Chapter 14. „Applying pressure"
Kaylee Crane left the hospital two days later and moved in to Judy's flat immediately afterwards. While the Hopps' place wasn't exactly big, they made it work somehow; having not enough space for a second mattress the two of them slept in Judy's bed, which wasn't anything new for any of the bunnies; even Kaylee, coming from quite a big family, used to sleep in one bed with several siblings. And besides, they still had more privacy than back in the Police Academy. Lack of space in wardrobes wasn't much of a problem either; Kaylee had surprisingly few clothes. For next two weeks, Kaylee spent the mornings and afternoons mostly in Judy's flat; leaving it with her left leg in the state it was wouldn't be easy, even with the crutch she had. Then, when Nick and Judy would return, they'd take her out to enjoy the nightlife of Zootopia and she had to admit, there was a lot to see. On Thursdays, they'd even take her to Nick's mother and then, for a movie in his place and she enjoyed it all, even if fox's musk-scented apartment gave her quite a heartrate spike at the first time. In the end, Kaylee really enjoyed those evenings, even if sometimes she felt a bit like a third wheel and Max still felt too awkward to just accept her invitations on regular basis. Still, they were making quite a progress. Thrice a week, each of them went for the therapy. Kaylee was putting a lot of effort into fixing what happened in the Dungeon; or at least fixing her attitude toward it and predators in general. A good thing she noticed was that she wasn't afraid of Nick one bit. As much as he was a fox, a canine predator like Max, his presence was surprisingly… soothing. His sly, laid-back attitude had nothing that disturbed her in the other predators and seeing him frequently every day with this toothy and yet, not threatening smile provided just as much progress as the therapy did. Still, it was hardly a bed of roses.
Kaylee woke up screaming. She instinctively pushed herself to the wall and curled up in there, panicked and disoriented. She obviously woke up her host and probably her lousy neighbors as well. Judy turned around slowly and watched her friend carefully. She was shaking in fear, paws around her neck as if trying to release herself from sort of an invisible grasp. Judy approached her carefully and patted her shoulder. Kaylee stared at her like a wild, startled animal and then, accepted the hug Judy offered her, returning it almost immediately.
"I saw it again. I saw Max going for my throat and…"
"It's alright. You're safe here." Judy promised. She held her in silence for next few minutes, waiting for Kaylee to speak. She already learned that nothing soothed her mind as easily as just a bit of silence and a warm hug.
"Do you think I can do it?" Kaylee asked quietly.
"It doesn't have to be today," Judy reminded her.
"I can't be waiting for eternity. I can do it, right?" The brown bunny asked again.
"You can. And if you feel anyhow insecure, just call me, OK?" Judy pleased and she bobbed her head once.
"Sure. Thanks, Judy." Kaylee whispered.
"I'm here for you," she assured and then, the two of them returned to sleep. It was still middle of night.
Nick wasn't very surprised when he saw Kaylee in the uniform, leaving the flat together with Judy. She still helped herself with a crutch, but she already learnt how to use it and had no problem keeping up with Judy's pace even at the staircase. She settled at the backseat as she'd always do and the three of them drove to police station. To say the reception there was warm would be a massive understatement. The moment she walked in, she heard a high-pitched squeak of Clawhauser's.
"You're back, Kaylee!" He waved her with donut and Kaylee limped hurriedly to the dispatch desk. Judy and Nick followed her, even if already certain that she could handle herself, still ready to catch her, were she to slip. While Crane was exchanging pleasantries with the chubby cheetah, there gathered quite a crowd around them. Nick could see Kaylee felt a bit suppressed and gently made all those big mammals give her more space.
"Oh, hi, Barnes!" Kaylee noticed the old ram, passing by the crowd.
"Hi, Crane." The old ram estimated her state carefully. "Not too early?"
"I can only do the paperwork until my leg is all fine," she noticed. And then, she recognized the familiar voice in the distant.
"Hey, what's the crowd about?" Max Reynolds asked, as walking in. Kaylee made her way through the mammals, almost collapsing, and rushed to the wolf. She could see him grin joyfully as he recognized the brown bunny. And then, she was already there, dropping the crutch, jumping up to him and hugging him warmly.
"Max!"
"Kaylee!" He hugged her gently not to hurt her chest. She still needed to be careful about it, after all. "I didn't think you'd come back this early," he was really surprised to meet her there.
