Chapter 2
Beep…Beep…Beep…. Beep
The alarm seemed to never end with its ear-piercing noise, the sound bounced off the walls back and forth across the small space with it then reaching the ears of the poor mammal that it tormented.
"Ah…. five more minutes…Please" Came a muffled voice from a bed within paws reach of the alarm on the bedside table.
Beep…. Beep…Beep…. Beep
The alarm seemed to only taunt the mammal more with its continued noise, the mammal hidden under the white bed sheets and pillow that his head had been resting under started to move and with all the effort he could muster he pushed a paw out to the alarm and gave it a slap stopping the device from creating any more of its wicked noise.
The bed groaned a little as its occupant started to get up and sit and the edge of the bed with his feet resting flat on the floor, sitting at the edge of the bed was a grey wolf his black and grey fur sticking out in all directions form his rolling around in the small bed.
Alex Grey was the wolfs name, he had just graduated from the ZPD academy after months of hellish training slowly building up his body finally ready to walk the beat and bring justice to the streets of Zootopia.
Alex was still sat on the edge of the bed yawning and rubbing his eyes when his brain finally started to function quickly deciding a shower was a good idea, getting up and making his bed the wolf made his way out across a small space to his bathroom.
After the graduation of him and his classmates he decided to find himself a place to live and as luck would have it a studio apartment just down the street from the ZPD was available, so he snatched it up money might have been a problem if his parents didn't help with the first few months rent which he very happily accepted.
He quickly took off his boxers and jumped into the shower letting the warm powerful stream of water rush through his fur clearing his head ready to face his first shift as an officer of the ZPD. Once he felt clean and refreshed he hopped out dried himself off and quickly slipped into some underwear then jumping into his brand-new uniform.
Grabbing a fur brush he started to flatten and tidy his fur in the mirror his deep blue eyes going over his uniform a new sense of pride bubbling up from within the lupine. He thought that it couldn't get any better after he had his badge pinned to his chest and when he turned to face the crowd seeing his mother's tears and his father's smile truly it was the best day of his life.
Now that he was clean and well-groomed breakfast was next heading to the kitchen but not before turning on the TV turning to the news Alex continued and started making his morning cup of tea and some toast.
"Our top story today" Alex heard the news presenter from the kitchen "Campaigning starts today for the new mayor of Zootopia the latest is there will be three candidates running for the position Blake Garrison, Amelia Blackwood and William Clark we wish them the best of luck and look forward to hearing what their main policies will be later today"
Alex finished his breakfast grabbed his phone and keys turned off the TV and left for the ZPD, as he walked down the street toward the precinct his thoughts drifting to what his day might be like but they all came up the same simply patrolling the streets of Zootopia which he wouldn't mind after all it was his first day, so he didn't expect anything special.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized he'd nearly walked right into the glass door of the precinct letting out a nervous chuckle he opened the door and went inside.
Once he was inside his eyes roomed the building looking over everything from the clean slick floors to the many office doors then to a reception desk with a chubby cheetah working on a computer and with Alex not being sure where roll call was being held he went over to the officer.
"Excuse me" He said once he'd got the deck. The cheetah turned from the computer to see the wolf greeting him with a smile.
"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me" The wolf enquired while the cheetah face grows with excitement.
"O…M…Goodness. You must be the new recruit" He said, Alex smiled and nodded.
"Yep that's me. Alex Grey nice to me you officer?" He asked extending a paw.
The cheetah still bright with excitement extended his own paw and they shook. "Benjamin Clawhauser"
"So, how'd you know I was the new recruit?"
"Easy I know all the officer's around here so it's not hard to tell whose new" the feline replied with a warm smile.
"Anyway ready for your first day?"
"Oh….um" Alex rubbed the back of his neck feeling a slight tingle of nerves. "Yea I think so"
Ben let out a little giggle "Don't worry you'll be fine besides I think the chief is going to partner you with someone so you won't be on your own"
A sigh of relief left the wolf along with a happy chuckle "That's good at least I won't have to worry about doing all the paperwork on my own"
Ben's smile seemed to grow a little more "I can tell you're going to fit in fine here"
Alex then realized that roll call was minutes away and he needed to get going or be late on his first day "I would love to keep chatting with you Ben but I should get to roll call so…..which way?"
