20. Investigating

==Nick==

I sat on the hood of my car and gazed at the singular red backlight of the limo. The distance from areas, residential or otherwise resulted in the absence of any traffic and thus any form of noise. This allowed – also because it was well past daylight hours – for a complete silence. The sole thing besides my own breathing, was the gentle wind waving the treetops. This atmosphere of peace was ideal for moments of self-realization and pondering, however my mind choose to feel woesome and guilty. The conversation with Judy's parents kept playing in my head like a broken recorder.

"Please tell me it's not true; How do you know she's not dead; Why did they take her; And who?"

It was as if her mother had been the embodiment of that voice inside my head. The on that kept asking me whether this was all really happening. To my own sadness as well as theirs, I hadn't been able to answer any of those questions. To me it was equally unreal; and the identity, as well as the reason of the culprit were another mystery of this case. I assumed it to be the same organization that had been attacking Big's affiliations and that Judy was mere collateral damage for the abduction of Big's daughter, yet if that was true, why had they kept her alive? If she even was alive. Because that question had been the most destructive to my sanity of them all. The fact that she wasn't lying next to Mike in the grass in a pool of blood, was hardly a guarantee that she was still breathing.

"How do you know they haven't killed her afterwards or something?"

It had been what her father had suggested. It had earned him a smack to the head from his wife, although I hadn't been able to dispute it. I hoped more than knew that Judy was alive. The deviation in the pattern was a reason to assume that she had been taken alive, albeit solid evidence was not what you could call it. Of course, her mother had reassured me that she wasn't killed.

"A mother can feel if her child is dead or alive, and my Judith is not dead!"

I had heard that before, and currently I was willing to take on anything that supported the assumption that my partner wasn't dead. Moreover, I couldn't imagine my life without her anymore. I had hung up with the promise that I'd do anything to get Judy back to them safely. That I owed it to her for all that she had done. They were grateful for it and said I could call them whenever I needed to.

Now I sat idle, staring at the limousine, pondering whether I should've told them about my share of guilt in her abduction. Cause there was. If I hadn't accused her of blabbing about our relationship, she wouldn't have run off to Fru Fru and she wouldn't have been caught up in all this. Moreover, I would've been there to protect her. I should've been there to protect her. I had promised her that.

I only snapped free from this self-consuming trance of guilt when the cavalry arrived. My estimation turned out to have been accurate. It had taken both police vehicles and ambulance fifteen minutes to be on site. Not long after their arrival, the ZPD's crime unit begun their search for clues. Dressed in sterile white overalls, they dusted for prints and took samples, like bagging the shell of the gas grenade that I had found from the limousine's interior. With their experience, they were even able to trace the empty bullet casings in a moment's notice. Their leading expert was a beige, female meerkat. The dark edges that lined her eyes made them appear bigger than they were. With a touchscreen and pen, she made notes of everything. In comparison to the large mammals her team consisted of, she was tiny; a trait she compensated by driving around on a small Segway.

I had heard rumors of her diligence and efficiency as well as her notoriously bad temper towards everyone she deemed incompetent. Resignations were nearly as often as dismissals, but this pressure for perfection amongst her staff had bred a team of diehard forensic scientists. Every time she passed me by, she glared at me. Clearly, I wasn't worthy. Or maybe she just didn't like me because I was a fox. Either way, if she lived up to the rumors of her temper, hopefully that meant she'd also be as much of a workaholic.

A coroner dressed was led to the body. His examination was brief and for the larger part, he indicated injuries for the photographs. Once he was done, a few more photographs by one of the forensics were made prior to Mike's body being wrapped in a sack of black plastic. He then walked over to me, whilst removing the blue nitrile gloves from his paws. I jumped from my car and met him halfway.

"I think you may have guessed the cause of death already, it's pretty evident he was shot." The spotted hyena said.

I nodded and watched how Mike was loaded onto a stretcher.

"Right, I'll be sure to have an official report send to the ZPD as soon as I can."

Without either of us saying anything else, he boarded the ambulance and disappeared from the scene as quickly as he had emerged. What a peculiar work that was, coroner. You swing by crime scenes to check on dead animals and subsequently cut them open on a table. There was a lot more to it than that, I knew that, yet the thought of cutting into animals you might just as easily have met at the train station. That was… quaint.

"Wilde!"

