Well, that hadn't been what I'd expected to hear. Carrots dug through Brandon's pockets, eventually pulling out a little bag full of pills.
"Does Rocco know what that candy looked like," she held it out to Ed. "Was it similar to this?"
The lion knelt down to get a closer look at it, shoving his mane out of his face. He shook his head.
"I don't think he saw it, he didn't say anything about it, at least," he stood, jerking a thumb toward Brandon. "But since his daughter was acting like Mr. Tough Guy over there, I wouldn't be surprised if they were."
Carrots swayed a bit, probably would've toppled if Leo hadn't caught her.
"You okay there, Miss Judy?" he still sounded nervous. She pressed a paw to her head, taking a few deep breathes before straightening.
"Yes, Leo, thank you," she smiled up at him, then turned back to her phone. "It'll be about thirty minutes before anyone's able to get here from the precinct, so it looks like we've got some time to figure this out."
"Or at least try to," Ed sat on the porch steps. "I'm actually wishing you hadn't darted that dumbass, Judy, we could've gotten the source right from the wolf's mouth."
Carrots tucked the bag in her pocket and picked up the dart gun she'd dropped, pawing it to Leo.
"Maybe, but there's really no way to know. He could've bought them, but he also could've swiped them or even just found a bag of them lying on the ground somewhere," she shook her head. "We won't know anything until the labs are able to test them."
She walked over to me and Mercy, leaving Leo alone by Brandon. From how the wolf was snoring, it didn't seem like he'd be waking up any time soon.
"What about you, Mercy?" she pulled the bag back out. "Have you seen pills like these before?"
Mercy barely glanced at them before shaking her head.
"I'm not into the whole drug scene," she said. "I can't even tell a blunt from a cigarette. But they are a nice color, I think I'd remember seeing something like that before."
Carrots tossed the bag to me as Mercy got up.
"What do you think, Nick?"
I shifted the bag in my palm. Something bit at me when I looked at them, but it wasn't exactly recognition.
"No," I tossed them back to her. "I did mess around with drugs a few years ago, but I've never seen these before."
I pulled the neckerchief from my nose, sighing when I saw the bleeding had stopped. I stood up and brushed myself off.
"But I can tell you this wasn't just a big coincidence," I went over and grabbed the gun I'd made Brandon drop. It was about as long as my forearm, the serial number filed cleanly off. I looked closer at it, and couldn't stop myself from laughing. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
Everyone stared at me like I'd just lost my mind. Carrots facepalmed.
"You were about to tell us your genius little theory, Slick," she dragged her paw down her face. "And I fail to see what's so funny about it! He could've killed us!"
"Oh, I don't think so," I chuckled again, hefting the gun and aiming at a tree. I tried pulling the trigger, smirking when it didn't move. "Dumbass didn't even turn the safety off."
Carrots facepalmed again.
"Sweet cheese and crackers!"
"So at least we finally have an idea of how preds are getting drugged," I laid back on the couch. Carrots' fellow cops had come and gone, taking Brandon's still-snoring ass with them after we'd spilled about the pills he'd had. She'd gone with them, since unlike us, she still had a job to do. "Now we just have to find out how they're making this stuff, and where."
"A 'who' would be nice, too," Mercy spoke up. She was wrapped around Paul again; the glare glued to the cat's face was not something I was used to seeing. "We can't exactly solve this if we don't have anyone to look for."
Paul growled, pulling Mercy closer to him.
"I say we just beat it out of that piece of shit wolf next time we see him."
I sighed, pushing myself up.
"As much as I'd love to do that, buddy, I have a feeling that wouldn't get us anywhere," I gingerly pressed a paw to my nose, wincing. "And as much of a scumbag as that guy is, I doubt he's got the brainpower to be part of something this big. I'm actually surprised he's smart enough just to buy drugs."
Paul looked at Mercy.
"Why exactly did you get with him again?"
She shook her head.
"I have no freaking idea."
I rolled my eyes as they slipped into la-la land, heading to my room before it got any worse. It was hard to believe those two had never hooked up before; I shook my head to get the forming image out of my mind.
Okay, that's enough of that!
I flopped on my bed, taking out my phone and flipping through the pictures; I'd been transferring some of them since I got my first cell. I froze at one of them, not bothering to blink back the tears. Our last family trip before everything had started going to shit. I didn't remember the name of the theme park we'd gone to, but it had been one of few places where it didn't matter what species or class you were, even if you were a fox with zebras for parents.
Finnick had been standing on Mom's shoulder, me sitting on Dad's, both of us with a fist in the air and a big, laughing smile. Tony had been too big for either of them to pick up by then, so he'd stood between them. They'd both had an arm around his shoulders, his smile the only one that looked forced. I shuddered; even now I could feel how cold his eyes had been afterward. But it had still taken me years to figure out just how he really felt about me. I sniffled, flicking past it.
The next picture was a lot more recent, back when we'd first started the band. Trevor and I had been twenty, Mercy nineteen, Paul seventeen. I traced a claw over the other two mammals, my throat tightening as my eyes lingered on one of them. Everything boiled up again: the love, the happiness, the betrayal that'd ended it. I swiped at my eyes with my sleeve, putting my phone to sleep and tossing it aside. Now was not the time to think about any of that, no matter how much it hurt to keep it buried. The last thing any of us needed right now was that can or worms blowing up in our faces. It had waited this long, it could wait until the case was over, when I was finally able to think clearly again.
I just hoped I'd be able to hold out for that long.
