Chapter 21 - Scapegoat
An inky black darkness surrounded the fox. The sea of darkness filled his vision no matter which way he turned. At first he thought that it went on forever, but after what felt like hours of staring into its depths, a form began to take shape. He feared that he had been completely alone in the darkness, but this new, shadowy form somehow brought him comfort.
The shape was long on one side, no, not long, but tall. He realized that it was standing upright instead of laying down and was roughly as tall as he was, maybe a little shorter. Images of a night blue sky came to mind and were wrapped around the shape that shared the darkness with him.
It came closer, or he somehow walked towards the sparkling, blue shape. Nick started to make out details as it grew larger in his vision. He soon noticed that the entire shape was not wrapped in blue, but at each end were long grey pieces. On one end, the top he guessed, were two tall oval shapes that he somehow knew were ears. And on the other end were a pair of equally long legs.
In the middle of the sparkling blue part of his new friend, was a beautiful, white, fluffy cloud and he named it Tail. The fox called out to the shape in the darkness and the tail wiggled back and forth happily.
Something else also shared the darkness with him and the blue and grey shape. He knew it had been with him the whole time, but he had refused to admit to its presence. A dull pain that seemed to fill the darkness had wrapped him in its chilling, crushing embrace. The pain was the darkness. It had been trying to drag him back into its depths, away from the comforting, friendly shape, and her fluffy tail.
Nick reached through the pain towards his friend, but the pain held on tight and would not let him go. The farther he reached, the more the pain wrapped around him. And the more the pain increased, the farther out of reach his new friend receded. With one great push, the fox reached through the darkness and opened his eyes.
The fox was alone in the dark again, but he knew he was not still dreaming because he felt a stale breeze on his fur and could hear the sound of his own breathing. There were also other shapes in the darkness. They were nothing like the friendly rabbit in his dream, they were cold and loomed above him like foggy giants.
A sliver of light gradually appeared from high above as the fox's night vision slowly adjusted to his dark surroundings. The dry smell of dust was strong, as well as the hint of days old trash. At first, he thought he was in some back alley in the hotter parts of town, but after his head began to clear, he realized that he was inside and the light above, was only the tip of a crescent moon shining through a high window.
Another strong smell also tingled his nose, but he could not quite place what it was. At first he thought it was a janitor's supply closet, but the acrid tinge of burnt plastic left him feeling confused.
The moon and the rest of his surroundings would not come into focus. No matter how hard he squinted and blinked, everything remained a fuzzy blur. Trying to concentrate on the soft, white light made his head hurt further and the surrounding darkness began to spin. He had to close his eyes and take several deep breaths before the nausea overwhelmed him.
His stomach hurt almost as much as the rest of his body. It was a dull ache that he was all too familiar with. Living on the city streets for almost two decades, the red vulpine had learned a lot about hunger. Fortunately for his survival, there was always someone willing to give a handout to a small child, no matter what species.
Something had woken Nick from his dreams and he was sure that it wasn't the growling of his stomach. As the light filtering through the upper window slowly grew brighter, the fox scanned his surroundings looking for what could have awoken him. He was in a huge warehouse with a high ceiling. Large, wooden crates were stacked on three sides creating a makeshift wall that separated the todd from the rest of the building. Many of the crates were old and falling apart. They also seemed to be wrapped with some kind of iron bars.
No, the boxes were not covered with bars, he was in a very large cage. In the dim light, he could not make out the full extent of the cage but the top was well above his head, much higher than he could possibly jump. He felt like it had been made for much larger mammals.
Shifting his head, he tried to turn around to see exactly how large the cage was, but his arms were stuck and he was unable to stand. His paws were secured behind him and there was a tightness in his chest. With his hind paws swinging freely, Nick suspected that he had been bound and tied to a wooden chair that was slightly too large for his small stature.
A door slammed in the distance and Nick suddenly realized that he had not been alone. There were several other mammals moving around on the other side of the wall of crates. The squeak of a metal chair on concrete, the shuffling of hooves and a dropped box attested to that.
The murmur of voices could be heard past the crates and the todd leaned forward trying to pierce the veil of darkness to make out what was being said.
He recognized one of the voices immediately. The pain and fog in his head would not allow him to recall the mammal's name, but the voice brought with it a clear image of a tall mountain goat with long horns and a sterile, white coat over a plaid jacket and tie. As the image of the goat looked down it's snout at the fox, he had to suppress a surge of anger. While he was tied to the chair there was little he could do but listen.
