Nick rushed back to the ZPD. Finnick had written down the frequency that seemed to be Judy's frequency, and now Nick needed some of the techs at the police station to triangulate the source of the signal. Hopefully they could find her soon.
Her and Bellwether.
He rushed into the lobby and was heading for the computer division when he heard Chief Bogo's booming voice.
"Wilde! My office! Now!" Nick skidded to a stop and looked up to see the large cape buffalo standing up on the second level of the building. The two locked eyes before Bogo silently turned back toward his office. Nick knew he couldn't delay and headed up the stairs.
"What did I do now, sir?" Nick said as he closed the office door behind him.
"Mind explaining why you left the precinct without authorization?" Bogo said, looking up from his desk.
"I'm sorry, but I found a lead in the Bellwether case, and..." Bogo cut Nick off by raising his hand.
"Regardless of what you found, Wilde," he began. "We have procedures in place for a reason. We can't act above the law." The buffalo stopped for a moment before continuing. "All that aside, what was it you found?" Nick pulled out the paper with the frequency out of his pocket.
"Well, sir..." Nick began, before he was suddenly cut off again, this time by Clawhauser, who burst through the office door.
"What are you doing?" Bogo asked the cheetah as Clawhauser gasped for air before answering.
"You..." Clawhauser gasped. "You, better come see this." Bogo immediately stood and followed Clawhauser out of the office. Nick followed as well, putting the paper back in his pocket. The trio walked out to the lobby and were greeted by a truly absurd sight.
Judy stood in the middle of the of the lobby, her fur and clothes covered in all types of gunk and filth. She was panting heavily and was obviously extremely tired, but Nick saw a hint of relief behind the mud on her face. He also noticed the shock collar attached to her neck.
The other officers in the precinct stood in stunned silence before Bogo stepped forward.
"Judy Hopps, you are under arrest for conspiracy prison escape and aiding and abetting a wanted criminal. Lay down on the floor with your hands over your head." Nick opened his mouth to protest, but he knew it would do no good. Judy had broken the law and it would be up to a judge to find her innocent.
Judy silently obeyed the Chief's commands and laid down on the cold tile floor as other officers moved forward to handcuff her. Nick couldn't look Judy in the eye as she was lifted from the floor and moved toward the holding cells. Bogo turned back toward Nick.
"What lead did you find, Wilde?" he asked.
"Well, I," Nick began, his brain flustered by the sudden change in events. "I thought I found a way to find Judy, but, uh..." he glanced over in Judy's direction. "That doesn't seem to a problem anymore."
"Well, you still have work to do," Bogo said as he turned and walked back toward his office. Nick looked after him as he walked away. Yeah, he had work, but he needed to talk to his partner.
Instead of going back to his desk, Nick walked toward the holding cells where Judy was. He strolled down the hall and saw Officer Fangmeyer standing guard outside the cell. Sitting within the cell, waiting for a lawyer presumably, was Judy, still caked in whatever she had crawled through. The only difference Nick could discern was the absence of the shock collar she had been wearing when she arrived at the station, leaving a clean band around her neck.
Even before she noticed Nick, he could see a look of sadness on her face. It nearly broke Nick's heart to she his best friend sitting in a cage, staring at the floor. Her foot was slowly tapping on the concrete floor, leaving a muddy footprint on the ground. Her expression suddenly changed when she heard someone approach and she looked up to see Nick standing on the other side of the bars.
"What happened to me?" she asked. Nick knew she remembered what had happened. The tone of her voice told Nick she was asking about the chain of events that led to her here, sitting in a jail cell. The Judy of last week never would have ended up here.
"Bellwether happened," Nick answered as definitively as he could. "Wherever she is, trouble follows."
"I just wanted my family to be safe," Judy said as she stood. "I just feel so powerless, you know?" Judy walked toward the bars.
"Carrots, it wasn't your fault," Nick replied. The image of his mother flashed through his brain. "I would've done the exact same thing."
"At least I know where she is."
The SWAT team closed in on the seemingly abandoned warehouse, the dark structure illuminated in the green hue of their night vision googles. Silently, they positioned themselves near several of the entrances. SWAT officers carrying heavy battering rams moved to the doors and waited for the signal.
"OK, three, two, one," the squad leader's spoke softly over the radio. "Execute."
The SWAT officers holding the large battering rams swung them back and let them slam into the heavy metal doors, knocking them off their hinges. As the large doors slammed into the ground, other officers released flash-bang grenades into the darkened structure. Tense seconds passed before the grenades detonated, producing a brilliant flash of light and a deafening bang that would disorientate anyone who happened to be inside.
The SWAT officers rushed into the building, their weapons scanning every inch of the dark, metal interior. While there appeared to evidence of some type of activity in the warehouse recently, whoever it was had left in a hurry.
"Sir, no one's here."