"Wilde, you need to calm down and tell me what happened." Bogo's gruff voice echoed through Wilde's ears, his brown eyes penetrating deep into his being.
"With all due respect Chief Bogo, fuck you. Judy is out there and being held captive by that fucking psychopath!" He barked, unable to keep his lips from forming a snarl.
Bogo snorted in irritation but he could hardly blame him. "Wilde, please, sitting here and yelling isn't going to help her; tell me what you know."
He sighed and sat down. "I came home from my shift and came to the lobby, McHorn says everything was doing fine so I decided to head up to the second floor, I got to the floor and found our apartment door open. Upon entering the apartment I found Officer Lobo unconscious on the floor. I immediately ran through the apartment and found the bedroom window open and the fire escape extended. I also discovered Judy's prosthetic legs by the kitchen table which confirmed that she didn't sneak off on her own. Upon concluding that she had been kitnapped, I called for backup."
One of the advisory detectives took down his statement while Bogo looked around. He watched as Nick dug his claws into the sofa, tearing furrows into the cushions. "Wilde, we'll find her."
"Why are you busy questioning me when we know who took her, it was that rat bastard Savage!" He snarled.
"How do you know? Your evidence is circumstantial at best and any judge would shrug it off as delusional nonsense before he'd give us a warrant. We'll watch him but we should be tactful. Do you honestly think that a federal agent that has shown no signs of treachery would turn rogue just because of your relationship?" The large Cape Buffalo shakes his head back and forth quickly.
Nick sighed, feeling slightly defeated. "Yes Sir."
"Wilde, promise me you won't do anything rash."
"Honestly sir, I can't."
"Just be careful. I don't want to have to put you in cuffs."
"Yes sir." The conversation was blunt enough to bludgeon even the thickest skinned Rhinoceros, but it seemed the two males had come to an understanding at the very least.
Judy groaned as a pounding headache throbbed to life in her temple, the last thing she could remember, she was sitting at her table, reading some of the latest case notes that the crime lab provided for her before she felt something pressed to her nose and then the cold feeling of slipping unconscious.
She winced as she opened her eyes and felt them be assaulted by the bright lights of the room. She went to rub her eyes but found that her paws were restrained as well as her legs and waist, she blinked slowly, trying to stop her vision from swimming and found a figure standing over her. "W-where am I?" She whimpered, her vision starting to clear.
"Safe." A voice replied
She couldn't help but find the voice to be familiar and she strained her eyes, working to focus until the details of the figure became visible. "Y-You!" She squeaked, her eyes widening as she struggled against her bindings.
"Judy, dear, please, don't struggle. You'll only hurt yourself. We have a lot to do to get you ready."
"For what?!"
"Ready for you to accept my help."
Nick couldn't even remember how he ended up at the ZPD office, his head had been a whirlwind of emotion ever since he had gotten home last night and now he found himself storming up towards the spare office they've given to Savage and Ceptos for use. When he kicked the door in, he was inwardly pleased to see the bunny was alone.
Savage didn't show any annoyance at his loud entrance and instead greeted him with that unnerving smile. "Ah Detective Wilde, to what do I owe this-"
He was cut off by Nick storming over and giving him a rough left hook across the jaw. "Where the fuck is she Savage?"
Savage's visage darkened, grabbing Nick's fist and pushing it aside, cracking his neck back and forth. "You're out of your league fox, don't pick fights you can't win." He said in an eerie voice.
Nick snarled and went to swing again but before he could even blink Savage had ducked and kicked both his feet into Nick's stomach, sending the fox across the room and into the wall. Nick yelped as the wind was knocked from his lungs and stars filled his eyes.
He barely had time to register what just happened or the unusual strength of the bunny before Savage was on him again, paws jackhammering into his gut and making him double over while coughing heavily as Jack stood over him.
"Give it up Wilde, you're outmatched."
"Fuck…you" Nick wheezed, reaching slowly behind his back towards his waistband.
"Don't do it Wilde." Jack warned, a bemused smirk on his face. "I'll warn you one more time, don't do it. You won't like the outcome of the situation."
In a swift motion Nick drew his firearm, pointing it at the bunny. He went to pull back the hammer when a white blur overtook him, slamming him against the wall, sending what felt like an earth-shattering bomb off against Nick's chest, his gun being swiftly grabbed in the moment of shock and dismantled by the blur, now taking shape of a large canine, a Jackal to be more precise. His free arm was prepped up to deliver the decisive finishing blow before the voice of Jack snapped him back into reality.