The other voice was slightly higher pitched than the first one. It was far less familiar but it also brought into focus the image of a chemical lab on a subway train. He suddenly knew what the scent that had been eluding him was. It was the smell of chemicals similar to those he and his partner had stumbled across over a year ago.
"Why did you bring that filthy fox here?" came the second voice clearly, interrupting Nick's reminiscing. It sounded like it came from around the corner of one of the stacks of crates.
"He was following me," said the goat as if his answer solved everything.
"So." In the dark, Nick could picture the second mammal shrugging. "After Raymond rammed his vehicle, you could have left him there."
"He had already seen me," the goat added gruffly. "And could have gone straight to the cops."
"He is a cop you idiot!" A loud thunk followed the angry words. "You should have dumped him in the river or something."
"Then they really would have come looking for us," the goat declared. Nick could hear another thunk and the goat cry out in pain, "Ouch."
The bound fox could picture the second mammal shaking a clenched hoof at the goat, "Because of your screw ups thus far, they are already looking for us. That's why he was following you in the first place."
"You want me to take care of him then?" Asked the first voice, the one that Nick knew he should have remembered.
A name for the goat slowly drifted through the fox's mind, but it was only a thin, faint wisp that he could not grasp. Wall, or Will something. The name slipped through his paws and was gone. In frustration he continued listening to their conversation.
"Naw, I have a better idea." Hooves shuffled on the hard, molded stone floor. "Just go home for now. You have caused enough trouble for our organization as it is." The second voice paused and Nick heard a series of loud clicks.
Light stabbed into the fox's brain and he tried to cover his eyes but his paws wouldn't move. He struggled against the bonds but it seemed that the more he moved, the tighter the ropes closed around his body. His ears still worked fine in the suddenly bright light, at least.
"And Doc," the second voice added, sounding much closer now. "Whatever you do, don't let Cindy find out about this."
The sound of a door creaked open, followed by the goat speaking from further away, "Yeah, I value my life too much." He let out a nervous chuckle that quickly was followed by the sound of a door slamming.
Nick's eyes had not yet fully adjusted to the bright overhead lights, when a medium sized mammal came around a corner. He was a tough looking ram, with light grey wool who was wearing a dark green t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. On the front of the t-shirt, was a pale ram's skull with what looked like a small crown floating above it. Over the sheep's right eye was a black patch making him look like a fierce pirate.
Approaching the cage, the ram saw Nick struggling against his bonds. "Ah, good, the filth is awake," he said in disgust.
An incomprehensible mumble escaped the fox's dry and cracked lips as he tried to address his captor.
"Oh, don't worry about speaking," the ram declared, as he unlocked the barred door to the cage and stepped inside. His hooves clacked as he crossed the cold, cement floor cracking his knuckles as he went, "I am not at all interested in what you have to say." He switched hooves and began cracking the other set, "Unlike that stuck up doctor, who seems to think you have some kind of value."
The pain from the lights overhead was slowly starting to fade and Nick could barely make out the larger mammal standing before him. His head still swam and both of his eyes did not want to focus on the same spot. "You," he declared hoarsely when he saw the t-shirt and eyepatch on the coarse, grey sheep. "What do you want?" the fox growled .
"From you?" Jesse cracked his knuckles again as he leaned closer to the sitting fox. "Nothing, but my well-to-do friends are always preaching about ridding the city of filth like you."
"And is the doctor in on this?" Nick asked, attempting to take control of the conversation.
Ignoring the fox's question, the ram leaned back slightly, hoof raised, "But since you're a cop, I will make an exception." The hoof fell sharply across the long red muzzle with a loud crack that echoed around the cage and the large chair wobbled in place threatening to fall over. "I hate cops!" The pirate-like ram stated flatly.
Spitting blood on the floor, Nick growled at his large, fluffy assailant, "You won't get away with ..." Another fisted hoof slammed into his head before he could finish the sentence.
Jesse stretched out his right and left arms, rolling his shoulders like a boxer preparing for a match. "You might want to keep your mouth closed," he cautioned as another fist flew at the fox's muzzle.
Even with his blurry vision, Nick snapped at the sheep's hoof before it could connect with his head. His teeth did not close over a soft furry paw, but instead clattered against the hard surface of a grey bony hoof.