The cheetah must have realized as well answering quickly "Ball pen's just down there to the left. Good luck on your first day Alex" He said with another warm smile.
"Thanks Ben I will. See you later" Alex said as he left the cheetah and headed off down the hall and toward the ball pen. Just as he got to the door and put a paw on the handle he took one big breath in and out to steady himself.
"Well, here we go" He then push the door open and entered the room.
Once inside the ball pen he found it filled with officers taking up most of the seats in the room, the air was buzzing with conversation between the various mammals, small talk to fill the time before there shift started, Alex's eyes fell upon an open seat at the front of the room so he preceded down to the front and sat down.
Once he was seated his mind went over what Clawhauser had told him 'The chief is going to partner you up with someone' probably another wolf Alex thought.
"Alright. Shut it!" Came a booming voice from the front. Chief Bogo had silenced the room, the cape buffalo had managed to slip into the room unnoticed, positioned himself front and center ready to hand out assignments to the once chatty bunch of officers.
"I've got two items on the docket. First, there is a new recruit I should introduce… but I'm not going to cause I don't care" the other officers sniggered while Alex grinned a nervous grin.
"Now number two. Lately, we've managed to take a dozen Nighthowler dealers into custody but none of them are giving up their suppliers" the chief let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Worse still The Black Fangs are getting smarter about how they conduct there dealings so I'm setting up a task force to root out the mammals supplying the gang and hopefully catch the head of the gang as well" the room was dead quiet as the cape buffalo spoke the seriousness of the situation seemed to be emphasized just by lack of words plus the chief's face was one of driven rage.
"I want these mammals off the streets ASAP because with the elections for the new mayor being right around the corner we're going to have our paws full" the chief then picked up his clipboard while his calm demeanor returned, Alex was surprised by how fast the buffalo could go from one extreme emotion to a calm state so fast and not bat an eye.
"Assignments" Bogo started giving out the officer's duty's, Alex felt his tail instinctively start to wag from his sheer excitement so he focused his attention on keeping it still so he didn't embarrass himself but in doing so he missed which officers got which assignments.
Alex was now the only one left in the room with the chief when he heard his commanding voice.
"Officer Grey" the lupin swallowed a nervous lump in his throat.
"Yes…. Sir" he answered a little more meekly then he would have liked.
"Normally I'd partner you with someone and have you on patrol" the chief came around his deck standing next to it as he continued.
"But right now, we are stretched a bit thin so you'll be helping out one of our veteran officers with a homicide" the wolf felt his heart pound against his ribs while his eyes widened a little.
"Now I'd understand if you don't think you can do this I am asking a lot out of you" before Bogo could say anymore Alex answered as if on autopilot.
"No, sir I-I can do this" Bogo raised an eyebrow.
"Really? You don't seem sure" Alex straightened his back while his eyes meet the hardened pupils of the chief.
"I can do it sir" he answered with gusto.
Bogo's eyes went over the lupine, it's true he really didn't have the mammal power to spare for this new case but he had to admit he was very apprehensive about assigning a rookie to a fresh homicide, the fact that he was putting him with one of his best officers did ease his nerves a little but the cape buffalo still had to make a decision that he really didn't want to make.
"Alright if you think you can handle it" Alex felt a warm sense of pride well up inside him with a smile creeping its way onto his face.
"But!" Bogo said pointing a finger at the startled wolf "if you screw up I'll have you on parking duty for a year understand?" Alex stood up quickly saluting the chief fear driving his actions more than anything.
"Understood sir"
"Good, the crime scene is outside a club in Savannah central called Envy, the officer you'll be working with is waiting for you outside. Dismissed!" the wolf made his way to the door and left the room leaving Bogo behind.
The chief let out a long sigh taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"That better not come back to bite me in the tail" he muttered picking up his clipboard and heading for his office.
Outside the ZPD
Alex walked out of the glass doors of precinct one the warm morning sun dancing across his fur, a homicide on his first day as a rookie 'is that even allowed' the thought did cross his mind as he came down the stone steps even if it was true he didn't care one bit he wanted to be a cop and he'd not screw this up Bogo had made that very clear.
A chill rose up his spine at the thought of parking duty for a whole year.
A ZPD cruiser pulled up in front of the lupine, the window rolled down to reveal a red fox in a pair of aviators his ZPD blues and a smirk.
