CHAPTER 2
It was the worst ride she's ever been on, and the remembered the night howler lab train car. Second worst ride. The car had little to no shocks, so every dip and bump tried to send her flying around her seat. And as for the seat itself, she's seen planks of wood with more substantial cushioning. And it smelled of grease, gas, and alcohol.
"Look, I know you're a tough cookie. Ma don't watch the news, but I do. So I saw the nighthowler thing. But this neighborhood isn't the greatest at night. And super cop or not, you're still a bunny in a den of foxes."
"Thanks, Natalie." Even though she was sure she could walk her way back, she didn't mind the help.
"Whatever."
They came to a red light and Judy was nearly tossed into the windshield as Natalie slammed on the breaks, which screeched a bit too close to how the train car lab sounded as it ran off the tracks. The car idled like a seizure patient.
"Look, won't be telling ma or anything, but how long have you been with my brother?" Judy's ears dropped and she held out a finger ready to respond, "And don't give me that 'co-worker' malarkey. Mom's sniffer might be having more off days than not lately, but I can tell clear as day, cottontail."
Natalie gave Judy a toothy grin, while she saw a familial glint in it, there was a lot more fangs to hers.
"Two years, we moved in together a year ago."
The smile faded to a thoughtful pout, "Then, girl to girl, you ought to know foxes aren't the most monogamous mammals. From my experience, I'd say you're at the tail end of the relationship."
"No… he'd never…", But as he car sputtered towards the train station she thought about how he's been spending more time away from her. It didn't seem like anything then. But scrutinizing it now, it did seem a little off. Normally he'd go pal around with Finnick once every couple of weeks. Once she asked what they did and he just shrugged and said "Sports, cards, and bad food. Guy stuff." Lately though, it's become more of a weekly thing. And then she remembered that he had two Finnick days this week. The fact he was with him today was why she was able to come down here and see his mother.
"Sorry Fluff, didn't mean to shatter your heart. But foxes are foxes. Some days, it makes me wish I was a wolf."
The car came to sudden halt, tossing the mentally distracted Judy into the glove compartment.
"Here's your stop."
Shaking her head, Judy got up and slowly made her way out of the car window. The manners she was raised with forced her to mutter another thanks for the ride.
"Oh, one more thing rabbit. If, for whatever insane reason, you decide to come back. Put some perfume on if you don't want ma' finding out about you and Nick."
She gave her a nod and turned towards the train station. Natalie's car backfired like a shotgun blast and shot off into the night. It was several minutes before the next train showed up, she pulled out her phone and read the rest of the texts from Nick.
Twenty minutes after the first there was a carrot emoji with more question marks.
Pizza slice emoji, followed a few minutes later.
After fifteen more minutes he wrote, "Respond or it'll just be Carnivore's Delight for dinner"
Forty minutes after came a pizza emoji with "Soooo good without rabbit food toppings"
Thirty minutes after that, a sad face next to a carrot
Ten minutes ago he sent "U ok?"
And as the train pulled into the station a new message popped up, "Judy?"
Natalie had to be wrong. Not all foxes were cheats. She got Nick on the up and up now. He's a cop. He's a good mammal. They're partners, they trust each other with their lives. Natalie hasn't even seen her brother in years, Judy falls asleep every night with his arms wrapped around her. What would she really know about him anyway?
Getting on the train, she responded to Nick with a heart emoji and "lost track of time sorry"
"I lied" he response back. Judy's hand shook, frightened of what was to come next.
"Half rabbit food pizza in the fridge for you"
Her shoulders fell as the anxiety wafted away.
She wrote out "You're too good to me" but reconsidered it and just send "Thanks" instead.
Later as she drifted off to sleep, she hoped Natalie's words would wash away in the night. But every time Nick headed over to Finnick's after work or spent his day off with his little buddy, she couldn't help but have them run through her head.
Eventually she made time to contact Marie-Ann again, this time over the phone. The conversation was short but pleasant, and a date was picked that worked for the both of them. That morning, after getting dressed, Judy found her phone absent from her night stand. Instead it was sitting out in the living room, next to the laptop they shared. Her little heart started to beat a little faster than usual. She had Marie-Ann's number listed as "bystander 12" in the event of Nick peeking at her contact list. So she should not have felt as nervous as she did.
