Action time! One more chapter after this to wrap everything up!

Chapter 8

Fedora in the Leaves

The first thing Nikki noticed was the darkness, the second was the terrible smell, and the third was Harry stubbing his toe on something. He cursed quietly and fumbled along the wall, looking for a light switch. When his finger did finally find their target and light flooded the room, he heard Nikki gasp. Lining the walls on all sides, were cages. Cages and cages of baby chimps surrounded them and they both stood frozen for a long moment.

"You'd better call Sadler," Nikki whispered into the room.

Harry wasn't paying attention. He'd spotted something else. Striding forwards to the crates in the middle of the room, he pried one open, hoping and praying there weren't more chimps in there. Thankfully, no little eyes stared back at him, but something else did.

"Cocaine," he growled. "Not only do they have an illegal chimp selling operation, but a drug one as well."

"Call Sadler," Nikki repeated.

Rushing to yank his phone from his pocket, Harry did as she said. When his rushed, anxious voice filled the room as he explained the situation, Nikki turned on the spot to examine the rest of the room. There was another door at the side, huddled between a few cages, and she cast a quick glance back to see Harry still talking. Promising herself she wouldn't go far, she stepped through the door.

"Ewe," she shuddered as she took in the spider webs covering the low ceiling. Continuing on down the small corridor, Nikki frowned at the stairs that met her at the end. A slanted hatch called from the top and she put a foot on the first step.

"What are you doing?" Harry's voice hissed right behind her.

She jumped and spun around. "Don't!" she hissed right back. "Do not do that!"

"Well?" he whispered.

"It's a tunnel leading out from under a warehouse storing baby chimps and drugs! What do you think I was doing? Trying to find some juice?"

"Shh!" he snapped, waving a finger in front of his face when her voice grew louder. She sent him an expectant look and glanced up to the hatch. Gaze flickering between her and the stairs, he let out a quiet groan. "Fine," he grumbled, stepping up to push on the small door. It didn't budge.

"Push harder," Nikki ordered quietly.

He sent her a cranky glare. "Really? I hadn't thought of that." Finally, the latch gave up and Harry stumbled out into… a forest?

Nikki hurried out after him and stood gazing around in confusion. "I guess it's just an escape route?" she sighed.

"Look at this," Harry said quickly, bending down to a patch of mud. "It seems this escape route has been used recently." Nikki's eyebrows rose curiously at the footprints in the mud, and she began following them deeper into the forest. "Nikki," he growled. "Wait for Sadler and the others."

She spun back and gave him her best puppy-dog eyes. "I'm not going far. I just want to check."

"Check what?" he asked, his voice irritated as he began to follow. "You're just saying that so I let you go."

"Yeah, and it's working." She grinned when she heard him grumble behind her.

"Look," he tried. "They just left not long ago, so they couldn't have gotten very far away. They're probably just getting back now. Please wait for them."

"Harry." She had stopped.

"No just listen," he ordered firmly.

Apparently she didn't want to, for not a moment later, she was running off to the right, slipping and sliding down a leaf-covered hill. He grumbled under his breath and made to go after her, but then he spotted what had her so worked up. DI Curtis was slumped below them at the bottom of the hill, his hands bound tightly around the back of a tree trunk, and a cloth tied around his mouth.

"Nikki," he called, trying not to be too loud. "Wait! What if it's a trap?"

She didn't hear him, or if she didn't, she wasn't listening. Giving up, he jogged down after her, using trees to steady himself on the way down. Nikki reached the man below and quickly checked his pulse. Relieved to find it was still beating strongly, she pulled the cloth off his mouth and set to work on the ropes around his wrists.

"How is he?" Harry asked, skidding to a halt at the bottom of the hill.

"He's alive," was all she said. Any more than that, she didn't know.

Harry helped her untie his hands and together they took hold of his arms, trying to make his landing soft as he slumped to the ground. Patting his cheek gently, Harry attempted to wake him up. "Come on," he muttered. "Curtis? Wake up buddy."

"Jeff?" Nikki tried. "Jeff Curtis?"

Slowly and sluggishly, the detective's eyes blinked open before closing quickly at the brightness of the sun as it shone through the trees from its low position in the sky. He moaned and coughed, trying to sit up.

