Chapter Twenty-Nine
Can Make a River
"And that's it; you fled?" Shaded from the intensity of direct sunlight — sheltered in the cool, conditioned air of his office — Bogo sat back in his chair, his chin resting on his hoof as he watched the shaggy black dog sat across from him.
"Yesir," he replied, "no other option, y'see. Mind if I smoke?" The Chief opened his mouth to say 'actually he did mind and that it was, really, illegal to smoke in public buildings'... but Shuck had already put his match to his small, wooden pipe and was puffing away furiously. Bogo closed his mouth, cleared his throat, and tried again.
"Can you tell me more of this — coyote — what he was wearing, any distinguishing marks?"
"Aye. He was a young fellow of a lad who didn't have no respect. No taller than your average coyote but a little leaner perhaps. Typical sailing garb— you know: boots, waterproofs, all that." Bogo copied Shuck's words onto paper as he spoke. The dog sucked a particularly long puff from his pipe, as he leaned his age-stiffened back into the soft support of the visitor's chair, squinting at nothing as he thought back on what had happened.
"I'd have tae say he was... overstated, in the way he behaved and held himself an' all. Far as I could tell, he was the type of lad suited to middle management. Ordering people around an' takin' their credit, only doing what he'd been told by 'is supervisors without any real skill or thinking on 'is part beyond lookin' pretty."
Bogo scratched down more notes. "And this, Victor—"
"'Course," Black interrupted, sitting forwards and banging his pipe out on Bogo's desk, leaving a small pile of ashes, "it won't do you no good to be lookin' for him now. That ship's long gone."
"Still," Bogo replied calmly, sitting closer to the daring black dog, and brushing the ash off his desk, "we do like to know these things." He smiled, falsely, and then, "Now, this Nyilas—" Bogo was interrupted a second time — this time by his radio.
"Sir?" it crackled from its place on Bogo's belt.
The Chief grunted and pulled it from its holster, speaking wearily, "Who is it?"
"Me."
Bogo blinked. There was only one mammal Bogo knew, who would be so self-confident as to simply assume whoever he was talking to would instantly know who it was, by just stating a single word... and it wasn't Nick.
"Savage," Bogo affirmed, tersely, "can this wait?"
"Well it 'could'... yes." Bogo's shoulders slumped; he sighed. In Jack's books, a statement as vague as that was a general, non-confrontational, term for 'yes, do it now'.
"Alright," Bogo relented, standing, "just give me a sec'." The buffalo rose and made towards his small, personal office, turning to Black for a moment as he stepped out. "This'll just take a moment," he said, before he shut the door on the floatingly aggravated dog.
Shuck Black watched Bogo with two eyes as he left the room. After a moment, his paw moved to his head and he took one of them out. He examined his glass eye through his real one, breathed on it, rubbed it clean, then put it back into its socket, before starting to process of refilling his pipe and making a further mess on the Chief's pristine desk.
...
The air outside was thick with the building heat of the day. In the car park of the ZPD headquarters, the smallest of cruisers pulled up to a stop. Inside, Judy twisted to look at her fox, as she turned off the car and pulled the ignition key from the lock. She frowned at seeing him tweaked around to look out the back window. He still seamed troubled.
"Nick?"
"Yeah," he glanced at her, fleetingly, then looked back out, "what?"
Judy unbuckled herself and sat forwards, angling herself around to look out the back window so of the same. "What's the matter with you this morning? Other than your black eye, I mean," she added, apologetically.
Nick reacted to the sadness in Judy's voice and glanced at her a second time with a warm smile, but then looked back out the window, his expression stern and thoughtful as before. Her eyebrows lowering in confusion, Judy leaned forwards and moved her head close to Nick's, looking out so she could follow his gaze. The car park of the ZPD was within a secure, enclosed space with only one entrance. This entrance came with a metal gate high enough to stop intruders accessing the ZPD's cars. Observing carefully, Judy could see the cars passing on the main road they had drove in on.
She stared out in silence. A red car drove past, then a blue one, a gray one, a white one, then another red one. "Nick, what… what is it you're doing, exactly?"
"Looking."
"For what?"
"For who."
"Whom— actually, but go on."
Nick glanced towards her, grinning at his lover, before returning to his observations. "Our black-stripped friend: the rabbit with the silver car. I know it's a long shot, but it pays to be careful."
