Sorry for the very very late update. It's been over 3 weeks ! And that's a record (not a good one).
I intend to catch up. I'll not make my followers wait longer for the next updates (especially because there is a risk that you all forget the previous chapters, lol, just joking).
This sixth chapter is longer and, once again, i hope my english hasn't too much flaws.
Chapter 6 : Offscreen
One day earlier.
Outside, the district was calm, the sun was shining already high in the sky and promised a beautiful day. People started to go out in the street, repeating their daily activities. Among them, Nick walked holding bread and a bag of jam and cake. He had just left bakery.
He smiled. The memories of the last night with Judy returned in his memory. The car ride, the beach, the dance they had shared, their two tired bodies down on the sand. Nick could not get rid of these images in his head. It was, perhaps, one of the best night of his life since he became a cop.
The sun was gently warming his fur, he let out a long yawn. He had not slept enough. He wished he could dawdle a little and bask a little in his bed, but he wanted to make a surprise for Judy, and to take care of her the time she was recovering. He also planned to call the ZPD to inform his boss he wanted to take some time off in order to stay with her. The two friends had worked hard and consistently for a while, he thought it would be natural for Bogo to accept giving them a few days off. It would be well deserved.
He reached his house and took his key with his free hand to open the front door. Once inside, he tried to remain as discreet as possible, knowing that Judy was still upstairs sleeping on his bed. He put the food in the cupboard in the kitchen, then he emptied his pockets, getting rid of any unnecessary items that was on him, a few cents, his keys, his cell. Then he rested in the living room, sitting comfortably on the chair. He sighed and then yawned again. He glanced at his police uniform who was near the entrance. Maybe he should call Bogo right now to announce him he wouldn't work today ? He thought for a short moment. The morning had already started for a while, people were already starting to work, so technically, he was late. He thought it would be proper to have a face to face conversation with Bogo. Knowing the legendary early morning temper of his boss, a simple phone call to request time off could probably be frowned upon. He got up and put on his uniform and his badge. He stepped outside, and walked to his car. Barely inside, he heard a loud noise coming from behind him. He slightly turned his head to look at his rearview mirror, a suspicious car was heading at full speed toward him.
Judy had just entered the town hall and walked toward a receptionist otter.
"Hello ma'am, can I talk to the mayor Lionheart please?"
"I'm sorry but the mayor is very busy for the moment, he's organizing several meetings to recruit his next assistant."
"Can I still try to contact him? I am the officer Judy Hopps of the ZPD, I need his permission to access the surveillance's room. I'm in the middle of an urgent investigation."
The otter hesitated a moment but finally showed her the direction of the mayor's office.
"Upstairs, on the top left. Beware though, he's certainly in the middle of a meeting."
"Thank you Madam."
Judy climbed the imposing stairs of the town hall. Once upstairs, she took the left corridor and walked to a very large ornamented door. She could hear someone talking inside. She timidly knocked… no answer. She hadn't even been heard. She decided to come in anyway. She slowly opened the door, inside a well dressed beaver was sitting in front of the mayor. The beaver was talking about his career and past experiences, but had apparently some speech problems. Facing him, the lion didn't hide his jaded look. His elbow against the table was preventing his face to fall down. His back was bent forward and his eyes expressed a deep boredom, obviously not at all interested in the beaver's speech, which was dragging on topics that had nothing to do with administrative or political knowledge.
The beaver was talking fast, but above all, he was talking too much. Lionheart couldn't catch the slightest opportunity to interrupt him for asking the planned questions, but his eyes changed when he saw Judy in front of the door.
"Officer Judy Hopps!" He exclaimed with a surprised face. "What are you doing here ?"
She shyly cleared her throat, a little embarrassed for having entered without permission.
"Sorry to disturb you in full meeting Mr. Mayor, may I take a few seconds of your time please?"
"Sure, I can make an exception for the heroine of Zootopia." He turned back to the beaver. "Will you excuse me for this small meantime?" The little animal nodded in agreement and Lionheart looked back at Judy with a playful smile. "I hope you do not intend to arrest me this time." He joked.
Judy let out a forced laugh. "No, actually, I need to have a look on the town's videos, and I needed your permission to carry out my research. It's about the theft case in Boulevard Haussmann."
