AN: Once again, thanks for reading!
Precinct 1, ZPD Headquarters 4:23 PM
"Thank you. Really, I mean it, thank you, both of you." Bernard gasped, shaking the paws of Nick and Judy. "This was a really heavy load on me for the past day."
"No problem, sir. I guess we had luck on our side today." Nick nodded. They had brought Edward in as the storm grew, and a strong wind and rain blew outside, clouds gray and the day dark. They now stood outside of a witness room, where Edward and another officer were talking. Judy looked at the frosted pane window where she could see two faded silhouettes facing each other.
"Now what?" She mused to herself. They had gotten their missing mammal back safe and sound, but what was to happen now? Unless Edward knew something, they were back to square one. As she thought, Bogo stepped into the room, motioning to the two forward.
"Good job, officers. Expected as much from you both." Bogo commended the duo. "It's not over yet, though. Wilde, you said you suspect that Edward was trailed?" He asked.
Nick nodded. "That's why he ran. He knew that whoever that person was, they were watching his movements." Bogo nodded. "Hopps, can you confirm?"
Nick looked over to the rabbit, who shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't, sir. Nick only told me about this, but only after we left the apartment. Although I would trust him on this. Right?" She nudged her elbow into Nick's rib. Just then, the door to the witness room opened, and a wolf walked out, clipboard in hand. He motioned to the door with his thumb.
"He wants to talk to Wilde and Hopps." Bogo nodded and looked to the pair, motioning them to go. Nick and Judy entered the room, where Edward sat, facing the door. His face lit up as he saw them.
"You wanted to talk?" Judy asked. Edward nodded, wistfully. He clasped his paws together into a ball and set them in front of him.
"I already talked to Bernard. He told me everything, and all about the case you're working on. I can help." Nick raised an eyebrow and looked to Judy, who nodded. "I'm sure you'll find this very interesting..."
9 years ago, Ford Docks, Industrial Harbor District
Edward furrowed his eyebrows, squinting as he tried to see in the dim light. He laced and twisted a wire into another, binding them together. He wiped a paw across his brow, glancing up to the mammals around him. Deer, antelope, a few wolves, and a tiger, armed to the teeth with automatic rifles and submachine guns of various make, dressed in bandoliers. A wolf who stood by the right of him nudged him sharply with the rifle end as Edward paused for longer than he wanted to. The badger's heart skipped a beat, and he finished the rig, getting up on one knee. Immediately, the guards all around him raised their guns up, all pointing at the badger. Edward slowly raised his hands up.
"I'm done here. I need to move to down there to secure the lines." He explained quickly, a finger pointing down the docks to a shipping crane. The wolf who stood closest to Edward looked to the antelope, who after a few tense seconds, nodded without another word. Edward quickly got to his two feet, and slowly made his way to his destination, flanked by the guards.
"How many more fuses?" The tiger grunted, gripping his weapon tighter.
"This is the last one." Edward offered, sighing internally as he saw that the answer satisfied the tiger. He stopped by the crane, bending down on one knee. The antelope saw this movement and quickly motioned a wolf forward, who was holding a duffel bag packed with white blocks. C-4, it read, in big black letters. The wolf poured out the package, along with a roll of duct tape. He tore out a strip and started to wrap a few blocks of C-4 together, about four blocks a strip. He passed them to Edward, who packed them to the side of the steel frame. Once they were secure, he pulled out the detonators, sliding one into each block. He noticed the wolf wince slightly every time he jammed one into the explosive block.
"Don't be too jumpy, these won't go off until I want them to." He said, not knowing why he said them in the first place. He didn't want to be here. But judging by the look on the young wolf's face, neither did he. Whether it was from pity or from some other emotion, he didn't know.
"Cut the chatter. Are you done yet?" The antelope gruffly said, poking Edward in the back with the barrel of his AK, prompting Edward to nod.