"He's had enough Anthony. Hold him there."
"I ought to knock you both out right now, you're both disgusting to me." He says clenching his fist against Nick's shirt, "You two children need to quit your bickering and get your shit together, there is a serial killer on the loose and we're here to stop them, you need to get your jealousy and your obsession under control before I take over this mission myself to keep either of you from compromising it." He lowers his fist, his hand still clenched painfully tight.
He wanted to wonder where the Jackal had come from, but he was more focused on how happy he was that the Jackal decided not to throw that punch. He was sure one eye was swollen shut but it was hard to tell with how his vision was swimming. All he could do at the moment is fight the desire to pass out and hang from Anthony's grip on his shirt.
"Now Wilde, what made you think it was a good idea to just waltz in here and attack me?" Savage asked.
Nick wheezed and spit out some of the blood that had pooled in his maw from the beating. He groaned when he saw that one of his sharp canines was on the floor as well.
Agent Ceptos pushed him up against the wall harder, his grip on the fox's shirt tightening as blood is spilt on his suit. "You cough up one more drop of blood on my coat and I will snatch the life out of you."
The mutual nod between the Jackal and the fox confirmed their agreement.
"I kn-know that you took her Savage." He stammered out, his head starting to throb as the numbness wore off.
"Who? Judith?" Savage asked with a smirk and couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from his lips.
"What? Can't accept that she got wise and ran off from being in a relationship with a filthy fox like yourself?"
He bared his teeth in response. "She wouldn't get very far without her prosthetic legs you bootleg spy fuck, now tell me where she is you sack of shit!" he barked.
The Jackal turned his head to look at Jack, tilting his head before asking, "What is he talking about?"
Jack's expression went from playful and teasing to dark and even visibly concerned. "Wait. What?"
"Don't play dumb with me, I know you took her."
"Wilde, I don't have her."
"Bullshit! You kitnapped her just to get her away from me."
Savage jumped up and slapped him across the muzzle. "Would you quit with the fucking dramatics and listen for one second? I may be obsessed with her, but I'd never EVER hurt her. I'm content knowing she's happy; even if it's a fox that is making her happy." Jack said with less than subtle disgust in his voice. "If she's missing, I think the killer has made his final move. Based on your last victim, we think that the killer plans on using your bunny victim to replace Judith's legs. If we plan on saving her and your victim, I suggest you get your head out of your ass and work with us on this."
Nick growled and even though Jack was right, he hated the idea of having to work with the bunny. Judy needed him and this was the only way he'd be able to help her, he sighed and spit again to get the taste of blood off his tongue. "Fine." He said and was subsequently dropped to the ground by Anthony, letting him hit the floor with a soft pap. Nick proceeded to walk off through the crowd of staring Officers, heading towards the locker room to clean himself up.
By the time Nick had showered and changed into fresh clothes he found himself standing in front of the mirror. His left eye was swollen shut and had a purple tint to it that visibly showed under his fur. His lip was busted from where Anthony had slammed into him with his elbow, his upper left canine had been knocked out entirely. On top of all of this, he was fairly certain that at least one rib was cracked thanks to Jack's well aimed punches.
While he was examining himself, Sergeant Catano entered the locker room and locked the door behind her, prepared to talk.
"Nick." She spoke softly, making his body stiffen when she called him by his name instead of his rank or last name.
"You don't have to say it ma'am. I fucked up and I know I did."
"You're damn right you did. You assaulted a federal agent of the ZBI and you even pulled a gun on him." She replied though her tone was not harsh but instead showed how concerned she was. "Nick, you're lucky you aren't in a cell right now or worse. Hell, you could have been killed."
Nick's ears folded back as she spoke. She was right, he went in half-cocked and accused a federal agent of murder and kitnapping. To make things worse, got his ass handed to him.
"I hate having to do this to you, especially now, but you're being forced into a 'paid vacation' or so we call it. It means you're suspended from activities as an officer of the ZPD, you're free to see yourself out the door and relax until the case is over and your conduct has been investigated by internal affairs. You're unstable Wilde."
He whirled around and stared at the cheetah with wide eyes. He wanted to be angry but he could tell by the look on her face this wasn't exactly her choice.
"Ma'am, with all due respect, you can't do this!" he stammered out, clenching his paws into a tight fist, squeezing hard enough for his claws to draw blood from his palms.
