Chapter 9: Spitfire

Breakfast at Flake's was rushed, and Clawhauser was the only one with any appetite. They did not bother going into the backroom this time. There were not many secrets in the conversation, because the truth was that they were out of ideas. The case was not completely cold yet, but most of their leads drove away with Pumar's car or on the vixen's motorcycle. Judy still had plenty of footage to review from the cameras, but if that did not turn anything up soon, they would need to go back to the drawing board.

Wolford and Clawhauser decided to help Judy scan the cameras, Clawhauser suggesting no one would notice him staring at a screen since that was how he spent most of his time anyway. Fangmeyer was assigned to help McHorn track down the motorcycle the vixen used, so she would be on the phone with the DMV until the end of time.

As Judy walked into the precinct behind Clawhauser and Wolford, she was reminded of how her team was now one member short.

"Never thought I'd resent a rabbit so much," Wolford murmured as they made their way through the lobby. He blinked, looking down at Judy and nervously waving a paw at her. "I don't mean you, I mean the tiger wannabe upstairs."

"I know," Judy agreed. "He's been nothing but trouble for us."

"I have no idea where he got those stripes from," Clawhauser whispered in his usual rumor-mill tone. "Do you think he paints them on his face every morning?"

"It's probably just pigmentation," Judy said and hushed her colleague, though she had to admit she had never seen a bunny like him before, and for her that was saying something.

Jack Savage was more than annoying, he was a threat. Up until now Judy's team operated under the assumption that the ZBI was unaware of their activities. But when Francine was placed on administrative leave, she knew Savage was on to her. It was still possible that he simply caught Francine's hand where it should not have been, but the way he looked at her that morning made it very clear that he was watching. If only Judy knew what Francine was after, she might learn what it was that spooked him so much.

"I'll start with the parkway cams. Those might take a while," Clawhauser told her as they parted at the lobby. Judy nodded and thanked him for helping. She realized she should be thanking her teammates more often, since it was now much more clear what they were all risking by helping her.

"Hopps, where do you want to start?" Wolford asked as they made their way to their desks.

"You start with Amazon Avenue, I'll look at the Meadows," she instructed, though her spirits were clearly low. It was difficult to rally morale around staring at a computer screen hoping to find gold.

"Gotcha," he said with a salute and made his way to his desk down the hall.

Judy sighed as she sat down, her mind drifting from Francine, to Savage, and back to the mysterious vixen. She noticed the large tundra coat Francine had blanketed her with while she slept at her desk. It was now crumpled up on the floor beside her chair. Judy's heart dove a little at the kind gesture from someone now facing criminal investigation. She dragged the enormous coat into the hallway where she spent a few minutes folding it up. The act reminded her of wrangling a crop-tarp they would use to cover the more fragile vegetables from stormy weather on the Hopps farm. After some effort, she finally placed the folded mass beside Francine's chair and got back to her desk.

She went to type something into her computer, but her keyboard was pushed to the side. Instead, a beige file with a short stack of papers sat in the center of her desk. Judy remembered waking up to find she had used it as a pillow, but the strange thing was that she did not recall seeing it before. Judy's brow furrowed as she curiously opened the file up.

She gasped as the very first thing she noticed was a photo of the very same vixen she had chased through downtown the evening earlier. She was wearing a slim suit jacket and a white blouse, looking much more professional than she did in her bike-suit. Judy also noticed a bright red sticky-note covering details on the vixen.

For Judy, it read.

"Francine, what did you do?" she whispered and pulled up the note, looking at the file more closely. There was a large red stamp across the front that labeled the document 'classified', and Judy was positive that neither she nor Francine had the clearance to see what was in her paws. The responsible thing would be to turn the file in to the chief, but Judy was not going to let Francine's sacrifice go to waste. She took a deep breath, steeling herself to break the first real law during her hunt for Nick. She would suffer the same fate as Francine or worse if she was caught now.

