Corruption
On the day Judy wandered South Savanna holding her case file, Nick was nowhere to be found. Not willing to risk being alone in Tundratown with a reputed crime lord, she stalked the streets of Savanna the following evening to try to catch Nick again. She wasn't skittish, but if anyone had enough knowledge to shake Big down and bring him to closer to justice, someone would have done so already. Jack would have done it, she thought.
Upon reaching the corner of the street Nick sets up shop, she heard his familiar soft charismatic voice as he bantered with a row of customers. Tendrils of smoke snaked upward from Nick's truck. The smell of fried fish sat in the still air. Judy could hear customers laughing and chatting as they waited for their order, eyes sparkling toward the fox. Such charm. How does he do it?
Nick glanced at Judy as she approached the back of the shrinking crowd. He abruptly went silent and shifted his gaze away from her until she was the only one remaining. Restoring his confident smile he said,
"Hello, Officer...help me out here."
"Officer Judy Hopps," she said. She paid close attention to his behavior, becoming more familiar with how he reacted to her. She thought she was getting better at recognizing his fake smiles.
"And what would you like today? News costs extra," he winked. Judy forced a chuckle. She turned away from the truck to snatch up a pocket of fresh air under the haze of smoke in front of the truck. The fishy odor was noxious and it choked her.
"Well, that's not going to be too bad. I think I have a free information waiver around here somewhere." She threw him a cocky look and jumped straight to her request.
"Let me into your truck and close the window so we can talk privately." Nick sucked in a breath and scowled,
"You're as annoying as you are cute, you know that?" Judy reached into her pocket and pulled out a copy of the case file. She waved it in front of her and whispered,
"Well, this 'cute' annoying bunny is your lifeline out of Big's clutches. Now drop the stubborn act and let me in or I take you to the precinct myself for being a co-conspirator in some heavy-duty cargo theft!" With wide-eyed surprise, a defeated Nick slapped his warm stove with a grunt then opened the door to his truck.
"Come in, Hopps." Feeling victorious at getting him to cooperate with something, Judy walked to the back of his truck with energetic steps. She froze mid-step near the entrance and watched a lion in a police uniform walking her way.
"Hey! Officer Delgato." Trembling paws suddenly pressed on her upper back. She stretched her arms out and held the edges of the truck's walls as Nick attempted to shove Judy away from the door.
"Okay bunny cop, time's up."
"Wai-what?" With flopping ears, Judy turned her head to Nick. Confusion disrupted her speech,
"But I j-"
"-You were just leaving, Officer Hopps. I can take it from here," said Delgato.
"N-no. Hold on a second!" She held up her arms between Delgato and Nick, digging her heels into the earth. She looked at Delgato, "Officer Juan Delgato, I am working a case here." Nick turned away, grumbling, and walked deeper into his truck. "Look!" With a crinkle, Judy whipped out the case file. Delgato barely skimmed through the paper she held in front of him before he glowered at her.
"So I see..." Delgato returned the paper to Judy. After a thoughtful pause, he said, "I apologize for the confusion. Perhaps we can squeeze the information out of Mr. Wilde together?"
"Perfect!" She smiled. But something was off. He looked quite agitated this evening.
"Are we doing this dance again? And inside my truck no less?" said an angry Nick as Delgato helped himself inside and closed the door behind him. Nick closed the window apprehensively. The two white lamps embedded into the roof of the truck lit up the interior and shrouded the fox and rabbit in a soft white shine. Delgato's rough lion fur remained dull in the light.
Delgato stepped forward, placing himself between Nick and Judy. He rumbled in his police voice,
"Cut the crap. What do you know about Big?" Judy watched them suspiciously. He bumped his chest into the shorter fox with enough force to make his mane jump.
"He's ugly and old," said Nick, stumbling back, hitting the door to the driver's seat.
"That's..." Judy slumped forward on her feet and leaned on her knees for support as she laughed. Delgato resisted a smirk then said,
"How much chocolate did he give you, huh?"
"I don't know anything about chocolate!" said Nick. He cautiously circled around as Delgato loomed well within Nick's personal space.
Judy darted her eyes around the interior of the truck. Something had to be here. She glanced at closed cabinets, drawers, an open cooler with fish, and the cooking station. Below it was an empty box labeled South Crunch Chocolates standing up inside a trash can. Triumphantly, she pulled it from the can and stood by Delgato's side.
