Chapter 66: Time to end it

As Nick and Mark drove in a direction unknown to the arresting officer, it was already getting dark. A piercing frost was blowing outside with a slight gust of wind and snow was lightly blanketing the town, which was already covered in snow. Visibility was quite limited by the resulting small blizzard and it was chilly outside. It was quite a frosty evening, not the best for a family outing, but as you can see Nick was very keen for his father to go to this place.

Mark himself didn't know, he didn't guess where his son might be driving him. Various ideas came to mind, but he wasn't brave enough to ask him where they were going. He knew that sooner or later he would find out what their destination was, so he didn't want to further upset Nick, who was very sensitive to questions as Mark had noticed. It was a trait of his. He also hated it when someone showered him with questions that could literally be answered in one sentence. He considered such enquiries a waste of time and thought, why ask a question when the answer is so simple?

Nick himself did not seem interested in conversation, preferring to sit quietly and concentrate on the road. From time to time he would glance at the mirror watching his father's low raised head, who would occasionally look at the view out of the side window of the car to see where they were going, but he did not seem to recognise in any way the area they were driving into.

"Don't you remember the area?" Nick asked at one point.

"It's hard to tell... You can hardly see anything" replied a confused Mark. The precipitation began to intensify making it harder and harder to see anything let alone anything concrete. It was shaping up to be a stormy night that would be worth sleeping in. Luckily for Nick and Judy, they got that day and night off, as well as the next few, so they could get some respite from the police. What Nick was doing now could be considered 'semi-legal', but Clawhauser knew that, which the fox was counting on, so that at least this time he wouldn't blab everything to his superior. To be honest, Nick wasn't even afraid of Bogo, but of the general staff, who, at a time when the headquarters in Zootopia wasn't getting on with the missing persons case, began to take an increasing interest in the entire police team of this command. The higher headquarters could already do damage to the fox as much as possible, even the sharpest fox would have to acknowledge their respect - they were even cleverer.

After a few more minutes of driving, Nick stopped at one house with a single light on - presumably in the kitchen. Nick looked at the house with full knowledge of where they were, while his father seemed to be starting to get his bearings slowly.

"We're there," announced Nick calmly. Mark stared through the glass at the familiar shapes and colours of the house for a few moments, then turned abruptly to Nick with surprise painted on his face pointing at the house.

"Shall I go to the house? No, no! You must be out of your mind! Do you know what state Natalia will be in when I turn up? She'll go crazy!" Mark denied emphatically, but Nick was speechless. He knew what his father had to do and he wasn't going to let it pass him by.

"You'll go to her and tell her everything you've done and apologise to her" Nick communicated. Mark parried arrogantly waving his head negatively from side to side.

"Should I tell her about this research? You're out of your mind Nick! She's going to hate me for the rest of her life!" Mark insisted.

"You two had a strained relationship anyway. Look, the issue is remarkably simple. If you go to her, I'll destroy the memory stick later today and we'll forget about it" Nick communicated seriously.

"What if you don't?" His father chuckled. The policeman pulled the device out of his pocket, which was at a premium with the police. Nick didn't even have to say anything for Mark to understand what was going on. Smiling shrewdly, he put the device back in his pocket.

"Suit yourself. It's your choice," Nick said calmly. Despite not saying it for his son, Mark was afraid to go to his wife and explain everything to her. After a while he even thought about her and felt sorry for leaving her, but he knew it was too late to pull out of the project. He had put everything on the line then and it was too late to chicken out especially in a situation where it looked like they would succeed in their goal.

"OK, I'll go." Mark finally agreed. Nick unlocked the car door and then his father slowly got out of the car being careful of the slippery road surface. With a hesitant step he headed towards the house.

Nick remained in the car for some time. He didn't want to stress his father out more or disturb them in a private conversation where they were supposed to explain everything to each other, especially Mark, who had suddenly died leaving his wife. Nick hoped that his father at least had the honour to admit everything to Natalia, so that he could at least explain himself out of it. No way to be able to explain away his previous crimes, it wasn't even worth doing. It was pure bestiality for which there was no excuse. No one could find out about what had happened in the complex, or the recordings that had come from there. Nick hadn't destroyed the device yet, he needed to be sure that Mark would keep his promise and explain everything to his wife. Nick didn't trust anyone 100%, and that characterised him in some ways. Always with a certain distance from others, he didn't allow himself to be hurt.

A quarter of an hour passed and there was no sign of Mark, which worried Nick a little. The very instinct in him that told him something was wrong had fired up and he feared Mark might have taken the opportunity to bolt.

Nick got out of the car and headed towards the house measuring himself against the snow blizzard that was gaining strength all the time. Pushing through it was causing some problems, the wind was pushing Nick away. It had been a long time since there had been such a blizzard.