ZBI Agent Profile

Legal Name: Skylar Elizabeth Frost

Prefered Name: 'Skye'

Codename: Spitfire

Rank: Special Agent

Current Status: KIA

"Sweet cheese and crackers," Judy cursed as she read over the details of the vixen's profile. "She was ZBI."

Assignment date: REDACTED

Expertise: Mechanics, high-speed pursuit tactics, paw-to-paw combat, burglary and smuggling.

Onboarding notes: Attitude and demeanor suggests unwillingness to cooperate with teammates, recommended solo assignments only.

Previous employment: 3 years spent in Zoo York Correctional Facility for attempted burglary before working as a consultant for local law enforcement in exchange for a relaxed sentence.

'Spitfire' seemed like an apt codename for the vixen, or rather 'Agent Frost' as Judy discovered. She found it astonishing that the ZBI would ever let a former criminal into their ranks. But then again, perhaps some mammal in charge saw potential given her skillset. What was more concerning to Judy at the moment was that her current status was labeled 'killed in action'. Judy's still-aching shoulder was evidence that the file was wrong. She skipped forward a few pages and found a section labeled 'Recent Notes'.

KIA notice:

Operation 'Catscratch', September 15th, XXXX. Agent Frost was killed in an automobile fire while on assigned stakeout in Zootopia's Canal District. Suspected foul play. Agent Frost was tailing suspected sightings of known 'Dravec' sympathiser and gun runner Victor Pumar.

There was a small photograph included with the description. It displayed the remains of an older sportscar parked beside a vacuum shop. The paint, windows, doors, and everything inside were blackened and burned so all that was left was a black and sickly skeleton of a once beautiful car. Judy was surprised that she did not recall the fire. The fire department was clearly called to stop the blaze, and it must have happened relatively recently. Zootopia's Canal District was as far away from city center as it got, so it was likely out of her precinct's jurisdiction.

Judy's eyes drifted into space as she remembered what Francine mentioned the night before. She thought she remembered something about an arctic fox. If there was a reported fatality from a car fire, Francine would have definitely seen that in the incident report. This event must have been what she meant. Francine had gotten up to stretch her legs and Judy fell asleep. Francine must have stumbled across an open ZBI computer and accessed this file before she got caught.

Judy stared back at the image of the burned car. She could also make out a street sign in the blurry background, labeled Kapok Street. Judy rose to her feet and quickly made her way down the hall with the file in her paw.

"You find something?" Wolford asked, leaning out of his cubicle as she walked by him.

"I found . . . I'm not sure yet, but I'm just going to check on something in the canals. Stay here and let me know as soon as you find anything," she said over her shoulder.

Wolford looked at her with a confused expression before shrugging at her.

"You're the bunny boss," he said, and got back to his computer screen.

As Judy made her way out of the precinct and into her cruiser, she contemplated her decision to keep the others in the dark. There was a chance, however slight, that they might know something about the this car fire. They'd all been a great help thus far. But the file that now rested in the passenger seat of her squad car was illegal for her to even know about, much less to keep hidden from her supervisors. She would not see any more members of her team punished for helping her.

Judy's eyes occasionally shot back to the folder on the passenger seat as she drove down Amazon Ave. Her mind was racing with possibilities now. Yesterday she assumed that there were only three members of Pumar's gang: himself, Terrence, and Nick. But now she knew about this vixen and where she came from.

"Savage knew," she realized aloud. He must have known about Agent Frost's roll with Pumar. Perhaps she was investigating Pumar's whereabouts and was offered an appetizing role in his plan. If she was a double agent and still working with the ZBI, Savage would have caught them by now. Also, Savage seemed shaken when she told him about the vixen. The ZBI had a traitor on their team and now they were trying to cover their tails.

"That hateful, condescending, hypocritical, rotten sack of horseradish," Judy swore. She gripped the steering wheel tightly in her paws and groaned angrily. He had the nerve to tell her she was unfit to investigate the case because of her bias for Nick, while he was just trying to save the ZBI from some embarrassing press.

