Five
In an attempt to follow Francine's and Mr. Big's advice, Nick left the estate and drove back to the police station. He might have been tempted to ignore both of them, except that the shrew had been right. Nick knew of no one else who would a) help him, or b) worked sketchy enough jobs that they would be in a position to make useful inquiries.
On the way, he called Clawhauser and asked him to make copies of the files Judy had requested, the originals currently being checked out by forensics and then destined for lock up in evidence. Maybe something in those files had led to Judy's kidnapping, or would give Nick a better idea of where he might start his search while he waited for Mr. Big to get back to him.
His radio crackled. "Officer Howle to the ZPD. We've got a partial collapsed road in the Rainforest District near Marshland. Lots of odd flooding. Possibly a busted water main…"
"ZPD to Officer Howle. Any casualties?"
"None so far. Got a shook up capybara family and an okapi with a possible broken leg."
"Understood. We got an RFD ambulance on their way to you now."
Marshland. That wasn't too far from his apartment.
Nick suppressed the urge to go investigate. It was just a coincidence. He couldn't get sidetracked by gut feelings again. He was a cop. He had to stay focused. He had to find facts.
He had crossed back over into Downtown and was turning onto Lionheart Ave when the radio crackled again. "Officer Howle to the ZPD. We've found a tunnel. Looks like we got some unlicensed burrowing going on in a restricted land zone. Searching for other tunnels now."
"ZPD to Officer Howle. Sending backup your way. Keep us updated."
Nick snorted. Who was dumb enough to make a burrow in the Rainforest District? You couldn't dig more than a couple meters before hitting water.
Amateurs.
The ZPD was deserted when Nick arrived, which was no surprise. Everyone still on shift was either out looking for Judy or on their way to help in the Rainforest District.
"Chief Bogo is leading the search party for Officer Hopps himself," Clawhauser told him. "But they haven't found any tracks so far."
Nick held out a paw and Clawhauser handed him the files, along with a cup of coffee. "To help you stay alert."
Nick accepted the cup gratefully.
Tucking the files under his arm, Nick retreated to the officers' work room. The room was long and narrow with entrances at either end for better traffic flow. Windows lined the outside wall while metal cabinets filled the opposite. Desks stretched the room's length, divided into two columns and paired by partner.
The room was empty when he entered. Only half the lights were on, leaving every other desk in shadow. Several computer screens glowed with screensavers featuring the ZPD logo.
Nick headed down the aisle until he reached his own desk at the far end. It was by a window. Judy's desk was next to the file cabinets. She swore he had gotten lucky with the placement, but considering she had been there several months before him, he had his doubts.
He dropped into his seat, careful not to spill his coffee, and looked over at his partner's desk. Everything on it was neatly arranged. When Nick had teased Judy about her OCD tendencies, she had replied that when you have over two hundred siblings, you learned to appreciate organization.
Two framed photographs sat on either side of her computer. One was a panoramic shot of her family; the other was an underexposed picture of her and Nick at Gazelle's concert.
Everyone else at the ZPD remembered that night as the time they had gotten to meet Zootopia's beloved singer. Nick had enjoyed meeting her, too. Turned out Gazelle was just as beautiful, talented, and gracious in person as she was in her interviews. But Nick had enjoyed Judy's selfie with him even more. She had slung an arm around his neck and pressed her cheek to his, telling him, "On three, say carrots!" It was only the third time since they'd met that Nick had been able to hold her—the first time being after their reconciliation, and the second time being the first day Nick had arrived at police headquarters and Judy had leapt at him with an excited, "Welcome to the ZPD, partner!"
Then, nothing. Some playful pushing and a few pokes and paw grabs here and there, but nothing significant. Not until that dance—which he couldn't risk repeating. Still, he needed Judy back if he was going to properly torture himself with what could never be.
He need her back, period.
Nick turned away, taking a big gulp of coffee and burning his tongue. But the pain helped him to focus. He flipped through the files, absorbing every fact, analyzing every detail. But still, he reached the last page without anything jumping out at him. Carol was deceased, Peter was out of the picture, and Swift was so squeaky clean they could have used him for soap.