Judy slipped an arm around Nick's waist — for the simple reason that she wanted feel his body against hers — as she spoke, "Good, but... hadn't we better get in there? It's probably getting late."
"Nope," the fox retorted, not turning to her, but at least slipping his paw down to hold hers, which was wrapped around his waist's front. "We still have eight minutes before the others start crowding up."
Judy pulled herself a little closer to the sweet-smelling fox, her head resting lightly on his shoulder. "How's that," she asked, "I would have thought after all that we'd've needed to hurry."
"Well, seeing as how we came straight here without needing to stop off at yours first… that, and the fact we drove rather than walked– I think it's easy to see why we're the first ones here. We've got plenty of time." The fox raised his free paw to his eye, rubbing the black swelling around it tenderly. "Even with... incidents."
Judy put both arms firmly around her fox, holding the warmth of his body close to hers as she spoke, sadly, into one ear. "Nick, I am, really sorry about that. I promise, I—"
"Will you stop apologizing, Hopps," Nick interrupted playfully as he looped both his arms around her, holding her in an, albeit awkward, but satisfying hug. They were perched over the gearstick and pawbrake, their bodies facing the observations moving in the back window.
"Honestly, stop it," he continued, "your reasons were perfectly justified and your justice dealt swift. For all you knew, I was literally about to send a pic' of you, naked, to the mayor of this city, after all."
"That's beside the point," Judy complained, pressing her lips against Nick's nose gently, "the point is I hurt you. And not for the first time."
"I realize I'm no help," Nick added, absently, "I do tend to push your nerves as far as they'll go… I know… and sometimes I just push you too far. I understand that. I don't blame you for the results of my own actions..." He raised a clawed finger and tiled Judy's head up so her eyes met his... "And nor should you."
Judy smiled, raising her paw and holding Nick's paw in her own, thus holding the silence a bit longer in this soothing moment. "Then there's also the fact you're gonna have to tell everyone in the ZPD how you got that black eye—"
"Ohh, I shouldn't worry too much about that, Hopps. After all, who's gonna know?" Judy squinted. Nick grinned, and in another instant he had produced his aviator glasses, opened them with a flick of the wrist and had slid them coolly across his nose.
Fondly, Judy gleed up at the fox — bathing in the warm sense of relief that filled her at knowing Nick was anything but mad with her — speaking softly, warmly, as her fingers entwined with his, "I love you, you sly old fox you."
"Old? Not too old to be dating a beautiful, young rabbit like yourself, I hope." The rabbit giggled. Nick continued, "Come on, darlin'," he said, leaning forwards and planting an honest, simple kiss on Judy's lips, "let's get in there before things get heated and we really are late."
Judy knew they had done far more than just 'kissed' the night before — and she was fully aware of what would have happened if only she or Nick had just a little less self-control. But the simple pleasure of that chased-but-loving kiss was still more than enough to make her lips tinge pink, her cheeks flush with color, her breaths turn short and a light fluttering sensation to grow in her chest as she said, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
The two lovers shared a fond moon for a long moment, opened the doors, and stepped out of the dark interior of the car and into the broad light of day. They locked the car and walked arm-in-arm to the metal door of the ZPD's back-entrance — the fox opening the door gracefully to the rabbit before shutting it softly behind her.
And… a few seconds later, the black-striped head of a gray-furred rabbit appeared from the other side of the car park's outer walls. He watched the fox and rabbit enter the building — not noticed by either — and then slipped in through the metal bars of the gate, which were more than wide enough to allow a rabbit entry.
He raised his phone to his drooped ear — Hopps and Wilde safely within — and spoke, "Targets relocated, Sir," he reported as he walked, "both are now entering the building as we speak."
"Good work, Savage," came Bogo's reply. "Now, come in and stay low, especially when the other officers start turning up. I do not want your presence here to be known. Out."
Jack stopped and looked down at the hung-up phone in his paw… "Very good, Sir," he muttered, slipping the phone back in his pocket and heaving the over-sized door slowly open.
…
Author's notes:
Hesitance jumps around your mind,
Grooms decision thus chosen blind.
Your thoughts most succulent of snack,
All delivered by luscious feedback.
So don't hide like a tiny shrew,
Thus share that belovable review!
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