Chapter 17: Warehouse

Nick was still at Judy's with the doctor for an extra ten minutes or so. The glare of Judy's metal plate reminded him of how it was because of him that she hadn't given up her badge for the chief while keeping her job with the police, and because of that she was very grateful to him. It was through this event that they became closer, something sparked between them, something that made them friends in the near future. Fox smiled at the time he mentioned it which probably must have looked silly because Adams didn't know what it was about, but he didn't care. The important thing was that he understood.

Soon though, he had to stop staring at the badge and the rabbit, he had to be at Sahara Square by 4p.m. to be able to follow Dominic to get to the meeting that would take place with Jack. He is the one the fox has been hunting for the last few days and this will be the perfect opportunity to fulfil his goal. This will be the first and perhaps also the last such opportunity.

"It will be fine Judy, you'll see...I have it all planned out" Nick said quietly. He placed his paw delicately on Judy's forehead. Her frontal lobe was cool...cold...there was no life spirit in it.

"We will keep you updated on her condition, please stay on the phone at all times...you never know when..."

"I know doctor, please don't remind me of that. Are you staying here?" Asked the fox seeing that the doctor had no intention of getting up from his seat. The doctor shook his head negatively indicating the IV to which Judy was attached. The fluid was practically gone.

"I need to change the IV for the patient. Please go now, we will keep you informed" The doctor communicated. After saying goodbye, the fox left the room.

After leaving the hospital, Nick managed to notice that the weather outside had improved. The dark sheets of clouds had parted to different sides of the sky dissipating allowing the sun to lean out emitting its bright rays. It also got warmer outside, a sweatshirt was now completely unnecessary.

"I thought it was going to rain" thought Nick as he saw the sunny weather.

He got into the car opening the dashboard to check he had all his items. He felt more confident seeing the gun and his badge in the small, roomy compartment. Both items he needed badly in terms of his plan to meet Jack. He still didn't know how the three robbers would be armed (that they would be armed he assumed in advance, he doubted they would be happy to see a policeman), he was a little worried that his gun might not be enough, but in the situation he was in, it had to be enough. He could only count on himself. The clock in the car showed 2.45 p.m., it was the perfect time to head towards Sahara Square so he could begin the final phase of his plan.

"I hope my efforts were needed" thought Nick as he started the engine.

His journey to his destination was not a quick one, the fox was in no hurry to get to the point as quickly as possible, rather he was keen to spend this time relaxing and taking a breather. He knew that once he started following the suspect, he would have to stay focused the entire time so that he didn't make any stupid mistake that could cause the plan to be nullified. He had it in his head that the time for Judy's end was drawing nearer and nearer and he had a maximum of two days to find a good organ for his friend to transplant. For the time being he didn't even think about failure, he was more concerned with the thought of what to do when he was alone with Jack. It was the thought that scared him the most, but he had to break through if he wanted to achieve his goal. He didn't care about the rest, he didn't care about stopping them, they could even run away from the scene, he just cared about Jack alone, preferably defenseless, who would have no way to defend himself.

As Nick crossed the border of Zootopia and entered Sahara Square the sky began to darken. The sun had already slowly begun to retract behind the horizon, leaving behind delicate red streaks at the end of the skyline. The clock read 3.20 p.m.

On arriving at the car park where Nick had stood last night there were a number of cars spread out in random places. This was to the fox's advantage, a lower percentage chance of Dominic recognising himself being followed. Nick knew he had to remain as vigilant and focused as possible if he didn't want to miss his first and or last chance to save his friend.

Half an hour later

Half an hour had passed since Nick had to idly stand in the car park waiting for something interesting to happen for him. It was 3.55p.m. on the clock when a rust-covered car with a cracked bumper on the right side emerged from the gravel road and with a squeal of tyres drove out onto the tarmac heading towards Zootopia. Nick started the car immediately and drove out of the car park keeping a gap of a few dozen metres between him and Dominic's car so as not to create any suspicion. Immediately what caught the fox's eye was the fact that the man was travelling without a number plate!

"Are they seriously that stupid? I already have a reason to pull him over..." Thought Nick as he wondered if they were stupid enough to drive without registration. It's just asking for them to be pulled over. However, that wasn't what he had in mind, he had to get to the meeting place unobserved, or at least get there so that no one would expect him. Dominic's pace was faster than James, who was travelling much slower, but it was still surprisingly a prescribed speed.

On entering Zootopia, Nick expected them to enter the city driving through the traffic jams and intersections of the city to reach some deserted place where no one had looked in a long time. He was greatly surprised when Dominic turned right instead of entering the town. The road to the right led to the ring road of the city, which circled practically the entire city making it possible to drive the entire city around quickly getting to the other side of the city.

'Looks like they meet at the other end of town' thought Nick. It was the only sensible option he came up with at the moment. Nothing else seemed to fit, what sense would it make to encircle the town to then enter it via another road? Either way Nick now had to concentrate more on driving than thinking, as this was an expressway of sorts, with three lanes, on which there were other vehicles that were going faster than you would have guessed. Here Dominic as well as Nick accelerated so as not to block the traffic behind them. Leaning with one hand on the car door Nick followed the rusty car being careful not to get too close so that he didn't suspect anything. When the opportunity presented itself, the fox let one car pass in front of him to widen the gap between him and Dominic. With a sigh he looked at the time that was displayed on the clock on the radio, it was 4.20 p.m.