"These aren't my orders, they're Bogo's. He wanted me to have you arrested but I called in every favor I could from him to stop that."
"Judy is out there in the hands of some fucking psychopath and you're asking me to sit on my paws?" He barked, making her cringe visibly.
"That's not what I said Nick. I said you were on a paid leave pending an internal affairs investigation." She said, her cheeky and mischievous smirk starting to show. "What you do with your time while you are on your leave is up to you as long as you don't do anything to get arrested." She finished with a wink.
"Thank you ma'am." He said, finally realizing how big of a favor she just pulled for him. "I owe you one."
She chuckled, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "You owe me more than that Wilde." She quipped out before unlocking the locker room and heading out the door.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. After dialing in the number and the gruff voice other line answered he smirked. "Fin, baby, I need a ride."
"So where we headed?" The diminutive fox in the driver's seat asked as the old van sputtered and backfired.
"Let's start at the alley by my place." Nick said bluntly.
"Sorry about your girl man, that's rough shit."
Nick nodded, not responding.
"If ya want, I can put the word out, have some of my boys keep an eye out for her."
"Yeah, the more eyes out we can get, the better. They cool with working for the cops?"
"Nah, but they don't mind helping me out." Finnick said with a grin. "Plus, who said anything about cops? This is for you and me, for old time's sake."
Nick chuckled in response and braced himself as the well-worn brakes forced the van to a screeching stop.
They both stepped out into the alley, stopping by the fire escape. Immediately, Nick began to look over the area carefully.
"What're we looking for?"
"Anything that could point out where she might have been taken or who took her. They had to have come from this alley, this is the only way they could've gotten around the camera footage and made it out safely, the fire escape had been used and everything."
Finnick nodded and began looking along the back entrance to the alleyway. He was no detective but he had an eye and a nose for trouble and was a rather capable judge of a dangerous situation. He was kneeling down by a set of tire tracks when he noticed something. "Yo! These are off road tires!"
Nick's ears perked at the small fox's gravelly voice. "How do you know?"
"Remember when we did those jobs out in the meadowlands?"
Nick chuckled, "The ones where the gang of rams jumped us and left us naked in the middle of Sahara Square? How could I forget?"
Finnick shuddered at the memory. "Well, I had to put the same kind of tires on my van because of all the muddy roads out there. The knobby pattern gives it away." He said, gesturing towards the weird dotted pattern in the tire tracks.
"That actually narrows it down pretty well. Good job Fin!"
~'Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive, AH AH AH!'~
Nick's garish ringtone went off and he pulled it out. "This is Detective Wilde."
"Hello Detective, this is Doctor Rusa at Zootopia General, you asked me to call you if I noticed anything with your victim. Well, before she passed this morning, she had a visitor. He wasn't family but he said he was a friend. He never talked to her, he just sat there staring, it made me feel quite uncomfortable, and something was rather off about his demeanor."
"What makes you say that Doc?"
"Well, when Serena's brother got here he mumbled something about being a co-worker and he left in a hurry."
Nick reached into his shirt pocket to pull out his notebook. "Can you describe him?"
"Yeah, he was a little feline. A serval I think. Very skittish, never looked anyone in the eye."
Nick's eyes went wide. "Thank you, you've been a big help!" He said and pressed the end call button. "I knew it, that little bastard was the killer under our noses the whole time. We have to get to the Zootopia Journal pronto, hit the gas!"
"Wait here, we might have to move quickly and I need you to be my driver." Nick said.
Fin nodded and turned up his music as Nick approached the building. Once inside, he was greeted by the same ewe as before.
"Ah, Detective Wilde! What can I do for you today?" she asked with a smile.
"Is Les in?" He asked bluntly though he forced himself to return her smile.
"I'm afraid not, he called in and said he was on the trail of a big scoop. He won't be in today."
"I see, does he have an address by chance? It's real important that I speak with him."
She smiled. "Of course, give me just one moment."
Nick left the building running, practically diving into the passenger seat. He shoved the written address into Finnick's paws and frantically dialed his phone.
"Savage, no time to explain. Get a SWAT team to 8 Mountain Trail in the meadowlands. I found our killer. I'll meet you there, no time to talk about it."
Fin glanced to Nick over the rim of his sunglasses. "Wait, isn't that the old warehouse out there?"
"Yeah apparently Les bought it and renovated it to live there. He claimed he was working on an old airplane that belonged to his father. Dammit, I knew I didn't like this creep." Nick growled, slamming his fist against the panel on the door.