"Hey sorry I'm a bit late. Were you waiting long?"
"No. Just waiting for my partner to show" the foxes smirk grow a little.
"That would be me, Officer Nick Wilde" he answered pushing his shades down his snot a little showing off a pair of emerald green eyes "Hop in"
Alex hopped into the passenger seat buckled himself in and they set off for Savannah central.
As they drove Alex left the window down enjoying the wind running through his fur the temptation to let his tongue hang out was growing ever so slowly he'd used to do it as a kid, he'd tried and failed to grow out of the silly ritual just accepting it as part of who he was even if it was stupid.
"Enjoying yourself their rookie?" Alex turned to face Nick his smirk still gracing his muzzle.
"What?"
"I know what your thinking. Go ahead I won't judge" Alex really was tempted to do it.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Nick chuckled taking off his aviators as they pulled up to a stop light.
"You're easy to read wolfly, you want to stick your head out and let your tongue dangle in the wind right?" Alex met Nicks eyes suddenly he felt like he couldn't lie so he nodded rather reluctantly.
"How did you know?"
"Your muzzle was twitching and I'm pretty certain your tongue was poking out a little" the wolf felt a wave of heat creep it's way up his neck.
He sighed "Great my first day and I'm already making a fool of myself"
"Don't say that there's still a whole day to go yet" the lupine groaned while Nick chuckled.
"What's your name rookie?"
"Alex Grey" Nick quickly shook the wolfs paw.
"Nice to make your acquaintance" The light turned green and they set off again making their way through the early morning sun, traffic seemed to flow like a river making the trip sooth and quick.
Savannah Central outside club Envy
The two canines made it to the crime scene the area still fairly quiet due to it being early morning, crime scene tape block the alleyway where a body was laying with a couple of officers stood at the tape keeping the few members of the public who wanted to see what was going on with the classic 'move along please there's nothing to see' while a third mammal was inside the tape kneeling over the body.
Nick and Alex exited their cruiser making their way over the scene became much clearer, a pool of bright red blood rested underneath a motionless body, seeing the scene made the wolfs whole being shiver from the tip of his tail to the points of his ears with his feet slowing down causing him to fall behind Nick, the fox turned to see the wolfs eyes fixed on the horrible scene ahead.
"Hey Grey" Alex pulled his vision away and focus on Nick.
"You okay?" he glanced again at the scene and shook his head. Nick knew already that this might happen he'd seen a few rookies before trying to hold their nerve in front of their first body, but it never was easy things like this were never easy, but it was part of the job and it had to be done.
"Yea the first is never easy"
"Does it ever get any easier?" Alex asked. Nick looked away.
"When I find out I'll let you know" Nick knew that wouldn't help ease the wolf but neither could he lie about it, Nick had worked a few homicides since he started at the ZPD each one was bad or worse than the last seeing the pain death could cause to the loved ones left behind, that's what he hated most not the act of killing the poor mammals that are left behind to grieve for there fallen loved one.
Nick turned back to Alex.
"Come on newbie let's get to work" Nick started walking over leaving the wolf, Alex was truth be told a bit apprehensive about seeing his first homicide victim, but this was partly why he wanted to be a cop to stop crimes like this from happening.
Straightening his back he breathed in deep catching the smell of dried blood which made him hack for a moment but he pushed all his nerves and worries aside and started over to his first homicide.
The canines moved under the tape and stepped until they were about a foot away from the body and blood pool its smell overpowering the officer's sense of smell to the point where they almost have to cover their nose's.
"Morning Honey" Nick said the mammal kneeling over the body looked up at the canine officers revealing a honey badger wearing a white shirt black blazer and black trousers.
"Morning Nick. Morning Ju…." Her gaze lands on the wolf next to Nick clearly expecting someone else.
"Where's your partner Nick?" she asks. Nick nods towards the lupine.
"Right here"
"I'm pretty sure Judy is a rabbit last I checked" Nick smirks.
"Well look at you junior detective"
"Har har you should do stand-up"
"Tired that no one liked my jokes"
"Did you tell them the one about the three-humped camel?" Nick's chest puffs out a little.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Honey shakes her head.
"Never mind I have my answer, so where is officer Hopps?"
"She had to go back home her mother is giving birth to a new litter and she wanted to see her new siblings"
"Fair enough so who's this?" she asks nodding toward Alex.
