1:24 PM
"No, sir," Zeke said into his phone. "They haven't left…. No, we haven't taken a nap, either. Unless there's a back way out of that parking lot, that police cruiser is still in there… OK, sir… Yes, sir. Will do." Zeke put his phone away.
"Does he want us to go in?" Gret asked.
"Nope. Just stay out of sight and report." He opened the car door and got out. "Time for some coffee."
2:03 PM
Judy and Nick, along with Jack and Matilda, had a conference call with Chief Bogo and the Mayor after Jack had tried—and failed—to contact Skye. The buck was not overly concerned at being unable to reach his partner; Jack said the vixen would follow protocol and remove the battery from her phone to prevent any chance of tracking. He also told them that he and Skye had pre-arranged pick-up points for just such an emergency.
The Chief and Mayor had agreed with Jack that it would be best for now if the public believed Judy and Nick were dead. Based on what Jack had heard on the recording Judy had made at the hospital that morning, the general consensus was the Baratean government was responsible for the explosion: It had been the task of the two raccoons to make sure Nick and Judy stayed away from their home long enough for another team to set the booby-trap, and then ensure the couple was home when the device went off.
Their detour through Frisky Kitties inadvertently derailed the outcome of those plans. But it could not prevent the second team from doing their job as the destruction of Nick and Judy's apartment proved. Thankfully, no one had been injured; the ZIA team had evacuated all the tenants without a hitch and departed before the fire department arrived, to the disappointment of many who wanted to thank them.
The Mayor had hopes that if everyone believed such popular mammals as Nick and Judy had been the victims of a nefarious plot (Nick's choice of wording), Judy's recording could be useful in back-channel negotiations with the Baratean government. To Jack's thinking, that was only a remote possibility; it was common knowledge that the Baratean government did not give much weight to public opinion—not surprising for a nation that still supported slavery, Judy thought.
Chief Bogo would take care of the media at the press conference later that afternoon, now scheduled for 6:00 PM. Jack had given them grisly assurance that he had access to cadavers of foxes and rabbits of close enough appearance to pass for Judy and Nick under the circumstances. He also had detailed knowledge of the device used in their apartment, which would he use to make the substitute bodies pass any cursory examination except a DNA test. The staged bodies would arrive at the City Morgue after some shenanigans to fool the media which, combined with Judy and Nick's phones still being in their apartment, should make the illusion hold for as long as they needed. The ZIA would later take 'credit' for the entire operation to maintain the Mayor's office and the ZPD's reputation clear of any misdoings or accusations of fraud.
Based on the nature of the incendiary device, they decided to announce the 'deaths' of the two ZPD officers as an accident from a gas leak, though Nick had insisted the accident appear as his fault and not the building's owner, who was a long-time friend of his and had sold them their apartment for a price way, way below market value—for reasons Nick did not want to discuss. Judy made a mental note to herself about that for later; she trusted her mate, but still wanted to hear the whole story; whether he liked to admit it or not, Nick still made mistakes at times.
So, the official story would be: Police couple dies in a gas explosion caused by the improper DYI installation of a gas range (which, if anyone investigated, they had actually purchased a few months earlier and had a general contractor friend of Nick's install for the cost of the first meal off the new range. And beer. Plenty of beer, Judy recalled.) Zootopia's first rabbit and fox police officers would officially go on record as dying from:
Being terminally cheap, Judy had teased her mate, who did have a stubborn streak when it came to things like paying installation fees.
Their Mystery lynx, Kataiahs Lysander, did not seem to play a role this time around, but that was mostly speculation on their part—what little information they had on him indicated someone who preferred a more direct, personal touch rather than using multiple teams of henchmen. Which left the Barateans standing alone as the culprits for reasons still unknown to them and, unfortunately, the only Barateans they could ask about it were hiding under the veil of Diplomatic Immunity. Therefore, they had found themselves at a dead end and their best way to recover was faking the deaths of Judy and Nick; maybe the Barateans would make a mistake.
The Chief had also agreed, at Jack's insistence, to let Judy and Nick be a part of Skye's extraction team, and Judy, for one, was glad for the opportunity. Otherwise, she knew she would just brood over the loss of their apartment and everything in it. Nick was, well, being Nick, somehow keeping his anger in check and keeping his sense of humor active. Probably for her sake, Judy thought. "Guess you finally get to remodel the place," he had told her with a smile.
She looked at her mate, who, after the conference call, had gone over to chat with members of the ZIA's in-house reaction team that had 'greeted' them in the lobby. He caught her glance and mouthed 'You know I love you.'
'My fox,' she mouthed back. He winked.
Matilda had explained to Judy the difficulties they now faced. The Zootopia Field Office was an independent section of the ZIA and completely self-contained, but very small. They acted under the direct purview of the Mayor and the Common Intelligence Committee, drawing resources from the other ZIA branches, Intelligence, Operations, Science and Technology, and Administration, as needed. Their core members, permanently assigned to the Field Office, underwent regular vetting through polygraph tests and other means to ensure that the integrity of the division was above reproach.
