Chapter 11: The Bobcat
After the team is betrayed, can a nerdy bobcat save the day? A desktop's wallpaper on one of the company's computers embarrasses Jake.
Ben was looking forward to getting his paws on the new ZIA listening devices, so he hurried down the hallway towards the lobby. His boss and the raccoon's best friend were right behind him, along with a timber wolf. Still in his early twenties, the nerdy looking bobcat was obsessed with electrical gadgets and programing. He loved his job and found it rather ironic that he only got it because he got caught breaking the law by hacking into the company's website. Somehow, the raccoon tracked him down to his dorm room and appeared one night at the doorway. At first, the bobcat had locked the door and was threatening to call the university's police, but Jake quickly picked the lock and after stepping into the room, reminded him that he was the one who committed the crime. Since the coon in the dark grey suit came bearing a six pack of beer and a pizza, Ben decided to listen to what he had to say. They spent hours discussing the various hardware systems that the bobcat had built and different online games, before Jake made him a job offer. The raccoon just had two rules, first that the cat would not hack into any other sites without his permission and the second was that he finished his degree. Jake always regretted he never finished his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.
"Hey Nick!" the fat cheetah sitting behind the large reception desk called over to the fox. "I take it the professor is done, she just left out the front door without even saying goodbye."
A panicked look came over Nick's face and he grabbed his radio. "Officer Hopps respond…Judy respond…Carrots!" he yelled into the radio.
"Wolford see if you can catch the professor!" Jake snapped at the wolf. "Clawhauser call for backup." Then the raccoon turned and ran after the frantic fox.
The wolf didn't even hesitate as he bolted for the door. Ben looked up at the other cat behind the desk, who ironically was also named Ben, and shrugged before he ambled down the hallway after his boss.
By the time Ben arrive at the tech room, there was a crowd of officers huddled around the angry rabbit, who was being hugged by the fox. "She sucker punched me and tied me up with electrical cords!" Judy grumbled. "Let go of me Slick, I'm fine."
"Maybe we need to have the clinic check you out?" the concerned fox replied.
A frantic tiger entered the room and looked around. "Did she take everything?" Fangmeyer asked.
The fox nodded, but the rabbit smiled and answered, "Not everything, I printed the contents of the drive when she went to the bathroom. I didn't trust her!"
"It wouldn't have anything to do with the way Nick was drooling at her?" Wolford asked, he had returned empty pawed from the chase.
"Stuff it Chompers!" the fox growled before he turned his attention once again to his wife's eye.
A haggard looking cape buffalo entered the now crowded room, followed by a rat and a raccoon with a mouse on his shoulder. "Are you okay Hopps?" he asked. "Did she hurt you?"
"Just my pride," the rabbit replied as she finally extradited herself from her husband's overbearing care and stood. "Did you catch her?"
"Long gone as far as we could tell," the wolf replied.
"And the research?" Bogo asked.
"Carrots printed out the file," the fox proudly replied. "Leave it to my sly bunny!"
"Like I said, his habits are rubbing off on her," Jake said with a grin.
"Get to the clinic, you need ice on that eye before it gets too swollen," the buffalo ordered.
"I'd go quickly, before that eye blackens and you look like Runnel," the wolf snickered.
Ben picked up the printouts and to him it looked like some type of paw print language. One page had been partly translated into common language. "Hey guys?" he called out. "I wonder if my friend Max's encryption program can translate this? He wrote it to develop a written language for a sci-fi series that he's working on."
"You're kidding?" the tiger scoffed.
"Well he did use some old paw print language for his base program," the bobcat shrugged. "Maybe it'll work? I was going to Beta his program, so I've got it at the office."
"Wilde and Wolford, go get Hopps and follow Runnel's team. See what you can do to translate that stuff," Bogo commanded. "Fangmeyer, we've got some calls to make and a press conference to hold about the murder, you're with me."
"Everyone can thank me now!" Jake quipped.
"What did you do?" Ratzolli asked.
"I hired Ben!" the raccoon laughed.
As they loaded the gear back into the van, Ben asked Jerry, "Did you track down the ZPD bug user?"
