[AN

Hey guys! New chapter is there. Things are getting serious, I hope I'll be up to the task…

I got help from the forum to make the story more "readable", more appealing to the eye. I'm trying a few tricks on this chapter, I hope you'll notice the difference. Feel free to tell me please, it will really help ^^

And as always, enjoy!

AN]

According to the architectural designs they managed to obtain from city hall, the warehouse they now encircled was a one story building, the exact same building in which Judy had been killed months ago.

The ground floor was a wide opened zone, designed to house crates, shipping containers, even industrial machines such as bulldozers. The first floor consisted of a series of offices for supervision, which was always easier from above, as it offered a view of the entire space.

Nervous would be an understatement to describe Nick's state of mind. Completely and utterly terrified would be more accurate.

With twenty-seven cops and special unit members surrounding him, including two chiefs of precincts, he should feel safer than ever. With a whole pack of highly trained and equipped professionals, he should feel confident.

Still, nothing could remove the dread clutching at his guts, twisting his stomach, compressing his chest, and accelerating his heartbeat.

This was not the lack of experience. This was not the lack of trust towards those around him. This was not simple cowardice. No, this was something much deeper.

The more evolved mammals had become, the more complex their brains had grown. Instincts had been replaced by abilities, and one such was now the reason for the fox's nervous breakdown: memory.

A whole pack of officers waiting for the signal to start the raid on the stone warehouse.

The roaring bangs and flashes of guns unloading their deadly cargo. The shouts of mammals relaying orders or expressing pain when shot.

The petite frame running towards the stairs.

The red dots hovering above her back.

Her immobile silhouette lying on the floor.

Bogo picking her like a doll and running away.

"WILDE!" The angry whisper got him out of his torpor. Raising his head, Nick crossed eyes with his chief, the water buffalo trembling as much as he was.

"Wilde, if you don't get a hold of yourself within the minute, you're out of the operation, got it?" The closest of the officers were all staring at Nick with a strange mix of anger and pity. The latter because they all knew why he was such a mess in this instant. The former because this was the best way to make sure some of them would be able to see her again that night.

Seeing the impact of his behavior on his fellow colleagues, shame menaced to submerge him. Instead, Nick closed his eyes and focused on the only thing he knew he couldn't control: his pain. The pain of what happened last time, the pain of who he had lost.

Holding his breath, images of his nightmares flashing behind his eyelids, he turned this pain into anger. A righteous fury, directed towards all that tried, and will try, to destroy what she had spent her life trying to defend.

When he opened his eyes and fixed them on his chief, they were now burning emeralds shining with determination.

"Sorry chief. Ready to roll." Bogo stared at him for a whole minute, trying to see behind the fox's mask, but even he couldn't detect any residual trace of anguish or fear. Pleased with his officer's ability to remain professional in such a situation, he nodded and turned his head to the brand new building ahead of them.

The difference with the previous operation was that nothing seemed to indicate any criminal activity going on. They hadn't seen a single armed guard, neither patrolling the area nor surveilling the surroundings from the roof. A reduced team of four mammals forming the night team were the only one visible through the open main entrance.

Three bears wearing identical blue work overalls were obviously the hard workers, opening crates, noting their content, before labeling the crates and piling them in the corners. The last mammal, a small coyote wearing a cap and a whistle around the neck, supervised them, taking a few notes from times to times when one of his workers told him something.

So far, nothing seemed out of place, nor anyone suspicious. So all they had to do was wait for about twenty more minutes for the truck to arrive. When it finally did, Bogo noticed it matched the description Wilde had given them.

"All right, everybody listen up", he whispered in his radio, addressing the whole team." Wait for the driver to get inside and move. You all know your role, so be fast and quiet. On my signal."

No answers were required, but he could feel the tension building in the air, as all officers prepared for the raid. A couple moments later, the driver was cleared to get in and drove the truck inside the warehouse.

Bogo waited a few seconds to hear the engine being turned off, before keying his mic again.

"GO!"