"Oh... I've heard of this." He rubbed his neck with one of his paw, visibly ill at ease. "Nasty business."
Judy guessed he was refraining himself from mentioning Nick's name before her. She tried to ignore his behavior and continued :
"Can I?"
"Oh yes, of course." He took his usual posture back and grabbed from his pocket a bunch of keys. "Follow me please, officer." They were about to leave and Lionheart turned his head toward the beaver. "I shall not be long sir, I'm just leading this lady to the surveillance room and I'll be available again." The beaver simply nodded one more time.
Judy walked in the corridor next to the lion. He remained silent until they reached the famous office. He grabbed his keys.
"I must warn you though, recently the IT manager has already taken a look at the videos and..." He looked at Judy in the eyes while he opened the door. "It turns out that most of the cameras of the targeted area have been sabotaged, At least, all the Haussman Boulevard cameras are off. "
Judy frowned. "And you hadn't shared this information with the ZPD yet?"
"Well, actually, the IT manager made me aware of this problem since this morning only, I asked him to inform the ZPD earlier this afternoon, so I think he just did it. Well, I hope."
Judy sighed, if criminals had foreseen this and were indeed responsible for the sabotage, then it would complicate the case much more, but she still needed to have a look on the videos. With some luck maybe she will find out something? That what she thought.
Lionheart was the first to enter into the room, closely followed by Judy. The lion switched on the PC. After a few seconds, he entered the codes for accessing the videos. Thereafter the screen showed the list of all cameras and their location on the map of the city.
"Done, you have now access to everything you want. I should stay to help you in your research, but unfortunately my schedule makes me very busy."
"Don't worry, I understand. Good luck with your future meetings. "
He smiled and leaned over to shake her hand. "And good luck to you for the case, miss Judy Hopps."
"Thank you." He left.
Judy began to dig in. She had never been very comfortable with computers, but she had already managed to browse data the last time she had come here with the help of Bellwether and Nick. It took her some time to recognize the features of the software, but she managed somehow to play the videos from the selected cameras.
Lionheart was right, the cameras of the entire concerned boulevard was useless. All the other cameras in the city were running, though. It couldn't be a coincidence. Judy was far from having said her last word. Boulevard Haussmann was accessible via many streets and via another nearby boulevard as well. If she wished so, she could take the time to investigate all videos from each neighboring street, but then she would have to take into account that the criminal's vehicle could easily become indistinguishable from the mass. But there was another path of research, much more obvious.
"Nick." She thought again.
She began to look after the cameras from Nick's street. There was only one single camera, and it was at the opposite spot of his house. She sighed, after all it was logical for a former con-artist to live in a home far from undesired eyes. She still took a look at the video, running back at noon. She hoped to find Nick's car. The street was quiet. She waited several minutes, watching a few unknowns cars passing their way. Then finally, a beige car furtively appeared on the screen, closely followed by another car, much more familiar, it was Nick.
Judy memorized the exact time of their passage on the screen, so she could trace them with the next cameras. It was a car chase. Both cars continued their mad race along several streets. Judy took note of all the streets where both cars were seen, they were heading North. Judy first thought they were going to Tundra Town, but no, that wasn't the case, they left Zootopia and its neighborhoods. They left all supervised territories!
"No way!" She thought, as she watched the two cars leaving the visual field of the last camera in the city.
She sighed, trying to keep her cool, then she resumed one of the videos. She wanted to note the license plate of the suspect's car. But as she was about to note it, she observed something odd. The license plate seemed to peel off, as if it was paper.
It was paper! The plate was fake. Judy groaned and knocked her head against the desk. She wasn't even able to identify the car. How things could be even worse?
Well, yes, there was something positive, she would not have to wait a whole day for Flash to identify the plate. Unfortunately, she could risk losing even more time with the case turning around.
However, an important detail in the latest videos she watched seemed fishy. She looked at them again, one by one. At first, she could clearly see Nick chasing the suspect's car. The two were driving at full speed. But in the latest videos... the two cars seemed to go more slowly.
She wasn't able to identify the figures within each vehicle, the cameras were placed so that it was impossible to see the drivers.
Nick's car was still behind the unknown vehicle, nearly always at an equal distance from it, in each video, but there was something wrong, he wasn't chasing it anymore. The driving of the two vehicles had become blameless. And she had a very bad feeling about this.