"Easy, Judy," she said, calming herself down. Thanks to Francine, she was now on an equal playing field with Agent Savage, and she still had a lead towards finding Nick. The remaining members of her team still gave her a much-needed element of surprise as well, and aside from the file sitting beside her, she had not broken any laws or raised any suspicion from the chief.

The cruiser finally made its way past the crowded highways that connected each part of the Rainforest District and into the tighter roads that lined the Canal District. This was the area Judy was the least familiar with, only ever passing it when she took the train between the city and her home in the burrows. Every street had a giant tree on one side and a stream of water on the other. The shops were built right into the bark of each tree, and the canals were filled with small watercraft such as kayaks and paddleboards for mammals enjoying themselves on the water.

Nick once suggested that a gondola ride along the canals would actually make a nice romantic evening out, but every time he brought it up, Judy argued that they did not have time. How foolish she was to think that paperwork was more important than enjoying the time she had with Nick more fully. If she was lucky enough to see him again, she swore to savor spending time with him like it was the last day on earth.

She finally pulled up at the corner where the photograph of the car fire was taken. Any debris or scorch marks from the blaze had been washed away either by rain or by the fire department. She parked her cruiser a few spots away from where Agent Frost's car was parked when it caught fire. She got out and quietly observed the area for a moment. The parking spot was on the tree side of the street, directly in front of the vacuum shop. The canal on the other side of the street flowed gently southbound. Nothing particularly revealing about the spot, but that was not what she drove there for. She turned and made her way inside the vacuum shop.

The bell rang gently as Judy pushed the door open and walked past a few vacuums on display of varying sizes. The biggest one looked large enough to swallow her whole. A friendly-looking whitetail deer behind the counter wearing a pleasant smile watched her stroll in. He donned his glasses and nodded his head towards her.

"Good morning, officer," he greeted her. "If you're looking for something rabbit-sized, I have a good selection on display on the opposite wall there."

"Good morning!" she answered with a short skip, offering a genuine smile in return. "I'm actually not here to shop, though I might need something more powerful for my apartment soon."

"Let me guess. Messy roommate?" he asked.

"You have no idea," Judy said. "I was hoping I could ask you a few things about a car fire that happened recently in front of this store."

"Oh yeah, that," he said before shaking his head solemnly. "Just terrible, what happened."

"Did you happen to witness the fire?" Judy asked.

"Oh yes, my son and I live upstairs so I saw the whole thing. I woke up to the sounds of screams outside so I peeked out my window and all I see are flames. At first I was nervous that the store had caught fire, so I went into my son's room to get him out, but his bed was empty."

"Was he hurt?" Judy asked with a paw to her mouth. The deer smiled and shook his head.

"He was fine, thank heavens. He stayed late at a friend's house and ended up biking home. He got a much better look at the fire than I did, actually. He said it started while he was rounding the corner so he saw it from the start," the deer explained.

"Really," Judy said with her eyebrows raised. "He wouldn't happen to be here today, would he?"

"Well, he hasn't left for school yet, so he should be down any minute," the deer said, looking towards the back of the shop where the stairs were. "Can I ask what this is about? I mean, I'm not surprised the police are curious about a car fire, but the event was months ago. Is the case still open?"

"It's just an issue with our files," Judy said. "We try our best to keep the information where it's supposed to be, but every so often we see a gap that needs filling."

"I see," the deer said with a nod. "Good thing you're on top of it then. I was worried when you walked in that my son might have gotten himself into trouble."

Judy laughed and waved his concerns away. "I'm sorry, sir. I get that from parents all the time, actually."

"I'm sure you've found yourself a stray kit or two playing hooky while on the beat. Officer . . ." he said, leaning forward to get a better look at her badge.

"Hopps," she answered with a smile.

"Call me John," he said, smiling back. "I'm so sorry, let me get my son down here before I waste anymore of your time."

"Thank you," Judy said, not wanting to seem in a rush. Though, if she was honest with herself, she had little time to dawdle when there could be a bomb planted anywhere in the city.

"Nathan!" John called up to the apartment above with a hoof to his mouth. "The police are down here, we know all about the drugs!"