"We wouldn't want you to break any of those precious, sharp teeth of yours," the sheep scoffed sarcastically. "Or should I strap your trap shut?"
Horror filled the fox's eyes for a second before he was able to hide his fear of muzzles from the sheep. Closing his mouth, he shook his head in a meek response before a left-pawed fist cracked into his muzzle.
Time passed slowly inside that large cage. Nick didn't know how long the grey, wooly animal had used him for his own personal punching bag, but it had felt like days. It was still dark outside and the moon no longer shone through the only window that hadn't been covered by crates.
The sheep's workout was not simply limited to his head, leaving the fox's chest and arms burning from the pain. Somehow the abuse had dulled his sharp headache and his eyes were able to focus a little better, or had one of them finally swollen shut? He was laying on the floor, still strapped to the chair and could clearly see the tired sheep looming over him.
Huffing and leaning on his knees from the hours long exertion, Jesse turned away from the fox and slowly walked out of the cage. Turning the corner around a stack of crates, the sheep began shouting, "Russell. Bring this filth some breakfast."
Minutes passed with several rustling noises and the sounds of a fridge being opened and closed multiple times. Eventually, a black sheep entered the cage with a small, plain box and tossed it on the floor near the fox. He ungraciously kicked the chair causing Nick to roll over onto his belly with a muffled scream.
The black sheep began wiggling the chair back and forth for a few moments while the fox winced. With a sudden jerk, the chair was removed leaving the fox laying on the floor in a pile of ropes and splatters of his own blood.
Setting the chair outside the cage, the sheep turned back to face the fox, locking the cage again. "Enjoy," was all he said before he left.
Nick lay on the floor gasping for breath. His whole body hurt, but his hunger had returned and something in the box smelled good. It reminded him of his last meal before this nightmare had started, something with fresh herbs and a hint of lemon. He tried to crawl towards the box on the one arm that didn't feel like he had been petting a porcupine.
After what felt like hours of more pain, he eventually reached the box and looked inside. Instead of reaching for what smelled like food he only kicked it away in disgust.
Inside the box was a rotten, half eaten fish. It looked like something you might find washed up on the beach or in any back alley dumpster in Happy Town. His captors had obviously made a poor attempt at making the fish look tasty by laying it on a bed of lettuce and drowning it with some kind of lemon sauce, but the fish's cold dead eyes looked up at the fox soullessly.
Nausea nearly overcame the fox as he shoved the box away. Sickened by the sight of the dead animal, he crawled into a dark corner of the cage and tried to empty his stomach, only to find that nothing would come up.
Gritting his teeth at all the pain in his body and the hunger in his stomach, he curled up into a red, fluffy ball and tried to picture a small, grey rabbit wearing a sparkling, blue dress. She shone brighter than the night's sky and he eventually fell asleep counting the numerous stars and galaxies that were contained within her gorgeous dress.
"So you think our two cases are somehow connected?" Wolfard leaned back in an armless, swivel chair that was two sizes too small for his large posterior. The chair seemed to be more suited for a child than a fully grown timber wolf. It creaked and groaned as the wolf leaned back and crossed his legs.
In his paws, was a large folder that contained several case files. He sipped at a lukewarm cup of coffee as he flipped the pages to read the next report. Some of the pages were stapled together while others were bound with paper clips and held various photos or yellow sticky notes.
The grey wolf, the chair, the coffee and the sticky notes were all sitting inside a small cubicle that would have fit the large mammal comfortably, but was set up for two small officers instead. Across from Detective Wolfard, sat a grey rabbit typing away at a small keyboard with her back to the wolf.
"It seems to make sense to me," stated Zootopia's smallest police officer.
"Ok," Wolfard uncrossed his legs and set his hind paws on the floor. "Remind me again what is going on with this first case." He closed the folder in his paws with a dull snap and waved it in the direction of the rabbit. "This is the one that Wilde and you have been following for over a month now. The one with these new street drugs."
Judy turned around in her own cheap, office chair, that was slightly too big and looked up at the larger mammal with a sad grin. She took a deep breath, trying to hold in her raging emotions. The name of her missing partner still sent them swirling around again and she had to fight down the anger and frustration every time.
