Chapter 10: WildeHopps
Stone first saw, but did not meet, Nick and Judy in Chapter 1 of Zootopia: Stone Kole in Hang Ten!, when the two cops came to pick up a briefcase full of cash that washed up onto the shore. He didn't actually meet them until Chapter 7: The Darkside of the Beach, when Judy was trying to get Stone to tell her if he had witnessed a fight between some local surfers and a few young coyotes. Because Nick is his father Finnick's best friend, the little fox got to know the bigger fox better.
The pirate gaped at his bloody heart as she took it and held it over the fire. "I think I need that luv," he called over to her. "Can't we parley and talk about this, maybe over a bottle or two of rum?" He was surprised that he felt no pain in his chest and couldn't understand how he could talk when he wasn't breathing. He watched as she held the heart over the boiling liquid and then dropped it with a splash into the boiling cauldron. "Well that was bloody mean!" he snapped at her.
That afternoon, the fennec fox sat at the table and looked over at the rabbit dressed in a checkered pink cotton shirt and blue shorts. Sitting next to her was a red fox in a light blue Short Sleeve Guayabera shirt and khaki pants. "So are you going to lie to me again?" Officer Judy Hopps asked him in a menacing voice, at least as menacing as a rabbit could sound. "Like you did on the beach the day of the fight?"
His ears flattened and he could feel his tail bristle. "Sure it's easy for you cops to come in and lecture us that we must tell you what we saw and assure us that you'll get the bad guys," he scoffed. "Then you pack up and head back to the station leaving us with a reputation as a snitch, do you have any idea how badly they treat a snitch?"
"It was just a fight!" the rabbit snapped back. "We can't do our job without cooperation from the citizens and you know that!"
"Yeah and their buddies live on the Strand," Stone huffed back. "You don't think they wouldn't have come after me for turning them in? I can hold my own against any mammal my size, but what chance do you think I would have fighting a bull or a wolf? I also had to think about Cooper, Reggie, my mom, and Karen. They could have been bullied by the gang.
"Life is never easy," Nick smoothly cut in. The rabbit's ears drooped, but her anger seemed very evident in the way she looked and her scent. "Stone was right, we didn't need his testimony."
"But we never caught the attackers!" Judy grumbled. "They escaped justice."
"No, justice was served that night," the red fox replied. His paw reached over and touched his partner's shoulder. "Charges were never filed by the coyotes and they came to an understanding with the surfers, no one else got hurt."
"I'm sorry," Stone sighed as he looked down at his paws that were in his lap. He ears twitched and he had a pained look on his face. "I did what I thought was the safest thing to do, never get involved because I'm a fox and who would believe me anyways? Just a fox…"
"That sure sounds familiar, doesn't it Carrots?" Nick cut him off with a laugh. "Didn't Chief Bogo say something similar that night in the Rainforest District all those years ago? You think I'm going to believe a fox? I believe were his exact words."
Amethyst eyes met jade eyes and the rabbit seemed to relax. "Okay, that's the past, but we're here to figure out who want's Stone dead?"
"It's because I'm a fox!" Stone huffed out again in agitation. "I'm a fox in love with a cat. Why do you cops always ask the same thing over and over?"
"Because the obvious isn't always the right answer," Nick replied. "We have to look at this crime from all angles."
"Okay, you know me fox," the fennec fox sighed as he began counting down on his paws. "First, I'm a four time small board surfing champ. Second, I've got very little cash. Third, I'm in love with a sand cat. Forth, my brother is in jail. Fifth, my father is a street hustler. Sixth, my mother is a motel maid. Seventh, I have a small role in a movie…."
"Stop!" Judy interjected. "Your brother is in jail for doing what?"
"Shaking down small mammal business owners in Sahara Square for the mob," Stone answered. "But he's still behind bars." As he looked over at the rabbit, he wanted to laugh because in all he professional business like demeanor, she was holding a pen shaped like a carrot of all things. A bunny with a carrot pen, how cute! His eyes moved over to meet Nick's eyes, the larger fox was a close friend of his father's. The red fox was looking back at his with that half lidded eyes and smirk on his muzzle, a sure sign that he was up to something.
"You do know Fluff, Junior here once beat up a reporter?" Nick asked his partner.
"Hey! I only punched him once and he was trespassing," Stone snapped back.
"And filming your naked girlfriend," the red fox added with a straight face.
