Okay, so I know it's been a while since I had a chapter finished and posted, but I promise, I have a good reason. Most nights, I've been working out so I can get ready for Navy Basic Training. My body does not like this.
But enough about me. You guys are here for a story and I'm here to provide you with one. So sit back, relax, grab a snack, and put on that inspirational song (mine is Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra), and enjoy the chapter!
Ardenhu Fangman grunted as he fell back into his office chair. A small smirk slid onto his face as he recalled his conversation with Nick in the showers. He had learned the lagomorph tendencies from a good friend of his. One of his mentors during his time as a trainee had told him. The buck was rather abrasive and headstrong.
The wolf sat up and looked down at the papers on his desk. He still had a lot to do. He chanced a look at the clock. It read 5:42. He turned back to the papers and frowned. Another murder. An otter by the name of Lex. A 31-year-old lawyer with a good track record. Ardenhu had looked through his file and nothing pointed to him being tied to the ZBI in any way.
Even with all the digging that his team had done, there was nothing to be found. It was almost as if they weren't meant to find anything out. This only made Ardenhu's days worse as he thought. His superiors were pushing that they find out who was doing all of this. He still had no clues, ties, or leads to any of it.
Ardenhu pulled out the rest of the files that went along with the case and skimmed them over. There was still nothing that he could see that linked them. Even the best detectives in the ZBI couldn't find anything.
"Still worrying over that case, huh?" He heard Aria say from the door as she walked in. She still wore her police blues. They were showing her curves and getting to Ardenhu in ways it shouldn't.
"Yeah. Still nothing from the forensics on this new mammal?" He asked, looking up to meet her eyes. She shook her head and sat down at her desk. Ardenhu sighed and shook his head. Even with all the extremely smart mammals at his disposal, nothing. The wolf took a sip of his coffee. The light brown liquid seemed to warm his entire body as it went down.
Once more, Ardenhu read through the files. He set them back down and sipped his coffee again. It was getting on his nerves. He wanted to get at least some closure about his friend. Not to just have it written off.
"Uh...this may be sudden, but I was wondering if you wanted to go out for dinner this weekend?" Aria asked out of the blue. This made Ardenhu choke. Coffee spilled out of his mouth and through his nose. He doubled over the desk and started to cough. "Oh Lord, are you okay?!"
Ardenhu raised his paw to stop her. His coughing lasted for a minute. When he was done, the wolf looked up at her with a look that said he was very confused. None had asked him on a date since his high school days. That was a long time ago for him, especially being a canine.
"It's fine if you don't want to, Arden. It was a hopeless endeavor anyway." She said to him. A small yet sad smile spread across her muzzle. The fox sat back down from having risen. Ardenhu sighed at her and raised his head to look at her properly.
"It wasn't hopeless. It was sudden, yes, but not unwelcome. Unfortunately, I have to make a trip out of Zootopia this weekend. Perhaps sometime else?" He asked her. His ear twitched slightly. A warmer smile planted itself on her snow-white fur as she nodded.
Ardenhu looked up for a moment as Aria stood and grabbed the pot of coffee and a cup. He watched her, entranced, as she poured herself a cup. All she added was a few spoonfuls of sugar. She stirred it a little and sipped at it. He watched as she swayed her hips while walking back to her desk. She had to know he was watching. Before she could look at him, he averted his gaze back to his coffee. The wolf frowned at the bottom of his cup seeing very little left of it.
The wolf shook his head, set his cup down, and pulled the manila folder open again. The whole situation was beginning to get on his last nerve. Almost anything did anymore.
"Alright, I'm headed home for the night. See you in the morning?" Aria asked him as soon as she was finished giving her report to a heavyset panther. Ardenhu simply nodded at her and continued to stare at the files. He laced his digits together and set his elbows on the table with his chin on his paws.
"What in the nine hells is linking all of these murders. It's almost as if there's no signature whatsoever." He thought. "Perhaps if I tried tacking them by scent…" It was almost a fleeting thought. Yet it wasn't a bad one. His nose was one of the best in the entire city. Some had tried it, but most of them had led to nothing.
