experiencing 
that warmth.  "But that’s what tonight’s all about, isn’t it?" she declared to the evening 
stars.  

	Carmen looked about once more, realizing that she had reached her destination.   She 
caught the name "D"Angelo" printed neatly on the mailbox, and with great courage and a little 
fear, rang the bell.  Holiday music filtered through the doors and windows.  It was obvious 
that a party was going on inside. Moments later, a brown haired man opened the door.  "Her son," 
Carmen thought.

	"Excuse me," Carmen said nervously, "but is Regina D’Angelo in at the moment?"

	The man shook his head, "No, no she isn’t. She went out to church about an hour ago, 
she should be back soon."

	"Could you please give this to her? " Carmen said taking out a brightly wrapped present 
from underneath her cloak.

	"Of course, I’d be happy to," the man smiled. "Are you sure you don’t want to step 
inside and wait, she’s just going to be a few more minutes. You’re more than welcome to."

	"No, I really have to be going," Carmen shook her head. "Thank you for all your help.  
Merry Christmas," she added with a small grin.

	"All right, I’ll be sure to give this to her as soon as she comes back.  I’m sorry," he 
laughed eyeing the mysterious woman on the porch, "but I can’t seem to remember your name. Mom 
has so many friends, it’s hard to keep track of them all." He looked over quickly to check out 
a rustling coming from the bushes, but when he turned back, Carmen was gone.  He did a double 
take and shrugged. "Well, Merry Christmas to you too lady."
     
	"Ivy, what do you see?" Zack asked.  Ivy was hiding at the top of the narrow stairs.  
The space was only big enough for one of them.  They had followed Carmen from that first house 
all the way to Suhara’s apartment. Zack could only wonder what Carmen planned on giving her 
former partner for Christmas. Or what was in that other package to begin with.  So far, Carmen 
hadn’t stolen anything, or done anything remotely criminal.  In fact, he was amazed to see her 
drop off a large bill into the Salvation Army kettle.  He had no idea what she could be up to.   

	"Well, she’s just waiting at the door little bro."  Ivy whispered from the top of the 
stairs.

	"Are you sure she’s not going to see you from where you are?  I mean, you almost blew 
our cover last time when you sneezed in the bushes,"  Zack chuckled.

	"Be quiet, Zack!  Okay, she’s knocking on the door again," Ivy said as she watched 
Carmen from her hiding place.  She had on a rather sad expression, or so Ivy thought, as she 
waited a few more minutes before turning around.  "She’s taking out a wrapped square box like 
the other one we saw and setting it in front of the door.  She looks really disappointed, 
almost upset," Ivy stared quizzically.  "Now, she’s walking to the end of the hallway...no, no, 
not this one, the other end, and going down the stairs."

	"That’s it?" Zack asked as he ran up the stairs.  "Just another gift? Is it a clue?"

	"I don’t know, little bro.  Maybe..."

	"Ivy, look!  Someone’s opening the door!" The two siblings looked on as the door opened 
to reveal Suhara half asleep in a robe and slippers.  Zack figured that Carmen must have woken 
him up, it was going for midnight. He picked up the box and unwrapped it.  Inside, there was a 
handblown glass apple. There was a  note attached to the stem,  Zack had to squint to make out 
the words that he thought were, "I’m sorry - Carmen". "Why is Carmen apologizing?" he whispered 
to his sister, who shook her head.  He watched as Suhara took the gift and went inside with a 
few tears in his eyes.  "Ivy, should we go see him?" Zack finally asked, not knowing what to 
make of the entire situation. 

	"No," Ivy said feeling a bit guilty.   She hadn’t thought that Carmen might just be 
delivering gifts to people, or even feeling remorse.  She felt like she had been eavesdropping 
on a very private conversation.  One that she wasn’t supposed to hear. "That’s something 
personal between him and Carmen.  It’s just a gift, I guess.  I don’t think we should bother 
him about it, he looked kind of upset.  Besides," she added as she started to walk down the 
stairs, "we’d better keep following Carmen in case she does have something planned for tonight."

	"Whatever you say," Zack said wistfully.

				To Be Continued...