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain this?" Nick averted his gaze from the two of them. He stood just in front of the cooler and stove. Delgato growled. Wait, what was it that Delgato said about chocolate? Judy's ears stood straight up.
"What makes you say that Big gave Nick these chocolates?" The truck went quiet. Nick nervously darted his eyes between the two officers.
"I've never seen Nick sell chocolate," shrugged Delgato. He took an unusually long second to answer her question. "He had to get them from somewhere." Delgato looked at Judy, defensively. She sensed his breathing quickened. In the brief silence, Judy asked,
"So, what brings you to visit Nick? I mean, I'm working a case, but you approached like you had some business here. Why didn't the Chief tell me?" Delgato averted her gaze and shoved away a turned over bucket with his heel,
"Don't worry about it. Maybe when you have more experience, I'll fill you in," Judy looked at Nick. He focused widened green eyes at her and blinked rhythmically at Judy. He barely contained his panic. When Delgato looked at him, Nick quickly began rubbing his eyes and said,
"The smoke in here irritates the peepers."
"So it does..." said a thoughtful Judy. Her brain was fighting with a sudden riddle. She turned to Delgato with paws on her hips, but before she could speak, Nick reached behind him and snatched up a fish from the cooler. He whipped it at Judy and with a wet sloshy thud, shoved the fish in her face.
"Bleh! What the hell? Nick?" Judy flinched from the blow. "Hitting me with a fish? Really?" She stared at Nick with ruffled wet fur and a confused look. The pungent smell and moisture near her right eye forced her to keep it closed. Wet fish water dripped off her right tilted ear and cheek. Nick stared back with half apologetic, half amused eyes. Delgato then pushed the fox to the ground,
"Alright, that's enough. You're under arrest,"
"No!" shouted Nick. With her brain firing off revelations like fireworks, piecing together Nick's sudden strange behavior, Judy stepped in. She reached up and placed a paw on Delgato's shoulder.
"I'll take care of it Delgato. It's my patrol as ordered by the Chief. And I was assaulted. I will do the arrest." Nick, forced to face the floor of his truck with arms held behind his back, sighed. Judy swore she heard relief and she kept her focus on him, trying to glean more information from his behavior.
"Why don't you just go back and let me handle it?" Delgato said. His voice shook with frustration. Judy countered in a forceful tone,
"Officer Delgato, I came here to work a case. You haven't given me a reason for why you are here. Return to your patrol or the Chief will have words with you."
Stunned and without a retort Delgato stood up on shaky legs and stormed out of Nick's truck, emitting a lion-like snarl that bounced off the buildings and cars in the streets. Nick remained motionless on the ground, ears flat to his head. Judy watched the lion stomp away for a moment before returning her attention to Nick.
"Ugh, that fish, I'm a herbivore. Are you trying to poison me?" Judy wiped her face, trying to smooth down the wet stinking fur and grabbed Nick. She cuffed him and walked him out of the truck. The trembling Nick glanced back, watching Delgato walk away and shrink into the distance.
"Just stay low, we're almost at my car," said Judy.
"T-thanks. And sorry, or something."
"Well, that's probably the nicest thing you'll say to me tonight, so I'll take it."
Nick kept his shoulders hunched as Judy held him in front of her. She loudly went through the protocol, reading Nick his rights as she guided him to the car. With just a turn of the corner and a few more steps, Judy opened up her patrol car and carefully shoved Nick in the back seat.
She drove him around the city for some minutes, stopping once, only to go to the backseat of the car and free Nick from his cuffs. He was fidgeting uncomfortably in the back seat and the growing noises of distress made by Nick were becoming more than she wanted to bear. Judy was at first afraid Nick would try to run away but was pleasantly surprised when he obediently remained in his seat. Judy went back to the driver's side and deliberately avoided the police department. She turned off the flashing lights of the car. The smell of fish filled the interior. The tenacious odor would return and fade then return again. It bugged her considerably.
"Alright, this is the safest place to speak your peace. Please talk to me," Judy pleaded. Nick hunched forward,
"Delgato is working with Big," he began.