"Nice try Slick," Judy triumphantly replied. "I knew that already and besides, I already checked on the whereabouts of that reporter. He was in the Meadowlands last night."
"But what about Karen?" Nick quickly interjected. "Maybe she…"
"Don't go there fox!" Stone growled as he jumped up on the chair and looked across at the larger red fox with his fangs showing. "Leave Karen out of this!"
"Okay you two!" the rabbit suddenly laughed. "It took you long enough to get him to show his fangs Nick, he's not at all like Finn with a bad temper."
The small fox plopped back onto the seat with a confused look. "You two were playing me?" he mumbled. "Really?"
"Actually we were doing a bit of both," Judy replied as she snapped closed her black notebook. "The thing is that we don't have much to work with, the bullets were fired from a .22 caliber rifle which wasn't recovered or found on the seabed. We're running background checks on all the reporters and photographers who were in boats that night, but so far nothing of interest related to this case. The photos so far haven't shown anything, so there's not been much to go on."
"Great, so I still have a target on my back?" Stone asked.
"Nick reached over and took Judy's paw in his. "Yeah, welcome to the club," he answered. "There are a lot of angry bigots out there who don't like us being together, so you better get used to it. I've been shot at not just because I love Judy, but because I'm a cop who's also a fox. We both know foxes who have been killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. "
"Like your father," Stone sighed. "My dad said that your father was killed when you were a young pup."
"They killed him and torched his shop," Nick sadly replied. "Because someone didn't like a fox becoming too successful, did Finn tell you they never really tried to catch his killer?"
Stone shook his head no and then gave a weak smile towards the cops. "So your finally getting to go to one of those tropical islands that dad said you always wanted to go to?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject.
Nick rolled his eyes and laughed, "Finn never listens to me, he knows I want to go to Pawaii! Saint Sylvester is in the wrong ocean. "
"So if the shooter's gun wasn't in a boat or under the sea, what happened to it?" the meerkat asked as he paced through the room.
"Reggie has been watching old Charlie Chan movies mate," Cooper snickered. "Now he thinks he's a great detective."
The meerkat stopped and gave the wallaby a glare. "Someone want's Stoney dead and the question is who?"
"Well that's what those two cops are trying to figure out," Billy added as he sat down next to Cooper and took the other wallaby's paw in his.
"What if they are looking at this all wrong," Reggie said as he snapped his digits. "What if the shooter didn't want to actually hit Stoney, but just scare him?"
"Why would anyone want to do that?" Cooper scoffed.
"Oh I don't know?" the meerkat grumbled as he threw his paws in the air in frustration. "Does Karen have an old boyfriend or maybe one of Stoney's fans…hell it could even be a PR stunt for the movie!"
"Sure," Sheri giggled as she looked over at the meerkat. "What good would the killing one of the movie's minor characters do to enhance sales?"
"I don't know, maybe to get the movie into the news again?" Reggie sighed as he leaned against the arm of the chair the bigger antelope was sitting in.
She reached over patted him on the forehead before answering, "If that was the shooter's goal, why not wait until the filming is done and then kill the fox. That way everyone would want to see the film in which Stone Kole was murdered while making, it would draw a bigger crowd."
"I guess you're right!" the meerkat huffed. "This detective stuff is harder than it looks like in the movies."
"Besides if this movie doesn't live up to all the hype, it'll be the critics that murder you," Billy added.
"Thanks for the bloody support, lover!" Cooper sighed as he pulled the other wallaby into his lap and kissed his cheek. "You can be an arse sometimes mate!"
Everyone had gone to bed and the moon was covered by the clouds when the seal in the red stripped crew shirt crept out on deck and climbed up into one of the lifeboats. He looked around before lifting the object packaged in black plastic and brought it down to the deck. Then leaning over the side, he let it fall into the ocean with a splash.
He slipped back into the ship and entered down the stars toward the aft storeroom. "Did you take care of it?" she whispered out of the dark.
"Gone just like I promised," he answered. "So, where's my cash?"
The antelope handed him a wad of bills and turned to leave, walking back into the darkness. "Why did you have me do it?" he asked.
"Ratings, Beach SpyJinks just went on pay for view and the ratings have soared since the news of the shooting," she laughed. "It's all about the bucks, isn't it?"
He ran his flippers through the wad of money and smiled before answering, "Yeah, I guess it is!'