Frustration spiking, Nick pushed the folder away and pulled up the Corsacs' files. The only connection he could find between them was that the Corsacs and Carol Hopson had both worked at the same restaurant. But what that had to do with anything, Nick couldn't say.
He tossed down the papers and dialed Clawhauser.
"Where is Carrot's daily report?"
"She didn't make one. Said she got permission from Chief Bogo to leave everything off the record until the case was finished. For privacy reasons or something."
Covering for him, more like it. And trying to help the Corsacs, in her own way. Nick hadn't thought he could feel more undeserving of her as a partner, and yet here he was. Worse, her obligation to cover for him had ruined any lead her report might have given him. Knowing Judy had been kidnapped because he hadn't been by her side was killing him, but if this was how he lost her…
No. Stay focused.
"What about this Robin Swift fox?" he asked the cheetah. "You got any idea why she might have wanted a file on him?"
"Unfortunately no. She was very closed-lipped about it."
Nick stared at the fox's picture, trying to get a read on him. Maybe he would visit Swift anyway. Tonight even. Catch him off guard. Judy had looked up his file for a reason. Maybe he'd let the fox explain to him why that was.
From the other room, someone had turned on their radio. Nick finished his coffee as he listened to Officer Howle announce the arrival and departure of the ambulance for the okapi, plus two other animals they had found injured in the interim. A second tunnel was found, and then a third. Definitely an illegal burrow, Howle said.
Nick's phone rang. He scrambled for it, but it was only Francine calling to tell him that none of the animals who were at the apartment building had heard or seen anything.
"But we did find Hopp's cell phone in a garbage can around the corner. I'll let you know if we get any prints off it."
"Thanks."
Nick hung up, ears flicking back and forth as he debated. He had half a mind to call Mr. Big and demand that he find the mole faster. Or better yet, let him help with the search and capture. But making the shrew angry wouldn't help anyone, least of all Judy.
So what did that leave?
"Officer Howle to the ZPD. We've got an officer down here. Repeat, we've found Officer Hopps."
Nick shot out of his seat, sending his chair crashing into the desk behind him.
"ZPD to Officer Howle. What's her status?"
"Unconscious. Found her outside one of the tunnels."
"Sending another ambulance to you now."
From out in the hall came the sound of pounding feet. Clawhauser appeared in the doorway seconds later, gasping, his golden eyes wide. "Did you hear?"
Yeah. He'd heard.
They had found Judy.
The drive over was a blur. Nick kept his radio on, but there was no change that they reported.
When he reached the barrier blocking traffic and pedestrians from the collapsed road, he parked and got out. The rainforest's sprinkler system had been temporarily shut off to make it easier for the police to work, but the road and walkways were still half submerged in water. The flashing red and blue lights flickered over the still surface like the strobe lights at a nightclub gone horribly wrong.
An officer in charge of redirecting traffic saw Nick and without a word pointed him farther on.
Nick went.
He made his away along the roadside. It was slow going. The mossy ground was slick and the asphalt had been snapped in half in some places. The fault line ran due east for half a mile before dropping off into a sinkhole roughly five meters deep. It had been roped off with police tape and half a dozen officers and firefighters were carefully picking their way through the dirt and mud, looking for both evidence and possible victims.
An officer looked up, spotted Nick, and like the last one, pointed to the other side of the sinkhole where another fault line picked up, this one angled south.
Nick followed it.
Eventually it dipped down an embankment, leaving the road for marshy outland. Floodlights had been set up around the tunnel's entrance, which was still churning out a steady flow of muddy water. Specially rigged hoses had been laid out to suck up the excess water, but the ground was still soggy underfoot as Nick picked his way over.
Officer Howle looked up from where he had been watching a moose firefighter laying out another hose and saw Nick approaching.
"Officer Wilde—"
"Where is she?"
The wolf's ears drooped. He gestured toward one of the floodlights, beyond which a tiger officer and Howle's partner, Selene, hovered over a small, still form stretched out on the ground.
Judy.
Nick slipped and slid his way over to her, no longer bothering to take care of his steps. There was a ringing in his ears and his lungs felt tight, like he couldn't take a proper breath.
