Crossing the street, Tiny glanced up. His house wasn't too far. He just needed to pass his best friends' houses and he would be home. All was quiet on Illumination Avenue, until the sound of a van driving destroyed the silence. Shaking again, Tiny already knew that it had to be the two thieves. He looked over his shoulder.

"Crap! Act normal!" Ozone hissed quietly. Tiberius was already one step ahead of him. He had his book out and was reading. Thinking quickly, the Sphynx cat began looking around in the glovebox like he lost something in there. While he was pretending to search, he glanced up to see what the kid was doing.

He was running.

"Dang it! I knew there was something about this kid!" Ozone snarled, stepping on the gas pedal. The van lurched forward and drove down the street after the kid. Running for dear life, Tiny knew the van was following him. That's why he wasn't going back to his house. At least not yet. He needed to lose these guys first. Moving as fast as he could, he rounded the corner to find himself at the church. He made his way towards the door just as the van arrived.

"Where'd he go?" Ozone grumbled, looking around. Looking over at the church, Tiberius commented, "He must've gone inside." Laying his forehead against the steering wheel, Ozone cursed silently under his breath. Hearing it though, Tiberius whacked the cat on the back of the head as punishment. In response, the hawk almost got a fist to the face. Huffing, Ozone muttered, "I'm not waiting here for that kid to get his butt out of church. Let's just get out of here and hit the Russell house tonight." Not waiting for an answer, he drove away.

Poking his head outside, Tiny sighed with relief when he saw the van driving away. Watching it round the corner, the young basset hound puppy waited a few more seconds before he crept outside. Heading back the way he came, he glanced over his shoulder every now and then just to be sure he wasn't being followed. The pup had a hunch that the pair would be coming back to his house later.

"When they come back," Tiny declared, "I'll be ready."

———

It was night. Pulling up onto Illumination Avenue as quietly as possible, Ozone looked around. All was quiet and dark. Just how he liked it. A purr rumbled in his throat. Turning to Tiberius, he commented, "This is gonna be a piece of cake." Not getting a reply, he noticed the red tailed hawk was staring at something. The cat followed his gaze.

The Russell family house was bursting with life.

"Where did you say they were going?" Tiberius asked, glancing over at Ozone. Sighing heavily, the Sphynx cat answered, "London." He returned his gaze to the house. Christmas music filled the air and there were people dancing around inside. The place was giving off a very festive atmosphere. There was no way it was gonna be robbed tonight. Frustrated, he growled, "Great..." Flicking his ear, he drove away.

Hearing the van drive away over the music playing, Tiny smiled as he watched his mother's mannequins ride on several toy trains that he had set up. His plan had worked. Hopefully that did the trick in keeping the bandits away from his house a little longer. But only time would tell.