She replayed the videos again, trying to find the exact moment when the chase seemed to have ended. She could not pinpoint that exact moment with the help of the cameras, so, such behavioral change had likely occurred offscreen, between two streets, between two cameras. Judy regained all her enthusiasm in the case and took note of the two street names in which she had to continue her investigation.
She left the town hall, it was already night outside, she hadn't realized that the time would fly so quickly. The time to identify in depth all the videos had cost her several precious hours. She took her car and headed to the Fosh Street. The street was almost diametrically opposed of her current position, but the ride didn't seem long to her and she arrived fairly quickly at her new destination. Her gaze was scanning the surroundings. She recognized the position of the single camera in the street, the one that had recorded Nick chasing the criminal for the last time. She continued on her way and she actually found something very interesting. A little further ahead, on the sidewalk, there were a STOP sign, all twisted, barely standing up. Next, there was a grocery store. She found a place to park and she got out of the car. She examined the panel more closely, it had got a shock. Judy's intuition told her it was likely that either Nick or the culprit were at fault.
She regained her composure and went into the grocery store next to her.
It was a rather small and modest shop, held by a female tapir.
Judy approached the cashier and presented her card.
"Good evening madam, I'm officer Hopps of the ZPD. May I ask you some questions ?"
The tapir's eyes widened when she recognized the face of the rabbit who was standing in front of her.
"Oh you're the famous star who saved Zootopia? Of course, asks me anything. "
"Thanks," she said a little embarrassed. "You know, "star" may be a bit exaggerated, I'm a normal bunny."
"Of course not. You are my idol! My daughter would like to become a police officer thanks to you. "
"Thank you, I'm very flattered." She coughed briefly, as if her cough wanted to make her remind the main subject. She continued:
"Do you know when the stop sign in front of your store has been hit?"
"Yes, since yesterday around noon. I was told that a car crashed into it! "
Judy raised up her ears.
"You were told by someone ? You didn't see it with your own eyes ? "
The tapir shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, yesterday at noon, my colleague was replacing me, he's the one who informed me about this. He told me that a beige car did it. "
Judy stood on tiptoes to get closer to the tapir.
"Please, can you hand me the coordinates of your colleague? I would like to talk to him! "
Oddly, the tapir first seemed a little hesitant, she let out a sigh when Judy mentioned her colleague, but she finally held out a paper after writing the name and the address of the concerned person.
"His name is Robert Bellwether. He resides near there. "
Judy frowned. "Any kinship with the previous assistant mayor?"
"Yes, her father." She said quietly. "I think he doesn't share the same respect that I have for you."
Judy swallowed in anticipation. Sure, it would certainly not be a cakewalk.
"I see..." She looked away. "I hope he'll still cooperate despite what I did to his daughter." She put the paper in her pocket, thanked the tapir and was about to leave the store.
"Wait!"
Judy turned her head back toward the cashier.
"At this hour of the night, there is a good chance that you'll find him in the nearest bar of the street."
"Okay, thank you again for your cooperation."
"No problem."
She left the, and instead of going as far as his apartment, she went to the bar a few meters away.
It was a great bar, spacious and chic. Inside, there were mostly large mammals seated around large wooden table. There was a festive atmosphere, and above all, a lot of noise. Bursts of laughter on one side, a few grunts in the other. Most animals were talking loudly, but above all, most were under the effects of alcohol.
Judy was not very comfortable with this kind of places. She never frequented bars, not even once with her colleagues, or with Nick. She didn't understand the benefit of drinking for "relaxing and having fun." She was all the more uncomfortable as she felt everyone glances turned towards her and her police outfit. She was looking for a ram, trying somehow to ignore the glances on her.
"You're cute, my little bunnie." She then heard laughter from almost everywhere in the room.
She didn't know who had spoken, but she didn't want to know. A sudden anger was beginning to replace her discomfort. She clenched her fists at the mention of "cute" but tried to keep her cool. She finally saw a ram, sitting near the counter. She walked forward, still looking at the animal in front of her, then stopped in front of a bar stool, just next to the ram. She had to jump to get seated. She glanced one more time at the ram. He wasn't looking at her. It was a rather old ram with a grave expression on his face. He didn't speak, but Judy had a fine nose and could still smell alcohol emanating from him.