"Well," the rabbit replied. Seeing the folder in the wolf's paw was the one she had started, with all the reports from her earlier cases. She let her breath out and focused on the detective's question. "We have someone who is stealing some new kind of experimental fertility pills before a bad batch can be properly disposed of. Then they are lacing them with a mix of other street drugs to make some kind of super intense aphrodisiac." Her voice lowered and she sounded puzzled, "One that makes you hallucinate and go mildly savage."
Nodding, Wolfard opened the folder again and began flipping through the pages thoughtfully. "What about this shoplifting and armed robbery charge?" He handed Judy one of the reports before scratching his chin with a paw, "Some wolf steals a shopping cart full of random junk and shoots the security guard with a squirt gun?"
Looking down at the photo that was attached with the file, Judy saw a young wolf with a wild expression in his eyes wearing ratty, torn up clothes. "Oh, right, Mr. Longtooth."
"So how does he fit into the picture?" the older wolf asked.
"He was the first mammal to refer to our dealer as 'Doc.'" She handed the file back to the wolf and continued explaining the case, "That poor wolf was so strung out, our dealer easily convinced him to steal supplies from the Bearstine's Megamart in exchange for more drugs."
Wolfard set the case file back into the folder and leaned back in thought. After a few moments, he sat up smiling, "Oh, I think I get it now. That's why you were so interested in the DJ back in that club. Because the dealer and the DJ both have the same alias." He leaned forward, resting a paw on his knee and looked down at the rabbit officer, "So do you think it's the same mammal?"
A long, grey ear found its way into the rabbit's paw and she fiddled with the dark fur on the end as her nose seemed to twitch curiously, "I am not really sure." She took another deep breath and let it out slowly as she spoke, "Nick and I are certain that the dealer is male, but the club owner claims that the freelance DJ named 'Doc' is a female."
"Could be a crossdresser." stated the taller officer.
"Wait, that reminds me…" Her eyes widened and Judy flipped through the files in Wolfard's paws. When she came to the third set of files in the stack, she pointed to a grainy photo of the DJ on stage. "Take a look at this photo I got of our DJ while she was performing."
"It's a bit grainy. Is this the best you have?" Wolfard squinted, trying to make out any details.
"Hang on, I've got a better one on the computer." She spun around quickly and typed on a few keys, bringing up a larger image of the musical performer.
The image was dark, but a bright flash illuminated a tall goat standing on stage behind a cluster of hightech equipment. She was wearing a long, white coat like you might find in a doctors office. All of the buttons on the coat were undone revealing a set of tight, black and very lacy lingerie that showed off far too much bare fur than was legal in most public places. The goat also swung a short, whip-like switch in her right paw like it was a conductor's baton. Around her muzzle, was a complex arrangement of straps and buckles that held an iron bar tightly in place behind her flat teeth.
Wolfard's eyes bulged dangerously as Judy zoomed in on the goat's outfit. "Oh, my. I wish Liz could wear something like that," he muttered quietly, not realizing that the rabbit could hear him until she blushed bright red. A strong, swift punch struck the wolf's arm leaving him rubbing the appendage.
"Not the lingerie, silly." Judy exclaimed and continued zooming in on the image. "Look at her paws."
"What?" He asked, confused for a second. "Ungulates don't have paws, or," he paused with his jaws wide open, as the image on the screen clearly showed the performing goat had a pair of soft brown paws. "Or claws."
"Exactly!" Judy exclaimed, nearly jumping in her cheap office chair.
Resting his chin in a paw, Wolfard asked, "But wasn't that a fad amongst the kids about twenty years ago?"
A pair of long ears lifted as the rabbit turned to face the wolf, "What fad?"
Looking down at Judy's small, soft paws, "Oh, right. Being from a small town I guess you wouldn't have known much about it."
Judy' head tilted while her ears continued to stick straight up, "I still don't know what you're talking about."
"Ok," the large grey wolf sighed. "It was all because of this popular, Asian children's show, I think." He leaned back and put his paws in his lap, "A few decades ago some of the hooved kids started wearing these soft, fuzzy mittens that looked like kitten or puppy paws. I guess they thought it made them look cuter or something like that."
The rabbit's eyes brightened, "I remember those. My friend Bobby borrowed a pair for our school play. He glued some pretty vicious claws onto them so he could dress up as a tiger."
Pointing back at the screen, Wolfard returned to the case at paw, "Could be what our DJ is wearing."