As Nick continued driving, he wasn't too concerned about time, which was passing inexorably as he could see by the increasingly night skies, where the sun had already practically disappeared behind the horizon. As it got darker, some drivers no longer wanted to take any chances and turned on the lights in their cars, illuminating the road for themselves. Just when Nick thought they were going to spend the next few minutes on the expressway Dominic changed lanes to the right, which meant he was about to turn. Nick was intrigued by this move, he did the same as Dominic by pulling over into the right lane giving the indicator that he was going to turn. Ahead of them an exit leading into an old, built-up street was revealed.

'Looks like they're meeting in an old working neighbourhood' thought Nick. He was familiar with that area as well. Granted, he didn't do any business there, but he had a friend who worked for a company here until it was shut down by its financial problems. Now, most of the buildings in this street were unused, stood aimlessly aging and ruining. As he expected, with no signposts, Dominic turned onto the slip road leading to the work street, where the condition of the road immediately took a turn for the worse. Nick slowed significantly to increase his distance over Dominic, who slowed dramatically. They both turned right, ahead of them was a long street where next to the roads were tattered rubbish bins, the lamps were not lit, and the pavements were cracked and crumbled. It was clear that the street was not in the best of condition, but these are the places that villains love. Following Dominic, the fox noticed the suspect slowing down in front of an old warehouse where the front gate was locked, but that wasn't something Nick was worried about. He at least knew where they would be meeting. So as not to cause any suspicion Nick drove straight ahead to the corner he rounded and immediately stopped behind it turning off the engine.

'Well, I guess it's time to settle this' thought Nick as the area became quiet. He was terribly stressed about a situation that could change his life. He didn't know what would await him in that warehouse, but he knew one thing for sure: once he got inside, it would be too late to back out. He would have to do what he had planned from the very beginning. He opened the small-object compartment that was in the car. He immediately noticed the pistol and the badge. His heart stopped in his throat when he saw these objects. He was under the influence of strong emotions, he was so stressed that he did not know what to do. He knew one thing. He had to save Judy. He took the gun and the badge in his hand, which he pinned to his chest and tucked the gun into his belt. He was ready to start the ultimate game. He opened the door and stepped out of the car. It was already quite cool outside, even for the summer time. It was already completely dark, with a faint warm light burning by the roadside, one working lamp among several broken ones. Coming around the corner Nick saw no one, he noticed that the gate was open, so Dominic must have driven inside the compound. The car was no longer on the cracked driveway in front of the building. Nick quickly ran across the road hugging the wall of the building to avoid being seen by anyone. He expected that the only ones around were the ones who were just in the warehouse, which he didn't want to run into. As Nick stood at the entrance gate he took a deep breath to calm himself, then leaned out from behind the wall so he could look around. In the middle of the room he noticed three cars standing in the moonlight that came through the hole in the glass ceiling. Fox couldn't see anyone from this position and had to go inside the complex. On the other side of the passage stood several crates wrapped in plastic, the crates looked to have been packed for several years. Being bent down, the fox ran through the passage, then fell to his knees hiding behind the wooden wrappings.

As he looked around he noticed a staircase at the other end of the hall and a small office hung over the cars where the lights were on. Fox guessed that this was where the three men who were to meet were staying. He leaned delicately out from behind the crates so as to be sure that no one would notice him, and began to listen.

"Has no one been following you? Why were you late at all! You were supposed to be here at 4p.m., not leave at this hour!" A new, hitherto unfamiliar voice for Nick trembled from the cabin. The low but thick and menacing tone caused goosebumps even for the policeman who had been hiding behind the crates the whole time.

'It must be Jack' thought Nick. That unfamiliar voice, it had to mean his presence.

"Sorry, you know how I am...I kind of overslept..." Replied a confused Dominic.

"Ugh...tell me, did someone follow you? We need to be sure we're safe"

"There was a black sedan following me, but it continued straight"

"A black sedan?" Jack repeated.

"Yeah, Carol must have changed cars, he said he would himself"

"Probably so...anyway it doesn't matter, he won't do anything anyway. Let's get back to what we actually met here for" replied Jack. At this point the three men started talking about splitting the money between them, which started a rather loud discussion that frankly didn't interest Nick. He had another dilemma in his mind: should he go now and fight the three of them, or wait until James and Dominic had gone and he was alone with Jack. The option of catching the three of them seemed very appealing, but he didn't come here to get his money back, he didn't care about them, he just wanted to get his revenge. On the other hand, he had the leads on the three of them, so in case he returned to the police he could catch them. If he wanted to arrest them, he could do it already, but it would not help him. He cared mostly about Jack, he didn't care about Dominic or James, he had one specific goal. He didn't want to risk too much either, he still didn't know if they had weapons. If they did, he would be in big trouble, maybe even too much trouble for the whole plan to work. He did not want to risk unnecessarily, it was enough to wait, at least for now.

"I'll wait here until they leave...I'd rather be alone with him," Nick finally decided. He chose a comfortable position leaning against the wooden crates and waited... patiently waited...