As she walked into the living room Nick got up from the couch and picked her up into big hug, "Morning Carrots!"
"Okay, that's a bit tight there big guy." Judy exaggeratedly wheezed out so he set her down.
"Sorry, I think I've been missing my off-duty fill of Judy Hopps and over compensated. Can you blame me?"
"Well on-duty Judy needs to have her ribs not broken, you big lug."
The both laughed, and Judy temporarily forgot his sister's word.
"Did you take my phone?"
He hummed affirmatively, "I put a little present on there for you."
Judy's eyes went wide in horror, "You didn't put a picture of your…"
"Lord no. That's so trashy."
"Thank God."
"I mean with the paltry definition from a phone's camera, it would be a waste. If I wanted to give you something like that, I'd hire a painter. Get a nice, respectable portrait we could hang on the wall. I could stand like this-" He set one foot up on the coffee table, one fist resting on his hip with the other pointed out like a General giving an order, "What do you think Carrots? Classy or what?"
She had a flash of what that paint would look like in her mind and had to uselessly cover her eyes, "Nicholas Wilde, sometime you are just too much."
"You know you love that about me," He got out of the pose and adjusted his tie, "So what say we head out on the town. Feels like we haven't done that in awhile."
"Actually, I can't. I have…" She realized she didn't have a cover, she figured he'd be off with Finnick again, "I'm having a girl's day out with Fru-fru. Shopping, going to the spa, and all that super girly stuff."
"And you need to wear perfume for that?"
She could feel her skin get clammy under her fur. She's never lied to Nick so blatantly before. At least not after catching Bellwether.
"I may be a cop, but I'm still a lady. And sometimes a lady wants to smell good."
Nick's eye scanned over her and not in the fun way he usually does. It was closer to him looking over a suspect.
"Alright, just don't go spending too much money. No need to play 'keeping up with the mob boss' daughter'."
"Nick I'd never…"
He held up a paw, "I know, I know. I just felt that it was my turn to talk about being financially responsible. How many speeches of yours did I sit through after you found out I was playing cards with Finnick?"
Looking into his emerald eye, she saw him enjoying the turn about. And he was right. The night he came back literally without his shirt she screamed at him and he just took it, knowing full well he was in the wrong.
"Fine, Mr. Penny-pincher."
"Good," He leaned in and gave a more gentle hug, "Then you go have fun with the girls. But do me a favor, would you? The gift on your phone, it's very personal. So please don't go showing it off, okay? It's only meant for you."
It would have been easy to make another accusation about unsolicited anatomical photos, but Nick was having one of his rare moments of seriousness. So she gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Sure thing."
And with that she was out the door. Nick sighed and watched the closed door for a few minutes, in futile hope that she would come back. Eventually he sat back down on the couch, pulling out his phone. This wasn't the way he expected the day to be going. Finnick texted him as he was going through one of the social media apps.
"How'd it go Red?"
"It didn't" he said out loud as he typed, "She's having a girls day out"
"HA! U snooze u looze Wilde!"
But another text alert popped up. One with the custom ringtone of a double ring of a big ominous funeral bell. The alert he hoped he'd never hear. Hesitantly he tapped over to it. The fear vanished from his face as he read, replaced by the confused furrowing of his brow. He read it again. And again. And then looked up at the closed door.
By the time Nick ran out the door, Judy's train already left the station heading towards the Meadowlands.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
And that's chapter two. Hope you all are enjoying it!
Why is Nick hanging with Finnick so often? Or is that just a front for something worse? Who would Nick have in his contact list with a funeral bell as a ringtone and why did it cause him to run out the door? Why does Finnick spell so terribly when he texts? What exactly is on a Zoopotian Carnivore's Delight pizza?
Some of these questions will be answered by the end. Some of them not.
Well okay, I don't answer the one about Finnick's spelling. It's not really important to this story. Or any story really. He's just a lazy texter. MYSTERY SOLVED!
