AN: I'd like to thank all that have faved, followed, and just plain read my story. The amount of people that have looked at it really makes me happy to finally publish this story. And I hope those numbers increase as it progresses. And for everyone to know, I plan on updating this story at least once a week.
Chapter Two
Red Ledger
Jack sat in a maroon faux leather red booth by himself. The table was covered in Formica to make it look like white marble with black veins. It was a small diner hidden amongst the grandeur of Zootopia that he chose as his place to eat. He chose it on a number of occasions. He loved their blueberry cobbler; made with the best blueberries from Bunnyburrow. But a cobbler was not what he ordered today. He went with a plain order of some steamed vegetables. He sipped from the complementary water as he waited for his glass of ice tea and meal. He looked to the tables around him; they were all vacant of occupants; just how he liked it.
He always requested a seat far from the other patrons. He liked to be by himself, not pull any attention to himself. To blend into the background. That is how society saw most bunnies. Cookie cutter. Copy and paste. A dime a dozen. That is how everyone always saw him and every other bunny. And he liked it. He raised no alarms or red flags. He was a nobody, and that's what made his job so easy.
No one would expect a bunny to be a hitmammal, a killer. They are so cutesy, woosty, fluffy, et cetera et cetera. They couldn't even harm a fly. And Jack never did, but other mammals he has. He was good at his job. He always flew under the radar and was never of any suspicion. He was successful at leaving no link to him. That is until he was blindsided by the ZPD. They seemed to be able to track his operations and were able to ensnare him before he could complete a hit. He was well versed at seeing the veil that the police hid behind and how they did things. But one sly red fox had done better than anyone had done before. Nick Wilde had figured out how he had worked and used that against him. Nick had outsmarted him, and Jack was pleasantly surprised that he had been for once.
He was looking at life behind bars, but Officer Wilde saw the potential in him as he phrased it. He offered a deal to Jack. A deal that would keep him on the side of the bars he preferred to be on. Jack would work for the police as a resource for cutting down the underground that financed mammals like him. And especially no more killing whatsoever.
He also had to drop his relationship with Vincent Valentine, one that the ZPD did not know.
Vincent didn't like losing one of his best mammals, but he knew when he had been outplayed by the police. He agreed to drop Jack and let him go free, with one warning. If he ever crossed him with the information that Jack held, he would end up at the bottom of the watering hole with some new concrete shoes. Jack agreed.
He now worked for the ZPD as a fake hitmammal, but not committing to any of the hits. Instead fake the murders and get the one that called the hit arrested. It was just what he use to do, but with more rules and guidelines. And an undercover officer by his side throughout the hit. McHorn, or his stage name of Boris, was the classic one for the call, but others had taken the post.
Jack was pulled from his thoughts when the zebra waitress returned with his order and tea. She set them down in front of him, "Anything else?"
"No, thank you," Jack returned and she wondered off to tend to another table.
He began to eat the assortments of steamed vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, string beans, cauliflower, and tofu corn. He didn't get far into his meal when he felt a disturbance in the booth connected to the back of his. He paid no heed as he continued with his meal, or would have until the occupant to his back spoke up, "Hello there Mister Savage."
Jack dropped the fork with a piece of broccoli nosily to express his annoyance. He spoke with venom, "I don't due jobs in person. If you want to employ me find my website. It shouldn't be too hard if you were able to find me."
"Why I wish to employ you cannot be discussed over the internet Savage." The obvious male voice countered. It was the kind of voice some scum would get living their lives in the filth that was the sewers.
"Leave me," Jack spoke back returning to his meal.
"Is that really how Mister Valentine taught you to speak to customers?"
Jack slammed his fork down on the table in anger, "Vincent knows very well that I can't work for him, so what does that panda want? I have not broken our agreement."
"I don't work for Mister Valentine Savage."
"Then you have no business talking to me," Jack answered, "So leave my presence now or you will be sorry."
Jack was bluffing. He couldn't get violent as terms of his agreement with Nick. But this douche didn't know that and Jack just wanted some peace from this waste of time. The annoyance remained, "In fact, Savage I believe you will talk business with me."
He paused before adding, "Because of these."
He punctuated the statement by dropping something on the floor in front of Jack. The rabbit looked down to see a vanilla manila folder opened up with its documents on full display. There were pictures paper clipped to a stack of papers. Jack froze at what the contents of the file were. He glanced to the mammal that invaded his calm breakfast. Looking right back at him was a brown gray nine-banded armadillo. He wore a trench coat the exact same color as his armored skin. The armadillo sized Jack up with his gray eyes. As Jack did to him.
Jack looked sternly at the armadillo, "Where did you get those."
Jack grimaced and flashed clenched teeth at the mammal. The armadillo gave a half laugh, "You won't scare me Mister Savage. I know that you can't harm me."
He pointed to the files on the floor. Jack still held the anger, "Who are you?"
"Just call me Hoover."
"Ok, Hoover, then where did you get these?" Jack pointed a finger at the papers, his claws bared.
"Temper, temper Jack." Hoover noticing the rising anger in the small fluff ball, "I got these documents from my benefactor that wishes to employ you."
"A middle man," Jack noted, "Why doesn't your boss show his face to me. Then I will think about killing him instead."
"Killing will not be on the agenda today Savage."
"Who is your employer?"
"That is on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know."
"If I'm going to be working for a mysterious mammal in the shadows, then I ought to know his name before I take any job he wants."