The van backfired as it squeaked to a stop on the road that led up to the old building. Fortunately the surrounding trees and hills masked their being there as well as the large SWAT and ZBI teams that had arrived in large black vans. Bogo himself was wearing a heavy set of steel ballistic armor plates.
"Wilde, what the hell are you doing here?" Bogo growled.
"What does it look like? I'm going in to save my girlfriend."
"You're supposed to be on leave." He muttered, he knew he should've arrested the little bastard himself.
"With all due respect sir, you'll have to shoot me because that's the only way to keep me from going in there. Besides, I don't see Wolford or Lobo here so you'll need a sniffer."
Bogo rolled his eyes, somehow sensing this was coming. He held out his hoof and Higgins handed him a small bullet proof vest and riot helmet. He held them out to Nick and gestured to the swat van. "Get yourself equipped and get ready. Wilde, don't think for a minute that you're off the hook."
"Yes sir." He replied and jumped up into the large van.
He emerged a few moments later wearing the jumpsuit they had brought for him and he had on his vest, helmet, and had his firearm slung over his shoulder. He joined up with the main SWAT force and found himself standing next to Jack.
He gave the rabbit a rather skeptical look which elicited a small chuckle. "Oh don't worry, I'm overseeing the operation from the command bus. Agent Ceptos will be running overwatch with the sniper team, so you don't have to worry about us getting in the way." He scratches under his chin and gives a mutual nod to Nick. "Try not to die fox."
Nick went to speak again but was cut off by Bogo's booming voice.
The chief was standing in front of a table with an aged blueprint of the building. "Alright everyone, we believe Detective Hopps is being held captive by a small predator within this building. So, this will be a standard smash and grab operation. We are going to run a breaching team on each of the three entrances here, here, and here." He said, gesturing towards the map. "Team one, led by McHorn, will breach the main warehouse door. Team two, led by myself, will breach the living quarters entrance. Team three, led by Higgins, will breach the maintenance entrance around the back. Once the breaching teams clear the entrance areas, the main SWAT and ZBI teams will go in behind and clear the rest of the building while the breaching teams guard the entrances. We have sharpshooters stationed on the hills under the supervision of Agent Ceptos as the clean-up crew, they'll provide overwatch and try to relay enemy positions through the windows if possible. Agent Savage, Agent Ceptos, and I are in charge of this operation. If either of the three of us give you an order I expect you to follow it. Any questions?"
There was a brief murmur through the crowd but nobody spoke up.
"Good, remember, there may be at least one other victim in the building but we do not know if there's more. Watch your corners and stay safe. Wilde, Del Gato, Agent Snarlof, and Wellington, you will be behind my breaching team on room clearance..." the buffalo said, assigning officers and agents alike to the different breaching teams but Nick wasn't paying attention, instead, his focus was on the building and how he had to find Judy. His focus was only broken when he heard Bogo give the final order. "Alright, you all have your assignments. MOVE OUT!"
Just like that, everyone broke into their teams and began the sprint towards the warehouse. Nick felt his heart pounding in his chest against the heavy armor, his breaths quickening as adrenaline started to take over. "Judy, I'm coming." He muttered under his breath, and joined the line of officers that stood behind Bogo. As a sniffer, he'd be the first in line after the breaching team which consisted of the chief and three officers. He'd lead the rest of his clearing team by finding either the target or anything unusual by scent.
Bogo pressed the button on the headset he wore and the radio in Nick's ear crackled to life. "On the count of three, all teams breach. One…"
As Bogo counted, a flat black square breaching charge was placed on the door.
"Two..."
The officer pushed the wire from his remote into the charge.
"Three! Breach! All teams breach!" Bogo yelled into the mic and within seconds, a loud: 'THOOM' echoed in the hills as the breaching team poured into the building, shouting orders to get down.
"Clearing teams, get in now!"
Nick led his team in, sweeping from room to room within the living area which was little more than the original administrative offices for the building that was roughly renovated to be a home. He growled when he found no sign of Judy or Les, but he could still smell them both, like they were here.
"Clear!" he barked into his microphone, his ears twitching at the resounding chorus of affirmations from the other officers.
"Wilde, she's not here." He heard Bogo's voice in his earpiece.
"Yeah, no sign of her in the warehouse." McHorn echoed.
"And she's not in the maintenance area." Added Higgins.
Nick ignored them all, however, and his nose twitched wildly as he struggled to pinpoint Judy's scent. "They're here. I know it."