<<"Are you sure you don’t want another croque-monsieur Mr. Rodger?">> Not really. He had been stuffing his face with the high caloric gratitude of the little old lady all afternoon. He was feeling very happy and full, but he felt sorry to take advantage of the generosity of such a sweet grandmotherly lady. But how could exit politely? <<"No thank you Ma’am you’ve been so much more than generous! And I really must be going...">> <<"Ah, who is the young lady who is stealing you away from me?>> ‘Why does everyone assume I’m dating someone?’ the Chief thought ‘Am I really all that good looking?’ <<"I’m not going to meet anyone, I just....wanted to see the Ocean before the Sun went down. I don’t have a car and the hotel I’m staying at closes their doors at nine. I would love to stay but if I want to call a cab up I’ll have to do it soon..">> <<"Ah monsieur, if you have seen the ocean once you have seen it always.">> <<"But you see, I have never been to the ocean side. I’ve seen it from planes and I have seen pictures of it but I have never really experienced it.">> <<"You poor thing! I will gladly drive you! Just let me pay this bill.">> <> "Face it Ive the trail has gone cold and you can’t believe that your finely tuned skills let you down!" "Zack just finish your crepe and forget about it." "I can’t help it Ivy! I keep thinking there’s something that we don’t know that Carmen does! It’s really unsettling." "Tell me about it! At least she must have some sort of tracking device or an implant that tells her where he is or something...we’ve been scanning the streets for hours and we’ve seen absolutely nothing! I mean other than an act of God we’re not going to find him! Maybe we should just go back to ACME..." Suddenly a tiny green Citron and a very red sports car ripped through the intersection in front of them and disappeared over a rise in the road. As they blazed passed them Zack could make out the sports car’s license plate. "Did you see that?" asked Ivy "What was that?" "That was an act of Carmen! And if she’s in that big of a hurry something’s got to be up! Let’s go sis!" Carmen sped down the streets of Paris thanking the Deity for Customer Service lines for credit cards. The helpful service persons told her where and when the Chief had used Charlie’s credit cards , and had even called her back when the Chief had paid the bill at that cafe. Carmen took the twists and turns in the roads of the old town viciously and she still was having trouble keeping up with the little old lady. "I wonder if she’s originally from Pasadena?" thought Carmen along with some impolite thoughts about European speed limits. The Chief was thinking more or less the same thing. He was clinging on to the car like his life depended on it and felt his new made heart jerk with every hairpin turn. <<"Do you have a last name Monsieur?">> <<"Not a very pronounceable one. I prefer to be called Rodger...">> he braced as the little old lady cut the corner sharply, <<"If that’s not impolite.">> <<"Then you must call me Marguerite....Foolish police cars! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!">> she forcefully beeped her horn. The Chief began to turn white. "I think you’re right Zack! She’s following that little Citron. Wow! Did you see how close the Citron driver cut that corner?" "Yeah, I saw it, I just don’t want to repeat it! Man, even Carmen’s having trouble catching up! ....Ivy there are two people in the car." "So?" "One of them has a very familiar hairstyle." Zack took out his pair of lucky binoculars and tried to focus on the second head throughout all the twists and turns. Suddenly it looked back and Zack shouted, "That’s it! That’s him!" "Then I’m not letting him get away again!" Ivy shouted as she floored the gas petal. <<"Marguerite...I...well... why are we going so fast?">> <<"Have you ever seen the film ‘Blue Brothers’?">> <<"That’s ‘Blues Brothers’, and yes a couple of times.">> <<"Did you enjoy the chase scene near the end?">> <<"I could take it or leave it. Why?">> <<"Because you are in it! Look behind you....">> The Chief did so and saw Carmen, Zack and Ivy following behind them. His mouth involuntarily dropped. <<"Oh dear...">> <<"I see you are very popular Ma Cherie.">> <<"Please, could you loose them? I’ll explain it to you all later.">> <<"Are you a Fugitive? A hunted Criminal? Have you Murdered, stolen or done anything else horribly bad?">> <<"I swear to you on all I hold Holy I haven’t.">> Marguerite stopped and parked the car in the middle of the Champs-Elises. <<"What are you doing? Please, go!">> <<"Monsieur are you out of your mind? I’m driving a Citron! I can’t outrun a bunny let alone a Ferrari! I’ve only been lucky so far because I know how to navigate the Paris streets.">> Carmen’s car rounded the corner. <<"The only way we can get away...">> Carmen saw the parked car and braked hard. <<"Is if we cause...">> Carmen luckily stopped short, but the C-5 car was just starting to come around the bend..... Marguerite started her car and briskly drove away from the accident that was just about to happen... <<"A little commotion!">> There was the crunch of metal, and the Chief involuntarily shut his eyes. Carmen jumped out of her car just in time to see the Chief cruise out of the Paris city limits. She felt a wave of despair was over her. Didn’t the Chief know not to get in a car with strangers? Now how was she going to find him? "Carmen!" Great. If life wasn’t complicated enough. The detectives had caught up. Ivy walked over, obviously ticked, and kicked her car. "Hey!" Carmen yelled. "Are you going to pay for that?" "Only if you’re going to pay for that!" she yelled back indicating the quarter inch gouge in the passenger side door of the C-5 car. "Do you realize you could have gotten us all killed?" "Of course I know!" Carmen told her, uncharicteristly