Chapter 103: A Visit to Prison


Jake goes to prison to see his rival Le Rouge.


The red panda in the orange prison jumpsuit gave a bored look even as his green eyes darted around while taking in every detail and studying the drab light gray walls, the sturdy metal table to which his paws were chained, and the uncomfortable chair that he was shackled upon. His ears slightly straightened when he heard the sound of pawsteps just outside of the dark gray steel door. There was a sound of a passcode being entered into the keypad outside the room and he tried to memorize the very slightly different beeps that the buttons made when they were pressed. Finally, the door opened and a large warthog in a prison guard's uniform unceremoniously shoved a raccoon holding a white box into the room before he slammed the door shut again.

"Orange looks much better on you then it does on me!" the red panda called out to the raccoon who was standing there dressed in a matching orange jumpsuit clutching a box in his paws. "This color just clashes with my fur."

"Not funny, Le Rouge," the raccoon sighed as he looked around the cell. "Apparently you have been very naughty again, they have four security cameras in here and not two like the last time. Also, I did not appreciate the strip search and then having to change from my very nice business suit into this tacky jumpsuit. Between you and me, I think the guards still don't trust me even though it has been a very long time since I was an inmate here."

"My dear Runnel, I must admit that have I dreamt of seeing you wearing that color for a number of years. Since you and I are the only ones who have ever managed to pick our cell locks in this dreary place, we could have played cards or even chess whenever we wanted to!"

"Sure," the raccoon chuckled as he sat down in the chair opposite the prisoner. Jake had set the box down on the table next to him and the red panda caught the scent of something sweet. "They gave me the full works this time, including making me lean over. You don't know how much I hate the sound of a latex glove being snapped on over a hoof. Why did they really think that I was going to smuggle something for you down there?"

"The very thought of them doing that has brightened my day already!"

"So why is there all this extra security this time around? The way they are acting, you'd think you were someone like that mass murderer...what was his name? Henry, Hank, oh yeah Hannibal..."

"I presume you are referring to that bobcat who silenced and ate all those poor lambs?" Le Rouge answered even while he wiggled slightly as if he was trying to get more comfortable. "That savage is locked up deep in the bowels of this prison. No, it seems that the warden has finally tired of my many attempts to escape."

"You do know that you would have probably been out on parole by now if you had just behaved? That is how I got out of here."

"Did you forget that I robbed the mayor's home? I doubt that I would ever get out on parole after having done that."

"Oh yeah, the mayor was in bed asleep with her husband when you robbed them. You even left one of those white flowers like you always do, that was a bone-headed thing to do."

"That is sort of my calling card, why pull off such a spectacular heist without anyone knowing who did it?"

"Yeah, like the cops?"

"They had no evidence linking me to the crime, only the flower and that was no solid proof."

"Not until Nick and Judy tracked down some of the stolen goods and got your fence to squeal."

"That rabbit and fox are rather vexing."

"So, what did you do this time which caused the extra security?"

"Alas, it had to do with my priest," the red panda mockingly sighed. "You know how those mammals of the cloth should not be trusted?"

"Try again."

"Well he really wasn't a priest, but my friend's little scheme didn't work out as we hoped and now he is sitting in a cell in the next prison block over from mine and I am still here."

"I have to admit that seeing you here today does make me somewhat relieved. I don't have to worry about you robbing any of my clients," Jake replied as he leaned back in the seat. The two former rivals were quiet for a few moments before the raccoon spoke again. "I ran into one of your younger protégées at a party not too long ago."

"That would be dear sweet Selina," the red panda said with a grin. "She has talent, but she will never be as good as me or even you. You should know Runnel that we could have been friends, but you had to change sides."

"I was never as good as you were," the raccoon admitted. "For me, it was the excitement of the challenge and not so much for the loot itself."

"That is true for me too, we are both excitement junkies. But I have always wondered why you held back?"

"Mostly because I knew what I was doing was usually morally wrong and I couldn't live with that."

"A thief with a conscience is always a disaster waiting to happen and that explains why you never joined one of the mobs. You do realize that was your downfall?"

"Of course, I was an independent who was horning in on their business."

"One day when I am free from this place," Le Rouge began, and then he just shook his head, he was squirming in his seat as if the red panda was once again trying to get more comfortable. "Maybe one day once the statutes of limitations have passed, you can tell me about how you did some of those heists? But for now, the walls not only have eyes but ears too."

"For the record, I only did one heist and I got caught," the raccoon loudly proclaimed as he winked at the red panda.

"Of course!" Le Rouge laughed as he winked back. "May I ask what is in the box?"

"Well, Marie and the boys made you a cake. However, the guards wanted to make sure I wasn't bringing any contraband baked into the cake."

"It will be good to have something besides the swill they serve in here. Will you please relay my gratitude to your dear wife and the boys for their kind gift?" The red panda was licking his chops while he watched as the raccoon began to open the box. "May I open it please?" A pair of now freed dark brown paws reached for the box.

"Oh, you are good!" Jake said with admiration as he passed the still closed box over to Le Rouge. "You worked your wrists free of those shackles almost without me noticing."

The red panda gave the raccoon a grin as he opened the box, but then he scowled when he saw what was left of the cake in a plastic baggie. "They could have x-rayed the cake and not tore it to shreds!" he angrily objected. "Those barbarians only did that because they do not like me."

"Well, it is still a cake. It is just now a crumb cake," Jake chuckled. "Get it? Get it? It's a crumb cake? As it is in crumbs..."

"Please don't explain your puns," Le Rouge sighed as he shook his head. "You are getting as bad as Wilde."