Shaking her head, the rabbit added her own perspective, "We showed this picture to another ibex who claimed it had to be someone wearing a mask."
Wolfard took the controls from the smaller officer and zoomed in on the area around the DJ's head, "I don't know. That is a really convincing mask if you ask me." He leaned back and began shuffling through more of the old reports. "What about this Osaka character? A dentist from overseas?"
"The red panda?" Judy asked.
"Yeah," the wolf detective nodded and pointed at the report. "It says here, that the assault charges were dropped and he paid all of the fines for damages to the hotel property in full. Plus, there is a note here from the lawyer about trumped up charges or something. But there is nothing in the official report to corroborate his claims."
Judy leaned back in her chair with a slight blush and wildly waved her paws as she explained the foriegn dentist's arrest. "Nick and I were certain that he was going to get off easy so we, I, uh, sort of convinced him to tell us where he bought the drugs. That's where we got the name of the club."
A wide grin split the wolf's long muzzle, "Sounds interesting. Wish I could have been there. From what I have heard and seen personally, you have turned into quite the interrogator."
"Thanks." Judy's head hung low. She could not smile at the old detective's compliment while still missing her foxy partner, "I wouldn't have been able to do any of that without Officer Wilde's wit and charm."
The wolf placed a large paw on the small rabbit's shoulder, "I am sure he will turn up and that charm and wit will be as sharp as ever."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Of course I do," he said with a firm confidence. "Every precinct in the city is on the lookout for him. Even the nerds down in the tech department are working on tracking his phone. All he has to do is turn it on and we will know exactly where he is."
The small rabbit sighed sadly, "But it's been two days and there has been no sign of him."
With a nod and a warm smile to calm the rabbit, Wolfard flipped through a few more case files. When he spotted one that seemed out of place, he spoke up, trying to get Judy to focus back on their job, "Why do you have a break-in case from Sargent Higgins in here?"
"Oh? Which one?" the rabbit asked curiously.
Holding up the file, he read from the report, "A Mr. and Mrs. Fisher had their home broken into and vandalized." He flipped to the second page that was held on with a large staple, "Oh, it says here that you and Officer Wilde showed up at the scene and assisted with the initial walk through."
Recognition crossed the rabbit's face when she heard the victims' names, "Yes, When we found that someone was stealing drugs from the clinic ..."
An insistent ring came from the small iCarrot that sat on Judy's desk. She picked up the phone to see who was calling and then held up a finger towards the wolf when she recognized Officer Clawhauser's number.
Answering the phone, she could clearly hear the cheetah's excited voice, "Officer Hopps?"
"Yes, Clawhauser. It's me. What is it?"
"Well, we just got a call from Zootopia General Hospital about a mammal that was in a serious car accident."
The rabbit's ear slowly lifted as she listened to the dispatcher's words. "Ok, go on."
"Well, he has been unconscious for two days, but when he finally woke up this morning he has been demanding to see you and very rudely at that, I might add." The cheetah was nearly speaking a mile a minute.
"All right, Clawhauser. Slow down. Wolfard and I will go check it out after we're done up here."
"But you don't understand," the cheetah nearly yelled into the phone. "The mammal that is demanding to see you is a fox and he ..."
"Nick!" Judy did not hear anything else Clawhauser had to say after the word 'fox.'
Sitting up straight in his small chair, Wolfard's ears perked up, "What? What happened?"
"They found Nick!" the rabbit stated, with her eyes wide and nearly glazed over with tears. In one leap, she launched from her chair and out of the cubicle.
The wolf stood up to race after the speeding rabbit, "Hopps, Wait!"
Yelling back at the wolf, Judy headed out the door and into the hall, "Hurry up, you old mammal."
The second floor of the Zootopia General Hospital was reserved for patients recovering from any extensive surgery or that required visits longer than twenty four hours. It was equipped with around the clock staff and services for patients who were unable to leave their beds for extended periods of time.
Even though the ER was only one floor down, this floor of the hospital still held two fully equipped operating rooms that handled less intense procedures and were often scheduled months in advance. The caribou that greeted the two officers at the nurse's station had recently come from one such operation. She seemed a bit flustered and kept adjusting the long, brown locks on top of her head.
All it took was one look at Judy and the nurse nodded in mild surprise, "So you're the one our little fox has been asking for."