"Hold on," Harry said quickly. "Stay still for a moment. Let us check you for injuries."

"Where are the police?" he croaked, doing as he was told.

Nikki exchanged a glance with Harry and spoke gently. "Don't worry, they're on their way."

"Great," he laughed dryly. "So instead of a police search team, I get two pathologists. I'm not ready for you yet."

Harry snickered. "There is a police team," he insisted. "They're coming."

"Can I sit up now?" Curtis asked after a moment.

"Nothing hurts?" Nikki asked. "You can feel all your fingers and toes?"

"Yeah, I'm alright" he grunted, not waiting for the 'okay' as he struggled into an upright position. "Oh," he groaned, reaching to hold his head.

"Let me see," Nikki ordered, reaching up to inspect for damage.

Curtis froze. For a moment, Nikki thought she'd hurt him, but he was staring past her, past both of them. Suddenly, he scrambled to his feet and both pathologists spun around. Two men stood there, guns in hands, pinning them against the hill.

"Who're they?" the one with the fedora asked. The fedora! It was the mystery man Charlie had told them about. Which probably meant the other one was John Miller.

"Uh," Curtis stuttered, suddenly realizing he was talking to him. He glanced between them all, trying to decide what to do in his slightly confused state.

"Harry and Nikki," Harry answered for him.

"Yeah?" the fedora man asked. "And? Are you police officers?"

They exchanged a quick glance, and Harry answered again. "No, we're pathologists."

John Miller snorted. "Hate to break it to you, but he's not ready for you yet," he laughed, motioning at the detective between them. "We could let you know when he is though."

"Shut up," the other one ordered angrily.

"So," Nikki spoke up, "I'm assuming all that cocaine in there belongs to you then?" Harry sent her a shocked and desperate glance, but she ignored him. "The chimps as well, I suppose?"

The fedora man's face contorted and he fixed Nikki with a bone-chilling stare. "You were snoopin' in my stuff then, were ya?" he growled, suddenly growing furious. "Just my luck, isn't it? John, I think you're gonna need to do some more diggin' now."

"Sorry, digging?" Harry asked, worried.

"Yeah," he said, as if it were obvious. "You know, diggin' holes." He grinned. "Diggin' graves."

"Ah," Harry nodded, now completely understanding. "Well—"

"Shut up!" When Harry clamped his mouth shut, the man grinned again. "Good. Now, you," he growled, pointing his gun in Nikki's direction and taking a step closer. "How much did ya see?" Nikki didn't answer, only stared at the gun now pointed at her head. "Because," the fedora man continued, "now the fun part starts. If ya say ya didn't see anythin', then I know you're lyin' and I get to blow you're bloody head off."

Harry stiffened and growled, "Leave her alone."

"Shut up," he said absently. "Then again, if ya say ya saw it all, I get to blow you're bloody head off anyway."

"Look," Harry tried, inching his way slowly over to Nikki, "Just calm down let us talk—Ah!" Nikki flinched as John Miller brought the butt of his gun down on Harry's shoulder, making him fall to his knees.

"Hey!" Curtis yelled. "The police are closing in on us right now, so you'd better not do anything you'd regret!"

"Shut up!" the fedora man yelled. "Shut up or I'll kill 'er!" He darted behind Nikki and forced her to the ground beside Harry, holding the gun to the back of her head.

Nikki shut her eyes tightly as yelling broke out all around her. A new scream entered the mix and the man behind her was knocked off his feet, fedora flying away and landing in the leaves. A full grown chimpanzee had flung itself at him, favouring one of its arms as it tore at his face. Nikki scrambled away from the fight and backed into Harry as he stood frozen, staring at the scene playing out in front of them.

A gunshot rang through the trees as John Miller tried to halt the attack on his boss, but it only seemed to make the chimp angrier. He continued firing, but suddenly his gun jammed and Curtis hurtled himself at the other man. His head connected with a rock and he was out cold in a flash.

Silence fell throughout the forest as the chimpanzee struggled to climb off its enemy. It looked up once, meeting Nikki's gaze before its own eyes closed forever.

"Are you two alright?" Curtis asked quietly, sitting back on his heels.

Nikki nodded silently as Harry spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah," Curtis sighed.