Chapter 11: The City that Never Sleeps

Author's Note:

This chapter is a little different and is really two mini-adventures in one. This is just for your enjoyment.

Part 1: Foxes Make Good Friends, But Bad Roommates

2:19 a.m.

Bam…bam…bam…."let me in Jake!" yelled the fox as he leaned on the door. His words were slurred and loud.

Stumbling as he put on his undershorts, the sleepy raccoon threw the door open and yanked his best friend into his suite. "Shut up Nick! This may be my home, but it's in a hotel and people are trying to sleep!" Jake whispered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Nick was wobbling and barely standing. Carrooot….Cararrrot…Judy threw me out!" He mumbled. The raccoon shoved him into a chair and poured him a glass of water.

"Drink this Nick," Jake whispered. "You need to hydrate before you get sick. Why did she throw you out?"

"Because she's mad!" the fox mumbled. "Mad bunny…angry bunny…Hiccup! Hiccup!"

"I think you need to lie down now," Jake laughed. "We'll talk in the morning."

"Okay!" Nick muttered as he dropped to his knees and began to lie down on the floor.

"Not here bro!" the raccoon sighed. Pulling the fox to his feet, he wrapped his arm around his friend and tried to steady him as they slowly made their way towards the bedroom. The fox collapsed face first onto the bed and passed out. Pushing the larger mammal further into the bed, Jake considered leaving the fox's shirt and pants on. "Shit!" he groaned. Unbuckling and unzipping Nick's pants, he pulled them off. Nick was wearing a blue ZPD t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, all of which the raccoon left on.

Picking up his cell phone, Jake groaned again when he saw what time it was. He called Judy, but she didn't answer. He left a massage, "I've got something of yours at my place, so call me back."

After waiting for her to call back, the raccoon sent a text with the same message. She must really be pissed! He thought to himself. Lying down on the other side of the very large bed, he awaited her call or text. Slowly he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

3:41 a.m.

"Oh Shit!" yelled the raccoon, as he was startled awake. Sometime while they slept, Nick had crawled over and was spooning Jake. His russet orange and blackish brown tail was wrapped over the raccoon. Jake sniffed the air as he pushed himself free of his drunken friend's embrace. Sniffing again as he stood, he rubbed his paw over the top of his head and then sniffed it too. "No..No..No…dammit fox, you marked me!" he growled.

As he was rushing towards the bathroom, he heard the suite's door open. The hall light revealed the black bear from the front desk and a familiar rabbit doe in the doorway.

"Sorry Jake," Trisha said. "Judy tried to call and your phone goes straight into voicemail, did you forget to charge it again?" The bear smiled as her eyes swept over the half-naked raccoon.

"Jake where's Nick?" Judy sighed. Jake just pointed towards the bedroom. The rabbit sniffed the raccoon as she passed and gave him a puzzled look.

"He's drunk and in his sleep I guess he thought I was you," Jake said. "I woke up and he was spooning me…I mean he was drunk…that's all that happened…oh hell! He's in there." The raccoon pointed towards the bedroom.

After watching the rabbit run into the bedroom, Jake turned back to the bear. Trisha was almost doubled over in laughter. "Har...Har...not funny bear!" he grumbled. "I can get another room? This one's full tonight."

"Sure Jake," she giggled. "But you need to put some pants and a shirt on first. The Regency is a four star hotel and we frown on our guests walking around in their underwear."

"Oh and can I get lots of those shampoo bottles?" Jake asked.

6:02 a.m.

Jake was tired as he entered the park to meet his girlfriend Marie for their morning jog. He smiled as the other raccoon greeted him with a kiss. Suddenly she sniffed and gave him a strange look. "Sugar, why do you smell like someone marked you?" she asked.

7:15 a.m.

"Good morning Mr. Runnel," The hotel manager greeted the raccoon. "Mr. and Mrs. Wilde left about an hour ago. I have checked you out of your other room and Trisha requested that I pick this up for you." The dapperly dressed gazelle handed a brown paper bag to the raccoon.

Jake opened the bag, peeked inside and smiled because there was a bottle of Mark Off Shampoo. "Thank you Richard," he said. Then looking at the amused look on the gazelles' face he added, "It's not what you think."

"I'm sure it's not sir," Richard chuckled.

7:21 a.m.

The raccoon stared at the crumpled sheets on the bed and the room had the heady musk of sex. "I guess they made up?" Jake muttered to himself. Picking up his cell phone, he frowned when he realized that he still forgotten to recharge the battery. Using the room's phone, he called the main desk and said, "I know house cleaning usually does my suite weekly, but could I have new bedroom sheets and a can of scent off?"

Part 2: Tiger Troubles

The raccoon yawned as he shouldered his bag of tools and walked into the Regency Hotel, the lobby was quite at 3:15 a.m., with only a female black bear sitting behind the desk. "You phone is off Jake," she said. "You have a visitor. He's stretched out on the lobby couch."

Jake sighed and reached into his pocket and turned on his phone. He always turned it off when he was working, because his type of work was sensitive and he didn't like distractions. "Thanks Trisha," he said.

"So I caught you with your burglary tools," a voice rumbled from the lobby. "The Fifth Street Bank was robbed tonight. Did I finally catch the infamous thief Jake Runnel with the goods?" Lieutenant Richard Fangmeyer stood up and stretched. His blue suit was rumpled and the tiger's eyes were tired.

"Aw Stripes, you caught me again!" Jack laughed. "Yes, I broke into a bank. But it was the Petterson Bank and no, I did not rob it because I was caught. It seems my company's employees have upgraded the security systems enough so that I can't break into that bank anymore."

"Yeah, I already know what you were up to," replied the tiger as he towered above the raccoon. "You were the first mammal we checked on."