"You have no idea how boring it is to be stuck in a flat. I searched through Judy's things like thousand times," she muttered. She was overjoyed not only because she saw Max again. She also realized one thing; as much as she was still scared of him, she managed to contain the fear. Except for heart spike you could blame sudden excitement for, there was no body reaction; not even a twitch. And even the instincts that still screamed fearfully, she managed to silence them. Max saw it too and he knew how big it was. Still, he dropped her carefully and handed her the crutch not to tempt the fate. For a few seconds, they were watching each other, smiling. And then, someone called them all for the roll call; it was the time. Kaylee limped toward the room hurriedly, Max was just behind her. They took their seats from the first day; Kaylee back in the corner, Max in the front with other wolves. It went casually with nothing big announced. Chief didn't even mention that Nick and Judy had been stuck on the stolen painting case for last month. He kept glancing at Crane constantly, though. After he dismissed all the officers, he told her to stay. Max sent her a troubled sight, but she seemed not to notice it, as she stood before the massive water buffalo.
"Sir?" She asked as the door closed behind last cop.
"You're supposed to remain in your house until your leg heals, Crane," he huffed intimidatingly, as he stared down at her. But Kaylee Crane would not be intimidated, even by him.
"I know."
"And your leg is still far from being cured, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir," she confirmed without a sign of hesitation.
"Then what in the world are you doing in here?!"
"I'm reporting for duty, sir. I am dying of boredom in my flat and I don't have to work in the terrain. I can just do the job from my office," she explained. "I'll be of much more help here than I am there." Kaylee looked up, staring in his eyes confidently. The buffalo stared back for a while and then, he huffed with surrender. He gestured her to move with his head.
"Go to the work, then. But! You try to enroll yourself on some terrain job, I swear…"
"I'd make a lovely scarf. I've got it, chief." Kaylee assured. "Have a good day!" She bided him and hurried to the door quickly, before he'd change his mind.
Olivier was packing his bag hurriedly. It was the high time to move out to another hideout. He hardly left it, but Charlie who made most of the shopping had become recognizable; it was only a matter of time before someone would associate him with the convict that assaulted Wilde and Hopps. Olivier was almost done with his things when Charlie called.
"What is it?" Olivier held the mobile with shoulder, as he continued packing.
"Remember Skooba's sidekicks?" The coyote asked out of blue. The way he asked made him quite concerned.
"That idiot, Jake Harvey and his brother, Mike. Yes, why?" Olivier remembered well the overconfident and not very smart lion back from the gang days. He hated him like no other mammal.
"I think I saw one of them like half an hour earlier. I mean, I wasn't sure it was him at first, but now I'm certain it was him," Charlie explained.
"What is he doing here? He's not even supposed to show his face in Savannah Central after the gang broke up," Olivier noticed. He didn't like it at all. "Do you think he knows?"
"Could be. Should I look around for him or come back here?"
"Get back here. We need to hurry and I can't carry the safe on my own," he suggested and at that moment, he heard the sirens somewhere in the distant. It looked like they were passing by Charlie.
"These are no cops. Firefighters. No good, there's some fire close by. We should wait it out; there will be lots of cops for next few… Shit," Charlie realized it in the same moment Olivier smelled the smoke in the room.
"It's our block. Something at the higher floors. Hurry, we can't wait it out now," Olivier confirmed his friend's fears.
"Alright, I'm coming!" He could hear Charlie starting to run. "I'll use the backdoor and help you carry the safe, the car's already there. My stuff is packed, right?"
"Yes. See you, Charlie," Olivier hung up. It was at that moment he heard some steps and shouts. The firefighters were commanding the evacuation. The gazelle ran to the door in order to lock it, but he was a bit too late; two firefighters stormed inside, while he managed only to hide behind the door. He watched them looking around; one was a rabbit, another some feline, a panther most likely. He couldn't tell with that suit.
"Everyone! The building is on fire, please evacuate immi…" The bunny interrupted in half of the sentence as he saw the steel safe in the back of the room. And then, Olivier closed the door, bringing their attention.
"How can I be of service?" The gazelle smiled cordially, but then, he saw the rabbit was staring at the claw marks at his throat. He obviously recognized him.
"You're that Antiery from the news. The one that beat up Judy," the rabbit whispered, aghast. Antiery locked the door as smile disappeared from his lips in fraction of the second.
"Well then, will you go down quietly or do we make it bloody?" He asked.
"Alan, go for the door. I'll slow him down." The feline firefighter muttered. So it was decided. Antiery locked the door.
"Let it be." Olivier lunged forward to the panther. The cat blocked the first blow, but his firefighter suit was slowing his movements; he didn't manage to shield himself from the right hook that came afterwards and the blow at neck that left him falling on the floor, unconscious. The rabbit was already at the door, having unlocked the door and jumped up to the door knob when Olivier grabbed his oxygen bottle. Rabbit undid his belts slipping away, but Antiery kicked him to the wall. Gazelle ran for the small firefighter and managed to grab his leg, but then, the rabbit bit into his arm making him drop him. He punched Antiery in guts and, before gazelle could return the blow, rushed for the door. He was already opening it when he heard the gazelle calling him.
