TRIIIIIM…

TRIIIIIM…

"Mike's office." It's the goddamn fifth call. Who else is there? Thought Finnick.

"... Mr Finnick. So the rumours are true." A tired voice sounded through the phone.

"Mr Big. I'm very sorry we have to… talk in such circumstances." Finnick shuffled through some notes he took in the prior hours. What a mess… "Boris… was taken by the ZPD to be medicated… Makar is under intensive care."

For a long minute all Finnick could hear was Big's breath, he could feel a hint of anger behind it. He then heard him drinking from a glass of water.

"Ah… I see... And... How are the Farrahts?"

"Mike… is in bad shape, but he will make it. His sister is a bit shocked, she never saw anything like this." Finnick never paid a thought on how desensitized he was with violence until that evening. Once the cops rescued them and started to sort the situation she just stood outside the pub, watching silently.

"Tell them that if they need anything they can personally count on me. I'll take care of them." Finnick could feel him grinning on the other side of the line. He knew better than judge by size, but Big was a way bigger dose of concentrated evil than he could take.

"I'm taking care of everything Mr Big. You don't have to worry." Finnick scratched his forehead. It was the third time he had heard that offer, they wouldn't even wait for Mike to kick the bucket before trying to grab the bar.

"Oh… is that so… Mr Finnick? So you are back in business."

It was as if a shadow came out of the telephone and clutched his guts. Finnick felt his pawpads get humid and his throat close. "No!" He said, exasperated. "I'll just help out Mike while he's in the hospital." Finnick recomposed himself, he had to take over the situation. "Business will run as usual as soon as everything is sorted out."

"Very well Mr Finnick." The phone clicked. Finnick took a deep breath and laid his head on the table. I just wanted to open a freaking ice cream shop…

"Knock, knock!" A male voice sounded.

A jaguar officer entered the small office, he stepped above the mauled door, taking care to avoid the broken glass and splinters. He dressed a plain white shirt, which seemed a bit dirty, and a black pair of pants. After him came a wolf, she wore a pink short sleeved shirt and a black long skirt. Both wore their badges at their waist, he noticed. What an odd pair.

"Mr… Finnick?" The jaguar asked to which Finnick nodded. "Can we ask you a few questions?" He pulled a small notepad from his pocket and a pen. He clicked it and paused for a minute, slapping his forehead. "Where are my manners? I am Detective Clawson and this is Detective Howell, ZPD."

"Ask away Detectives." Finnick laid back on Mike's chair, this would take a while.

"Well, first, what is your relationship with Miss Lucianne?" The jaguar smiled to him, the wolf started to look around the room, giving him little to no attention.

"She is Mike's brother and I'm his friend." Finnick answered.

Clawson scribbled in his notepad. "I see… and how long has this friendship been going?"

"Ten years, maybe more." Finnick noticed the wolf detective squatting to the floor, looking at something amidst the remains of the door.

"That's a very long time. Would Mr Farraht be ok with you handling calls and such? Shouldn't Mrs Farraht be the one handling those?" The detective looked at him, the same sympathy smile on his face. Nick is way better at feigning those… Thought Finnick.

"Lucianne is in no condition to take care of anything right now. Despite, I helped Mike set up this place." Finnick crossed his paw pads over his stomach.

"Oh! That's right, she does seem pretty shocked with what she saw. But not you Mr… Finnick." Clawson's pen stopped writing and he lifted his yellow eyes back at him.

"I grew up in the rough part of town." Finnick would've smiled, but his lip started to hurt again.

"Oh…" His pen was back into action. "And how did you hide from the wolverine's attack?" The yellow eyes again pierced at him, now with a shit eating grin to go along with it.

"I hid with Lucy." Finnick shifted in his seat.

"Oh, we know that, but where? This does seem like a very small office, not many places where a…" The jaguar started.

"Here." Interrupted the wolf. She pushed a file case revealing a hole in the wall. "I don't think I'll fit through here…" The hole was a bit smaller than her head, but big enough for a polecat to pass through with ease. Claw marks showed all around it.

"Hey!" Shouted Finnick. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Let me try." The jaguar approached the hole and started to squeeze himself through it. "It's really here!"

Finnick ran up to the jaguar and reached for his hindpaws, but the wolf lifted him with ease by his shirt's collar.

"Now, now, Skipper. Lets not do something that you will regret." The wolf held him away from her face, she had a very stern expression.

He growled and felt his skin tear, the moisture of blood covered his upper lip. Where the hell are you Nick? Finnick paused and let his body hang for a moment.

