The day started like all the others. Nick walked through the front doors of the ZPD, this time with a noticable pep in his step thanks to a full night's worth of sleep behind him. Nick walked over to where Judy was sitting with her head in her hands.
"How goes it, partner?" he asked. Judy looked up Nick, who could see the dark circles under her eyes. She certainly hadn't gotten a full night's sleep. Upon seeing Nick, she shifted her expression in an attempt to disguise her tired appearance. Nick saw straight through the ruse, but he chose not to comment.
"Going fine!" she answered. Nick noticed a strange hollowness to her words as she spoke.
"Well, glad to hear it, Carrots," Nick replied, doing his best to act oblivious. The two engaged in small talk until it came time for roll call. As the assignments were divvied up, Judy was unsurprisingly given desk work. Nick, due to a shortage of on-duty police officers that day, was assigned to a standard patrol route.
As he left for his vehicle, Nick was silently upset that he wouldn't be able to figure out Judy was up to that day, but maybe he needed a day to just rest his brain. He had just left the building when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, wait up!" Nick turned to the source of the voice and saw Judy bounding after him.
"Carrots, what are you...?" was all Nick was able to get out before Judy slammed into him wrapping him in an embrace; an embrace that lasted a few seconds too long. Judy separated herself from Nick and looked up at him.
"Watch your back out there, partner!" she said to a confused Nick before she left to go back into the precinct. Nick's brain didn't know how to react. Part of his brain was screaming at him that he was just paranoid, but Judy's actions were so out of character for her that he couldn't pretend it didn't happen.
He stood still for several seconds before turning back toward his car. He spent the morning driving his standard route, but he kept playing Judy's behavior on repeat in his mind. She was always on edge, even when she pretended to be at ease. She was looking over old case files. Weird things were happening around her.
Worst of all, she was lying. She saw something or something was done to her that caused all this, but she refused to talk about it. One of the many things Nick appreciated most about Judy was her unerring honesty. Something happened to change that.
Nick was lost in thought when he realized his route was taking him past Judy's apartment building. An idea formed in his head as he pulled the car to a stop. He left the car and walked to the staircase and walked to Judy's room on the third floor. Nick tried the handle on the door, knowing it would be locked.
To his surprise, the door swung open. Nick stepped into the small apartment and was astounded at how different it looked compared to when he searched it four days ago. While it was neat and orderly before, it now looked like a bomb had gone off inside. Papers were strewn across the floor and covered her desk. Clothes from the previous days were thrown on the floor and her bed wasn't made. Nick had to let it all sink in for several seconds.
Nick moved over to the desk and picked up the papers on Judy's desk. There didn't seem to be a pattern to it, but it did look like Judy had been doing some type of research. Nick noticed what looked like piles of blueprints when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, you're not the bunny." Nick spun around to see an antelope standing in the open doorway.
"No, I am not," Nick replied, his mind racing to think of a logical excuse as to why he was in Judy's apartment.
"Oh, did someone else file a noise complaint?" the large animal asked.
Noise complaint?
"Yes, is there anything you know about it?" Nick asked with assumed confidence in his voice.
"Oh, she's been real loud for the past couple days. She talks to herself a lot, too. I was this close to filing a complaint myself," the antelope said, holding up his fingers for emphasis.
"Can you hear what she's saying?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, but I never pay any attention to it. She's like, psycho, or something," the animal replied.
"Is she talking on the phone with anyone or...?" Nick pressed.
"Look, man. She lives her life, I live mine," he replied. Nick knew he wasn't going to get any more information from the antelope.
"Well, thank you for your cooperation," Nick said as he squeezed past the large antelope to leave the room, closing the door behind. He quickly headed back down the stairs.
As Nick climbed back into the car, he felt something strange in his lower back. He reached back with his paw and felt something wedged underneath his belt. Pulling it out, Nick realized it was a small folded piece of paper. He slowly opened it and felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as he read the words written with a shaking hand.