Reaching the door before knocking, Fox listened for any sounds and actually heard quiet female and male voices - Mark and Natalia. Nick, not wanting to interrupt them, entered the house without knocking, squeezing through the hall. He quickly spotted his parents talking to each other, standing in the kitchen. He could see that both Mark and Natalia were moved, both had tears in their eyes and looked at each other with great longing. The sight was, in a way, a good ending to the story; he saw no other way out of Mark's situation, so he saw this as the only sensible option. What he didn't think, however, was that he would be left with both of them in such a moving sight that even in his heart something was stirred.

"Oh Nick! You found him!" Natalia said proudly. She walked up to her son and hugged him. He felt wet traces of tears on her cheeks.

"Yes, I found him, but I think he told you..."

"That he was going to prison? Yes, he explained everything...the ground that he found himself," Natalia replied calmly. Nick looked at Mark, who calmly confirmed his wife's words with head movements. Nick didn't reply, he laughed quietly watching Mark, who looked proud.

"You must be thirsty for sure, maybe make you some tea..."

"No need Mum! We've simply come to reassure you that Mark...dad is all right. Unfortunately he needs to be taken into custody before he can return to the Commandant's office. He doesn't quite know about Mark being on the loose " communicated Nick. Natalia's smile had faded a little from her face, but she was still smiling slightly. Seeing Mark and Nick together gave her a lot of happiness and a sense of security that she finally felt safe among her family.

"Well...I understand...I'll be waiting for you Mark," Natalia said. They looked at each other with indulgent eyes, Nick could see that it would be a pain for his mother to be parted from her husband again, but there was no way out. Luckily for her, Mark is no longer facing life imprisonment.

"We have to go now, I'll visit you some more Mum," said Nick turning back with Mark towards the exit.

"Do this as often as possible. I feel like there's finally real peace in this town" replied Natalia. Nick considered these words for a moment and overheard. There was silence, which surprised him. It was never quiet in this town, let alone peaceful! However, it seemed that it really was.

"Yes...I'll try," Nick replied, then left the house with his father.

Driving back towards the police station, father and son chatted a little. The atmosphere between them had loosened up enough for Nick to break down a sort of barrier within himself that told him not to talk to his father, or to end such dialogue as soon as possible. After visiting his mum, he wasn't so angry with Mark, whom he was now driving back to the detention centre.

"Guess you didn't tell the whole truth for Mum?" Asked Nick at one point.

"Of course not! Are you mad? If I had told, she would have hated me!" Confirmed Mark immediately. He was right in what he said. Natalia certainly wouldn't forgive him for the research he was doing with the team.

"So what did you tell her?" Nick asked curiously.

"I said that I'd fallen into a not-so-successful business deal which meant I had to go to prison...she was too happy for luck to be interested in the details," replied Mark. Nick nodded with a shake of his head. He honestly wasn't surprised by Mark's made-up version, he himself would also have preferred to stretch the facts a little to avoid angering his other half.

"You know, I should be thanking you for not giving that memory stick to the police, you'll make my life still make sense," thanked Mark.

"You should be thanking my friend and my ... friend. They were the ones who talked me out of the idea of giving this device. Although I can see now that maybe it's a good thing...my mum would be devastated if you got a life sentence" replied Nick. Still not quite coming to terms with the fact that the device would not see the light of day after all, he was slowly beginning to believe that this was the right decision. He could see that Mark was beginning to understand his mistakes and wanted to put them right... at least that's how it looked.

When they pulled up in front of the police station there were slightly more cars standing than before they left. It was 10.00 p.m., so the changing of the guard was taking place. Those on day patrol were allowed to go home and those who could rest all day gathered at the police station.

Entering the police station, the two foxes went straight into custody so as not to meet anyone and to avoid any potential uncomfortable questions that might be asked. Nick was frankly not in the mood for curious questions.

As Nick was locking Mark in the target from sleep Caroline awoke. Drowsy, she rose from her bed and tried to see something through the window partitioned with bars - but it was too dark to see anything. Nick didn't want to talk to her - he lacked strength about her. He didn't understand why, being in such a high position as commander at the police station, she had allowed herself to be bribed! For his own comfort and hers, he didn't want to enter into a discussion with her.

"In a few days you will find out what will happen to you. For now you need to stay here and wait for events to unfold, ours are still collecting evidence in the case" Nick communicated. He was about to leave but was stopped at the last moment by Mark to his surprise.

"Have you at least forgiven me a little now and are you less angry with me?" Mark asked. There was a gleam in his eyes that said the question was really important to him. Nick had some difficulty answering this question, which always put pressure on him.

"I was never angry. I was just disappointed with your behaviour," replied Nick, then left the detention centre.

Meanwhile, Judy, already sitting down after her bath, was watching the evening TV playing with the new smartphone she had bought while out on the town today. Unfortunately she wasn't as lucky as her boyfriend and they took her phone while she was in the complex and she had to get a new one. Luckily, she caught the last winter sales and bought the new phone a little cheaper than the original price suggested. Now that she had nothing to do she sat on the sofa setting up apps and contacts glancing occasionally at the TV listening to the evening news editions. There was nothing interesting in them, again they mentioned her and Nick's successfully concluded case and the search for suspects in the kidnapping case. On TV, of course, not a word was said about the research that was being done, censorship was at a very high level.