"We're done." He connected the detonators to a wire, which was coiled around a circular roll. The young wolf picked it up along with the empty duffel bag, and started his way back to the rendezvous site, uncoiling the wire along with him. The antelope poked Edward again, who got up and followed the group back. They walked along the unlit dock, to a street on the edge of the cliff several blocks away from the dock, overlooking the harbor. They walked to a set of black SUVs, parked in a semicircle facing into the harbor. A black coated sable antelope stood in the middle of a group of mammals, flanked by a heavy set common eland, who was brandishing an AR. The sable antelope stepped forward, putting a paw on Edward's shoulder.
"Ahh, I see you are right on time. I hope my guards gave you no trouble." The sable antelope said. Edward shot a sideways glare at the antelope who had poked him with the rifle, but said nothing. "Everything in order, Mr. Cavendish, no?"
"It's all good, sir." Edward muttered, but as he continued, the sable antelope put up a hand.
"No need for the formalities. Call me Sazar. And you need not worry about your family. They are safe, I assure you." Sazar reassured the badger. "My mammals will not lay a finger on them until I give the word."
Just then, the common eland stepped forward to the pair with a black box, covered in red switches and with an antennae sticking out from the end.
"Detonators are ready. We are standing by until the all clear signal." The eland informed Sazar.
"Thank you." He received the device and turned to Edward. "Amazing. We are ten minutes early. You are living up to what they said about you, Edward." He paused. "If you allow me to call you that."
"I'm just a engineer. Nothing more." Edward explained, and Sazar smiled.
"Ah, but you were a military engineer. No operation too small." Edward shook his head nervously. Sazar got down on one knee to put himself at eye-level with the badger. "About the proposal I made earlier. Are you not considering?"
Edward jerked his shoulder away from the sable antelope's grasp. "No. I'm done here. I've kept my end of the bargain. Leave my family alone." Edward said with a steely tone. Sazar's smile faded.
Hiss...Pop!
A bright red light flew into the sky, a red flare which came from the northern side of the docks and hung in the sky, casting shadows, disappearing after a few seconds. Everyone instinctively looked towards the source of the light, pausing a few seconds even after the flare fizzled out. Sazar smiled once more, handing the device back to the eland.
"Good. We are clear." He stood up, brushing his coat off. "I assure you again, Edward, your family will not be hurt." Turning towards the badger, he drew out an M45 pistol from inside his coat, flicking off the safety. "Unfortunately, this might sting."
Edward froze as the barrel settled onto the back of his head.
"I wish that you did reconsider your previous sentiment. For your own sake and mine. But since you have already chosen, you are a liability. Thus, I bid you adieu." There was an audible click as Sazar pulled back the cocking hammer on the pistol.
"Thank you for your services, Mr. Cavendish." There was a flash and a bang, and the badger's body was thrust forward into the asphalt. The gunshot rang through the hills, and a small sound of the empty metal cartridge clinked onto the floor. Sazar flicked the safety back on his pistol and holstered it. The body lay silent on the floor, face-down. Sazar put his paw outstretched, and the common eland handed the device back. He pulled the antennae out to its maximum length, facing the docks. Wistfully, he gazed back at the body on the ground.
"What misfortune. He might've been extremely useful, Ah, well..." He shook his head and turned back. Without hesitation, he flicked the switches. Flashes erupted from the docks in various places, and after a few second a thundering shock-wave swept across the hill. Plumes of orange and black smoke billowed from the docks. The mammals surrounding Sazar all raised their guns in the air and cheered. Sazar himself gave a smile.
"Good morning, Zootopia." He cackled, as the sun broke through the night sky, illuminating the wreckage of fire and steel that unfolded before them.
Present Day
Edward unconsciously rubbed a scar by the left side of his ear as Nick and Judy sat in silence, captivated by his monologue.
"The bullet missed my brain by half an inch, although it did tear out a large chunk of bone and flesh." He pointed to his left eye. "I am slightly blind in this eye. Not completely, but I manage. To tell the truth, I still don't know how I got out of this alive. I played my cards wrong, said the wrong things, yet I lived. I was lucky." He sighed, rubbing his paws. He continued.