With a groan, he leaned back in his chair. This wasn't something he was used to doing, but it was never this frustrating or personal. Not even when his brother went missing was it this personal to him. That case had gone so cold that he was declared dead. It had irked him to no end but Ardenhu had learned to let it go.
The wolf stood and put the files away. He closed his eyes for a moment as he shut the drawer and locked it. It was far from his first major case. He had had trouble with a case a long time ago, but it was nothing like this. Ardenhu shook his head violently and picked up his bag. After slinging it over his shoulder, he began the trip back to his apartment. It wasn't too far away but still far enough away for him to have to drive. Once he had thrown his bag into the back, he started the vehicle and pulled away from the precinct.
The traffic wasn't extremely heavy even at rush hour. Most would be getting off of work about that time. Before long, he was back at his temporary apartment and waving to the otter behind the desk. He took the elevator to the third floor of the building where his room was. From his pocket, he pulled his keys and unlocked the door. He slung the bag onto the floor next to the door and walked into his living area. With a quick motion, he pulled his belt off and tossed it into his room.
He let out a sigh and flopped onto his couch, his legs hanging off the edge. Not even moments after he had gotten comfortable there was a knock at his door. His eyebrows drew down in frustration and he got up. Before he opened the door, he looked through the peephole of the door to see that no one was there. This confused him as he opened the door slightly and looked down. A fennec fox stood there. One sniff of the air told Ardenhu she was female. She wore a dark blue dress and had crystal earrings hanging beside her cheeks.
"May I help you, ma'am?" He asked. The wolf took note of her nervousness. Her ears twitched occasionally, and her eyes darted back and forth down the hall.
"Uh, I hate to be intrusive, but could I hide in here for a little while?" She said, looking up at him and then back down the hall. "It's fine if you don't want me intruding. I'll just, uh, find somewhere else."
Ardenhu blinked a few times before opening the door wider to stick his head out the door. He looked down the hall both ways before opening the door wide enough for her to slip in. A grateful and relieved look flashed across her features. She hurried inside as he closed the door and put the lock and chain bolt on it. When Ardenhu turned she was standing just inside the living room with her paws on her knees.
With resignation in his features, the wolf stepped into the kitchen and began brewing coffee. He turned to her for a moment, "Coffee, madam?" She nodded at him and walked into the living room to sit down on a chair that was appropriate for her size. "So. If you'd be so kind as to tell me your situation?" He asked more than demanded. "It's possible that I'll be able to help."
The wolf's ear twitched as she laughed at this. "I doubt you could help me." Ardenhu gave her a look that said 'try me'. "I'm hiding from a crime boss if you must know. I was working with him a while, and when some things happened that I didn't like, I wanted out. Now he's after me because I know things he doesn't want people to know." She confessed. Ardenhu's eyebrows raised. He turned to the cupboard and grabbed two mugs. He poured the dark liquid into the mugs and grabbed the sugar and creamer. He set them on a table between the two of them as he sat across from the fox.
"I see." He said, grabbing his phone and starting a recording. "What kind of information?" He asked her. For the next several hours, Ardenhu questioned the woman about the crime boss and his antics. The fox, her name was Katrina, gave him as much information as she could. During this process, Ardenhu watched her body language. All of his training on lying was coming in handy here. There was nothing to tell him she was lying.
"...And that's about it. Before I left I copied everything to a private drive. That's mainly what they're after." She finished, pulling out a small flash drive and presenting it to him. Ardenhu accepted it and looked at it.
"Well, miss Katrina, thank you for answering all of my questions. I assure you that this information will be passed on to a more capable mammal come Monday. Until then, you are free to stay here until you feel safe enough to leave." He offered to her along with a glass of water. She looked up at him as if he was joking. "I mean it. If you don't feel comfortable staying anywhere else, I don't mind letting you crash here."
With a grateful smile, Katrina accepted the glass of water and sipped at it. "Thank you so much. For everything you've done for me even though you don't know me. I have to ask, though. Why are you so willing to help someone out that you barely know?"