.

The six SWAT members, all dark wolves of different grey and brown color variations, ran towards the main entrance, three on each side, tranq gun in paws. The rest of the officers started their approach from all around the building, making sure no one could escape by a back door or windows.

The SWAT leader nodded once, then twice. On the third nod, the six agents entered the building, shouting, guns held firmly in front of them.

"Everybody, paws up, NOW!"

The five mammals inside the building were caught unguarded and froze in surprise.

Two bears had already climbed in the back of the truck, carrying the first of the enormous wooden crates, while the third one was preparing the back ramp to help them get down. The driver and the supervisor were busy checking and signing a stack of paper, which fell on the ground when they finally obeyed.

The bears let the crate fall with a loud "clang", and obeyed a few seconds later, before being gathered with the three others in the center of the warehouse. Moments later, the back door opened and four officers entered the building.

"Clear behind, chief!"

Two more teams came in sight from the first floor, having used the emergency ladders to get on the first floor.

"Clear upstairs, chief!" they both announced.

"No activities, chief!" "Clear, chief!" "Nothing chief". The radio came to life, relaying each of the reports from the rest of the officers outside, confirming none had escaped or tried to flee the scene.

"All right, good job everyone. Suspects secured inside, no resistance. Keep your eyes open until we're done."

"Yes, sir!" was the combine answer before the radio went silent.

Inside the warehouse, the five mammals were on their knees, paws behind their heads, under close surveillance from the six SWAT agents, while the rest of the officers were busy inspecting their surroundings.

Higgins, the large hippo, McHorn, the slightly larger rhino, Snarlov, the giant polar bear, and Trunkaby, the massive elephant, the four biggest and strongest officers of the force, had started discharging the truck.

With their combine strength, it took less than ten minutes before all fifteen crates were ready for inspection. Using crowbars, two lions carefully removed the top of the first one, while five other officers had their gun at the ready, just in case.

As nothing happened, Bogo took a glance inside before reaching for something inside. What he removed from inside shocked all of them. Between his hooves, the chief was holding a bag of small, brown and brain wrinkled objects, like miniatures but very hard brains.

.

Nuts. The crate was full of nuts. Thousands and thousands of nuts, carefully packed by bags of 300 hundreds if the labels were correct.

Snorting, he asked to see the coyote's checklist, and found the crate clearly identified on it. According to that list, the other crates all contained food, from fresh fruits and vegetables to industrially prepared meals, ready to microwave.

Opening several by picking their identification number on the list, they could only confirmed the data, to Bogo's exasperation.

"WILDE!" The roar boomed through the entire warehouse, shaking the windows under its power. The fox, who was busy examining bags full of bananas, lowered his ears on his skull under the anger the voice carried. Making his way to his chief slowly, like a kit caught red-pawed stealing a cookie from the jar, he couldn't stop his mind from racing.

Had his contact betrayed him? Was it a pay-back for his change of life after all? His thoughts were interrupted when he found his nose only inches from a bag of nuts, their delicate fragrance strangely not soothing him nor making him hungry.

"Care to explain, Wilde?" Bogo's tone was cold and scary, only adding to the fox's concern.

"Sir, I…" was all he could muster before his voice died in his throat. He still couldn't believe it. Something was missing. Looking all around him, sharing confused looks with his colleagues, he tried to force his mind to make something up with what little he had seen so far.

"Sir, there must be something hidden in one of the crates or inside the bags. I know my contact would have never done that to me voluntarily."

"And what if he was just wrong?" The question was simple but awfully adequate, thus completely silencing the agitated tod, who was now trying to find anything to focus on, except the burning eyes of his superior.

"No…" The whisper escaped gritted teeth, while the fox's mind was still trying to find what he had missed. His contact was reliable, he was sure of it. There was something wrong, he felt it, but couldn't find what.

Storming the stairs, the fox jumped on the rail and studied the entire warehouse from above, trying to paint a bigger picture of the situation. His boss, the towering buffalo, seemed to occupy the whole space with his threatening posture, arms crossed on his chest and fumes coming out of his nostrils.

