"Well done on your ride yesterday," Jack said to Nick while standing next to an old roller coaster. The theme park has been abandoned since the late '80s and only plants have appreciated this place ever since. "You left quite a few mammals impressed. And the right ones I might add."
Nobody was near, it was just him and Jack, plus Mia. So he got the white envelope without trying to hide it by slipping it under a table. Upon getting it, he immediately gave it to the vixen to take her cut of the money.
As Mia counted her half, Nick turned back to Jack to let him know his point of view of yesterday. "Yeah, one of the racers thought running to the police was a good idea, another one got annihilated by an SUV, and the last one was in a car that was easy to take over. But… Yeah, you're right I did beat them."
"You fought fair and square." Jack said to Nick, while looking at Mia, with his eyes shrunk in confusion. "If the police didn't interfere, you would have won anyway. I've heard about your takeover, they said it wasn't something you would see every day."
"Yeah, yeah." Nick just waved it off "Great race. So that means I'm moving up?"
"Exactly,'' Jack still looked at Mia in the corner of his eyes. "The Night Dragons are up to a race, and the Quickshifters are interested too. Now the only question is, are you ready too?"
"Born ready! No wait, that's a bit overconfident, isn't it? I've been ready for 2 weeks now. Thanks to my little sweetpie, isn't that right, my darling?" He looked at the vixen who gave a 'go to hell' smile and tossed the envelope back to its rightful owner.
"Well boys, it was nice to do business with you," Mia said and turned away.
"Goodbye Honeyboboo! Same place tomorrow?" Nick shouted with a smug grin and received an annoyed eye roll.
"Ookay so…" Jack started while swapping his stare between the leaving fox and the staying one. "Look, I know I shouldn't ask this because everybody is doing whatever they want to with their money but… Why?"
"Why does she take 60% of my hard earned race money? Long story short we made a deal. She teaches me how to drive like a maniac, in exchange I give her 60% of my earned money."
"I see…" He nodded while looking at the leaving vixen
"Nevertheless, an interesting question. The timing is more interesting though… and the fact that you couldn't take your eyes off her..." Nick said with a growing grin. "You had quite a few occasions to ask this, but only did after 1 week, and when Mia wasn't near… Are you in love with her?"
"Wha… " Jack's eyes widened, taking his stare off the vixen for the first time he quickly shook his head. "You're ridiculous."
"Interesting…" His grin grew even more "And the fact that you didn't give me a straight answer makes me even more curious."
"No, not interesting! There is nothing more to see into this, Big Mouth. She is a Fox, I am not, end of conversation!"
"Interes…"
"Shut it!" Jack emphasized this statement with his raised finger. "Do you want to know more about how things are here or would you like to keep talking about my nonexisting feelings towards her?"
Still grinning, Nick shrugged with crossed arms. "I'm listening."
"Alright. So… If you keep up your winning streak, you might get an invitation for the Big 12."
His previous grin disappeared and a curious look took its place. "The Big 12? What is that?" Nick asked.
"It's the unofficial reason everybody is racing around." Now it was Jack's turn to give a grin, you usually give when you know something the other one doesn't "The big 12 is a huge race around all 12 districts with the 12 most skilled racers. The sponsor is constantly looking for participants, and 8 seats are already taken. If you do as well as you did before, I bet one of the places will be given to you."
"Wait, slow down. Who is this 'Sponsor'? And how does he know who to invite."
"Nobody really knows who he is or what his methods are. If you do well enough, you'll just get a yellow letter one day, with the map of the race and the time, saying you are in. The signature is just simply 'The Sponsor'."
"This is stupid." Nick shook his head "Why would anyone organize this thing? And what do they win with this? It just makes no sense."
Jack shrugged. "The prize for first is one million dollars. Entry fee is the yellow letter, nothing else."
Expressing his concerns, Nick asked, "How do you know this isn't just some scam?"
"The same guy organized a race in Pawlmont City and Fortune hill. Both winners got their promised money."
"This… It just doesn't add up." Nick's detective self seemed to come up, trying to figure out what the sponsor's intention might be. "I already said this once, nobody is doing things only for others. Giving away millions of dollars… Why?"