"Hm ... Excuse me?" Judy cleared her throat faintly, trying to caught his attention.
The ram slowly turned his head toward the rabbit, he had deep dark eyes and Judy felt a chill for a second.
As soon as he saw Judy in the eyes, he turned back his head toward his drink, still stoic and ignoring her.
"Are you Mr. Robert Bellwether by any chance?"
No answers, and Judy assumed that was a yes.
"I think you already know my name, I'm Judy Hopps, from the ZPD, it turns out that you're an important witness for my investigation, and I need your help."
The ram was silent for a few seconds, still looking at his beer. "Oh?" was all that came out of his mouth. He grabbed his drink and drank all in one gulp.
"Please." Judy replied a little annoyed. "Let me ask you some questions about what you saw yesterday at noon… Tell me everything you know about the car you've seen crashing into the stop sign."
The animal attempted a smile, and it seemed wicked. "The hero cup who put my girl in jail is willing for my help ?" He asked very coldly and Judy felt offended by his reaction.
"Sir, I can understand that you don't like me because of what happened with your daughter, but you have to know that I don't arrest people for no reason. Your daughter was encouraging the preys to turn against predators to take control of the city. "
"I don't care!" He screamed, suddenly putting the glass down on the counter. The smell of alcohol was strong. "I will always love... my daughter, no matter what."
She couldn't help but feel compassion for the ram, she tilted her head in the hope of meeting his eyes one more time.
"I understand that you're feeling messed up by these recent events mister but please let me…"
"I'm not messed up !" He shooted even more loudly, causing all the animals present in the bar to look at them.
Judy was feeling uneasy again as all the glances were back on her.
"Don't pretend you understand my feelings, I hate you little bunny, you and your predator partner." Judy noticed that the word "predator" has almost been spat out of his mouth, and it made her angry again. Did he and his daughter share the same opinion about predators ? Judy's heart felt hurt, not only because of the discrimination remark, but because he was directly referring to Nick, and something was telling her he knew something, but would not allow himself to inform her.
Around them, the other mammals remained quiet, not paying much attention to the injurious talk.
"Mr. Bellwether, I need to know what you saw yesterday noon in front of your grocery shop."
"I'm not gonna help you."
Judy frowned. "Are you really okay with this ? Not cooperating for an investigation that could endanger someone's life, is this what you want ? "She raised her voice more and more, and her voice was shaking.
"Why not? I know I have the right to not answer you in public areas. You can't do anything against that." These words made her freeze. She had rarely felt so helpless in her life. She still thought one more time about Nick for what seemed like the umpteenth time of the day. She couldn't give up, but the ram was right, she could not force him to talk.
"Now leave me alone !" He shooted.
The words echoed in her mind. She was sure now, everyone were staring at them. She clenched her fists. For a moment she would have preferred the ram to commit something illegal, then she might handcuff him and take him to the police station by force. Deep down, she knew her wish was both unreasonable and unworthy for the cop she was. She was angry, angry against the ram, but also towards herself. Then, without a word, she jumped off the stool and walked toward the door, head down. She left the bar.
It was cold outside, Judy remained motionless, her back pressed against the wall outside the bar. The street was silent, but she could hear the noisy atmosphere of the bar. She cursed herself for being so hopeless.
The cool night breeze was caressing her face, and she remembered the previous night with Nick, on the beach.
"Nick, where are you?"
Her tears became wet again, but she hadn't said her last word yet. She had perhaps failed to make Mr. Bellwether talk, but she will try again! And this time, she'll not be alone.
She took the radio out of her car in hopes to call for reinforcements from the ZPD. Unfortunately, during the night, most of the officers were either back home, or in patrols. Almost no policemen answered her radio message, and when they did, it was to tell her that they were already in the middle of a mission. Judy sighed, eyes closed, then another idea crossed her mind.
This time she took her cell phone and typed a mobile number she had freshly memorized. She heard the phone ringing.
"Yes? What? "
"Finnick! Please, I need your help, it's concerning the case! "
On the other end of the phone, the little animal was silent a few seconds before responding with a voice on the verge of boredom:
"What's the matter ?"