"So, Wilde. Better view of your failure?" All officers stopped like struck by lightning. Bogo was known to be cold and scary, as required from his job. But the venom in his voice and the harshness of that last comment was something of a whole new level, something they had never heard before.

All gazes turned to the stunned fox, who was now gripping the railing so hard his knuckles were blanching. Though none of it was due to his chief's comment as he hadn't even heard it, too focused on trying to see what he couldn't. After several minutes, he whined aloud, his frustration getting the better of him.

Downstairs, Bogo sighed, turning his back to his fox officer and looking at the five workers.

"Release them. We're done here."

.

Nick dropped to his knees, shame and incredulity dulling his senses and making him oblivious to his surroundings, and his superior's orders. Had he really been betrayed like this? A paw on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Wolfard was staring at him, nothing but cold professionalism in his eyes.

"Come on, Wilde. We're leaving. Bogo's orders." His tone was as neutral as he could, but Nick still heard the slight disappointment in it. The image of Judy with the same look in her amethyst eyes brought another whine to his lips. First his best friend and partner, then his sanity, and now his contacts and reputation. Sweet cheese and crackers, am I done for after all? The bitter thought circled in his mind over and over again, until his ears stood up straight.

"Sweet cheese and… crackers…" he started mumbling to himself, earning a frown from the wolf still waiting for him. "Crackers…"

"Wilde?" Wolfard was still trying to understand what was happening with his colleague, whose ears were now twitching frantically and his eyes were opening wider and wider with each passing second. On that very moment, he looked like a sloth finally understanding a good joke.

"Crackers… THAT'S IT! That's what I couldn't see! BOGO!" His shout echoed through the entire building and in the air outside. The buffalo appeared a few seconds later, snorting at the disrespect shown by his officer at calling him by his name like this. His retort died in his throat when the fox shouted again.

"Crack them! Crack the nuts!" Wilde jumped to the ground, literally flying above the seven remaining steps, before jumping on the crates containing the bags of nuts. Picking one bag, he tore it open and threw a pawful at his boss. The nuts bounced on his chest before falling to the ground. The buffalo was turning red with anger, but was once again cut by his officer.

"Stomp them, NOW!" That was the last straw. With an angry snort, Bogo slammed his hoof on the nuts, letting go of his anger and trying to finally put the impertinent fox back to his place by scaring him to death. Two nuts shattered to pieces under the raw strength that struck them, sending small shards dozens of feet away in all directions. A series of gasps were heard from all officers still inside the building, while Wolfard broke into a hearty laugh a couple seconds later.

Bogo was standing there, completely stunned, disbelief in his eyes. A small cloud of white powder now floated lazily a few inches above the ground and was covering his hoof, like snow slowly covering the streets on a winter day in Tundratown.

A huge smile was gracing Nick's muzzle, and it only grew wider when Wolfard patted him on the back.

"Nice cop job, Wilde!" He then broke into another fit of loud laughter that lasted a few minutes. Wiping at the tears in his eyes, the wolf managed to talk.

"But, honestly, what the fox was that? Using Judy's favorite and ridiculous swearing to put your paw on the biggest drug shipment I saw in years! I'm glad I was there, or I would never had believed you otherwise!" Looking at the size of the crate and the number of nuts inside, he could only whistle.

"If all are full with it, we have millions of zoollars in front of us. That's the catch of the year Wilde! Congrats!" The fox was beaming. Nope, he wasn't done for yet. No, he hadn't been let down. More importantly, a grey bunny was bouncing in front of him, the sweet caress of the wind carrying soft words only he could hear, while bright purple orbs sparkled with affection and pride.

"Well done, partner…"

Shaking his head slowly, the fox turned around and saw Wolfard, who was smiling shyly while looking at the sky through the roof.

"Still the best of us, no matter what…"

Wilde could only nod, a smile mirroring the wolf's at hearing the respect and hint of sadness in his voice, and knowing who the words had been addressed to.

