Chief Trunchbull burst into the office, making Bogo drop the bootlegged Gazelle CD he'd just discovered in his trench coat pocket.
"Sir!" Bogo snapped to attention and pulled his sleeve further over the wrist the collar was locked around, alarmed by the look on the elephant's face.
"Captain Mansa Idris Bogo!" Trunchbull rumbled. "What is this I'm hearing? The city is in a state of emergency and you're leaving for a secret assignment from the Commissioner? Alone?"
"Not alone, sir!" McHorn called from outside.
"You stay out of this!" Trunchbull shut the door behind him and rounded back on Bogo. "And you explain yourself!"
"Did Commissioner Elba not discuss the matter with you?" Bogo asked, completely unperturbed.
"He explained it perfectly." Trunchbull said. "Including the part where there is nothing I can do to stop you."
"Then why are you here, sir?"
"Because his authority cannot stop me from trying to talk you out of this. I know you talked Elba into this and not the other way around. I'm not even allowed to tell anyone in City Hall what you're doing."
"I convinced him that we need to go the extra mile if we're going to figure out what the hell is going on in this city." Bogo insisted. "Mayor Swinton refused to respond any of my questions when I went to see her, but if I can find some concrete evidence, I can put pressure on her to give some answers, and maybe even find out who's responsible for this."
Trunchbull sighed loudly and pressed a flat hoof to his temple. "You think the mayor is involved in this?"
Bogo dropped the CD back in the box and ultimately the trench coat. He needed something easier to move around in. "She has spent months boasting about this mysterious collar that's supposed to the key to securing her reelection. That can't possibly be a coincidence. Maybe the mammal responsible for creating the new collar double-crossed her."
Trunchbull wiped his brow with his trunk. "You can't possibly be…"
Bogo shook his head. "I am not accusing her of anything. Not until I find the truth."
"Yes, this Doctor Slothfeld." Trunchbull added. Bogo nodded. The elephant nudged the box full of the buffalo's things away from the edge of the desk so he could lean on it. "For heaven's sake, listen to reason, Bogo. There is no reason to believe that he is behind this mess. As far as the world is concerned he's been dead for years."
Bogo crossed his arms. He knew that. He knew that after all that happened, all he'd learned, he still knew so little of what was happening in Zootopia, and he didn't need reminding. "I'm still going, sir."
Trunchbull violently shoved himself off the desk, shocking Bogo. The warning beep from his wrist was lost to the sound of the box sliding off and scattering its contents all over the floor. "Mansa, for God's sake! Why now of all times are you being so selfish?"
Bogo bristled. "Excuse me?"
"You pretend to put this city first above all else, but really you're just trying to fill some ridiculous need to make up for your 'past mistakes'."
Bogo grabbed his other jacket and pulled it on. "This is not the time, sir. Anyway, I was told the ZBI is handling the situation."
"'Anyway?!' What do you mean 'anyway?!'" Trunchbull almost bent double as he loomed over the buffalo. Bogo kept his eyes on the firearm he was currently assembling. "If the ZBI is handling the situation, why not let them handle this one? Tell them your wild theories about a dead sloth masterminding these attacks? Have them go on this secret mission in your stead?"
Bogo slammed the magazine into his weapon, holstered it, and turned to his superior. "What do you want me to do, Chief Trunchbull?"
"I want you to put the city first!" Trunchbull thundered. "I offer to make you one of the most powerful mammals in Zootopia and you treat it like I'm asking you to join the Tundratown Mafia! Officer Hopps is missing for crying out loud! What do I have to do, have you replace Swinton instead? I know, I'll get myself almost killed by your rookie! Put myself on a serial killer's hit list! Maybe even get abducted by a rogue rhino! That would certainly do the trick! Oh, wait, it won't do the trick because I'm not Benjamin Clawhauser!"
Before the stunned buffalo could work up a response to the elephant's rant, the door opened, and in walked Commissioner Elba with a face like thunder. His brows rose when he saw Trunchbull. "Captain? What are you still doing here? Your lieutenant and sergeant are waiting!"
Bogo zipped up his jacket, refusing to look at Trunchbull. "I'm ready, Commissioner. Any word of Officer Hopps' whereabouts?"
"No, but we've started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding that incident. I've told your dispatcher to contact you as soon as we get any news." Elba said gently. "I've also forbidden TUSK from taking part in the search. They won't be allowed anywhere near her or Wilde." Elba then turned his livid eyes to the elephant. "Do you object to this as well, Trunchbull?"
Trunchbull grumbled. "No, Commissioner. I don't."
"Good. If Bellwether's party learns of this, it would be a national scandal. So not a word to anyone." Elba tapped his cane loudly. "And I thought I told you not to try and stop him."
Trunchbull squared his shoulders. "With the utmost respect, Commissioner Elba, I think whatever you're doing is a big mistake."
Elba twisted the cane like he was trying to drill it into the floor. "I suggest you leave this office, Trunchbull. There is an incident at the Palm Hotel that requires your attention."
The elephant rumbled again. "Oh, now what?"
When Elba was done explaining, all trace of emotion in Trunchbull's leathery features was gone, all but how wide his blank eyes had become. The massive elephant stood there, staring at the wall between Elba and Bogo for some time after the former buffalo finished speaking, and then slowly sat down. As for Bogo, he turned round and propped himself on the low shelving unit holding most of his paperwork, staring at his reflection in the picture frame holding the first medal he'd ever earned. The collar on his wrist weighed no more than a Calvin Swine watch, but he may as well have been wearing a block of C4.