"So what can I do for the ZPD's finest?" Jake asked.

"I was hoping to convince you to go with me back to the bank and tell me how they got into the vault," Fangmeyer replied.

"Why would I do that, they're not a client of mine?" the raccoon said.

"Bogo was afraid you'd say no," the tiger chuckled. "He said for me to tell you that if you don't, he will put Wilde on parking patrol for the next two months. You know how your fox buddy hates the vest."

"Blackmail?" Jake laughed. "That's not a really good threat. Besides, what makes you think I could help you out?"

"I figured you have already been in this bank before," Fangmeyer said. "Say about five years ago?"

Jake tensed up only slightly before answering, "So a police detective is asking me if I robbed a bank five years ago, really? If I'm correct we had this conversation in the interrogation room back then and I was never charged."

"How does Wolford say it…oh yeah, too bad scents are not admissible in courts," The tiger said.

"Come on up and let me change," Jake sighed. The raccoon was wearing a tight black t-shirt, a pair of black pants, and a black stocking cap. He looked every bit the way a crook would appear.

The raccoon let the tiger into his suite and the big cat's eyes swept over the rooms. The rooms were not anything fancy, just a typical hotel business suite with a small kitchenette, dining table, a sitting room with a couch and chair, bathroom, and a bedroom. It was the raccoon's home since the afternoon Jake had stopped a rhino from killing the hotel's owner Mr. Big.

As the raccoon went into the bedroom and closed the door, Fangmeyer looked around. Behind the couch was a box with various blueprints but none for this bank. He looked in a box on the bookcase and it was full of knives, tasers, and pepper spray canisters, all legal. He chuckled as he looked through the books, because the raccoon's choice of reading was self-help guides and spy novels. His paw hesitated on a photo and he smiled. His ears twitched as he heard the raccoon's voice in the bedroom, but couldn't make out the words. It wasn't that the tiger disliked Jake Runnel, he actually liked him. The raccoon had even been instrumental in saving his life during the mammal made Feline Distemper outbreak. It was just that there were a string of unsolved burglaries from years ago and he was sure Runnel was the thief. The tiger also had to admit that it may be true that felines are just curious.

Jake opened the door and stated, "Looks like I can help you after all, Stripes." He stood at the door in a dark blue suit, white shirt, and a green and blue stripped tie.

"Calling a tiger stripes is like calling a bunny cute," growled Fangmeyer. "So I take it that I can scratch Mr. Big's mob from my list of suspects."

"Look Fangmeyer, I don't work for a mobster. Mr. Big is both a friend and a client, so please refrain from such comments in the future. As far as I am concerned, he is a reputable businessmammal," Jake snapped back.

"Okay…okay..I understand," replied the admonished tiger. "Sorry, Jake."

"So, I take this this isn't some elaborate ruse to pin a crime on me?" the raccoon joked as he opened the room door. "Leave it to that damned Bogo…"

A large paw slammed the door shut in the raccoon's face and the tiger growled, "Shut up Runnel and quit talking bad about Adrian Bogo, he's one of the best mammals I know. Why he puts up with you, I I have no idea? Let me tell you about Chief Bogo, we've worked together for many years. During the aftermath of the so called Missing Mammal Case, when Bellwether was trying to break the ZPD, he stood up for us preds. He fought to keep us from being fired and I only stayed because he talked me out of quitting. Yeah, Bogo can be tough but he's fair. Hell, I was there when Wilde argued with him that night he tried to take Judy's badge. He let those two walk away that night, he didn't have to do that and certainly he did not have to let Judy return after she quit. So grow up Runnel, the Chief isn't after you."

Quietly the raccoon left the hotel and climbed into the large police cruiser. The vehicle's engine roared as the tiger pulled out onto the mostly empty street. After a few minutes more of silence, the raccoon finally spoke, "I don't dislike Chief Bogo. Hell, I even kind of admire him, but you have to agree that he and I have not had the best relationship in the past. I mean how many times has he dragged me in for questioning?"

"Don't answer, but how many times did you actually commit those burglaries?" replied the tiger. "But instead you can tell me about your new girl."

The raccoon straightened up in his seat and smiled at the tiger. "How did you know I'm seeing someone?" Jake asked.

"I'm a detective, I noticed things like the picture of you and an attractive female raccoon that is on your bookcase," the tiger chuckled. "I know that you don't have a sister."

"Okay, this I can confess to you!" Jake replied with a grin. "Her name is Marie and she is an accountant. I met her in the park just before the distemper outbreak and we started dating afterwards."

"An accountant," Fangmeyer said. "Maybe she can teach you to control your spending some, your way to free with your cash. Not that I'm complaining about you buying us cops rounds of drinks at the Green Dragon Pub, but you really need to think about saving for your future."

"Sure dad," the raccoon chuckled.

"By the way thanks," the tiger added. "Wolford said you came by to see me when I was in the hospital with distemper, he said you were worried about me. That was mighty brave of you to come into an area that could have been contaminated."

"I was worried about you and it wasn't like I could catch anything," Jake replied with a shrug.

The tiger was silent for a moment and then said, "You weren't aware that raccoons can catch both Feline and Canine strains of Distemper?"

The raccoon's muzzle fell open and the tiger briefly smelled a panicked scent coming from the raccoon. Finally Jake shrugged and said, "Now you tell me!" Both mammals laughed.

As the tiger parked the police cruiser in front of the bank, Jake could see a very tired looking uniformed cape buffalo waiting. Fangmeyer spoke softly, "don't forget what I said earlier, Bogo is really a great guy. Just give him a chance."

Climbing out of the cruiser, the first words Jake heard was the buffalo shouting, "Fangmeyer! Runnel! Where the hell have you two been?" The raccoon looked up at the smiling tiger and grinned.