"Stop or the panther dies," he called him. The rabbit froze as he realized gazelle was holding a machete against the other firefighter's throat. "Now, close the door," he explained.
"How can I know you're not going to kill both of us?"
"I don't kill the prey without need," Antiery explained. It wasn't very comforting, but rabbit couldn't count for more. "Now, close and lock the door. No one needs to die like a hero today, rabbit," he pressed the machete against anther's throat a bit harder. The rabbit hesitated, but then, complied and filled his orders.
"Now what?" He asked.
"Come here," he ordered and waited for the rabbit to do it. When he approached the gazelle carefully, Antiery hit his head powerfully knocking him out. Olivier let him fall on the floor by his partner. It was at that moment Charlie came in through the backdoor.
"What the…"
"They're fine, just unconscious. They stormed in and saw the safe, there was no talking my way out of it" Olivier explained.
"Obviously. You'd better bandage that arm of yours." Charlie crouched by the bunny and put his firefighter equipment back on while Antiery covered his wound temporarily.
"He'll suffocate if they don't find them in time otherwise," he explained, when he met Antiery's asking sight. "Alright, let's pack the safe and get out of here. The back is clear for now and these two should be fine, when they find them" Charlie suggested. Somehow, they managed to get out of there without much of a trouble. At first none of them noticed a grey pick-up truck that followed their trail.
Judy and Nick were on their way back to the police station from what they assumed to be a quiet day, when one of the officers started calling their names on the radio.
"Officer Grizolli here. Officers Wilde and Hopps, you still in terrain?"
"Officer Wilde here, we're just by the station. What's going on?" Nick asked. If he remembered correctly, Grizolli went an hour earlier to help with a fire in the middle of Savannah Square; they suspected arson.
"Come to Hump Street 56, we have arson there. It looks like a gazelle with claw mark at his throat assaulted two firefighters when they stormed into his flat to force the evacuation. Sounds like your Antiery, doesn't it?"
"We're on our way," Nick assured through the radio. "Anything more we should know?" He asked and for a few seconds all they heard was hum of the radio, as if their speaker really didn't want to answer the question.
"Well, yes. One of the firefighters that met Antiery was a rabbit, Alan Hopps. Is it any family of yours, Hopps?" Grizolli asked carefully. Nick handed Judy the speaker without a word.
"My younger brother. Is he alright?" She asked with worries.
"Just a bit messed up. He did with Antiery better than you did, Hopps, managed to bite into his arm, even." The polar bear tried to joke.
"Well, he always was… fierce," Judy said, returning the speaker to Nick. She shouldn't be driving with one paw, after all.
"A family trait, then. We're waiting for you here. Grizolli out."
"We're on our way. Wilde out," Nick hung up and put the radio back. He watched Judy carefully. Her eyes were burning with determination, as she sped up down the road. If there was the littlest fraction of fear of that gazelle, it was now gone and replaced with determination to catch Antiery before he'd hurt anyone else.
"We'll get him," Nick assured.
"And Rockfield and Donovan too. They are not slipping away this time," Judy agreed with determination. She hardly needed assuring, rather someone to hold her off from massacring Antiery if she sees him again. Wilde smiled weakly. Yes, that's exactly what he expected from her.
They made it to Hump Street within ten minutes. The dark smoke guided them from far away, even though at the time they came, the fire was almost extinguished. Still, the five-level block of flats was now completely scorched and three fire trucks, several ambulances and two police cars were trying to clean this mess up and not allow a ton of spectators get too close to it. Judy parked by Grizolli's car and they went to the scene.
"You find Alan, I'll talk to Grizolli and others," Nick suggested. Judy found her brother almost immediately, sitting in back of an ambulance with his head bandaged. He watched his fellow firefighters cleaning the place up with face of regret. He looked beaten up.
"Alan!" She called him from distant.
"Jude?" His ears perked up and he stood up slowly. She was already running to him and hugged him strongly. "Ouch, ouch! Ribs, Jude!" He hissed painfully and she released the hug awkwardly.
"Oops, my bad. Are you alright, Alan? Did they hurt you?" She asked with worries, as they sat down back at the ambulance.
"No, it's nothing, really. Tom Panterras had it worse, they took him to the hospital with possible concussion," Alan said regretfully. "Gosh, I was such an idiot!"
"What happened?" Judy asked.
"Me and Tom were told to check the lower levels and evacuate the mammals that remained in there. When we stormed into… I don't know, third, maybe fourth one, we saw an empty room with a huge metal safe. The gazelle closed the door behind us, smiling nicely, but I recognized him. It was Antiery and I said it aloud. What an idiot I was, I should have played along…"
"No, he wouldn't let you leave that room anyway once you saw him and the safe. It's better that you let Panterras know who he was," Judy assured. "What happened then?"