Judy had to hop repeatedly in order to see over the tall counter, "Yes, I'm Officer Hopps. How is the fox? Is he all right? Can I see him?"
Not fazed by the rabbit's rapid-fire questions, the nurse slowly answered them in order, "He seems well enough now, and hasn't stopped demanding to see 'that Bunny Cop' since he woke up a few hours ago." She held up a slender hoof to slow the rabbit who desperately wanted to charge blindly down the hall, looking for the aforementioned fox. "The doctors downstairs were able to patch him up after he was brought in. No one knew how long he had lain there in that vehicle before the paramedics arrived. He is really lucky to be alive."
Hopping in place and ready to spring off at any moment, the anxious rabbit demanded to know where her fox was, "Where is he? Can we see him?"
"Sure, he has been asking for you all morning. Unless of course there is another bunny cop in the ZPD?" When Wolfard shook his head the nurse lifted a clipboard on the wall and checked the numbers next to one of the names. "Follow me," she motioned to the two cops, "he is in room 237. Right down this hall and to the left."
Without waiting for either Wolfard or the Nurse, Judy sprinted down the hall to room number 237. When she arrived, the door was slightly ajar and she slipped past it, causing the heavy wooden portal to swing open slowly.
In the middle of the room sat a large hospital bed that stood more than twice the small rabbit's height. She could barely make out anything more than a small lump under clean, white sheets that were spread across the top of the tall bed. The tips of two brown ears and the beeping from the monitors was the only other evidence that showed there was a living mammal in the bed at all. There was a faint, familiar scent of fox, but it wasn't Nick's specific scent.
Puzzled, she hopped up on a large, plastic chair that sat next to the tall bed. When she was able to look over at the fox laying under the covers, her ears fell and her jaw dropped, "Finnick? What are you doing here?"
A pair of small, red eyes opened and tried focusing on the rabbit's voice. The fox was dressed in a fresh hospital gown and his lower half was covered by the large white sheets. He looked like a tiny child laying in such a large, oversized hospital bed. Several wires and thin tubes were attached to his chest and arms, while a plastic oxygen mask covered his muzzle. A bandage was wrapped around his head but did not cover his huge, bat-like ears and his left arm was in a cast.
When the small fennec fox saw that Judy was standing next to his bed, he ripped off the breathing mask with his good arm, "I have been asking myself the same thing. No one here will tell me a thing."
Quickly looking around the large sterile room, the apprehensive bunny demanded of the injured fox, "Where is Nick?" Before he could answer, the tall nurse entered, followed by Wolfard and Judy turned her angry glare on the caribou, "Where is the other fox?"
"Calm down, Hopps," Wolfard directed. "Janene already told me, they only brought in one fox." The wolf shook his head, "Your partner isn't here, but maybe this miniature fox knows something, or saw something?" His paw scratched at his chin, "I am not sure why he was asking for you specifically."
"You're right," the rabbit officer nodded at the taller detective. "Finnick?" She hopped up onto the bed with the small fox and grabbed the front of his clean robe in her small paws. The mattress was so large, that she could have fit her entire litter on it comfortably, while still giving the fox more than enough room to stretch out. Her entire body began to shake in frustration, "Tell me what happened. Where is my boyfriend?"
A smile warmed the tiny fox's muzzle and his deep voice seemed to echo around the room, "So. I was right. The two of you are dating." Pulling her paws from him, he looked into the angry rabbit's eyes, "What's got you so worked up, Bunny Cop?"
"It's been two days, Finnick," she tried not to shout at the smaller mammal.
Finnick's jaw dropped and his ears flattened against the back of his head, "Two days? No way!"
Nodding, she crossed her legs and sat down in front of the fox. "Nick and I went on a date two nights ago." She shook her head and put her muzzle into her paws, "The next day he didn't show up for work." Leaning over, she glared at him in desperation, "So I need to know if you saw him, I need you to tell me where he is."
With a painful groan, the small fox tried to stretch his arm but the cast was difficult to lift and the muscles too sore. "Calm down, Bunny Cop," he lifted his good paw to ease the worried doe. "Yes, Nick and I had a drink after your date."
"Where?" the rabbit cut him off in anticipation.
"At this place called Barnie's, it's a pub over on South Everett Street." Finnick covered a small painful cough with his paw, "He showed up looking like he had just spent the night out on the town and wouldn't stop talking about you. The poor guy has got it really bad, you know?"
