ATHENS, GREECE
Carmen tilted her head back and let the sun's rays hit her straight on.
She basked in the warmth. She always did love the Mediterrianian this
time of year.
This was the life, no jobs, no clues, no henchmen. She wondered
briefly why she shouldn't just retire and spend the rest of her days on
this beach.
a voice from her head replied. Carmen
nodded her agreement, picked up a paperback mystery (what else?) from
beside her and resumed her place.
Further on down the beach, there was a flash of blue light. When it
winked out, Zack and Ivy looked up and down the beach.
"Well, this is the right place." Zack said. Two bikini clad beauties
passed by. "Yes, DEFINITELY the right place." Zack amended. Ivy rolled
her eyes.
"After you wipe the drool from your chin, Zack," she said. "You want
to get onto the job at hand? Carmen's around here somewhere and we've
got to keep an eye out for her."
"C'mon Ivy, Carmen's not dumb enough to be out where we could trip
over her and besides--WHOOAAAA!"
Zack went flying and did a massive faceplant in the sand. Ivy looked
down at the woman who's legs he had just tripped over.
The woman was in her mid-thirties, dressed in a one-piece blue
bathing suit and had long black hair tied back into a ponytail. A pair of
sunglasses obscured her eyes from view, but Ivy was sure who she
was.
"Carmen!" the detective exclaimed. Beside her, Zack sat up and spit
sand and grit out of his mouth.
The woman frowned. "Is it customary for you Americans to interrupt
a lady's sunbathing by kicking her in the shin?" she asked in a cultured
British accent.
"Don't play games with us, Carmen. What are you up to?"
The woman regarded Ivy coldly. "Not that it's any of your business,
but I happen to be on vacation. And my name, young lady, isn't Carmen. I
believe you have the wrong person."
"Oh, really?" Ivy sneered. "Well, we'll just see about that." Ivy's
hand shot forward and removed the sunglasses from the woman's face. Ivy
smirked in triumph.
Her triumph was short lived, however, when she saw that the
woman's eyes were a deep emerald green, not blue. And it looked like
they were natural. The woman's face screwed up in anger.
"Boy!" she called to a nearby steward. The steward came up.
"Is there a problem, Doctor?" he asked. The woman nodded.
"These two young people are disturbing me. Kindly escort them back
to the hotel." The steward nodded and firmly placed a hand on each of
Ivy and Zack's shoulders. The three of them began walking back to the
hotel.
"But, you don't understand!" Ivy protested. "That's Carmen Sandiego!"
"That, madam, is Dr. Candace Smythe. She has been a regular at this
hotel for the past twelve years and is one of our more well-loved guests.
She is finally taking a vacation and we have every intention of making
sure that she has a good one. Now if you and your associate here would
care to leave the premises, I won't have to call the police."
Ivy sighed in frustration as she and her brother were shown the front
door.
Back on the beach, Carmen smiled as Zack and Ivy were taken away.
She really would have to congratulate Sarah on the contact lenses. No
one could tell they were fake. Maybe it wasn't fair to do this to them, but
then, she hadn't invited them, had she?
"Now then, where were we?" she said as she flipped back through
her book. "Oh, yes, five little indians down, five to go."
On a balcony at the hotel, Reginald V. Enge lowered his binoculars and
smiled. That was the one good thing about Classe; when intimidated, the
little toad would do anything to save his skin. Inside the room, the phone
rang. Enge went inside and picked up the reciever.
"Yes?" he said. From the other end, the manager replied.
"Your..er...'guests' have arrived Mr. Erring." Enge smiled.
"Send them right up, oh and have room service send up a bottle of Dom
Perignon. '68 if they have it."
"Yes, sir. A celebration?"
"Of a sort." Enge hung up and looked at Carmen through the binoculars
again. "Of a very PERSONAL sort."
TO BE CONTINUED...
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