Ardenhu chuckled to himself and reached into his back pocket where his wallet still was. Reaching behind his civilian ID, he produced a ZBI ID to the fox. Her face lit up as many emotions flew across her face in a flash. Confusion, surprise, excitement, and happiness. A cruel smile spread on her face at last. It was one that said 'I win'.
With a small smile on his muzzle, Ardenhu placed his ID back into his wallet and placed it on the table next to him. Ardenhu's ears perked as a knock came on the door. He looked at Katrina and motioned for her to stay there. He walked to the door and looked through the peephole. There were two black-clad panthers at the door, their white shirts and red ties contradicting each other. He could just make out the tail of a wolf beside them.
With a sigh, Ardenhu opened the door enough so that the lock on his door pulled it taught. He looked the three of them up and down quickly, sizing them up.
"And what would you three want at this hour? It's almost nine and I'm about to lay down." He told them in faux annoyance. The closest panther looked down slightly at him and stared at him for a long moment.
"Excuse us sir, but we have reason to believe that someone is hiding in here. She's supposed to be escorted to our boss's house safely this evening." He told the wolf. Ardenhu nearly scoffed at the panther. He wanted so much to smart off to him and put him in his place.
"Sorry, the only other person here is a lady I'm meeting up with this evening. Now if you'd please leave us be." Ardenhu said as he began closing the door. With little surprise on his face, the door didn't close all the way when he pushed it.
"We insist on searching, sir." The panther told him threateningly. This time Ardenhu did scoff at him.
"First, where's your warrant for the search? Second, even if there were someone here, I wouldn't let you in since I know none of you are officers. Third, I'm pretty sure I know who you're working for." Ardenhu leaned over and grabbed his lanyard from his bag and presented the ID to them. "And I'm pretty sure my buddies down at the office would just love to talk to the three of you." Ardenhu finished with an evil smile on his face.
All three of their eyes widened in surprise. They said a quick farewell and left in haste. The wolf closed the door and started laughing. When he turned back to Katrina, she was still in a state of fear and petrified to the chair. Her eyes moved to Ardenhu who was still laughing. He walked over to the couch as his laughs died down.
"Oh, they're stupid for actually coming here." He told the fox with an extended breath. She nodded slowly. "It's fine now though. They won't be coming after you here. But I recommend staying away from the windows and trying to stay in a place where you can't be seen very well. You can sleep in there on the bed if you'd like." Ardenhu made a motion towards the somewhat messy room.
With a reserved sigh, she stood and looked at him. "Seriously, thank you for everything you've done tonight. I'll try to make it up to you somehow." She told him as she made her way to the bedroom. Ardenhu smiled a bit before it vanished. He grabbed his phone and pulled up his messages. Going into his secure messages, he pulled up one of his good friends in one of the separate departments. With quick typing, he wrote out a text.
'Hey, I just got some info that I think you might find useful. I have the witness at my apartment if you need more and I'll be forwarding more to you that on a flash drive that was provided by the witness. AF.'
With his paw over the send button, he looked up for a moment to see the fox coming out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth. It made Ardenhu genuinely smile at her. She blinked a few times at him.
"What?" She asked him behind a mouthful of toothpaste and brush. This made him chuckle as he shook his head.
"Nothing." He told her, hitting the send button on his phone and shutting it off. He stood and went into the bedroom, grabbed a single pillow and his comforter along with a change of clothes. He tossed the pillow and comforter onto the couch and stepped into the bathroom to change. Once he was done, he found Katrina passed out on the bed haphazardly. He pulled a spare blanket over her and turned the light off. He made his way back into the living area, turning the lights off one by one. He dimmed the lights in the living room before laying down and pulling the comforter up to him.
With a heavy sigh, Ardenhu began to wind down for sleep. Before long, he was passed out and dreaming.
AHHHHHHHDRAMAAHHHHHHHH! Yup, I'm trying to broaden my horizons with some crime stuff here. You probably already noticed, buuuuuuuut. It's whatever. I'm trying.
Now, reviews!
Imjustlikehumphery: Thank you for the praise!
Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps: Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to find out. ;)
And like that, reviews are done! I hope that all of you will wait patiently for the next chapter. Or maybe not. I don't know.
May inspiration light your paths,
Leon