But now, Skye, co-Director of the Field Office, was on the run after messaging the ZIA's Operations branch, located in Plainsville, had gone rogue. The vixen had told Judy she was going to see the Operations Director, which Judy had relayed to Jack, which meant Skye's message could have many interpretations: Was the Director involved? Just a few agents? The whole division? The rest of the Agency? So, Matilda had said, they were alone. They had to assume the worst, that the whole Agency was compromised.
When Jack informed the Mayor of the situation, even though they had been unable to detect any unusual activity from Plainsville or anywhere else, the Mayor had wanted to issue a lockdown to ZIA just to be sure. That would keep the different branches isolated from each other under strict ZBI supervision. Jack wanted the Mayor to wait until they could bring in Skye. Another attempt of trying to force an adversary into a mistake.
The Mayor approved Jack's request, even going a step further to authorize full, independent action to investigate and 'clean up house', as the Mayor had put it, but be ready to answer to the Common Intelligence Committee at the conclusion of things. Judy was impressed at both how easy Jack took on such responsibility and how such authority did not go to his head in the least. She thought he was someone she could respect.
Now she saw the stripe-faced buck motioning her to follow him, and Matilda was talking to Nick while pointing to Jack. Nick looked at his mate and shrugged, then went along with Matilda after the buck. Judy hurried to catch up to them and took Nick's paw as they entered Jack's office. Matilda closed the door behind them.
Jack was pacing in front of his desk, paws behind his back.
"There are exactly eight mammals I trust right now," he said. "Three are in this room, four are on their way back from the explosion, and the last one is on the run in Plainsville."
"So, that's why you pushed the Chief into letting us go get her?" Nick asked.
"Yes," he explained. "Becaue, right now, Skye will only trust three. I cannot leave at this time, so that leaves you and your mate to go and fetch her."
"You told the Chief we would be part of a team," reminded Judy.
"And so you shall," Jack said. "I will send Kurt and Blackwell with you for security, but you will have to handle the extraction yourselves. Skye will not approach anyone else. You have the training for it, I am told."
"Never used it," Nick said with a little concern.
"Not to worry," Jack said with a smile. "We have training facilities in the building. Might as well take in a short refresher; you cannot leave until dark, anyway."
"We have gear your size in the armory," Matilda told the ZPD officers, then shrugged at their surprised looks. "Have to plan for any contingency when Jack is in town," she explained, opening the door. "Let's get you fitted before Kurt and his team get back."
As they closed the door behind them, Jack called after them. "You do like boats, I hope"
2:10 PM
The injured raccoons were glad to have ZPD officers standing guard outside the room. Likely their presence was the only reason the two were still alive, going by the looks of the enormous white wolf that was their boss. He was so angry he paced on all fours between the two beds.
"Do you realize what you have done?" he snarled in Baratean. "You fools! Do you think them so stupid they cannot put simple facts together?"
"There's no proof—" the senior raccoon said.
"Proof!" The wolf leaped at the raccoon, his sharp teeth not a whisker's width from the terrified underling's nose. "You think this is about proof?"
"Sir," said the other raccoon, "the bomb…" Suddenly, the junior agent was facing those same sharp teeth.
"Was perfect!" the wolf growled in his face. "Until you bungling whelps mucked it up crying Diplomatic Immunity! Now they know the Embassy is involved!"
"All they know is two diplomats were viciously atta—" protested the senior raccoon, amazed at how quickly the wolf's teeth were back at his nose.
"And you are the senior agent?" came the wolf's furious question through gritted teeth. "Did it ever cross your miniscule brain to just file a simple police report?"
"But, the ra-a-bbit…" blurted the junior agent, with the wolf instantly on his bed, jaws salivating over his face and looking down with merciless feral eyes.
"Had nothing but unfounded suspicions until. You. Opened. Your. Mouth," he growled. "I cannot believe they sent me such incompetent scat piles for this critical operation!"
"We're not the ones who lost—" started the senior agent, but his courage vanished when the wolf turned to glare at him.
"You wish to blame me, prey?" the wolf asked ominously, slinking down from the junior raccoon's bed and stalking over to the senior.
"I am not prey!" the raccoon burbled indignantly through his bandaged muzzle, eyes defiant. The wolf slowly climbed over him, foaming at the mouth.
"You are to me," the wolf rumbled into the raccoon's ear, then, quick as lightning, bit off a sizable part of it. The bandage on the raccoon's muzzle kept the mammal's scream from being more than a pitiful whine. The wolf stared down at the keening raccoon and swallowed the morsel, then licked his lips clean. "But you do show some spirit," he said, calming down. "Next time you are disciplined, it will be your throat that is missing a piece."
The wolf came down from the bed, standing up slowly and breathing forcefully slow. He walked to the door and put on his long, cowhide jacket. "You are to remain silent," he said softly, opening the door. He looked over at the bleeding raccoon. "If I have to come back," he warned with a menacing show of teeth, "there won't be enough of you left to fill a sandwich bag." He turned and walked out of the room, pushing right past a nurse, a cow at that, who recoiled in disgust at the predator's outer garb. The ZPD officers at the door needed all their training to keep from tazing the wolf and dragging him in to the station.