"If you listen to the job, I may answer your questions Jack."
"Tell your boss no." Jack didn't want any more of this. He looked for the waitress to flag her down for his check. Hoover chimed in again, "I'm just going to tell you, know declining this offer will come with major consequences."
"Sure," Jack still couldn't see the zebra.
"If you say no, then that information will be released to the general public. Everyone will know by tomorrow everything about you. Especially your friends at the ZPD about your relationship with Vincent Valentine. A monstrous, malicious, short-tempered bunny with a kill count of eleven."
"I only killed six," Jack turned back to face Hoover.
Hoover smiled, "You and I both know that is a lie. You lied to everyone, even your best friend officer Wilde. There is more red in your ledger than you would like people to know. You only speak of your freelance work, but you forget what Valentine had you do."
Jack clenched his fists as his anger towards the armadillo rose higher. Hoover continued, "The Hopps were such a cute couple, your first hit ever. Members of your own kind. And right in front of their daughter."
Jack removed himself from his booth, kicking the documents away. He stood in front of Hoover, "How dare you say that name. You have no business bringing that up. Those were skeletons I buried deep in my closet long ago."
"That's the thing Savage," Hoover laughed, "my boss can dig up anything no matter how deep it is buried. Even something in the burrows."
"I am really tempted to kill you right now Hoover."
"If you do, then my boss will take that as noncompliance and this information will be on the afternoon news today. And I'm sure you don't want Vincent to see it do you?"
"This is outright blackmail; do you really think I would do what you want me to?"
"Then I guess you don't care about what that panda will do to you or anyone else that much at all. Even your little vulpine friend. I'll just tell my boss then," Hoover reached into his coat and pulled out a cell phone. Jack stopped him before he could unlock it, "Wait."
Hoover smiled and put the phone back, "I knew you would see it our way."
"Nick is an innocent. No one deserves that sort of fate."
"You are right," Hoover added, "the first fox cop. One of the best on the force, rising star. It would have been a shame for all of that to come crashing down because one bunny was too selfish."
"What's your job?" Jack liked this armadillo less and less.
Hoover motioned with a clawed hand to the side of the booth opposite him, to which Jack took. The look of anger not escaping his face. Hoover just smiled and answered with a question, "Do you know of Summit Enterprises?"
"What's the relevance?"
"All of it," Hoover still held the smile, "Do you know of them or not?"
"Yes." Jack grumbled.
"What my benefactor wishes is for you to liberate something from their possession."
"I'm a hitmammal not a cat burglar," Jack stated matter-of-factly.
"That may be the case, but your talent of not leaving a trace and not being seen is why they wish to employ you Savage."
Jack sighed. He rubbed his eyes with a paw, "What is it you want me to steal?"
"My boss didn't tell me much about it. There isn't much information on it," Hoover responded reaching into his jacket and pulling a second manila folder. He placed it on the table and slid it over to Jack. Jack reluctantly took it and opened to see a few pieces of paper, and a picture of some strange looking watch. Hoover explained, "It is classified as project Nexus. It is some sort of energy weapons device."
"And your benefactor wants this, because?" Jack asked closing the folder seeing it offering him no benefit.
"Didn't say, it was a need to know basis and I was out of the know."
"The life of a middle man," Jack stated giving the folder back to the armadillo.
"Very true," Hoover accepted the folder and stowed it back, "So I take this as an acceptance of the job?"
"To infiltrate a highly secretive tech conglomerate and steal a high tech prototype that they have been working on for years perhaps. A device that is classified as a weapon. And give it to a faceless powerful crime boss. And if I say no, the lives of several ZPD and mine are ruined." Jack looked to Hoover for anything. Something he might have missed.
Hoover simply smiled, "That's the gist of it Savage. Do we have a deal?"
Hoover extended a slimy clawed hand across the table. Jack was hesitant to accept it, but knew that he was blackmailed into a corner. He sighed accepting the claw and giving a single shake. Hoover grinned and removed himself from the booth. He began to scoop up the spilled folder on the rabbit off the floor. As he did he spoke, "There is a restaurant in the Canal District called The Caída de Agua. It's by the mountains, take a Zuber. Go have a nice dinner there. Once you are done exit from the bathroom window and find the garden outback."
Hoover finished retrieving the files and tucked it back in his coat. He turned to the sitting rabbit and continued, "There you will find a duffle bag of supplies that will help you infiltrate the Summit compound. You will receive more directions when you get the bag. Get in, get it, and get out. We will meet later, then you will give me Nexus and I will destroy the file." Hoover tapped the stowed file he had just picked up.
"Understood?" Hoover asked the rabbit. Jack nodded his answer. Hoover smiled and made to an exit, "then a good day to Mister Savage and good luck."
Hoover turned and walked to the exit of the diner. He stopped and quickly turning back adding, "And don't even think about contacting your fox friend or any other of those pigs. We will be watching you and if we see any course of deceit then the information will be released no matter what." Without waiting for a response Hoover continued on his exit.
Jack watched him silently. It was now that he finally noticed the other patrons of the restaurant. None of them knew what had transpired. And none of them will. With his ears plastered to the back of his head Jack removed himself from the booth and entered his. His food had already cooled off. He clenched his fists, his hands cracking slightly. He cursed and flagged down the waitress. A few minutes later Jack paid his bill and exited the diner, his appetite completely gone.