"Yeah, right to Internal Affairs," the mouse replied. "Turns out that a detective in that department was doing an illegal surveillance right under everyone's nose, but the zebra disappeared about the time we did the search. Bogo was pissed and chewed out the IA boss good, I'm surprised you didn't hear him down the hall? Did you get the ZIA stuff?"
"Nope, Ratzolli made me leave it with the cops," the bobcat sighed. "He didn't want to mess with the feds again."
"What's the problem?" the mouse asked. "You look worried."
"Yeah, I just hope we get back before Jake does," Ben sighed. "I need to change my screen's wallpaper."
"Why?" Jerry began to ask. "Don't tell me you've got the photo you swiped off of Jake's phone?"
"That wildcat is cute," the bobcat sheepishly replied, his ears were flat upon his head.
"That wildcat is naked!" the mouse laughed. "Not to mention the boss ruts her!"
"Shhh! here comes Ratzolli," Ben whispered.
They arrived after the cops and Jake, and the now somewhat embarrassed raccoon was already in the workroom.
"Hey Jake, is that your hooker friend!" they heard Wolford ask.
"Sorry Judy, I had no idea that picture is being used as a wallpaper!" the raccoon was saying.
"Now I know why you're into cats!" Nick said. "Ow Carrots, what was that for?"
"Looking!" the rabbit chuckled.
"That is one of my favorite pictures," the raccoon observed.
"Jake!" the rabbit giggled. "You're a pervert."
The raccoon stepped back into the hallway and gave an amused look at the bobcat who was hurrying towards him. "Sorry!" Ben whimpered.
"Eth, she is a lady of the evening. A lot of mammals have seen her naked," Jake shrugged. "See what you can do with the program, I've got to call some clients."
As he entered the room, he was very conscious of the looks he was getting from the cops. Quickly walking over to the monitors, he killed the screensaver and pulled up the encryption program. "Let's scan these pages in and see what we get."
"Dude you left me in the van!" Jerry squeaked as he entered the room. Then looking at the cat's face, he asked, "They saw it didn't they?"
"You mean Jake's cat?" the wolf snickered. "Yeah we saw all of her!"
The mouse went over to a small lift he had made and rode the platform to the top of the table where he had a smaller desk and monitors. "Let me know when you finish scanning," he asked.
"We're up and running," the bobcat replied as he sat down at his desk. "And here we go!"
About an hour later, Jake returned to find everyone standing around the monitors looking dejected. "Did it work?" he asked.
"It tried, but the translations must be wrong," the bobcat sighed. "This doesn't make any sense."
Walking up to the screen, the raccoon glanced at the translations and smiled. "Are you seeing what I see Nick?" he asked.
"Yep," the fox replied. "But is that really what I think it is?"
"What? This is gibberish!" Judy sighed as her nose began twitching with frustration.
"It makes perfect sense to me!" the raccoon stated. "We just need to get it translated by someone else."
"That doesn't make sense and what do you mean translated?" Ben asked.
"Oh you naïve nerds," the raccoon now chuckled. "It's smuggler's code!"
"I guess we need to go visit Eddie "The Grey Ghost" Woods," Nick said. "He says he's retired, but he's still the best smuggler in town."
"You mean that old grey fox geezer with the snarky vixen who hates you, Nick?" Wolford said with a grin.
"What vixen hates you?" Judy asked.
"Woods has a secretary, at least says she is his secretary, but she does more than filing his mail," Wolford answered.
"I think she objects to our being married," Nick sighed. "She is a bit obnoxious."
"If I recall correctly, she said and I quote, you're also humping that cop rabbit too!" the wolf snickered.
"Oh I can't wait to meet her!" Judy snapped.
"You still have your old fox taser?" Nick laughed. "It might come in handy."
"This is promising to be a very interesting afternoon," Jake said to the bobcat. Then reaching into his pocket, he sat down two tiny listening devices. "Here, I swiped these on the way out, have fun."
"The ZIA bugs, but Ratzolli said…" Ben began to reply.
"The company's name is Runnel Security, so I still call some of the shots," the raccoon laughed.
Ben watched as the raccoon followed the officers out of the room.
"You did good kid," the mouse suddenly said.
"Thanks!" he replied as he sat down in his chair and then grinned as he began looking over the two little electronic devices in his paw.