"Oh, where are my manners? Honey this is officer Alex Grey. Alex this is Honey chief medical examiner at the ZPD" Alex smiled.
"Nice to meet you Honey" she returned his smile with one of her own.
"Nice to meet you too Alex" they would have shaken paws if honey wasn't wearing white gloves.
"So, what have we got?" Nick asked. Honey sighed and looked down at the poor broken mammal on the floor.
"Male hyena mid-twenties single GSW to the head" Honey checked his body for anything to tell them what happened.
She checked his front pockets and found a couple of hundred dollars in cash.
"Robbery gone wrong maybe?" Alex commented while Nick shook his head.
"If it was why not take the money after he killed him" just then Honey pulled out a bag from the hyenas back pocket its contents a purple powder.
"Nighthowler" Nick growled.
"So, he's a dealer oh poor baby where did it go wrong?" Honey said while stroking a part of the hyena's fur that didn't have dried blood covering it. Her touch was gentle and caring while her eyes shone with kindness.
"Hey, check this out" Nick had walked a couple of feet into the ally and was kneeling over a small bag Alex quickly made his way over.
"What is it?" Nick pulled out several smaller clear plastic bags with the same purple powder.
"I figured if he was a dealer he must have more with him than what we found on his body"
"You think this is about drugs?" Alex asked.
"Maybe… why don't you go and see if there are any witnesses while I check the rest of the scene"
"Sure Nick"
The wolf made his way over to the officers at the tape and asked if there were any witnesses when they arrived, the officer pointed to a group of five wolves sitting on the steps of the club, all of them looked shaken by the events of the night, Alex went over stopping at the bottom step in front of the lupines.
"Hello, I'm officer Alex Grey and I'm going to need to ask you some questions about last night if that's okay?" he said taking out a notebook from his breast pocket, they looked between one another before the female artic wolf started speaking her voice came out weak and quiet.
"W-w-we didn't see much officer" her gaze rested on the floor with her paws resting on her lap while her tail was wrapped around her stomach Alex felt his heart drop.
He bent down onto one knee so he was level with the group.
"Hey, it's okay" he said reassuringly "If you didn't see anything that's fine"
He looked to the other wolves they all seemed like there friend still trying to process what they had seen, however, one of the males had very twitchy paws and kept his gaze away from Alex.
"It's just a lot to take in you know?" one of the females said.
"Yea I understand but if you guys remember anything it would help immensely" she looked at the artic wolf next to her then back to Alex.
"If where honest us four" she said gesturing to every wolf apart of her white-furred friend "Didn't see anything but Luna did"
Luna looked up at her friend in disbelief then her and Alex's eyes meet her eyes were like nothing he'd ever seen before, they were a light smoky grey that matched her bright white fur perfectly, every time she blinked they seemed to sparkle drawing Alex's eyes deeper into hers.
"We knew the ZPD would show up to take her statement and we didn't want to leave her alone" Alex saw a smile creep its way onto Luna's face.
"Okay so, what do you remember?" Alex flipped his notebook open ready the write.
"I remember us in the line the go inside, we had just gotten to the front when I heard a bang and when I turned to look I-I saw…. that hyena fell to the ground" her voice grows quiet for a moment.
"Did you see the shooter?" Alex asked Luna shook her head.
"No, but I did see a car drive by after the I heard the shoot"
"Can you describe it?" she thinks for a moment.
"I think so, it was pretty dark. The car was small I think maybe a two-door and….it…was black"
"Any distinguishing features?"
"None that I can remember" Alex cursed under his breath. He couldn't and wouldn't blame her it was dark, the shooter must have been driving fairly quick after he'd shot and killed a mammal.
However, the lupine did not expect what came next.
"I did see the last three letters of his license plate" Alex smiled a big smile.
"Perfect, what were they?"
Luna told Alex the part of the plate she saw and after the wolf was done writing he stood up and extended a paw to she-wolf and they shook.
"Thank you for your help, if you remember anything else please don't hesitate to call" her eyes seemed to sparkle as she shook the officer's paw.
"I will officer, thank you" Alex turned and left the wolves heading back over to meet Nick and inform him of what he'd found.
As he walked away Luna's eyes lingered on him, she watched his tail sway back and forth as he went while her mind thought about how kind and patient he was with her, Luna's friends took notice of her staring at the lupines back specifically his grey and white shiny tail.