"Now, I only have my son, Russell. He's the only family left. His mother died seven years ago, and by then, he had already distanced me from his life. He was working for Canaan Industries, and he still is now, in some high position. He pays my welfare fees, but that's it. My involvement in the plot really took a toll on his reputation, so I guess it was in his benefit that I left. Which I did."
Judy nodded. "If I remember correctly, wasn't he on the newspaper recently?" Nick snapped his fingers, turning to her.
"Something about a promotion, wasn't it? I think I remember it too. Manager or something like that." Russell look between the two and folded his arms together.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Edward sighed. "He might be a target. My involvement, the recent attack, all of this. It's a long shot, but..." He left the sentence hanging. Judy nodded.
"We'll look into it, don't worry." Judy flashed a cheerful smile, which Edward had no choice but to return. "Well, if it's alright, we have to go. Take care!" The two got up, but not before Edward stopped them.
"One more thing. The incident nine years ago. Everything that was targeted? Gryke Tech assets. They had an intense rivalry against Canaan Industries back then, but they've gone bankrupt since." He said slowly. "If I were you, I wouldn't trust Canaan Industries."
The room felt colder, as the cool air from the AC circulated the room. The hair on the back of Judy's neck stood. Edward's grim look faded and was replaced with a more cheerful smile.
"That will be all. Wilde, Hopps, take care too."
Somewhere in Savannah Central, 9:30 PM
A lone suit-clad hippo sat in a black limo in the dark corner of the street. Lit by only a streetlamp, Jerry Cosgrove, CFO of Canaan Industries, was on the phone. Or at least, going to. He waited for his chauffeur to arrive, after coming down early to the pickup spot. And the driver was late. As he waited, he pulled out his phone, dialing. The phone buzzed as it made the call.
"Hello?" The phone was picked up. "Jerry?"
"Hey Miles." Jerry replied, shifting his weight around the seat. "Driver is late. I might be late for the meeting." The meeting he referred to was off the books, unrecorded, involving parties he wouldn't want to be seen together with. An "emergency" meeting, whatever it meant. There was a sigh on the other end.
"Ok, fine. As long as you come before ten. None of us want to stay here for long." Miles huffed, slightly frustrated. Jerry, looking out the window and seeing no one, decided to pry for a bit of more info.
"Sure, of course. Uh, what's the meeting about? I only heard slight bits of the discussion, but..." He left his question unfinished, in order to lead Miles into a conversation, which Miles took without noticing.
"The incident two days ago. Sa- Our client," Miles stressed, "wants to address that topic." The voice on the other end lowered slightly. "If I were you, I would deny everything. You know nothing, right?" Miles seemed exasperated and slightly panicking. Jerry nodded to himself.
"Of course. If I may add..." Jerry paused as he saw the figure of his driver come out of the building they parked next to. "Call you later." He turned off the phone, muttering to himself. "Damn slackers, what do I even pay them for..." From behind the tinted glass windows and the dim streetlamp, he watched as the figure moved towards his door. He turned his body, ready to vent his frustrations verbally. The driver, instead of opening the door, tapped on the windows. It was at this point Jerry realized that his driver was slightly shorter than before, but disregarding the thought, he pushed the window button on the door, and the windows slid down slowly with a whir. But as soon as the window was halfway open, a spray of water splashed through the window, soaking Jerry's suit.
"What the...!?" The hippo interjected as he saw a gleaming light tossed into the car. It was also at this point that Jerry, even through his unsensitive nose, smelt a strong scent of gasoline, emanating from his soaked suit and pants. No other thought came to mind as the interior of the car erupted into flames, spreading onto every inch of the gasoline soak lining of the car and onto Jerry's already soaked body. The fire died down slowly, but still fed on the gasoline fumes that clung to the surfaces.
By ten, the figure had already disappeared, and Jerry had missed the meeting.
AN: Thanks for reading! Please, leave a review and tell me any suggestions or thoughts you have on this fic!