"Much better, now let us do our…" Spoke the wolf as she let him down. As soon as he could reach the ground with his hindpaws, Finnick jumped up, reaching for her right arm. He twisted her elbow, forcing her to her knees. The detective tried to turn over him, but Finnick took a jab to the back of her head.

He knew he had made a mistake when she spun over her stomach, bringing them face to face. He let go of her arm just in time to get a kick in his chest instead of his face, getting thrown over the room and hitting the wall.

"YOU GIVE ME ONE FUCKING REASON! I'LL O.D. YOUR ASS IN TRANQUILIZER! JUST TRY ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!" The wolf held her pistol to his face, only a meter away.

"What the hell…" A TOC sounded when the jaguar's head hit the wood over it. "Damnit!"

Finnick had his hand over a shard of glass and started to ponder his options. What would this help? They found it out… he relaxed his body, accepting whatever came next.

Click

A red fox stood under the door frame holding his cellphone. "This one is going to the precinct's message board..." Nick flipped his index pad over the smartphone's screen. "How you doin' Finn? You might want to put that down Howell."

The Detective Howell relaxed her arms and put away her pistol, she looked very angry. Detective Clawson slid from the hole massaging the top of his head.

"Hey Wilde… What happened Howell?" He asked.

"This prick here attacked me." She clenched her paws.

"You two could've… you know… called me and avoided this whole situation." He walked inside the office and offered his right paw to Finnick.

"What the hell is happening Nick?" Finnick shoved the paw away and got himself up, dusting his clothes.

"These two fantastic detectives behind me found out Mike's operation." Nick started.

"Your operation." Finnick added.

"Our operation." Nick corrected him.

"What the hell Nick, you want to kill us all?" Finnick paced a bit and then stared at him. "Wait… does this have anything to do with yesterday's attack?"

"Well… sort of." Nick tried to ease it with a charming smile, but he failed.

Finnick lunged himself against him, knocking the red fox on his back. "YOU ALMOST KILLED MIKE, DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" He shouted, whilst holding Nick's lapel. "YOU COULD'VE KILLED US ALL! DO YOU FREAKING UNDERSTAND THAT?"

"It wasn't exactly my fault Finn, you see…" Nick's smile still stood tall on his face. What a fucking prick. Thought Finnick.

"YOU SEE WHAT?! MIKE LOST ONE OF HIS FUCKING EYES!" There you go you freaking dick, do you understand now? He saw Nick's expression change, a hint of anger behind his eyes.

Nick pushed Finnick from over him and stood up, patting his clothes. He straightened his tie and faced the wall away from the little fennec, clearing his throat. "There is a mole in precinct..."

"That's speciesist." Said Detective Clawson, seemingly without paying much attention. Nick and Finnick darted him with their eyes, Detective Howell muffled a laugh. "I… eh… sorry. Go on with your little drama, we have all morning." He picked up a piece of paper over the office desk and started to read it, pretending he wasn't there.

"What the hell Nick…" Finnick massaged his temple, it felt like his world was falling from under him.

"They found one of your pendrives in a suspect's house." Nick faced his friend. "I… never intended for you or Mike to get this much flak…"

"Actually…" The wolf interrupted them both. "It's the same house you visited with Gabor Garras a night ago." She smiled a shy smile, seemingly proud of herself. "We were following you both that night and you brought us to his supplier, it seems."

"Shit Nick… just… shit…" Finnick went around the office desk and sat back in Mike's chair. He paused for a moment, pondering what course to take. "We don't have cameras installed outside, it would be too risky to repair them." He held his head for a moment, before coming to a realization. "The deer! We recorded the deer! And… where is it…" he shuffled through some papers. "Where the hell do you keep it Mike?" He asked himself, opening drawers.

"What are you looking for?" Asked Nick approaching the desk.

"A list! A list of the musicians that played last night! One of them was a deer saxophonist. I saw her enter the car that brought whoever attacked the pub…" He kept shuffling through sheets and more sheets of paper, covering the floor with the wrong ones.

"Is it this one?" Said the jaguar, handing him a sheet of paper.

"What?" Finnick picked up the list and ran his eyes over it. "Here! Evelyn Jika, saxophonist, 9PM!"

"Wait, wait, wait. You said a car, right? Could you identify it if you saw it?" Asked Nick, while unlocking his cellphone.

"Hm… yeah. I think so." Answered Finnick, taking his eyes out of the list.

"Great! Hey honey-bun, good morning!" Nick turned his back to the other occupants of the room and surrounded himself with his bushy tail. "Aww... Did I wake up my always-up-early-cutesy-bun?" He paused some more, fiddling with his tail. Finnick noticed Detective Howell nudging Detective Clawson and smiling. "Ok, ok. I have a favor to ask, do you remember that thing we did a few years back with the traffic cams?"