Judy and Nick exited the Black Sheep market in quick strides. They had to hurry as the time borrowed from the tranquilizer darts was nearly spent. If the hulking elephant regains consciousness, he would immediately sound the alarm. There is no doubt that the place would switch into full lockdown once it goes off. After all, they had blown their cover by assaulting the night guard. The pair scampered through the streets, avoided traversing through the snow covers which had carpeted the slippery ground in patches of white; So as to minimize the chances of the market's hired guns from tracking them down via their paw prints. It was not until they had turned past a corner, placing them behind a set of usual civilian buildings that Judy stopped holding her breath. Her mind was screaming in anxiety the whole time as she stuck extremely close to Nick, which did not help when she noticed that he was also not his usual laid-back self. Briskly walking down the scarcely populated street, Judy thanked the heavens when their police cruiser came into view. Nick let out a nervous soft chuckle as he slowed down his pace to a casual stroll, alleviating himself from the piling tension.
"That was way too close for comfort," Judy spoke in relief, unlocking the car doors with her keys.
"You can say that again," Nick agreed, entering the vehicle. "I for one did not expect the Elephant crime organization taking over the Black Market. It used to be under the Sheep faction... I guess they lost the animals' trust and had to step down. Some of their thugs namely the three we have encountered before were hired by Bellwether as her personal goons through unknown means of negotiation."
"Wait... You mean Doug, Woolter and Jesse were formerly from an illegal organization and not her assistants in crime?" Judy exclaimed in surprise; bewildered as she had not heard this information anywhere. "How did you know about this, Nick?"
"If you were not busy handling another petty case days after they were caught, you would not have missed out on all these tiny little details when Bogo was interrogating them; it was quite a show I must admit," Nick explained, shrugging his shoulders. He smirked as Judy blinked at him like a deer that was about to become roadkill. Why was she so excited to tackle another case mere days after the arrestment of the assistant mayor? Judy then proceeded to knock her forehead onto the steering wheel, dissatisfied that she was dumb enough to be absent during such an important event.
"I cannot believe that I missed such a crucial event! Ugh..." Judy grumbled in frustration.
"Careful now, do not want that car horn to start bleating away," Nick warned as Judy repeatedly hammered her forehead against the rim. He whipped out his smartphone. "Do not fret about it, Whiskers, I will notify you the next time something urgent happens," Nick waved the phone in his paw. Judy immediately turned to face him.
"You would do that for me?" Judy asked.
"Anything that keeps you happy, Carrots," Nick replied as he locked his phone screen.
"Thanks, Nick, I knew I could count on you," she smiled, hugging him around his waist. Nick's eyes widened as he attempted to gently push her off of himself, which did not happen as she had latched onto him in a tight embrace. Even as of now, Nick still could not stand the awkwardness. Throughout his past twenty years, nobody ever got that close to him except for his parents. But right now, he has a bunny partner as a companion. He could not recall the exact number of times she had wrapped herself around him like what she was doing currently; It was way too many times for him to remember. She had bombarded him even when he was taking a selfie to update his Furbook profile. "Now now, you are not a magnet. And besides, don't we have to update someone on the case?"
"Oh, sorry," Judy apologized with a smile and returned to the driver's seat.
It was almost noon. The afternoon sun was beaming in its prime, covering the entire city full of light and its sundering heat. The pair had situated themselves in the fashion store opposite the cafe across the street. Judy observed the cafe through the clear glass windows of the store. She had spotted Nat who was seated at one of the far end tables, impatiently waiting for the giraffe to arrive with the cash. Judy glanced back at Nick, who was apparently browsing through a printed catalogue loaded with heaps of fashionwear, hot deals, and attractive discounts.
"It's almost time Nick! How do we do this?" Judy inquired, signalling for Nick to come.
"I think I found something in here which looks splendid on you," Nick mused, flipping through the thin pages of the rather thick booklet. "So many uniquely fashionable products, no wonder it stretches out to four storeys."
"Nick!" Judy hissed.
"Alright, no reason to be mad Officer Hopps," Nick smirked as he closed the catalogue in his paw. He studied the scene outside. "It is pretty straightforward. The cafe has only two entrances, one for customers and the other to access via the kitchen," he noted.
Nick then pointed at the hyena. "And as you can see, Nat has dumbly chosen the seat furthest from both possible exits subconsciously as he fears that someone is watching him, typical amateur. As soon as the giraffe makes an appearance and enters the cafe, we assume our positions outside the main entrance. When they are in the midst of performing the trade, you rush in with your dart gun while I secure the exit. Taking in the fact that he is new in the line of crime, Nat should start to panic and the only escape route which he would see would be the big glass door which he came in from formerly and not the backdoor via the kitchen. Nat is pretty agile therefore, we must take preventive measures to make sure he does not escape with the tickets in tow; that's where I come in. Even if he does take the kitchen route, manoeuvring past the kitchen crew would slow him down for you to aim properly. You dart the hyena and if necessary, the giraffe as well. Case secured."