Happy thoughts, he needed to think happy thoughts. If his collar beeped now, he would be suspended for sure. But Christ, all those people…
"I trust that you have no more objection to my borrowing your best men." Elba said quietly. Trunchbull didn't even shake his head. "Good. Captain, your men should be ready and waiting by now. I suggest you be on your way."
When Bogo was downstairs picking out the quietest, most inconspicuous unmarked car he could find, he was starting to think this wasn't such a good idea. He was a liability now, a ticking time bomb with his own brain for a fuse. How emotional would he need to be for the dreaded blue light to trigger? What if- "Mansa?" McHorn spoke up just as Bogo was checking the volume of the engine in a small black Buck Lupine. The rhino was leaning against the side of the car, looking through the open door, while Higgins was up front examining a map on the hood. "You feeling okay?" McHorn asked. "You've been quiet ever since you had that fight with the Chief. He didn't suspend you, did he?"
Bogo turned the key and let the engine fall silent. "Mac, you know when we're in a shootout, or a hostage situation, do you think you'd get worked up enough to…" He bit the side of his lip and turned the engine back on. "Never mind. I think this car will do. Put the surveillance equipment in the back, will you?"
McHorn frowned at Bogo before going to retrieve the cases. Bogo tapped the windshield and motioned for Higgins to join him in the front. Once the hippo was in the passenger seat, he spread the map over the dashboard. The car shook as McHorn entered the back and poked his head between the front seats. Once his two comrades were present, Bogo pointed at a spot on the map with a phone stylus. "Once we pass the Overlook, the first building on the mountain is this sawmill that was abandoned a while back. We'll scope the place out, see if anyone has been there recently. If the mill turns up squat, there's this lodge higher up."
"Then the asylum." McHorn reached between his fellow officers and poked at the colored gash that represented the crevice that thousands of years ago nearly cleaved the mountain in two. "That's abandoned, too. Pretty much every property on that mountain was deserted after the… wait a sec, where's Swinetown?"
"Whattown?" Higgins asked.
McHorn snorted irritably as he pored over the other side of the map, which showed nothing but wild forest. Bogo, on the other hand, was wondering where he'd heard that name before.
"On the other side of Founder's Mountain is this old ghost town called Swinetown. It was built up centuries ago when coal was discovered in the mountain, way before Zootopia was founded. My grandpa was a foreman there. I've still got his helmet back at home. It should be somewhere on the other side of the mountain, but it's not."
Now Bogo remembered; it had been part of the eulogy he'd listened to at the funeral. "This map is brand new. We can see if we can find an older one in the records."
"Nah." McHorn said. "That place died when the mine dried up and everyone moved to Zootopia. The road will be so overgrown we'd need a chopper to get there. There's no way Cunninghorn would take the kid that far, anyway."
Bogo conceded his point and started the engine. It was time to go.
As he drove through the streets of Zootopia, he was struck by how quiet it was. Throughout the entirely of the drive he passed only four cars. Bogo couldn't help but glance side to side for signs of his lost rabbit officer. He thought he saw a gangly weasel duck into a side alley at one point with a television, but no Hopps. An orange glow around one corner turned out to be a burning car, surrounded by the fallen weapons and bloodied bodies of assorted predators. Mr. Big's men most likely. Bogo called it in, then moved on while muttering curses under his breath. He would find the one responsible for all of this, be it Slothfeld, Swinton or a different mammal entirely, and they would pay.
They reached Zootopia Overlook and saw the city as a whole. The Mountain of Light, the name given to the shape formed by the sparkling skyscrapers of City Central, was still as bright as ever. The beautiful sight, however, was marred by the faint wisps of smoke coming from the burning buildings that had been used as distractions for the main attack. Not for the first time since their mission began, Bogo wondered if he was doing the right thing. The city needed them. Hopps needed them.
But Benjamin needed them, too. He was somewhere on this mountain, trapped and scared and at the mercy of that bastard rhino. Thinking of that made it easier for Bogo to turn away.
Turning his back on the city skyline, Bogo spied the public restroom nearby. The open doorway was dark and empty. The last time he'd been to the Overlook felt like a lifetime ago, and he couldn't even remember why he'd come up here in the first place. He did remember the helmeted figure he'd seen standing in that very doorway, holding something metal in their paw. He'd gotten back into his car just as they'd appeared and left thinking very little of it. Now the memory of that brief encounter sent a chill through his veins and made the half-healed wound on his neck tingle.
Bogo looked away from the restroom and turned the car to the path that would take them into the forest. Headlights would have to be turned off from this point on, so he would need to drive carefully. They should reach the sawmill in about twenty minutes, and with a little luck, they wouldn't have to go as far as the asylum.
But with my luck… Bogo touched the older wound down in his left side, the gnarled crater where an elephant in Musth had impaled him. Five years ago a moment's hesitation had allowed the mad mammal to turn on the officers, and all that followed. This time hesitation was the least of his worries. The collar pressed against the joint beneath his hoof as he switched off the headlights. He did not want to end up like Bisoniing. He wouldn't call himself overly emotional, and neither would anyone else. He glanced at McHorn and Higgins, geared up and ready for action. Would they take care of Bogo if the worst happened, or would they hesitate just as he had done?
No, Bogo thought, thinking of the dart gun in one holster and the S&W in the other. If it came to that, he would take care of himself.
"Keep your eyes and ears open." Bogo warned them as he drove the car onward and upward, about to enter the marketplace, about to either face the elephant, or become him…