I turned around by the sound of my name. With the usual stern expression on his face, chief Bogo ambled across to road to meet me. The indicator lights of his car blinked as he locked it behind him. Unintentionally, I greeted him with a big yawn when he arrived.

"You look tired."

"And hungry." I added dryly.

My tone was drearier than I intended.

"Right…" He replied.

From his body language, I deduced that he renounced the original topic, which he had come to discuss with me. I wondered what it was.

"I have called in the best team we had available." He continued after a short lull.

"Yeah, I noticed."

The meerkat caught us both watching her. With a look of sheer contempt by seeing us do nothing, she averted her eyes and addressed one of her co-workers.

"Don't worry. Andromeda is the best."

"So, I've heard." I said, yawning again.

"You'd do best to call it a day and start fresh tomorrow."

"I can't, they need my statement, don't they?"

"That can wait until tomorrow. Go home. Sleep!"

I rubbed my forehead. The idea of sleep made it ache again.

"Yeah, fine. Just call me if you-"

"Go home and sleep, Wilde! That's an order."

Slightly agitated, I got behind the wheel of my car and after one last look at the scene, I turned around and drove back to my apartment.

==Judy==

A thump against my head woke me up. Sort of, at least; I was far from fully conscious. I coughed and tried cover my mouth with my hand, but my limbs were too stiff and heavy to move. My head spun like a merry-go-round and it felt like the room was turning around me. The last time I felt this dizzy was after the car bomb. Another shock threw me up and had me land on the floor again with soft thud. In the following second, my brain got turned on and the recollection of the gas grenade got me fully awake. I was abducted! For a moment, I felt a panic rise, yet only for a moment. Flipping out wouldn't help, I had to stay calm and try to figure out as much as I could. I tried to move again. I still couldn't. It dawned on me that my arms and legs weren't tired. They were tied up! Judging from the sensation on my skin, it was tie-wraps. Commonly used, mostly because they were so easy to apply and tough to remove without tools.

I also realized my surroundings in fact were moving. That meant we hadn't arrived at our destination yet. Unfortunately, I had no idea how long we had been driving already, since I had been out for an unknown duration. I pressed my face against the floor. It felt and smelled like the carpeting of the inside of a car. I kicked my feet and felt more of the fabric on the walls. Yep, I was in a trunk.

The vehicle came to an abrupt stop and it made me roll over onto my right side. Doors slammed and I heard voices nearing. The roof above me flew open and the light stung my eyes. Then it became clear to me that I was blindfolded too. I had figured it to be just dark.

"You think she's awake already?" Someone said that I believe to be bent over me.

"Who cares? Get her inside." He got replied by someone further away.

I forced myself to stay completely still. If they thought I was asleep, they might drop a clue on something in their conversation. Unfortunately, two hands slipped across my belly to lift me up. This made me shiver and that blew my act.

"Yep. She's awake all right."

"Who are you and what do you want from me." I let out angrily.

"Since you're a cop, you must be smart enough to know we're not gonna tell you that, right?" The other guy answered.

It was worth a try. At least I knew they were both males. I was picked up and placed under somebody's arm. I smelled a cheap brand of deodorant and given their lack of interest in this job, these mammals were likely mercenaries. The animal that carried me started to walk and I began to count in my head. His feet made no sound on the ground and his breath was steady. That meant I wasn't a heavy load for him, thus he was a lot larger than I was. It was so cold outside, and frankly I was pleased with being pressed against the warm body of my abductor. I heard rather than felt that we went inside; it wasn't much warmer there. That led me to believe that we were back in tundra town.

We!

I had completely forgotten, what had happened to Fru Fru? The trunk had been closed right after I was taken out, so she hadn't been transported with me. Would she be somewhere else entirely, or just in another car? With the attacks on Mr. Big going on, I reckoned she was the intended target. But if that were true, why was I taken? Why wasn't I… shot. The idea made me nauseous, or was it the swaying pace of my kidnapper?

When my counting reached fifty, we went down some creaky stairs. It had twenty-five treads, given he didn't take multiple treads at a time; I still had no idea how big he was. What I did know was that I was kept in a basement. I was seated into a chair and the tie-wraps were secured to the wooden frame by means of an iron clip. To my nuisance, my duty belt was unbuckled and taken from my waist. Darn, I should have picked stuff from it when I had the chance. Then the two men left and the door was loudly closed, echoing in a way that implied a small room.