He fell to his knees beside her, mud splattering. When he reached out a paw, Selene stopped him. "Try not to touch her. We don't know yet if she has any injuries that we can't see."
Right. There could be spinal injuries, internal bleeding…
Breathing became even harder.
"Where are the medics?"
"I've been told an ambulance has arrived on scene over by the west exit. They should be here any minute."
Nick nodded, not taking his eyes off Judy. She was such a force of nature that he forgot sometimes how small she actually was. How breakable.
Selene had laid her jacket over the bunny to try and keep her warm. The sleeves alone were twice as long as Judy. She was soaking wet and muddy, and when Nick leaned close, he could smell the faintest hint of sickness on her breath. But she was alive, her breathing unlabored, and when he reached out to carefully check her pulse—earning a warning look from the tiger—her heartbeat was sure and strong. His own felt much more erratic.
Shouts rang out. From the top of the embankment a crew of EMT's appeared carrying a small stretcher. Selene rose to go help them.
Thank goodness.
Nick turned back to Judy—and sucked in a breath. His partner's eyes were open and she was watching him with a solemn, half-focused expression that worried him. He couldn't tell if she was thinking about all the ways in which he had failed her as a partner or if she just had to sneeze.
"Judy?"
She blinked, so slowly her lids actually stayed lowered for several seconds before lifting again. Then she sighed, a deep, satisfied sound, and smiled at him. "There you are," she said, and the relief in her voice shamed Nick all over again.
"Who said you could jus' disappear like that, huh?" Behind the slurred reprimand was a teasing note, and Nick latched onto it like a lifeline, replying with forced casualness, "You're one to talk. You gave us all a quite a scare there, Carrots."
"I was…" She had to pause and think about it. "Drugged."
Leaning close, Nick mock-whispered, "I think someone's still a little drugged."
"Was looking…" Her lids fluttered closed. She forced them back open. "Looking for you."
Guilt struck a one-two punch to his midsection. "I know, Carrots. But I'm here now and I'm not going to let—"
"No." She shook her head, then winced. Nick started to reach for her before remembering that he shouldn't touch her.
"Try not to move," he told her. "The paramedics are almost here."
"Jus' a lil' headache," said Judy. "Nick, listen. The Corsacs..."
Nick cut her off. "Don't worry about the Corsacs right now, okay, Fluff? Once we get you all fixed up then we can—"
"You don't understand. Nick, I saw them. They were talking about the kidnapping."
"Wait, what do you mean you saw them?" Sick suspicion filled Nick's stomach. He glanced over at the EMT's. They had reached the bottom the embankment and were now making their way over. Lowering his voice, he asked Judy, "Did the Corsacs do this to you, Carrots?"
Big purple eyes stared up at him, beseeching. "That's… I mean… It's complicated."
Which wasn't a no.
Nick rocked back on his heels. He couldn't believe it. After everything he had done to defend them, the Corsacs had gone and done this? To his partner? And to Zootopia? Maybe everyone had been right. Maybe he had been acting too much like a fox and not enough like a cop.
Well, that ended now.
While the EMT's checked Judy over, Nick went and found Officer Howle.
"Wilde. How's Hopps?"
"Nothing some rest and a little carrot soup won't cure," Nick said lightly. "Listen, about the animals who did this... They're foxes, Howle. Four of them. Called the Corsacs."
The wolf's gaze sharpened with interest."How do you know?"
"Because Judy and I have been tracking them all day. They're wanted on several other charges too."
"Are they the ones who took Hopps?"
Nick hesitated. The ZPD didn't take kindly to those who hurt one of their own. They would hunt the Corsacs down if he told them they were responsible for what had happened to Judy.
He glanced over at Judy. An EMT was shining a penlight into her eyes, checking for signs of concussion. Two others were positioning the stretcher, getting ready to move her.
It was enough. Nick nodded to Howle.
The wolf took out his walkie. "Understood. I'll let Chief Bogo know who we need to be looking for."
"I'll email you a copy of my files on them."
"Appreciate it."
Judy was carefully lifted onto the stretcher and the EMT's began carrying her back to the ambulance. Nick gave a mock salute to Officer Howle and followed after them.