The voice of the fennec seemed deeper through the phone call but Judy didn't pay attention to it as she continued:
"I found an important witness, but he doesn't want to cooperate. I'm right outside the bar where he is now, at the Fauss street. Do you think you can help me convincing him to talk ?"
Finnick didn't answer, and Judy was surprised by the lack of reaction.
"Hello?" Instead of answering, Finnick hung up the phone. She raised her eyebrows and dropped her ears back, feeling highly disappointed. Then she angrily gritted her teeth, lowering her head as she thought Finnick just had ignored her and left her alone. But she was wrong. A few minutes later, she saw the familiar figure of the small fennec coming out of nowhere and walking towards her.
"Finnick?"
He didn't answer and continued walking straight ahead with a quick pace. He passed next to Judy and walked directly into the bar.
"Come." He said, without meeting her eyes.
Judy followed him and found herself in the bar again.
"Where is he?" He simply asked.
Judy showed him the ram who was still near the counter, sitting on his stool. Finnick approached him.
"Hey, old man!"
The animal turned his head to see the little animal who was now staring at him. He lowered his head towards him as much as possible to look at him with a threatening look.
"What did you say? Small one? "
To Judy's surprise, Finnick firmly grabbed Bellwether's tie and forcefully pulled it to knock the animal down on the ground. The little fox walked again toward the bigger animal and pulled the tie again to force him to look into his eyes.
"The hell you think you're doing?" The ram shouted confused.
"Silence! Look at me! "
Once again, all the people present in the bar had their atention caught by what was happening. Judy gasped. How such a small animal could rule with such force and authority an animal that was maybe eight, nine or ten times his size?
"Do you know why I'm doing this?"
"Of course not. What's wrong with you? "
Finnick pulled again the tie towards him but this time to force the sheep to look at Judy who was standing motionless before them.
"You already know this bunny, huh ? You haven't answered her questions. That's not kind from you. "
Mr. Bellwether's anxiety changed into a smile. He let out a slight chuckle.
"So, because I didn't want to answer a police officer, I get hit? Lovely image of the police. "
"There is something wrong in what you say." Finnick continued to stare at him with cold eyes. "I'm not a cop, and I'm not under her orders, I act of my own will."
Mr. Bellwether smiled again. "Is this a joke? I really don't understand your motives then. You predators are impulsive and so brutal."
Finnick returned the smile, just as sarcastic. While firmly holding his tie in one paw, he used the other paw to directly strangle him on the neck, causing the ram to emit a short suffocated cry.
"Oops, sorry grandpa, I have a bad habit of letting my impulses beat the crap out of people like you."
Judy became increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. Her reason and her professionalism were telling her to intervene to calm down the situation, but deep inside, she knew that it was probably the most effective method to make him talk, and she wanted quick results!
"I'm mad for a reason. You see, because of your behavior, you may put in danger someone's life, someone who's actually missing, and his name is Nick Wilde. Do you know him ?"
The ram nodded in response, still imprisoned by Finnick's grip.
"Although I probably don't like him as much as the rabbit next to us, this dumb fox was my old partner, and I'm concerned too. So you better keep your thoughts on predators for yourself and tell to this bunny what you saw. Understood? "
The ram nodded again and Finnick released his grip. Mr. Bellwether caught his breath and stood up with difficulty.
"Let's talk outside." He said. "It will be more discreet."
Finnick looked around, seeing everyone glances on them.
"Fine. But do not try to run away. I'll catch you back anyway."
"I haven't planned to."
Once outside, Mr. Bellwether looked at Judy.
"So you want me to tell you what I saw yesterday, isn't it?"
"Yes." She said quietly, hiding her impatience.
"Before I tell you anything, I must warn you that this might displease you."
Judy frowned. "Why ?"
"Well... I actually saw your fox friend that day."
Judy's heart tightened in her chest, and the stress was beginning to invade her in anitcipation.
Mr. Bellwether took a deep breath and began to tell his story.
"There were no customers in my store. I was alone behind the counter and so I was for several dozen minutes, which was almost exceptional for an open shop in broad daylight. There was nobody in the street either. Then I heard noises outside, and in a split of second, I saw through my window a car hit the stop sign, causing its arrest. Immediately after, another car arrived and then a fox went out of it. This fox, I was sure I had already seen his face before. It was fa familiar face. "
"It was Nick?" Finnick interjected.