I tested and easily opened the clip, however it left me with the plastic band. This was harder. Also, I couldn't reach my feet, thus getting out of this chair was also a no-go. If only I had taken my Swiss knife from my duty belt earlier on. Or the pair of cutters, or the file. I was such an idiot. Not that berating myself was the way to go right now, however as creative as everyone always told me that I was, there was simply nothing to break my restraints. All I could do was wait. And during that waiting, why not curse my stupidity?

*Blam*

Apparently, I didn't have to wait long. With a theatrical slam, the door was opened and in a slower tempo than required, the newcomer walked down the stairs. Clearly, he loved drama.

"Well, well, well."

My ears twitched. I recognized this voice.

Gently, the linen blindfold was pulled from my head. I flinched as my eyes adjusted to the light. It was unexpectedly brighter than I had imagined.

"What a lovely surprise to see you again, Miss Hopps."

Instinctively I quivered. Not from the cold. Nor fear. It was that voice. And when my pupils had settled, I stared right at the ugly mug of Jake Hare.

==Nick==

What a terrible night. I had endured it with a lot of twisting and turning, kicking off sheets due to the heat and pulling them back after I got cold again. Judy's angry frown had kept staring at me every time I lowered my eyelids, like she had the last time I had seen her. It was a projection of my guilty subconscious. That I was just lying her in my bed, whereas she was god-knows-where. Additionally, the fact that I had not been by her side was eating me. Remarkably, in between my worrying I had dozed off a couple of times, however never for very long. I kept waking up from the voices of Judy and her parents resounding in my mind. In the end, I was perhaps even more exhausted now than before I had gone to bed.

I rolled over to massage my temples. Their pain seemed ever-present. I noted my pillow to be. Since when did I drool? I went over to the bathroom and stared into the mirror. My eyes were almost bloodshot. The evidence that I had cried in my sleep was undeniable. I washed my face with cold water and took an aspirin for my headache. In addition, I took a cold morning shower. Regrettably, it barely alleviated my complaints. I slipped into my uniform and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like crap. Then again, I perfectly reflected my inner status. Maybe some coffee would help.

I went over to the kitchen and filled the machine with the ingredients for a strong cup. I flipped the switch and grabbed a carton of orange juice, along with a few slices of bread and the jar of blueberry jam, from the fridge. I made a sandwich with jam and shoved it into my mouth. As I chewed, I noticed an absence of a certain humming. The coffee machine still hadn't done anything. I got up and flipped it's on/off switch a few times. Nothing. My gnawing headache pushed my irritation to a point of unreasonableness.

"How can you deny me my morning coffee!" I cried at it angrily, smashing its topside, "Piece of junk."

The lifeless electronic was an excellent outlet for the aggression that had built overnight. I remembered that it had broken down a week ago, and with Judy and I always getting coffee at Snarlbucks there hadn't been a real need for me to replace it, yet that didn't matter. Beating up the coffee maker was the first relief I had found this morning to ease my moral pain.

I panted, sat down in the chair at the kitchen table and stared at the device. It had sustained several dents because of my outraged pounding. I needed a new one anyway. And I felt much better now. Or was that the aspirin was kicking in? Either way, eating something again was also a delight. Yesterday I had totally forgotten about dinner. I had been hungry when I left, although with time that had passed and with a stomach full of worries, food hadn't really come to mind after my return.

I awoke from my state of mindless chewing when somebody knocked on my door. Whoever it was, they'd best be ready for a case of serious morning blues. I swallowed the last bit of my sandwich and went over to open the door. It was another of Big's black-suited polar bears, Kevin. Whereas I'd normally feel intimidated by them, this morning I felt too crappy to think in my routine.

"My boss wants to see you." He bellowed.

"Maybe later, I'm eating my breakfast."

"No, you will come now."

"Seriously?!" I sparked.

"Willingly or not. I don't care." He warned me.

I sighed, knowing that he'd probably pick me up and carry me with him if he had to.

"Fine." I groaned, "I'll eat my breakfast on the way."

I was glad to find that he didn't object to that. I was hungry and I needed my energy. I quickly made four additional sandwiches with jam, snatched my new jacket and duty belt off their hooks and followed Kevin down the stairs.