"On TV they seem to be talking about a completely different case," thought Judy as she listened to the facts. The doe may have had this illusion, as the TV narrative was quite different from the facts of the case. However, Judy could acutely understand why they didn't want to talk about the research - it would have provoked a widespread hissy fit for the foxes.

At some point the door to the flat opened, Judy turned towards them immediately a smile appeared on her grey face, Nick had come home.

"You're finally back," Judy said in a flirtatious tone, kissing Nick on the cheek in greeting. Nick laughed quietly, squeezing the rabbit gently. He could still feel the slight wetness on her ears. He made his way to the wardrobe, where he removed his jacket and hung it on an iron hook.

"How's Finnick? Is he holding up? He must have been worried about your absence eh?" Judy began to ask.

"And how! He was very happy when he saw me and heard that we were both okay. Other than that it was fine. Finnick was always the person I could talk to about anything. How was your day?" Nick asked.

'I walked around a bit here and there...but what I had to buy, I bought,' replied Judy showing a new phone for Nick. Fox took it in his hands looking at it gently so as not to scratch it. It still had the security film on it, so it had recently been taken out of the box. The smartphone with the blue back looked very modern, and most importantly nice. He handed it over to the doe and lay down next to her, whereupon she laid her head on his chest. For a while they lay in silence watching TV, but it didn't last too long because Judy couldn't resist asking a question about the memory stick.

"What about Mark? What have you decided though?" Judy asked. Nick took a small device out of his pocket that the doe had received at the complex, he looked at it with some disappointment on his face as he didn't quite agree with the opinion to destroy it, but the decision was made.

"It won't be needed, I'll destroy it," replied Nick briefly. Judy smiled then gave Nick a hug. The fox laughed as he felt her soft furry paws on his body, barely managing to encompass his entire waist.

"I'm proud of you Nick," Judy said approvingly.

"Heh, thank you... although wait Judy, I have one question" asked Nick. Judy let go of the fox and moved away from him so she could look into his emerald eyes.

"Why do you think we shouldn't give this flash drive to the police? I can understand Finnick...who happened to break the law sometimes, but you? You've always been at the forefront when it comes to upholding the law, and suddenly you're the first to take the initiative to hide the most important evidence! Why?"

"Oh... because it's your dad Nick! I know this may sound silly and pointless, but I'm trying to put myself in your shoes. Would you seriously want your father to have a life sentence because of you? What would that have given you? Satisfaction that you destroyed his life to the end? I obey the law all the time, but I can't imagine your dad getting a life sentence because of you," Judy explained. Nick nodded with a shake of his head, what she was saying made sense. All in all he hadn't even considered how he would feel if that had happened, he would probably have satisfaction for a while, but then what? He would feel a kind of guilt that it was mostly his fault!

"Well yes...you are probably right...thank you Judy".

"No need to thank me, the most important thing is that you've made up your mind. I'm going to go to bed, I feel tired..."

"Oh, I'm going to stay up for a while... I want to think a bit...about all this" Nick replied.

"Too much of that thinking...well, good night" said a worried Judy. She kissed Nick then headed for the bedroom.

When Nick was alone he thought for a while longer about what was going to happen next. There were so many plans and ideas in his head, but he didn't know what or how things would turn out. His father would most likely get a few years, for acting illegally. Leaving aside this matter, which Nick would most like to forget, he was thinking about taking his relationship with Judy one step further (he was even thinking about getting married already), but he knew that the doe's parents would definitely be against it when it came to their relationship. What much to say, they didn't even know they were together! Judy was supposed to talk to them about them, but they hadn't broached the subject since, or Judy hadn't wanted to broach it...

Fox interrupted his reveries to do what he had to do. Everything had to be finished.

Fox got up from the sofa, then left the flat for a while. The time has come. It was time to end it all. He took the lift down to the very bottom of the flat, to the basement itself, the garage where his car stood and his toolbox inside. As he rode the lift down, he could already feel the low temperature outside. He was quite cold in just his sweatshirt, but he wasn't going to spend much time down there. When the lift opened he walked down the stairs and out into the underground garage. His car was standing quite close to the entrance, he walked over to it and opened the boot, which contained a red toolbox. He took it out of the car and opened it, took out an iron hammer. He took a blue-coloured device out of his pocket and took one last look at it. He didn't see anything interesting in it anymore. He didn't want to wonder any longer if it was a good choice or not, he knew that the more he thought about it the more doubt he would have. He placed the device on the frozen tarmac, then prepared the hammer. After a few solid blows to the tendril, remnants of plastic and pieces of tile were left from the device.