"Be Careful What you Wish For, Part 7"


        In the Master bedroom of the Sandiego manor a phone was ringing off the  
hook. 

        And Carmen knew she had to answer it. 

        Not that she wanted to though. It felt like she had just fallen asleep.  
She knew she had slept in her clothes and if she didn't take them off  
soon her feet would probably be damaged for life from her stiletto  
heels. But she didn't want to move. She didn't want to lead. She didn$t  
want to answer obvious questions. She just wanted to go back to sleep  
for a few more days. 

        Which unfortunately she couldn't do.  

        Slowly and painfully she reached out an arm and picked up the receiver  
from its cradle. "Hello?"
 
        "Afternoon, Boss! Did you see we got the phones working?"

        "Mmm...yes...good job...." she muttered as she sat up in bed. She  
looked at the clock. Four in the afternoon? She had never slept in this  
late! 

        "Well, we were able to determine what we did with the surveillance  
cameras and we've been monitoring calls to ACME ever since. And just a  
few minutes ago we received a very interesting phone call from the chief  
to our favorite detectives. We traced it to a pay phone in Paris and  
we$ve got some guys in plainclothes scooping things out. Since you told  
us to call you the minute we got news....." he trailed off. 

        "Bring a car around front and I'll be down in a few minutes."


        Ivy hung up the phone slowly. 

        What had just happened? 

        Was the Chief really calling in sick?  Was Carmen trying to play a trick  
on them?  What should she believe? 

        "Who was it sis?" Zack asked her nervously.

        "Huh?....oh....um..apparently it was the Chief calling in sick."
 
        "What?" 

        "My thoughts exactly," Ivy commented as she walked over to the keypad. 

        "But...he.....yesterday Carmen said...."

        "Carmen also said that she$d let us talk to him in a minute," Ivy  
reminded him as her fingers flew over the keys typing in codes. 

        "What are you doing?"

        "Tracing the 'Chief's' call. He told me that he had gotten out of  
Carmen's hideout, and if that$s true he's in more danger than if he  
stayed! Whatever is true, he's out of Carmen's grasp and we'd better get  
him while the getting's good." A map popped up on the screen.
 
        Zack looked at it questionably. "A pay phone in Paris?"

        "It's our only lead. Player C-5 us to these coordinates!"


        Carmen picked up the phone card that the Chief had used and looked it  
over closely. Nothing jumped out at her as a clue to where the Chief  
could have gone next, but it was interesting that the Chief could have  
enough know-how to pull something like this off. She would have never  
guessed that he would understand how to navigate through life so  
quickly..... 

        "Carmen?" asked a doubtful voice behind her, "Is that you?"

        Carmen turned to see Charlie with a questioning look on his face. "Yes,  
it's me. Why did you think otherwise?"

        "Well I've never seen you in street clothes before. I wasn't sure it  
was you."

        Carmen looked down at the dress she was wearing. It had been a while  
since she had dressed in normal causal clothes. So she had chose an old  
green dress she had gotten a year or two back and hoped was still  
fashionable enough not to draw attention.  
 
        "Well, it's me even if I am wearing something different."

        "Listen...I just wanted to tell you....I'm sorry for letting the Chief  
get away......he really did look like the average Tom, Dick and Harry  
down at Vile, and I had no idea-"

        "It's all right, really. No one had any idea about what was happening  
until nothing could be done. I didn't inform anyone about what was going  
on so if anyone is to blame it's probably me. Now could you tell me in  
your own words what happened the last time you saw the Chief?"

        "Well, we were just talking about who we were and where we came from,  
small talk really, and the subject came up about a gal-friend that he  
had told me had gotten him interested in VILE. I joked around with him  
and said that they were probably closer than he was telling me and he  
got really mad at me for that. And then....he looked like he was having  
some sort of seizure or a stroke...and he kept whispering the words 'So  
cold' and 'So far away.' When he snapped out of it he seemed fine but he  
wanted to walk around, so I gave him my coat and I called the doctor.  
After God knows how many times I spent on hold I finally got through  
but by that time he had disappeared. I described what had happened and  
they put me on hold for what must have been a good hour and then I was  
simply told to come back to the manor. When I got back I retold what I  
just told you twenty times before I was told to spend the night in one  
of the spare bedrooms and tell it to you when you woke up."