The nurse heard the whimpering raccoon and rushed inside the room. "What happened in here!" she yelled, running over to tend the wounded ear. The ZPD officers peeked into the room, saw the bleeding raccoon, and automatically started after the wolf only to stop dead in their tracks.
The white wolf stood defiantly before them holding up a Zootopia State Department ID.
"Diplomatic Immunity," he sneered, then turned and left, his scandalous jacket billowing out behind him.
"Not if I catch you walking alone in the street," mumbled one of the officers, a tiger, before going back to his post and calling in the incident.
3:00 PM
Skye had immediately changed her outfit in a convenience store bathroom and now walked casually down the busy street in a bright flower-print dress, with a wide-brimmed hat and sun glasses. She counted herself lucky; in another month, her winter coat would start to show, and there was no way a fox could hope to blend in with the locals here covered with snow-white fur.
Years of habit took over the vixen's movements. Stopping at store windows to gawk at trinkets that were really opportunities to see if anyone followed her, suddenly going in to some shops just to speak to a clerk and make anyone following wonder if the store employee was an accomplice, doing the same with passing strangers—male of course, who wouldn't object to speaking to an attractive female. And habits such as these had kept her alive through many worse ordeals.
Her actions eventually forced a mammal to give themselves away. She was being pursued on foot from an extreme distance, definitely by someone very skilled. Skye had yet to catch a full glance of whom it might be but was about to remedy that, having just spotted a female coyote with an outfit similar to hers turning down a pedestrian side street.
Skye went the same way and took shelter in a store's recessed doorway just around the corner, taking off her hat and fanning herself with it. The hat was reversible, so she let the fanning motions turn it inside-out and put it on again, removed her sunglasses, reached into her bag for her tazer, and waited. Within a minute the mammal stalking her rounded the corner walking innocently fast among the afternoon shoppers but looking directly at the coyote, now standing at a shop window at the other end of the block, far longer than was necessary.
Skye fought back tears. No time for those as she slipped behind her pursuer and pressed the handle of her tazer into the alpaca's back, injecting her long-time friend with the strong sedative and catching her as she fell unconscious to the ground.
"Help!" Skye yelled, "She just collapsed! Someone call an ambulance!" As mammals began gathering around the fallen alpaca to help, effectively blocking the street, Skye threaded her way carefully away from the crowd. She only had a few hours to get to the pick-up point, and it was a long way to the coast.
The city of Plainsville was at an ideal location for the heavy industries that made up the lifeblood of the country, straddling the junction of the Grand Plains and Westerlong rivers. The Westerlong was a crucial inland waterway, deep and navigable to heavy traffic all the way to the Western Escarpment, and the Grand Plains River allowed direct access to the ocean from as far away as Long Grass, two hundred miles north of the city.
Skye caught a city bus to the harbor, where she could board a riverboat for the four-hour trip to the coast. If all went well, Jack would be there waiting for her and she could be back safe in Zootopia before midnight. The bus passed by the street where she had tranquilized Lila, and there were now paramedics with a nearby ambulance tending to the alpaca. Skye looked ahead rather than out the window as the other passengers did, a single tear rolling down her cheek while she struggled to keep her emotions in check.
The betrayal by her friend stung far deeper than she wanted to admit. Skye had been to the births of both Lila's kits—Lila had even wanted Skye to be their guardian in case the unthinkable happened to the alpaca and her husband! How could this be happening now? And Arthur. He was one of the most powerful mammals on the continent and independently wealthy, to boot—what more could he want? Candace ignored his occasional flings. Skye laughed. Arthur's impressive wife had even been curious enough to ask Skye directly why she had refused his advances before, so the grey fox was not lacking physical affection either. Nothing made sense.
She missed Jack.
Tears rolled down her face unimpeded. Why had she left by herself this morning? She should have coordinated with Jack, maybe even come with him, and perhaps she would not be on the run, afraid for her life. He would say something quirky or outrageous just to cheer her up. She laughed, thinking of some of the things he would say, but that made the pit of her stomach shrivel up and she soon started crying again.
A matronly jackrabbit doe who had somehow sat down next to Skye completely unnoticed took the vixen's paw into hers and patted it gently, startling Skye out of her thoughts.
"Is it your first?" she doe asked.
Almost in a panic, Skye swallowed hard and cautiously reached into her bag with her free paw to grab her tazer. But something about the question threw her into a loop. "My first?" she asked in return.
"Oh, my," the doe said. "After 205 of my own, dear, you get to know the signs." Skye looked at her, completely confused. "Million-mile stare," the doe went on, "laughing and crying and back again with no rhyme or reason, not seeing mammals sitting right next to you… Are you throwing up yet? Not everyone does, you know. Me? I was lucky to get an hour between bouts for the first two weeks. Don't know much about foxes, though. But you sure are a pretty thing, dear. It's all gonna be fine, don't you worry. I'm sure the lucky father'll be tickled pink!"
Skye blinked and shook her head.
Father?
Author's Note: Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get the next installment in soon.
As always, I hope to hear from you and get your opinions.
Until next time, thanks for reading!