Disclaimer: Hey all! Welcome to the next exciting chapter of " Mask of Deceit"! I know it's taking me a while to update and all but please bear with me, I'm typing as much as I can whenever I get a chance. Anyways enough with the chit chat on to the chapter! ( I'll be doing the responses at the end this time.)

Sly Cooper: Mask of Deceit

Chapter 3: Broken Promise

" Inspector Fox! Inspector Fox please wait a moment!"

Carmelita stopped dead in her tracks, a feeling of dread washing over her as the voice called out. It was already late in the afternoon and she had a bunch of paperwork waiting for her when she got back to the office. On top of all that she also had a meeting with the chief, who had called not to long ago and arranged it. So far today had not been her day and she had a real bad feeling about the owner of this voice as well. Turning slowly, Carmelita could make out the form of a black and blue siamese woman running towards her at full speed. Her stomach did flip flops however, when she spotted a man with a camera following right behind.

' Oh no,' Carmelita thought to herself with a groan, ' just what I needed, the damn press!'

With a sigh, Carmelita crossed her hands over her chest and shook her head in annoyance. She hated reporters as much as that damn ringtail, if not more. Not many options were open to her at the moment, considering two facts. The first one being that the siamese reporter was blocking the only path to her squad car and the other being the fact that the chief had given her a certain order to follow after the...incident. Carmelita's eyes narrowed when she thought back to the last interview she had given to the press, the perverted reporter was definitly focused on other aspects of her body rather than her face. Needless to say he met the end of her fist and wound up with quite a shiner. Not long after that the chief brought her into his offce and ordered her from that point on to be respectful to the news crew, even if they sometimes deserved to be hit around. With another sigh, this time in defeat, Carmelita prepared herself for the worst to happen and regarded the now panting feline that was in front of her.

" Inspector Fox, thank god I caught you!" the now out of breath feline gasped, " I'm Katrina Campbell from OX news, I was wondering if I could get a quick interview with you?"

Carmelita glanced down at her watch and then back up at Katrina, a boerd look in her eyes.

" I have a lot to do back at Interpol Headquarters...you've got five minutes."

Katrina for her part smiled brightly and quickly smoothed her frazzled hair back into place before turning to her news man.

" Steve I'm going to be here for a bit, be a dear and pack up the equipment for me?"

Steve, a large black stallion, nodded in consent and then went about his business, leaving the two females alone. Having watched her cameraman depart, Katrina quickly reminded herself what she was there for and turned back to the Inspector. Going into her business mode, the siamese cat quickly brought up her small personal tape recorder and pressed the play button.

" Ms Fox, is there any new information that has been found out since this mornings inital reports?"

" As of right now no, all the info we have remains the same, evidence taken from the scene and bodies are still being tested as we speak."

Katrina paused for a few seconds before going right into her next question, her eyes still locked firmly onto the Inspectors. She had heard what this cop was capable of and definitly did not want to experience it first hand.

" Inspector, does Interpol have any plan as how to catch Sly Cooper? What precautions are they taking now that he's a wanted killer?"

Carmelita twitched slightly at the mention of Sly's name, the raccoon thief had been on her mind all day. The vixen was still utterly confused as to how Sly could all of a sudden become a cold ruthless killer. In all the time she had chased the damn guy he had never shown any hints of having a dark side to him. Then again she didn't know him very well, other than the fact that he was a nuisance.

' A rather handsom nuisance,' she thought, before shaking her head, ' dear lord did I just think that!'

If she were alone, Carmelita would have let out a very loud snarl and vehemently denied such thoughts. However the fact that she was surrounded by fellow officers, and a very impatient news reporter, manged to calm her down. In fact, as she tried to get her bearings straight, Carmelita noticed the feline trying to get her attention.

" Inspector? Hello? Anyone home?" Katrina waved her paw in front of the vixens eyes, trying to rouse the Inspector back into reality.

" Oh yes! Sorry...I just have a bunch of things on my mind," Carmelita mumbled, " You were saying?"

" Does Interpol have a plan on how to catch Sly Cooper at all?"

" At this time no we dont, however we are putting all our resorces into finding him and bringing him in, now if you excuse me I really have to get going."

Pushing past the now protesting siamese, Carmelita threw open the door to her squad car and got in. Slamming the door behind her, the vixen quickly turned on the engine and pulled out of the spot she was parked in. Katrina, who had been completely blown off a few seconds ago, watched as the inspector sped off a small grin forming onto her face.

' Oh, it's going to be a very fun time with this one,' she thought before walking back towards the news van.

---------

Sly stared at the now cop infested Lourve museum, his eyes set in concentration. He had arrived not that long ago, watching as Carmelita had given a very brief interview to a siamese reporter before speeding away in her Interpol issued cruiser. Sighing the master thief sat down to avoid being seen by the throng of police men and grabbed a small piece of shirt where a tiny radio was installed.

" Bent, you there?" he whispered quietly. taking every precaution he could not to be heard.

" I'm here Sly, reading you loud and clear," came the nasal response of the turtle, " are you at the target point?"

" Yeah the Lourve is right in front of me, the place is swarming with Interpol and cops...and our resident Inspector has just left the site."

" Inspector Fox is gone?" the question sounded more relieved than concerned, " in any case that goes in our favor even more, you might be outnumbered, but none of those cops or Interpol officers there have the same stamina as Ms. Fox does."

Sly grinned at that comment and couldn't help but retort with a slick comment.

" Or that lovely voice full of anger whenever I escape."

He could here Bentely grunt in annoyance and then sigh lightly before speaking back to him.

" Getting back to the subject," Bentely said sharply, causing Sly to roll his eyes, " I need you to do only two things while you are there."

" And those two things would be?"

" Get a few pictures of the murder site, and if possible the video feed from the cameras, we might find something Interpol missed in the initial search."