"Yes, I'm sure of it. I had memorized the faces and names of the two police officers who participated in the arrest of my daughter." After having said that, the ram gave a quick look at Judy to check whether she had an ounce of aggressivity against him or not, for speaking so casually about her and her partner. She didn't look at him, her eyes were looking at the ground, ears drooping. She now put a paw on her stomach and squeezed it.
"Don't stop talking." Finnick said to the ram after noticing Judy's discomfort.
Mr. Bellwether looked at him grimly. He didn't like taking orders from the small predator.
"That's what I intended to do. In fact, just before Nick get out of his car, I saw something else. In the first car that had just hit the panel, the passenger's window lowered and immediately after there was another fox who came out of the vehicle without opening the door. "
Finnick sighed. "I guess we have our villain guilty." He said sarcastically. "Did Nick challenged him?" Next to him, Judy was still quiet.
"No, actually, he didn't even see him leaving the car. Nick had stopped his car in front of them to block their way and prevent them from restarting. So when Nick got out of his own vehicle to turn around and to face the beige car, the other fox was already out and was hidding behind the car of his partner. "
"Partner ? You confirm that second fox wasn't alone ? "
"Yes, they were two, a fox and a grizzly. The grizzly was driving, and when Nick got out of his vehicle, he immediately walked toward him, ready to take his dart gun. He asked the bear to stay calm and to not try anything funny, then he asked him to exit the vehicle. The bear didn't obey and Nick pointed a dart gun before him. But... he wasn't aware the other fox was now standing right behind him."
Judy felt a huge thrill through her body and she tightened her paw on her stomach.
"The other fox was holding a baseball bat in his paw."
She closed her eyes and gulped, her heart was now beating like crazy, but the ram didn't notice it.
"And then… SBAM!" He shouted, mimicking the gestures. The effects of alcohol were taking over him. "He sharply hit him! A huge hit on his head. And then, he fell down unconscious! I can say that he didn't see it coming, I swear I saw a blood stain on the bat after that. I tell you, a big hi- "
"Shut up!" Finnick curtly said. "I dare you to say one more word."
"Wait, Finnick!" The little animal turned to face her. "It's okay. I-I'm fine. "She then looked at the ram in the eyes. "What happened next?" She asked.
"They put him in their car, then the unknown fox went to Nick's car and they left together."
Judy became silent again, but Finnick broke the silence for her.
"Have you been seen ?"
"No. Not a single gaze in my direction, and there was no witness other than me. "
Finnick turned his head again toward Judy. Despite what she might say, even though she was trying to stay strong, he could tell she was worried to death.
"Can I go now?" The ram asked to Judy.
She raised her head. "Yes... but please, don't mention Nick's name before me anymore."
The ram sighed in annoyance. "Fine..." He then left, leaving alone Judy and Finnick.
"Thank you Finnick."
"That was nothing."
Judy's desolation was quickly replaced by high spirits, her eyes were becoming sharp again.
"I have to go now." She walked straight ahead, heading her car.
"Where are you going ?"
"Searching a bear and his fox teammate, and bring back Nick!"
"I'm coming with you."
Judy turned back.
"What ?"
"You know pretty much nothing about them, you're not even sure where you have to look, let me give you my help."
Judy smiled. Did she properly heard ? Finnick, the crafty and grumpy little canine actually proposed to help her? Now they were certain that Nick had truly been kidnapped, was he willing to rescue him as much as her ?
Finnick sighed after reading her mind. "Don't get the wrong ideas, I help you 'cause I fear that you could not deal with your emotions alone and because I know this dumb Nick is able to aggravate his own situation even worse. If someone as rational as me isn't involved, then you're both done for."
Judy agreed and gave him a grateful smile. They got into the car. Judy was obviously driving, after all, it was her patrol car.
"Hey, Finnick?"
"What?"
"Do you know where bears live?"
"More or less. They usually live deep in mountain forest."
"Is there a mountainous area near Zootopia?"
"Yes, in the north. There are several villages over there."
"Then let's go."
Ok, things will go faster and faster now. I know some of you are wondering when we'll see Nick again, and this time is coming soon. But... I don't promise something cheerful.
See you... next week ? I'll try.