One EMT, a mountain goat with pink safety caps on his horns, saw him and slowed. "We were told Officer Hopps was found outside one of the flooded tunnels. Do you know if she was breathing when she was found? Did anyone have to administer CPR?"
"Not that I know of," said Nick. "Why?"
"We're worried about her lack of responsiveness. Has she spoken at all since you arrived?"
"A little."
"Was it lucid?"
"Mostly," said Nick. "But then she was also hit with a tranquiler dart."
The mountain goat made a note on his clipboard.
"Is there something I should be concerned about?" asked Nick.
"The fact that she's clearly conscious but unresponsive is a bad sign. She may very well have some brain damage due to an extended period without oxygen."
"I see."
Nick picked up his pace, falling into step beside the stretcher. Judy's eyes were closed, her brow pinched into a frown. The EMT's were asking her questions—Did she hurt anywhere? Had she consumed anything?—but she wasn't answering them.
Nick leaned in close. Judy's nose twitched.
"Should I take a picture of you to commemorate your dramatic escape?" Nick whispered to her.
One baleful eye squinted open. "Not'less you want m'to buy more fox spray."
Nick fought a smile. "Vicious bunny. You have to stay awake and answer these nice medics' questions, okay?"
"M'tired."
"Yeah, but if you don't speak, they're going to think something is wrong with you. They don't know you're just a really surly patient like I do."
"Am not."
"Remember that time you got a cold? You bit my head off over soup."
"S'cause you ruined it."
"How do you know? You couldn't even taste properly."
"Mph." She closed her eyes.
"Answer their questions, Carrots. Or this all goes up on EweTube."
More irritated nose twitching. Judy took a shuddering breath in, and then— "Didn't eat. Headache. Throat 'urts. Dizzy. I… got sick." Her expression turned embarrassed. She peeked up at Nick. "Please don't put this on EweTube."
"I am a fox of my word." And Nick didn't want any more memories of this horrible night that he did already.
They finally reached the ambulance. Nick waited until Judy was safely onboard, then doubled-back to follow in his police car. On the way he called Judy's parents. He had never spoken to Bonnie and Stu directly before, though he had listened to Judy's phone calls with them countless times over the past year and had been prompted to say hello once or twice. Between his partner's stories and the photographs he'd seen of them, the Hopps struck Nick as your stereotypical bunny couple—Sweet, well-meaning but overly anxious, with an adept hand at farming and way too many kids. How Judy had sprung up so differently from them he had no idea, but he was grateful for it.
Because of the late hour, it took the Hopps a while to answer. And also because of the late hour, her mother's voice when she finally picked up was already worried.
Nick introduced himself and made sure to preface his news with assurances that Judy was fine. She was safe. The hospital crew was doing a great job taking care of her. But—
"Something happened that you should know about…"
Despite Nick's threats, Judy fell asleep on the way to the hospital.
The next time she woke, she was in a bed with rails surrounded by blue plastic curtains. The air smelled like antiseptic and machines beeped and hummed behind her head. She had been changed into a crinkly paper gown and the worst of the mud had been wiped from her fur, but she still felt filthy and her mouth tasted like sour cotton balls.
She tried to sleep, but it was fitful. Nurses, doctors, and medical technicians kept popping in to take x-rays or blood samples or ask her how she was feeling.
"Tired," she snapped the fifth time someone asked, a cute little pig doctor who looked quite taken aback at Judy's tone.
"Well your tests have all come back negative," she told Judy. "No concussion, no water in your lungs. You're very lucky."
Judy perked up at that. "Great. So I can go home now?"
"Oh no. We want to keep you a couple days for observation. You had a very high amount of tranquilizer in your system. Though you should be past the danger period, we really need to keep watch for—"
The curtain slid back and Nick popped his head in. "There you are, Carrots. Did you pass all your tests? What am I saying? An overachiever like you, of course you did."
"Her tests all came back fine," said the doctor. "But as I was attempting to explain to Ms. Hopps, she really should remain here a few days more—"
"I can't stay," said Judy. "There's too much going on right now. And I'm fine. You said so yourself. Just some scrapes and bruises."
"Really, this isn't something you should just shrug off," said the doctor. She looked imploringly at Nick.