"Well, as long as he does give it away, who cares? Might be just a generous bored millionaire, who wants some action going on the streets."
"Yeah… might be," Nick said while staring in front of himself. This little conversation was more interesting than he thought it would be. He just decided it will be better to think about this when Jack isn't there, looking at his reaction. "So Night Dragons next?"
"Yes. I'll have to fix a few things with their leader, but I'll phone you as soon as I know more."
"Good. Alright Stripes, see you in about… 12 hours?"
"More or less." Jack nodded
Remembering something, Nick glanced back with a grin. "Oh, and she likes to listen to Rap-rock music while driving. Do whatever you wish with this information."
"Yeah, thanks for the info that I will probably never use."
"If you need some advice with vixens, I'm always here to help." Nick winked while walking backward, and still looking at the rabbit. "Every Jack needs a Skye, am I right?"
"Turn around Big Mouth, because I won't be the one driving you to the hospital, in case you fall on a rock."
"See you later, Loverboy!" Nick gave a quick 1 finger salute and finally turned around with the unmistakable smug grin on his face. He knew he was right. As he left, he pulled up his phone but was a bit hesitant to dial the number he originally wanted. Finally, he tapped the dial button
"It's better be worth it, Wilde!" The grumpy and tired voice greeted Nick.
"I think I have new information."
"Well… Out with it then."
"This whole racing mania is leading to one big race around the 12 districts. There is a high chance our most wanted crews will be there."
"Hmm. That could open a few more doors for us… Go on."
"The race itself is held by someone they refer to as the 'Sponsor'. Do you know anything about it, chief?'
"This is the first time I ever heard that in this context. If you get in the race, I suppose you will meet with him eye to eye. Can you do that?"
"Getting into a professional level race? Nothing's been easier."
"You don't need to race, We just need the map." Bogo corrected Nick, but that still meant the fox had to keep the undercover cop role and speed his mind out. "Your main goal is still luring the crews together. In case you get to know the identity of this 'Sponsor' that would be just the topping on the cake. If you do, report back immediately."
"Will do! And Chief! One question." Nick remembered the previous night's events when he almost got wiped off the road. "I thought we agreed to never apply 'other units' on my races."
"Yes. So?" Bogo asked back, not knowing what Nick was getting to.
"Aaand yesterday I got rammed by Rhinowitz."
After a few seconds of silence, the buffalo spoke. "Oh fu… Well, unfortunately I can't be supervising all your races. So occasions like this can and probably will happen. If you'd like to quit this job, I understand. I have no intention of placing my officers in danger for no reason so…"
"No, no. I'm finally making progress, I won't quit now. But can't we just… make it known with at least a few of my colleagues that they are constantly trying to kill me?" Nick gave the advice, which was immediately denied by his boss
"Look, Wilde. It's a kind of situation that had never happened before. All I can say is, as soon as we have our radio stealer, I'll let more officers know about your situation. But until then, I'm afraid you'll have to work unknown."
"Yeah, I guessed so. Thank you, sir. I'll report back as soon as I know more."
He pocketed the phone and a familiar feeling greeted him. Guilt. Oh, come on, not again. He sighed. It's just a job why do I feel like that every time I report back to the chief.
Nick did quite a lot of undercover jobs in the past years. Frankly, he was pretty good at them. When looking at a fox, nobody thought they might be with the police. But no job made him question if whatever he was doing was good or not. He caught criminals who were doing horrible things! Of course, he was doing the right thing by jailing them! This job shouldn't be looked at otherwise, right?
Street racing is illegal, and they do this knowing it's illegal. Jack is even worse. He is organizing illegal races. They aren't better than drug dealers in front of high schools!
Yet the feeling didn't disappear. No matter how hard he tried looking at Jack as a criminal, he couldn't stop looking at him as a friend. Let's just get to the bottom of this. I'll have time to feel guilty AFTER I do my job.
An: Hey there! A bit smaller chapter than usual, but at least it adds a little bit to the plot. Also my offer still stands. If you got this far and would be willing to betaread my story, that would mean a lot! You get to read the chapters before publishing! Isn't that neat? so if you're up for the task, feel free to Pm me... please.