Leodore Lionheart was sitting at a corner lounge of The Vistas by himself. It was weekday, and the bar was relatively empty. One or two patrons probably were gossiping about him; what Zootopian wouldn't know who he was, anyway? He paid no heed to the murmurs, prefering to just sit and watch around as he waited for someone. He had asked that mammal to come at 4 o'clock, and his watch told him that he still had over ten minutes of waiting time.
At times he reminisced about Bellwether. Just what could have made her go that far to ruin Zootopia? Had he given her too much work and too little recognition? Or perhaps he just didn't know how to properly treat someone of Bellwether's stature? Whatever the case was, he admitted perhaps he had done Bellwether little good. Getting the right help from the right people was such a difficult thing.
An antelope waitress approached Lionheart and whispered something. Lionheart merely nodded, having understood that his guest was here. Soon after, a brown timberwolf appeared.
"Greetings, Sir," said the wolf as he assumed a ready stance.
"Good afternoon, Larry," Lionheart greeted back, "have a seat."
Larry complied and seated himself across Lionheart. In his head, Lionheart was wondering why Larry was alone. The few times he liaised with wolves, never once he met a lone wolf. He recalled that the first time he met Larry, the wolf was accompanied by a white wolf named Gary, a cheery one in contrast to Larry. Lionheart even assumed that Gary was enthusiastic about the prospect of a job, smiles occasionally peeking from his otherwise calm face.
"I believe I have mentioned to you about my reason for hiring you this time?" Lionheart queried.
"Yes, sir. Some guests from out-of-town would be visiting Zootopia in two days and you would like us to escort them."
"Good," Lionheart then produced a brown envelope and slid it across his table, "These documents contain the necessary details. This is mostly private matter, so please keep it down."
"Certainly, sir," Larry replied as he took the envelope and slipped it into his jacket. Lionheart sometimes wondered if all private guards loved to dress in black.
"By the way, why aren't you with a company today?"
Larry didn't immediately answer.
"Or did something happen with the white one? Gary, was it?"
"He's feeling unwell, sir," Larry replied, and Lionheart felt the wolf's words sounded rather tense although physically his demeanor barely shifted, "so today I don't take him along."
"I see. I suppose I asked too much," Lionheart leaned backwards, "I have nothing else to say. You may leave."
Larry bowed to Lionheart before leaving, dropping his blank expression once he exited the bar and met two timberwolves, packmembers Wilfred and Boris, before they drove off in a van. He began perusing the documents Lionheart gave him, but at times he looked out longingly to the horizon.
He did not take Gary along, that much is true. Gary was feeling unwell, well, it appeared that he had been depressed ever since the group were thrown to jail for aiding Mayor Lionheart over three months ago. Larry sorely recalled how sometimes Gary said it's his fault that the pack was imprisoned, to the point that Larry had to insist that Gary stop thinking about it that way. Even after the truth of the event went out and they were bailed out with Lionheart's aid, Gary's mood never improved, not until he just disappeared a few days ago. He said he only wanted some fresh air. Why hadn't he returned? Larry sighed. Had someone attacked Gary? Like the case with those mammals who went savage? Larry silently shook his head. Any savage mammal would have made enough ruckus in the neighborhood, and they wouldn't have had the mind to cleverly evade anyone out to confront them. Gary, on the other hand, seemingly had deliberately disappeared. Deliberately disappeared. Larry hated the thought of it. He could only hope that Gary would return soon. With that said, he continued his work.
The corners of Savannah Central might not be as noisy as the parts nearer to the Downtown after sunset, but the dense brick jungle made them feel crowded. Even in places where there were few residents, including some places with derelict building perhaps due for demolition, half-empty apartment blocks, or back alleys, nowhere was ever really quiet. Shops and cafes were abound, subdued as they were compared to the ones running at day. Some bars weren't even distinguishable from residential units or empty houses as they didn't hang their signages overtly.
A figure in hooded jacket was strolling down a back alley quite a distance away from Elm St. He occasionally gazed up whenever he passed by an arced door, and when he chanced upon a sign that said "Nightwiches", he decided to enter. The bar was half-full, the ambience was rather dingy thanks to the curtained windows, there was some mellow music on the radio, and the patrons paid no heed to the figure who just walked in. He pulled his hood down, revealing himself as a white wolf. He signaled to a deer waitress as he grabbed a rather dim corner seat adjacent to a window. While waiting for his order, he browsed his phone, a second-hand he bought just a few days ago. There was a few messages from someone named M. Rio.
"Hi, Gary. Thanks again for the escort. Daddy's angry that I got hit by those hyena bullies, but I'm fine. Just minor bruises. At least not on my face. Tee hee. Are you ok though? You had to brawl with so many of them. Oh well, hope to see you again, bye."
Marco Riodores, son of a wealthy capybara businessman named Carlos Riodores, who lived somewhere in southern Rainforest District. Gary huffed. Mr. Riodores was among his first clients ever since he decided to become freelance bodyguard. The task was normal enough: Marco wanted to go to Sahara Square for leisure, and all Gary needed to do was to escort the young boy. Who knew some people hated the Riodores so much as to stalk the boy all the way to the Square to attack him?
Gary reminisced about his tumultous guard duty last night. While escorting the boy at the Square, he and the boy were accosted by three hyenas, probably some hired thugs. Merely taking down those hyenas all by himself would have been trivial, but having to protect the boy at the same time was a handful. The hyenas managed to assault the boy as he tussled with them. And he didn't fully subdue the hyenas either, as some ZPD forces happened to be nearby and forced the hyenas to flee, with Gary himself having to follow suit with Marco in tow. Thanks to that, this morning Mr. Riodores angrily called him out for not doing his job, and he was thankful that he got paid at all by Marco, who said his little compensation fee was tip, likely without his father's knowledge. That boy was too nice.
After thanking Marco, Gary slipped his phone into his pocket as the deer waitress served his drink order. In between slurping his drink, he peeked out of the curtained window. He saw a bear walked past, then some time later a couple of chatting bisons, then a wolf, at which point he instinctively looked to his left. Nobody. Gary remembered that he was now all by himself ever since that night.
Gary slumped backwards and drifted to memory. After the pack was released from jail about a week ago, they had mostly stayed at their Tundratown base, somewhere around Avalanche district, to rest and prepare for any future jobs. Then one night, he told Larry, who was in the garage with Lucas and Boris, that he wanted to cool off at the bay. Larry might have suspected something, but he still gave Gary a go-ahead anyway, only asking him to return before midnight as there would be soup for supper. But Gary packed his cash and small essentials into his hoodie before leaving, grabbing a half-finished sandwich on his way out. On the way to the bay, Gary was alone, having detected none of his pack following him. He stopped midway towards his destination, then slipped out of the main roads and dashed to the nearest train station. Larry and the others probably had just started tracking him at Tundratown when he had already reached somewhere past the Riverside, and he had resided at Savannah Central ever since.
I shouldn't be burdening you guys anymore. Sorry.
Gary then just finished his drink, left some money at the cashier and went off to rest. He'd go find another client tomorrow.