"What?!" Judy heard a younger voice call out from upstairs. There was a shuffling of footsteps and frantic movement followed by the mutterings of a nervous teenager.

"That should get him," John said, shooting Judy a smile. More frantic footsteps echoed from the staircase as a shorter buck practically ran down the stairs to see his father behind the counter and a bunny in a police uniform. His antlers were still growing in, barely a point on them. He looked around nervously between the two of them with his paws open, as if to demonstrate there was nothing in them.

"I have no idea what drugs you're talking about! Please, officer, if Rodney was caught with nip, he did not get it from me, I swear!"

"Calm down, Nathan, I'm not busting anyone for drugs today. Your father was playing you," she said and gestured to John, who was trying his best to hold his laughter in. In a moment, Nathan's face twisted from wide-eyed fear to a frustrated glare.

"Dad!" he barked. John began doubling over in laughter and slapping his hoof against the countertop.

"Well, at least I know you're not dealing drugs! Though you might have just squealed on your friend."

Nathan bit his lower lip and shot Judy another fearful glance, his foot placed firmly in his mouth. Judy shook her head gently again and waved off his father's teasing.

"Nathan, my name is Officer Hopps. Your father tells me that you got a good look at the car fire that happened outside your home a few months ago. I was wondering if you could tell me what you saw."

Nathan relaxed a little and placed his hooves in the pocket of his hoodie. "Oh yeah. That was crazy! I was biking home late one Friday night and there was this old sports car parked out front. I didn't think anything of it till I got a little closer and the whole thing went up in flames!"

"Just like that? How fast was it?" Judy asked.

"It was basically an explosion! There was this massive fireball like *pschew*, and the fire was so hot I could feel the heat from a block down!" Nathan accented his story with sound effects and hand gestures illustrating how the car was set ablaze. Certainly foul play, Judy thought.

"There was a small crowd watching the fire by the time I got any closer. Mammals were screaming and shouting. I caught some of it on video but my dad says I can't post it online," he mentioned. The last comment made Judy's ear twitch.

"You caught it on video?" she asked eagerly. "May I see it?"

Nathan's eyes lit up and he smiled, looking hesitantly at his dad as if asking permission. John rolled his eyes and motioned towards the stairs with one hoof.

"Gotta get my phone!" Nathan said and bolted back towards the staircase behind the counter where he came from. Judy could hear his excited footsteps pound against the hardwood floors.

"He's fast," Judy observed.

"Nathan runs like a Deere," John said proudly and nodded.

"Why not let him post the video?" Judy asked offhand.

"You'll see when you watch the video. Some poor mammal lost somebody in the fire, I didn't want Nathan broadcasting that online. Though I'm realizing now I probably should have sent it to the ZPD in case they needed it," he said sheepishly.

Less than a minute later, Nathan returned with his phone in his hoof. The young buck only needed to lean over a bit to get to Judy's eye level. Judy brought the phone up to her face as Nathan eagerly pressed play.

"Whoa! Holy scat!" Nathan's voice rang out when the video started playing. The car was already aflame and a crowd of spectators watched the car from a safe-ish distance. The shaky video showed the car with its paint still intact, but the interior completely alight with a raging blaze. The windows were blown out and the blackest smoke poured upwards into the night sky. Judy noticed that the ground underneath the car was on fire as well.

"Let me through, let me through!" she heard a voice cry from off screen. Judy held the screen up closer to her face, watching carefully. There was something familiar about that voice.

"Out of the way! Let me go!" the voice called out. Nathan's camera pointed away from the fire and to the crowd beside him. Judy could barely contain a choked gasp as Jack Savage appeared on screen. He was dressed in his same suit as usual, but his expression was completely new to her. Another ZBI agent she remembered as Agent Brocktree, a badger, was holding onto his suit jacket, keeping him from running towards the blaze.