So did Judy.
Nick rolled his eyes.
"Sorry," he said to the doctor. "But you heard my partner. She wants out of here."
"But she shouldn't be about—"
"Noted. But I, for one, am too tired to argue with her, and she'd only win in the end anyway."
Judy beamed.
The pig's expression was a lot less happy. But she seemed to accept the futility of trying to change their minds. She sighed and pushed through the curtains. "I'll be back with the discharge papers."
"Sounds good."
When she was gone, Judy turned to Nick. "Thank you."
"Of course. By the way, here." He tossed something at her. It landed on Judy's lap, making her jump. "A get well present."
Judy picked it up, confused. "It's a wax carrot."
"Yeah. Thought your apartment could use a little decoration. You like dust collectors, right?"
"Not really. Where did you even get this?"
"Gift shop. It's crazy the things you find in there nowadays, isn't it?"
He took a seat on the stool next to her bed and hooked an arm over the guard rail. "Just a heads up, I called your parents. Expect a visit tomorrow—or, possibly later today." He checked his phone. "Six a.m. How the night flies, huh?"
"Were they okay?"
"Oh yeah. I think they secretly wanted an excuse to visit, if I'm being honest."
"I'm sure." Judy looked at him, taking in the droop of his ears and downturned mouth. "Are you okay?"
"Me? I'm fine."
"I'm sorry if I made you worry."
"I wasn't worried."
She watched him pick up the remote control for the bed and play with it. She fiddled with the carrot. "Nick…"
"How about we skip the hospital paperwork tonight, huh?"
Judy blinked, taken aback at the sudden change in topic. "What? How?"
"Like this." He pressed a button on the remote. Her bed began to lower itself with a quiet whir the vibrated through the mattress. He pressed a second button and the guard rail folded down into a side pocket.
Judy chewed on her lip. As badly as she wanted out, it didn't seem right to leave without waiting for the doctor. "I don't know if we should..."
"Trust me, we should."
"But... I still need to wait for them to bring a wheel chair. I'm too tired to walk all the way to the—" Nick scooped her up into his arms, cutting Judy's words off with a gasp.
"Keep hold of that the carrot now," he warned her. "It's bad luck to lose a get well present."
Judy clutched the waxy piece of fruit close, her free paw reaching out to grab at Nick's shirt. The fabric was stiff with dried mud and the fur above his collar was damp where he had tried to wash off, most likely in one of the restrooms while she'd been getting poked and prodded and x-rayed.
"You could have gone home," she told him, unable to look away from that pale stripe of fur. "You didn't have to stay here all night."
She felt the slight lift and fall as he shrugged. "The night was mostly over anyways. Plus, you made me your emergency contact, and I take that responsibility very seriously." His tone was sarcastic, but yet here he was, covered in mud and clearly exhausted, ready to whisk her away because she had wished for it.
She glanced up and saw that he was watching her, his normally bright green eyes shadowed by all the hospital lights. "Ready, partner?"
She could feel his heart pounding where her paw rested against his chest, and her own picked up its pace to match it. She tightened her grip on the wax carrot. "Ready."
He burst through the curtains at a sprint, holding Judy tight in his arms. No one tried to stop them, though they got a few disapproving looks from the nurses sitting at the nurse's station.
When they reached the end of the hall Nick took the corner at a slide, nearly running into a giraffe who was wearing the longest neck brace Judy had ever seen. And maybe it was exhaustion, or the tranquilizer, or relief at being back with Nick, both of them safe and sound, but the sight startled Judy into a laugh, and once she started she found that she couldn't stop.
Nick grinned, dodging around the giraffe and picking up speed. He raced with Judy right out the front doors of the hospital and across the parking lot washed in the orange glow of streetlights, not slowing until they reached the police cruiser.
He helped Judy get settled into the passenger's seat. Her paper gown was a crinkled mess, but there was no help for it. She did her best to tug it back into some sort of decency while Nick rounded the hood of the car and slid in behind the wheel.
"All buckled in there, Carrots?" he asked, and at her nod, started the engine. "All right then. Time to get you home."