"Wow you only just meet and you're already ogling him" Luna had been caught staring and she knew it, she quickly shifted her gaze to her paws on her lap as a slight red blush made its way onto her cheeks.
"I don't know what you're talking about" she lied. Her friend just laughed.
"Hey, I'm not judging he was pretty handsome not my type though"
"Well seeing as your type is any mammal with a dick I'll consider him lucky" the jab earned her a glare from her friend, after a moment though she laughed.
"They do say variety is the spice of life" both females laughed but Luna was glad to get away from the subject of the officer because she really did think he was good looking and if she had shared this with her friends they would tease her relentlessly about it.
Meanwhile, Alex had made his way back to the crime scene where Nick had just left under the tape.
"Hey, learn anything Grey?" the fox asked.
"Not a lot but she did get a partial plate" he said but the fox was looking past him to the group of wolves Alex had just been with.
"Did you hear me Nick?" Nick returned his attention to the wolf.
"Oh…yea…. sorry, why don't you call in the plate I'll be back in a sec" Alex watched Nick head over to the group before he made his way back to the cruiser.
Alex jumped inside and grabbed the radio.
"Officer Grey to dispatch" he waited a moment before a familiar voice answered.
"Officer Clawhauser here. How's your first day going Alex?"
"Good considering the circumstances"
"Oh, yea you caught that murder in Savannah central"
"Yep. Speaking of the case could you run a partial plate for me?"
"Sure, what's the plate?" Alex read the plate to him and added on the description of the car even though he didn't think it was worth a dam.
"Alright, we'll put out a BOLO as well see if we can't find the car. I'll let you know if we hear anything"
"Thanks, Clawhauser" just as Alex finished Nick got back into the cruiser.
"So, what were you doing Nick?"
"When you were asking those wolfs questions did you notice one of them acting odd?" Nick questions.
"Yes… but I just thought he was still in shock from seeing the hyena" Nick then pulls from his pocket a small see-through bag with a purple powder inside.
"Nighthowler"
"Yep. That's why he was nerves" Nick placed the bag inside an evidence bag. "Not enough to arrest him so, I let him off with a warning"
Alex looked a little defeated his tail hanging loose and eyes falling on his lap. Truth be told he didn't even give the other wolves a second look his mind now having the image of Luna's face lingering in the corners of his brain.
"Hey, come on" Nick gave him a light punch to the shoulder "It's nothing and besides they don't teach you to read mammal-like I do at the academy"
That made the wolf feel better.
"Thanks, Nick hey maybe you can teach me how to read mammals like that" Nick chuckled.
"In your dreams rookie….so, did you call in the plate?" Alex nodded and told Nick about his talk with Clawhauser.
"Good and while you were talking to those wolves I got word that CSU is on the way" the fox started the cruiser and pulled on his seatbelt.
"Alright, what next?" Alex asked.
"Well we don't have any leads or even know the victim's name" Nick thought for a moment then he smiled.
"How about breakfast?" the wolf stared in disbelief Nick had caught him so off guard he had no idea what to say or do. The wolf went over what Nick had said and it did make sense they had no leads for which to follow so why not breakfast.
"Sure" Alex replied.
"Great! I hope you like blueberry muffins" both canines' stomachs growled as they set off.
Meanwhile in an apartment a few blocks away from the crime scene.
Two black fangs gang members were packing a few bags of Nighthowler into two black briefcases.
"Who is this stuff even going too?" one of them questioned.
"Don't know. Don't care" the other replied continuing to pack the case.
"This is the biggest deal we've done so far how can you not care?"
"The only things I care about are money and women. This is just a means to an end" a phone starting ringing interrupting the two so one of them stepped away to answer.
"Yea" he answered.
"Is the Nighthowler ready?"
"Yea just packing the last of it now"
"Good the boss wants this deal to go down smoothly"
"Don't worry it will"
"It better" the voice growled "I'll send you the address and time of the meet tonight. Don't be late!"
The line went dead and after a moment a message appeared on the phone with the time and place of the meet.
"The meet is set, we're meeting at an abandoned warehouse on the border with the rainforest district and savannah central"
His buddy nodded as they finished loading the cases with the deadly Nighthowler drug.
To be continued.