" Right, and the other thing you need me to do?"

There was a slight pause on Bentely's end, and Sly could tell the turtle was having a hard time saying the words.

" The second thing...well I'm going to need blood samples from the two guards that were killed...so we can see if it matches what was on your cane."

Sly gulped at that statement, a shiver running down his spine. He could understand why Bently had hesitated at first with his words, and he couldn't blame him. The discovery of his family's cane, covered in dried blood, had shook up the entire team. He could recall how the three of them stood there for at least fifteen minutes, thier eyes practically popping out of thier heads and thier jaws on the ground. Sly felt a bit nervous as well, for this was the first time in over three centuries that blood had found it's place on the family hierloom. The first incident had been back in the 1700's when his ancestor Lord Cromwell Cooper had contracted a rare disease while out on a hiest in Africa. He became feverish and delusional, lashing out at anyone who came near. It was recorded that eventually Cromwell went a bit too far with his attacks and ended up almost killing one of his friends. Cromwell had become little more than a beast, his eyes holding a wild look and white foam coursing out of his mouth. Knowing what he had to do, Theodore, Cromwell's twin brother, faced off against his agitated and sick sibling. The two fought fiercely, but eventually Theodore won, impaling Cromwell upon the hooked end of the family's cane. When he did this, Theodore was struck with grief and stayed locked in his room for what was recorded a total of six months, only coming out to eat or use the bathroom. Finally after those six long months Theodore came out of his room and announced to his worried friends his intentions. With Cromwell dead, Theodore took posession of the family cane and responsibilities, and swore on his life and honor that he would continue the family line. Also he made a direct promise to Cromwell's spirit that no blood, be it from a Cooper or innocent as well as law breakers, would ever again touch the family cane. It was indeed one of the darker points in the Cooper line, but not the darkest. There were others, each one terrifying than the last, yet this incident clearly stood out among them all. Theodore had swore that blood would never again touch the cane, a rule that each Cooper after him followed.

' Until now,' the master thief thought, a frown on his face.

" Sly? Are you still there? Sly?"

Having been lost deep in thought over everything Sly had unknowingly forgot about Bently. So when the nasal voice of the turtle hit his ears, Sly jumped a bit in surprise.

" Yeah...yeah I'm here Bent," he relpied, trying to stop his pounding heart, " I'll get the samples you need in no time flat."

" Alright, me and Murray will be waiting with the van a few blocks away, anything happens you get back here ASAP got it?"

" I got it, and Bentely?"

There was a brief pause before the braniac turtle responded.

" Yes Sly?"

" Wish me luck!"

With that said Sly turned off his radio and stood up to his full hieght. The sun was going down now, and in a few minutes the rooftops and alleyways would be dark and barren. With a graceful jump, Sly landed on top of a nearby telephone pole and stared down at the number of police cars and Interpol cruisers present. There closest to the entrence was the Interpol Mobile Crime Lab, and without a doubt the blood samples he needed were in there. With a deep breath Sly ran along the phone line, the sun now low enough to not be seen he came closer and closer to his target. Just as he reached the end of the pole Sly jumped once more and began his decent to the Crime Labs dark roof. It was time to go to work.

------

From inside the get away van, Bentley put his microphone and reciever away after Sly had said his final words before switching his end off.

" Wish me luck!"

The words continued to bounce around in his head, making the turutle sigh and stare up at the van's roof. Taking a quick glance to his right he saw Murry sitting in the driver's seat a look of worry on his face. Bentley had to give a soft snort of laughter at that, Murry...worry; heck it was too funny not to laugh at the irony of it...but still. With another sigh Bentley turned his eyes back to the now quiet mic and his thought's began to come clearer again. Sly was on his own right now, one slip up and he would be caught. There would be no jail time, not when being convicted of murdering two cops. No, if Sly were caught he would be immeadiatly put to death; no one would want to defend him, a supposed cop killer now. The security around him would be so tight that any rescue attempt, any at all, would fail utterly. And that's what annoyed Bentley the most, knowing that he would not be able to help one of his best friends out if he got caught this night. All he could do now was rely on Sly and his abilities, and pray that he would come back safe and sound with everything they needed. With another sigh, the turtle again looked up at the inside ceiling of the van and closed his eyes.

"Good luck Sly," Bentley murmured, " your going to need it."

Author's Notes: Well there you have it folks, chapter 3! Er...sry it's a bit late...ok very late...but my life has really been screwey as of late. Anyways I wont be doing fan reviews this time round, but I will however give you guys and gals a bonus preview of the next chapter to come. So without further ado here is a sneak peak at chapter 4!

Sneek Peek, Chapter 4: Museum Mayhem

Sly stared at the multitude of armed officers around him, each and every one of them a bitter look in thier eyes. The master thief could not blame them though, two of thier own had just been ruthlessly murderd the night before and he was the prime suspect. But what hurt Sly the most was the look in one particular Interpol officer's eyes. Carmelita, shock pistol drawn, stared at him as if he were the worst person in the world, her lips pulled back into a menacing snarl that actually scared him this time round. He had hoped that of all the cops here, she would at least be a bit sympathetic to him and what was going on. After all she had been chasing him for so long, she knew what he was like by now...right? Deciding to take the risk Sly opened his mouth to speak.

" Carmelita," he began his voice low and clearly holding an upset tone, " I..."

But he never got any further as Carmelita gave him a blood curdling growl that effectivly killed any words that he wanted to say.

" Shut it ringtail!" she hissed, her sharp words making him blink in shock, " five years I've been chasing your ass all over the world! Five years and I'm still no where near catching you! But it ends tonight Cooper, tonight your mine!"

And before Sly, or any of the other guards could react, Carmelita charged at him, firing her gun at point blank range.