Hopping to her hind paws, Judy stepped closer to the wounded fox, "Got what? Is he sick? Tell me Finnick."
"Sheesh," he cried angrily trying to brush the bunny away with both paws. "I'm getting to it already."
Stepping back, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing emotions, "Oh, oh. I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about Nick."
The little fox glared back at the rabbit, "Well then you seriously need to sit back and listen. If he hasn't shown up in two days then I think he is in real trouble."
"Ok," Judy sat back on the soft, white sheets, pulled out her carrot pen and hit the record button. Her ears raised to attention and she leaned forward, focused on the small fox's every word.
Finnick cleared his throat then grasped the plastic oxygen mask and inhaled deeply before speaking, "I think the goat has him."
Judy tilted her head, "Goat? What goat?"
From the door where he had remained through the rest of the two small mammal's conversation, Wolfard spoke up, "Why does everything seem to point back to a goat?"
Ignoring the cop in the door, Finnick continued, "I thought we should have left him alone, but Nick insisted that we follow the guy."
"Wait. Back up," Judy lifted her paws to halt the small fox. "Where did you see the goat?"
"Oh, um," Finnick rubbed at the bandage on his head. "He was selling some kind of street candy to a leopard in the back of the pub. And he was being pretty damn obvious about it too."
Wolfard's eyes widened at the words 'street candy.' "So Nick spotted the dealer we have been looking for? He should have called it in."
"Yes," the small brown fox nodded. "He said you guys have been trying to find this guy for weeks. I don't remember why he was so eager to follow the dumb goat though."
The rabbit jumped in with another question, "So where did this goat go?"
"He got into an SUV and headed into Happy Town," Finnick shook his head. "For a well-to-do prey, I thought he was lost, driving through such a rough part of town."
"No wonder we haven't found anything yet," Wolfard nodded in agreement. "There are hardly any cops in that area and not a single traffic camera."
"Yeah, that's when they got the drop on us."
"What happened, Finnick?" Judy leaned forward, eager to see where the little fox's story was going.
Finnick tried scratching at the fur under his cast, "We got sideswiped. When I came to, I saw the same goat that we had been following toss Nick into the back of his SUV like a big, red sack of flour."
"Do you remember the plate numbers, or anything about the vehicle he took Nick in?" the rabbit inquired.
"Sorry," the small fox replied, shaking his head. "It was the middle of the night. I hardly saw a thing except his tail lights."
Stepping closer to the bed, Wolfard steered the questions in a different direction, "What about the goat? Can you describe him?"
"Sure, that's easy." A snarl crept its way up the small fox's muzzle. "I'm not going to forget that bastard's snout. He wrecked my van. The next time I see him, I am going to let him have a nice, long chat with my bat."
The large grey wolf tilted his head curiously, "Interesting, but do you have any details that we could use to identify him?"
"Please, Finnick. Tell us what he looked like," the rabbit pleaded.
"Ok, Bunny Cop," Finnick nodded, clenching fists. "If it will help you find Nick, I'd tell you what kind of beer he was drinking."
"Go on," she held up the pen and the small fox grabbed it with both paws.
Speaking to the carrot pen, the small fox continued his tale, "He was a dirty, filthy, stinking, high-and-mighty mountain goat. The ones with those really long horns. He had a long, white coat and a hood over his head that covered most of his muzzle."
"An ibex," Wolfard noted. "With as few of them that live in the city, I'm surprised that he has eluded us for so long."
"Did you get a good look at his muzzle," the grey rabbit asked, reaching for her carrot pen.
Finnick passed the pen back to Judy, "Of course. I caught him looking back before he walked out the door."
Judy pulled her phone out of a pocket on her uniform and flipped through the case-related photos. She showed the image of a goat dressed in a white doctor's coat, "Is this the goat you saw?"
The small fox growled in rage and grabbed the phone from Judy's paw, "I am so going to kill that guy when I find him."
Wolfard reached to his own shoulder radio and keyed the mic, "Dispatch, we have a positive ID for our dealer. A Dr. William Walia. Requesting a search and seizure for the suspect's residence."
"Roger, Detective Wolfard," came a scratchy voice over the wolf's radio. "Relaying request."
Taking her phone back from the angry fox, Judy looked up at her partner, "A search and seizure?"