Judy looked at Nick in amazement. His ability to discern a situation within seconds was astounding. She placed a paw on her hip, impressed by his observation. "What are you, a secret agent?"
"Maybe," Nick replied with a proud smirk on his face. He looked out through the window. Just as they were finished wrapping up their plan, the giraffe had arrived right on the dot. Nick smirked. "Hey, time to proceed according to plan. Apparently, Mister long neck has arrived at the scene."
As soon as the giraffe entered the cafe, Judy sprinted out of the fashion store. Careful to maintain hidden from sight, she crouched low as she approached the outside of the cafe. Taking a few small steps, Judy rolled into cover behind the cafe's pillar. Nick was not small enough to copy what Judy had done, but he managed to conceal himself behind a nearby car. He watched as the giraffe presented a suitcase in front of the hyena, presumably the money. Thankfully, to them both and Nat, the giraffe appeared to be meeting alone. The last thing that they needed was for a third party to intervene. But before they could commence the busting, Nick had to check if Nat had on his hands the other part of the deal; the redemption coupon for Gazelle's concert tickets and not some phony counterfeit coupon made out of cheap photocopy paper. Luckily for them, Nat was not experienced in the art of conning. He signalled to Judy. Nodding her head briefly, Judy approached the glass door and drew out her tranquilizer.
Here goes nothing, she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she kicked the door open.
"This is Officer Hopps from the ZPD! We have got you surrounded! Surrender yourself at once and paws in the air!" Judy shouted, gun aiming right for Nat. She could hear Nick's footsteps behind her, securing the entrance as she closed in on the startled hyena. The giraffe was already too frightened to move, hooves raised up high in compliance.
"You told me you came alone!" Nat snarled.
"I - I did! Y - You attracted the cops! Oh, I am so done for!" The giraffe exclaimed in fear.
"Yeah, right! Like I would believe you!" Nat exclaimed furiously. Scanning the surroundings, the hyena prepared to escape.
As expected based off of Nick's keen judgment, the hyena made a mad dash towards the main entrance. Judy fired at Nat but missed entirely as the hyena was blindingly fast. Nick spread his arms out wide, preventing him from exiting. Not going down without a fight, Nat lashed out at Nick. Nick grabbed hold of Nat's right arm and caught him in an arm lock. It was one of the many common combat moves which all officers had to learn in the academy. Struggling profusely to break free of the fox officer, the hyena desperately clawed at Nick's leg. Despite the pain, Nick kept a firm hold of Nat with all his strength, allowing Judy to finally dart the criminal. The hyena lost consciousness almost instantly. Nick knelt beside Nat and handcuffed him. He glanced over at Judy. Being her typical fast paced self, she had already cuffed the giraffe and was done calling for another unit to receive him. No way would that giraffe's long neck fit into their cruiser.
"This bad boy here sure does put up some resistance," Nick muttered, panting heavily as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He carried the unconscious hyena, wrapping Nat's arm across his back. He trudged slowly towards their police car. Opening the back door, he flung the suspect onto the back seat and closed the door shut. As he turned to face Judy, she was already hopping towards him.
"You know what this means," Judy whispered passionately as she approached Nick.
"The case is solved! And..." Nick said as he gestured the tickets in his paw, smirking as usual. "The coupon has been retrieved."
"Nicely done, Nick!" Judy praised in excitement. She could never hide the overwhelming sense of joy that filled her up to the brim every time she solved a case. Does not matter what kind it was, as long as she knew in her heart that she had helped a troubled animal. And now, she has a partner to share her happy moments in crime solving with as well! Feeling accomplished, she smiled back at Nick; but something caught her attention near her sight. That was strange, Nick does not wear red in his police attire. Her smile faded the instant she looked down. Nick's right leg was bleeding. The navy blue pants had claw marks all over and was drenched in fresh blood. Thankfully, the wounds were not deep. Nat certainly did a number on Nick when he was putting up a persistent fight. Judy covered her mouth in worry as she stared at his wounds. "Oh my gosh Nick... you need medical attention right this instant!"
Nick looked down at his leg. The pain hit him like a bullet through glass as soon as he realized his leg was in a pretty bad state. He winced as his leg felt like it was literally on fire. "its fine, Carrots, nothing more than just a scratch," Nick laughed it off sheepishly, even when his inner thoughts were screaming badly for help.
"That is way worse than a simple scratch! It's much worse than the scratch I received back then!" Judy argued in concern as she helped Nick into the cruiser. She hurriedly started the engine. "I am getting you to the hospital first."