almost screaming "You can’t just stop in the middle of a busy street without having some serious repercussions come up!" "Well what on Earth possessed you to stop in the middle of a busy intersection?!?!?" "Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that the car with the Chief in it did the same thing?" she commented sarcastically "Do you want to see the Chief again in one piece or as a set of twelve??" "Since when do you care about the Chief’s safety?" shot back Ivy. Carmen was stunned. That had really really hurt. She had been frantic ever since she had found out about what was happening. What’s more, Ivy knew she cared deeply about the Chief and to use her deepest feelings just to win a trivial argument..... She felt her fists involuntary clench with pain. "Ivy I’m not, by nature, a violent woman." Carmen said quietly "Especially when I deal with ACME detectives. But unless you don’t take back that low and entirely unworthy remark immediately I promise to make you very happy you have Martial Arts training." "Woah! Carmen, Ivy, just...take it easy..." interrupted Zack, who was already picturing his sister and Carmen Sandiego exchanging blows on a very public street. "No, Zack, It’s O.K." Ivy interrupted. She turned to Carmen. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have ever said that. It’s just been a really long week..." "...And you weren’t thinking." Carmen finished. Zack and Ivy nodded. "I think it’s been like that for everyone. But we’d better conserve our energy for looking for the Chief instead of picking petty fights." "Don’t you have some sort of tracking device or a homing signal attached to the Chief, Carmen?' asked Ivy. "I wish I did! It would make this much easier! I really have no idea where he’s going or what he could be doing." "Um, ladies? If I could break up this International Coffee moment? I did have the good fortune of getting the license plate number, but it’s not going to help us much, unless they get caught speeding or something." "Somehow I don’t think that’ll be a problem." commented Ivy. "But we’ll have to put in a call to the French police to have them keep an eye out for them." _______________________ The Chief looked at the ocean and was completely speechless. To experience something this big.... He took off his socks and shoes in the car and walked to the shore. He waded in to his ankles and bent over and dipped his hands into the water. He watched as drops formed at his fingertips before they dived into the place from whence the had come. Hundreds upon thousands of drops like this. Thousands upon millions. Millions upon billions. Billions upon trillions. Eternity seemed very possible. The Chief looked at his feet. They looked much lighter in color. His pants legs were getting soaked with sea water. He walked out of the water solemnly. <<"What is wrong?">> asked Marguerite. <<"I don’t think I should try to enjoy the experience anymore.">> he told her showing her his soaked cuffs. <<"I only have one other suit in the way of clothes, and I don’t have a bathing suit.">> <<"Well, you still have that one other suit don’t you? You Americans are always trying to be overly practical, always trying to make excuses, you should try to life a little more. You only live it once.">> ‘You only live life once’ though the Chief. Then he stopped. <<"How did you know I’m American?">> <<"You have the mannerisms and the eyes of an American. It’s not very hard to see.">> <<"Oh.">> the Chief said simply as he took off his jacket and gently laid it on the car roof. <<"So you are going to just look at the sea?">> <<"Well Madam, as I see it there are two ways of enjoying anything. The way you will most enjoy it and the way you should enjoy it.">> And without a moment’s more hesitation he ran straight into the ocean. Carmen was fuming as she leaned up against the C-5 car and watched as her car was towed away by VILE’s body shop. Zack and Ivy were on the C-5’s car phone giving instructions to the French police and getting info on the Lady who had driven the Chief away. How had he hooked up with someone so fast? Why had he hooked up with someone so fast? Even when she had been a little girl she knew that talking to strangers was dangerous. The Chief may not have been human but he dealt with cases of robbery, murder and the like daily. Didn’t he know anything from the hundreds of cases that had passed his screen? Carmen's heart suddenly jerked. The Chief knew, but had never experienced the dangers life posed. Oh sure, he had read about nearly every twisted longing known to man, but deep down inside she knew he could never think that anyone could be truly harsh cruel or sadistic. What if the lady who had taken him in was really a sicko? What if she had kidnapped him and was writing a ransom note at this very moment? What if.... "Carmen? Yoo-hoo? Anybody home?" "Huh? Oh, Zack, I was just..er..thinking...did you find out anything about the driver?" "Yeah, her name’s Marguerite Leroux. She lives in the Paris suburbs not too far from here. The Parisian police are pretty familiar with her; she’s somewhat of a local character. Pretty harmless despite having a list of moving violations as long as my arm. They told us they’d call us back if they pick her up." "That coupled with the credit card people being on alert we shouldn’t have long to wait before we get our next lead," Carmen deduced. "WE Carmen?" Zack asked with a smile. "Yes, WE Zack. I need all the help I can get, and if you two want to tag along, it’s all right with me." She told him with a smirk. "Shouldn’t it be the other way around Carmen?" Zack questioned. "Why Zack, whatever do you mean?" Carmen asked with her best Elegant-Innocent face. Zack smirked back. "You’re defiantly not that innocent Carmen." "No one is that innocent Zack. Have you and Ivy eaten?" To be continued...