"Skye! Let me go, she's still in there! Skye!" He kicked and clawed at his coworker who held onto him with a painful sorrow in her eyes. Another agent soon joined the badger in keeping Savage restrained. What Judy was watching was unreal. Jack Savage's face was not the indifference or haughty contempt he usually displayed. There was little else to see from his shaking features and broken voice. Panic, anger, and fear.

"Skye! Skye!" he called out, his voice breaking as his legs gave out.

"Nathan! Where were you? I was so worried! Put that down, we've gotta get somewhere safer," John's voice rang in the microphone. The camera shook and pointed down towards the ground before cutting off completely.

"Play it again!" Judy barked. Nathan jumped with a start before scrolling back through the video player on his phone and hitting play. Once again, the image of the car filled up the entire frame with a bright and angry orange glow. The camera shook a little as the car continued to burn. A few moments later, Jack Savage appeared on screen, screaming out for Agent Frost and fighting with his coworkers in vain.

Judy's heart dropped as she watched Agent Savage writhe in agony as he watched the vixen burn. It was so strange to her, watching the bunny she came to resent in so much pain. It felt a bit like the first time she saw the photo of Nick with Pumar and Terrence, like it was a cartoon or a fictional TV show. But despite playing and replaying the footage a few times more, the phone showed the same impossible video every time.

"I'll need you to send this to me," Judy requested before handing back Nathan's phone to him. She produced a ZPD card with her contact information on it and handed it to the young buck, who took it and nodded hesitantly.

"Is there anything else we can do, Officer Hopps?" John asked politely.

"Thank you, but no. I believe this will be plenty," she said and motioned towards the door. She was eager to get back to the precinct now and confer with her coworkers that what she just saw was real.

"Is everything ok?" Nathan asked timidly.

Judy feigned a smile and waved off their concerned looks.

"It's fine, Nathan. Thank you for helping me. If you think of anything else, just reach out to me with that email address," she said and turned to leave. "Oh! And tell your friend Rodney that we catch dozens of kids with nip every day, so if he doesn't quit he'll probably be brought into the station in cuffs."

Nathan's eyes went wide and he nodded nervously at Judy's warning. She guessed that Nathan was a good kid, so her warning would be passed on. Judy waved at the both of them and stepped out the door and into the street, her mind still reeling from the video. She was now on the same street corner she saw in the clip, only the spot in front of the store was now empty. Judy stopped and stared at the empty spot, trying to make sense of everything she learned.

Not only had a ZBI agent gone rogue by faking her own death, but even Jack Savage was duped by it. He even seemed to care about the vixen, enough to break down in horror at the sight of her 'demise'. Agent Frost came from a criminal background, so it was not crazy to suggest she could be bought by a well-paid gunrunner. She could have played along with the ZBI until the time came to ditch them. The story was so familiar it sent shivers down her spine.

Judy noticed something else about the parking spot in front of the store. There was a storm drain along the curb that was large enough for her to slip into easily, should she need to. The car would have been parked directly above the drain, obscuring it from the camera. She then remembered seeing flames on the ground beneath the car while the fire was still blazing in the interior. The outside wasn't burned up by that point, so whatever catalyst was fueling the fire had spilled onto the ground through a hole in the floor of the car. Perhaps a hole big enough for a slim vixen to fit through.

Judy looked up towards the nearby canal and stepped forward. She looked down both directions of the street carefully before crossing it quickly and hopping up onto the stone wall that bordered the edge of the road and the canal. Below her feet was a large concrete pipeline that opened out into the canal to funnel rainwater off the streets.

"She must have slipped out here," Judy murmured and looked downriver. The vixen slipped out of view of the crowd and into the water where her scent would be lost to any trackers looking for her. A little misdirection and flash could fool the most confident mind when the timing is right, Nick would say. Any good conman knew that. Judy stared out into the water, pondering something Jack Savage had told her when this whole mess started.

You're not the only one who got hustled.


A/N: A HUGE thank you to IttyBittyKittyTittys for the artwork in this particular chapter. It looks amazing. You can find it and more of his work at his Tumblr and Deviantart page.

Another big thank you to my beta readers, and to you my followers! Thanks for reading.