Their moment ended quickly though, when a very irate mammal cleared his throat behind them. Finally realizing the full extent of his behavior, the fox stood as straight as possible and saluted his chief as best he could.

"Sir, I apologize for yelling orders at you. I guess I've been a bit… carried away?" He stated hesitantly, seeing the frown on his chief's face. After what felt an eternity to him, Bogo just snorted and shrugged.

"I'll let it slip for this one time, Wilde." Looking back at the drug splattered on the floor, he let one of his very rare smiles flash on his features.

"Good job, officer."

Silence followed the comment while the buffalo made its way towards the exit of the building. Reaching the main entrance, he stopped and turned slowly.

"What are you all waiting for? I want all those crates packed up and sent to the precinct forensics to be opened and their content dissected thoroughly, and I want it yesterday!"

A sudden wave of fear washed all the officers, who quickly found the use of their legs again and turned the silent and peaceful warehouse into a frenzied beehive.

A couple hours later, and with the help of reinforcements from the night shift, all crates had finally been taken to the precinct underground lot, the only place they could be stored until the forensics could attend to all of them. The five mammals that had been caught had been imprisoned in separate jails for the night, with the agreement of the SWAT and chief Hoarlan.

The precinct three chief of police had been reluctant at first, but Bogo just had to remind him that he might have already failed to catch the previous trucks to shut him for the time being. It had pained him a little to say so, as he had worked with the brown boar for quite some time and respected him, but this was his officers' work that had let to the arrest, and he was not going to let their case slip through their paws.

A short debrief later and a round of applause to the fox for what was already being called the catch of the year, all mammals could finally clock out for the night and go home for a well-earned rest. The case was far from being closed, and the following day would surely be a busy one.

Higgins, the arms sore after carrying many of the crates, was singing to himself a catchy pop song when he reached his car, a giant dark-green jeep. Unlocking it, he opened the door and sit in the driver's seat. Seconds later, the engine roared to life before quickly easing to a light purr under the hood of the car. Turning the heater on for the drive, he then fastened his seatbelt and checked his mirrors, before slowly making his way out.

The drive was rather long, nearly half an hour, but it was worse it, as by living on the edge of the city he could afford a slightly bigger house with a nice garden, to his wife and kid's delight. Taking the big four-lane road that crossed half of the city from north to south, he began singing with the radio, feeling tired, but a good tiredness. The one that rewarded a nice sport session, or in his case, a job well done that day.

Every day, he would drive ten minutes on that road, before exiting at the third main exit. A few turns later, he would enter a one-way lane that follows a kid's park for nearly three miles, before finally reaching his neighborhood. Navigating through smaller streets, he would arrive home, park his car in his garage, and make a detour by his kitchen to grab a fruit bar or whatever sweet treat he would find. If the day hadn't been too busy and he was home early, he would help his kit with his homework before playing with him, until it was time for dinner. Later, when his kid was sleeping soundly, he would join his wife in the living room and either chat, watch TV or read a book, simply happy to be close to her.

On busy days like this one, he would only kiss his little boy on the forehead and enjoy him sleep peacefully for a few minutes, before joining his wife in their bed, hug her close and fall asleep in her arms.

Tonight was not every night though. Missing the third exit, the jeep went on till the fifth one, leading directly to the southern outskirts of the city, with more roads leading either to the burrows or to the giant stadium that had hosted Gazelle's latest concert. A dozen minutes later, the car slowed and made a turn on a small gravel road. More minutes passed, and the car stopped at the entrance of a small wood.

Higgins opened his car and stepped out of it, his paws raised high in the air. The back door opened behind him, and a small silhouette followed him in the cold night air. From afar, the silhouette would be nearly impossible to see, her black fur covered with black clothes, a hat hiding her long ears on her head, the gun in her paw fixed on the hippo's back. Silently, the two made their way to the woods and hid among the trees.

Only one of them made the trip back to town.