The earliest commuters had already clogged the streets by the time they'd made their way Downtown, but Judy wasn't in a rush. The car was warm and quiet, the engine a gentle rumble against her seat, and the stress of the night was finally beginning to ebb, leaving room for a more peaceful sort of exhaustion that Judy welcomed.
"Nick, about the Corsacs…" She told him about the raccoon showing up and chasing them off, finishing around a yawn, "We need to find them before Ray does."
Nick flicked on his turn signal and passed a couple slow-moving cars. "You're not looking for anyone until after you get some rest. The ZPD is out searching for the Corsacs now. If they find anything, we'll hear about it."
"The ZPD knows about the Corsacs? Since when?"
"Since they crossed the line and kidnapped a cop. Not to mention caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in destruction of public property and injury to several civilians." Nick shook his head. "Impossible to protect them now."
Oh.
"Nick, I'm sorry. I know you wanted—"
"There's nothing to apologize for, Carrots," Nick said. "You were right. I was wrong about them. I saw only what I wanted to, and it almost got you killed."
"That's not true."
"No?"
"No. You couldn't have known they would go after me like that." Judy smiled without humor. "Actually, they weren't even after me. They were trying to get to you."
"Me?"
"Because you're a fox. They thought you would listen." Judy let her head fall back against the headrest. "They didn't trust me at all. They wouldn't tell me anything."
"Well as they've already proven, they're pretty dumb criminals."
Judy shook her head. "No, they were right not to trust me. I am investigating them. And I was doubtful."
"With good reason," said Nick. He pulled up to a red light and stopped. He looked over at her. "I should have listened to you about them sooner."
"You had good points too," argued Judy. "And I think you're right. They're not just terrible criminals doing this for no reason. They're scared. Something is driving them."
"Doesn't matter."
"You don't mean that."
"I do. They lost my sympathy the moment I found you lying unconscious in the mud."
"The tunnel collapse was an accident. And I'm fine."
"And if you weren't?"
Judy tipped her head back. "So you're mad at them for something that didn't happen?"
"I'm mad at them for something that could've happened."
Judy couldn't help smiling. "But you weren't worried about me."
Nick's jaw worked.
The light turned green. He hit the gas.
When he spoke a minute later, his voice was carefully neutral. "Let's just get you rested up, okay? Then we'll find the Corsacs, and the raccoon too if we must, and say good riddance to this case."
Judy didn't think it would be that simple, but was too tired to say so. So she let it go. For now.
At some point she must've dozed off, because she woke to the feeling of Nick carrying her up the stairs to her apartment. Nick used the spare key she had given him to get in, and Judy rallied enough to insist on brushing her teeth before going to bed.
"Carrots, don't worry about it. There's no reason to bother—"
"Nicholas Wilde, you can either stay and help me or go home, but one way or another my teeth will be brushed."
Nick stayed.
Judy sat on the edge of the tub, struggling to keep her eyes open while Nick got her toothbrush out and squirted toothpaste onto the bristles. She fumbled it twice, but eventually got her mouth cleaned to her satisfaction.
When she was done, Nick had to help her to stand, her paper gown crinkling obnoxiously.
Judy glowered down at it. "I need to change."
"Carrots…"
"Top left drawer. Top left. Don't open the right one."
Grumbling under his breath about surly patients, Nick did as she bid him. He stopped with his paw on the right drawer handle for the briefest moment just to get a glare out of her, then continued on to the left one and pulled out a cotton tank top and shorts. Judy took the clothes with murmured thanks, then shooed him out so she could change.
Of course, after changing she decided it would also be a good idea to clean up a bit before getting into bed. Her fur was still caked with mud in several places and she didn't want to sleep in dirty sheets…
She didn't know how much time passed, but the next thing she was conscious of was Nick tugging a washcloth from her limp paw and picking her up off the floor.
When had she decided to lay down?
He carried her to bed, and Judy sighed when her head sunk into the pillow. He tucked the sheets up around her, and then she thought she felt, in the sensitive spot just behind her ear, the briefest sensation of—something. But the feeling was gone before she could be sure of what it was, and then she was drifting off, her thoughts melting into pleasant dreams about soft blankets and even softer kisses, and a sly fox who stole both and didn't apologize.