"I was beginning to suspect," Judy muttered. Nick continued,
"I've had an on and off relationship with Big for about a year now. He helped me set up my food truck." Judy shot a glance at him through the mirror in her car. The image of his face was cut into diamonds by the protective fence that separated the front half of the car from the back.
"But my license is legit," Nick swiftly added. "Anyway, recently Big has been busy and requesting favors and demanding things."
"Do you know why? What's his end goal?" Judy drove around in loops, passing shops, and mammals that sauntered the darkening streets. She drove at a steady pace, focusing on Nick's story and not wanting to drive too far from Nick's truck. She crossed into another officers patrol zone. Officer McHorn waved and smiled sleepily from his driver's seat at Judy as her car slowly rolled by. Fangmeyer obliviously snacked away in her seat beside him.
"I don't know what his end goal is," said Nick. "I try to mind my business. Here in Zootopia, it's every mammal for his or herself."
"I disagree with that one," Judy said plainly.
"Of course you would," Nick mumbled.
"Tell me about the stolen cargo and Delgato."
"See that's what Big doesn't say. He doesn't call you up like, 'Hey I just stole some stuff now go and sell it.' He treats everything like it's normal business. But we both know it's never normal business with Big."
"So why bother? Why be involved at all?" Nick scoffed,
"Look, I get heat from all sorts of mammals for being a fox. You've any idea how hard it is to do simple things like get a loan to start up a business when all you get are lame excuses like I'm a 'high risk' borrower when I have no record of borrowing anything, ever? I know why they denied me. The same reason I get dirty looks, the same reason people suddenly stuff their hands in their pockets when I walk by." He glared forward.
Judy watched his diagonal cut face behind the cage from her mirror. She recognized that stare. It was the same as his mugshot in his criminal record. "You really don't know his reputation, do you? Big isn't someone you just say no to. He's brutal. I haven't had the best of luck, so I do what I must to get by. I just want to be left alone. But trouble just walks up to me."
A hint of anguish cracked his voice. Judy's ears drooped sympathetically.
"Nick, don't give up hope. We'll find a way to make this right. And you'll be free of Big."
Nick stared out the window. After nearly a half hour, Judy considered it safe to drive Nick back to his stall and turned her car around. But she couldn't have enough information. Taking advantage of Nick's cooperation and openness, she continued to pry,
"What did Delgato want from you?"
"He was here to collect payment for Big. Some of the goods I sell, including the empty chocolate box you found, were supplied by Big. So he comes every ten days or so to collect."
"An officer doing the dirty work for a crime boss..." Judy growled and bumped her head on her steering wheel in frustration. Her ears waving back and forth with each thump.
"Are there any other officers that I need to watch out for?" she asked, her head rested on the wheel.
"None that I can think of," said Nick.
"I'm going to have to contact Jack," Judy mumbled. Nick's ears perked,
"Who is that?"
"Just a good hare." She sighed as the image of Jack flashed in her mind. A serious look in his eyes, sharp stripes marking his face. "A really good one. He was the reason I got the case on Big's cargo," she winked in the mirror.
Just four blocks down and one to the left from Nick's truck, close to where Fangmeyer and McHorn were stationed, the shining pink lights from a diners glass windows caught Judy's attention. She hadn't had dinner and figured it would be alright to let Nick out now.
"Hey, I'm going to get food. Will you be alright on the way back?" Nick thought about it for a moment then said,
"Yes. Thank you, Officer." Judy smiled then parked her car near the restaurant. She walked round to the back of her vehicle to open the door for Nick. But before he could step out of the car, she pointed one fuzzy finger at his muzzle and said,
"Don't go telling your customers you slapped an officer with a fish and got away with it!" That broke the tension between them as waves of pleasant rolling laughter escaped Nick's lungs. He shook his head and stretched as he got out of the car.
"I'll check in on you when I can." She softly knocked him on the chin endearingly with a fist. "Don't hold out on me." He gazed at her with a sparkle in his green eyes. Tail involuntarily wagging.
"I suppose I could try harder, Fluff." Nick waved and swiftly ventured back to his truck. Judy sighed, satisfied with the information she got from him. It made her feel good to think she could possibly be a lifeline for an unlucky street fox. But it was going to take more than just one rabbit to make this right.