        "So he was still wearing the VILE uniform when you let him walk  
around?"

        "Yeah but I gave him the coat so he could cover it up."

        "Well coat or no coat he's going to be pretty easy to find even in  
Paris!"


        "What was that last thing?" Ivy whispered to her brother.

        "She told that guy 'Coat or no coat he's going to be pretty easy to  
find, even in Paris," Zack whispered back. 

        "Right. We got all the info we're gonna need. Let's get out of this  
alley before they catch us," Ivy said as she started to back away. Pure  
luck was the only reason the C-5 had been dropped in an alleyway just a  
few feet from the phone booth....and just out of the field of view of  
Carmen's henchmen. 

        They crept out of the alley and, as quietly as they could, activated  
the C-5 car. Ivy took the wheel and they sped out of the back street  
and away from the henchmen. 

        "Start looking for him Zack, he could be anywhere!"

        "Somehow, I don't think he$ll be all that difficult to hide. Would you  
watch where you're driving? You almost hit that guy!"

        "I did not! ....And besides he has some camouflage."

        "Ivy a trench coat isn't going to cover him, especially in daylight. I  
mean how well can he hide a VILE uniform?"


	"The two suits, the tie, the coat, the three pairs of socks and the  
shoes come to....25,000 francs," explained the clerk, "Will that be  
cash or credit?"

        "Definitely credit." The Chief told her as he pulled out Charlie's  
American Express card. With a twinge of regret he expertly forged the  
signature, and picked his two shopping bags.  

        "Are you sure you want to wear your purchases monsieur? Wouldn't you  
be more comfortable in the clothes you came in with?"

        "Quite sure," he told her with a glowing smile.
 
        "Very well, have a pleasant afternoon Monsieur and thank you for  
shopping at The Bon Marche."

        The Chief walked out of the most famous and quite possibly the very  
first shopping mall ever, double checked which bag was which and neatly  
dropped the bag with his VILE uniform into the first waste basket he  
came to. 

        "Well there goes my birthday suit," he joked to himself. But strangely  
he felt free for the first time in his life. 

        He stopped to admire himself in a store window. His purchases had  
definitely been what the French call a Bon Marche or a good buy. The  
black suit he was wearing was both elegant and casual and because of the  
fashionable cut of the shirt collar, didn't require a tie. The matching  
black slacks hung on him as if they were tailored to his measurements.  
The shoes completed the outfit. And although they were without a doubt  
the cheapest thing he had gotten they looked like they had cost him a  
fortune. Especially when combined with everything else he had on. 

        "Boy I DO look pretty good! And it wasn't all that expensive!...well  
compared to  prices in Paris....." he trailed off. 

        So now what? 

        He had the whole day ahead of him. He was in Paris! They didn$t call it  
the City of Light for nothing! 

        So why was he out of Ideas? 

        Where was the list he made?.....in the pocket of his VILE uniform! 

        Exasperated he stopped in his tracks and turned to go back...when  
someone ran into his shoulder. 

        "Hey, watch it!" he yelled at the kid that was running away. He  
massaged his shoulder. He wasn't sure he would ever get used to this  
'pain' thing. 

        "Stop thief!" a woman screeched. "That boy! He stole my purse!"

        The Chief did his first double-take and he realized what was going on.  
Without thinking he began to chase after the young boy. "Hey Kid! Stop!  
You don$t know what you$re doing!"

        He followed the kid through alleys over park benches and finally caught  
him in a turn on a park trail. He tried a martial arts hold that Ivy had  
once showed him and he was surprised when the kid shrieked in pain. 

        "TAKE THE PURSE!" he shrieked, "TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST LET ME  
GOOOOOOOO!" he trailed off in tears. 

        "Don't worry kid everything is going to be okay. We're going to go  
find a police officer now and we'll sort everything out. C'mon."

		To be continued...