"Antiery locked the door. Tom told me to go for the exit while he'd keep him occupied. Gazelle knocked him out quickly, but I managed to unlock the door. He caught then my bottle and I released myself from the belt. I almost managed to get to the door, but at that moment Antiery already had a knife at Tom's throat, telling me to stop or he'd kill him. I complied and he knocked me out. Then a coyote appeared. It was that friend of his you mentioned I think. Rockfield, was it?" He asked and Judy bobbed her head once. "Anyway, he helped Antiery carry the safe out. I don't remember much more than that when they found us, everything was hot and dense with smoke."
"Didn't you get any smoke poisoning?" Judy asked with worries.
"No, I had my mask on," he assured and Judy watched him carefully noticing the obvious inconsistency of his story. "Rockfield put it back on for me and the oxygen bottle as well. And I think he unlocked the door so they'd find us faster," he explained.
"He… did?" Judy repeated, dumbfounded.
"Yes, I remember the mask clearly. He said that he'd hate me to suffocate or something like that. Isn't he the guy that threw you under a speeding car?" Alan seemed just as confused as she was.
"No, it was Antiery. Rockfield didn't even land a punch at any of us. He was just a driver and a reckon guy back in Skooba's gang," she explained.
"And to think that you have to deal with guys like that on daily basis. I mean, that coyote seemed like a nice guy, but Antiery…"
"Well, I don't walk into the fire every once a week," Judy replied, smiling. "You have it no easier than me and you're not quitting, are you?" She spread her arm around her younger brother and hugged him gently.
"Never crossed my mind," he assured and she tousled his head's fur playfully. Alan quickly returned the favor, giggling.
"That's my brother," Judy said and at that moment, she saw Nick coming.
"Hi, Alan. I heard about Antiery. Nice job there," the fox congratulated him as he approached them. Rabbits couldn't really tell if he learnt a lot from other officers.
"Thanks, Nick. You're on the guy?" Alan asked hopefully.
"Sure we are, this arson gave us quite a lot," the fox confirmed.
"So it was arson," Judy noticed.
"Most likely. Several witnesses saw a lion they didn't recognize entering the building just before the fire and leaving when the first smoke appeared. He left with a lion driver in a grey pick-up, police are already looking for them. Thanks to Alan and several other witnesses we also know that those really were Antiery and Rockfield hiding in here and we can search their place," Nick explained.
"And we have blood samples from Antiery!" Alan noticed proudly.
"Yes, blood samples from Alan's teeth. Although a bit dirty, they might come in handy connecting Antiery with other Skooba's crimes," Nick agreed.
"Your teeth? Oh, right, you bit into his arm," Judy realized. "I forgot to congratulate you on that. So, we're looking for the lions now too? Do we know who they are?"
"Given the descriptions, I'd go with a lucky guess and say Jake Harvey and his brother Mike, Skooba's sidekicks. They knew both Antiery and Rockfield, could just recognize them on a street and find them like that. Besides, they'd definitely want to rob them after they left the gang and the city's already full of rumors about these two and Rouge's painting," Nick guessed.
"Sounds reasonable. We need to have a talk with them. If we find them first, that is," she noticed and then, her ears perked up rapidly as she heard something. "Our radio's calling," she informed him.
"I'm on it," Nick walked to the car and picked the speaker up. "Wilde here, what is it Clawhauser?" He asked.
"The traffic police from Precinct 14, the southern Meadowlands, might have found your lions. I'm patching you through," Clawhauser explained.
"Thanks," Nick said and waited a moment.
"Officer Barnes-Yarvey here, Officers Wilde and Hopps?" The female voice asked.
"Officer Wilde here. What do you have?" Nick confirmed.
"A grey pick-up with two lions inside. We identified them as Jake and Michael Harvey. I believe you were looking for them?" Barnes-Yarvey explained.
"God bless the traffic police," Nick smirked.
"You only talk like that when you need us," the traffic officer replied half-jokingly.
"Is there a chance you'd deliver both of them for questioning by tomorrow?" The fox wondered hopefully.
"I can bring them to you, but they won't be telling you much."
"Why?" He had a bad feeling despite whole that jokey mood.
"Because they're both dead," Barnes-Yarvey explained and Nick cursed silently. "And I can tell you that they left this world with quite a bang. Should we expect someone from Precinct 1 here?" The traffic officer asked.
"We're still a little busy here, but I'll make sure to send someone as fast as possible. Thanks, Yarvey, Wilde out." He finished the call and, as he put the radio back, cursed again. He looked up at Judy; her ears were droopy and seemed rather distressed. Whether she heard the conversation or she just read it from his expression, she already knew.