"If this is our mammal, we need something more than a witness testimony and the rest of the circumstantial evidence to bring him in. Remember we have conflicting reports for who the dealer actually is. There is also a chance that Nick is being held at the goat's residence."
The bunny's eyes brightened suddenly as she grabbed her phone and the carrot pen from the small fox. She quickly jumped off the bed and barreled through the door full of determination with her ears waving behind, "Thanks for all the help, Finnick."
"Sure thing, Bunny Cop," the small fox waved at the disappearing rabbit. "Just be sure to tell Nick that I did all the work to find him."
Judy grabbed the tall wolf's paw as she ran, dragging him out of the recovery room, "Come on old wolf."
The house was fairly modern, with a mix of simple, flat, stucco walls and a round section made entirely of glass. The house was a new addition to an old neighborhood that sat on the border between the Meadowlands District and Downtown. The house was slightly elevated above the street, giving approaching mammals the impression that the owner was looking down on them.
The driveway was empty, as the two oddly matched police mammals walked up the path to the front door. One was a tall, middle-aged, grey wolf, with a white patch that ran from the tip of his large black nose down to the ends of his toes. The other officer was a young, grey rabbit who was barely out of the academy. The wolf had an easy, casual gait while his diminutive partner seemed ready to pounce at every shadow and rustle of a branch.
Judy hopped up the steps to the front door and knocked firmly on the stained, oak surface. "ZPD, open up, Dr. Walia," she announced in a commanding tone. When no reply came, she banged on the door even harder, "Dr. Walia! We have a warrant to search the premises and confiscate anything we find suspicious."
Moments later the door opened suddenly with a loud bang and a small, flying rabbit fell on the floor next to an antique coat rack. The foyer was narrow and other than the coat rack, had an old fashioned vanity cabinet so the homeowner could check their appearance before departing. Two other rooms broke off from the main entrance, a dining area and a fairly large living room, while a short hallway led back to the bedrooms.
The two officers pulled their weapons from their holsters and split up to explore the home and check if any dangerous mammals waited inside. Judy took the dining room and eventually the kitchen while Wolfard quickly checked the den and the large living room where two of the curved walls were made entirely of glass. They eventually met back up in the main hall to go through the bedrooms together one by one.
After their cursory check, they returned to the living room before starting a more thorough search.
"No one is home so we should be safe to look around," Judy stated, holstering her weapon.
"Unfortunately there weren't any foxes tied up in the closet," Wolfard chuckled.
Judy lowered her brow scowling at the wolf's joke, "Maybe we should search for some actual clues, like a stash of drugs or something to lead us to where they took Nick."
Catching onto the rabbit's fierce determination, the wolf began searching the house with his nose as well as his eyes. He sniffed around each room before looking under cushions or opening drawers. The large wolf stuck his nose under the coffee table and went around the large, sectional couch. In the kitchen, he nosed his way through each of the cabinets and drawers before opening the fridge.
Inside the fridge was empty except for a large case of Hogswiser beer and a bottle of yellow mustard that sat next to an open box of baking soda. The wolf's nose detected the smell of soap making him think that the fridge had been recently cleaned and scrubbed.
Sniffing around in the laundry room, his nose came across a familiar scent in a hamper filled with shirts and sweaters. Rifling through the clothes, he found a plaid sweater that smelled strongly of fox and expensive cologne. The rest of the clothes smelled like a herd of sheep.
Down the hall, the rabbit officer was rifling through the goat's personal effects in the master bedroom. The closet was neat and very tidy. Everything was folded and stacked according to type and color and each shirt hanging from the rod was spaced exactly the same distance from the others. Each tie was laid out on the upper shelf like it was set out for display in the male's clothing department at the mall.
The small rabbit had never seen such a tidy bedroom in her entire life. Not her parents or any of her siblings kept their rooms this clean. Even her neat-freak brother, Henry, never kept his room this spotless. And until yesterday, she had never seen her partner ever clean his own apartment.
Inside the master bathroom, she found a similar scene and she began to suspect that everything was somehow set on display. The towels were perfectly folded and hung neatly on their racks, while everything else in the washroom was placed just so, to provide the most convenience for the home's occupant. Even the toilet paper rack held a fresh roll and the last square had a cute fold on the end like you would find at some upscale hotels. Judy could make out the strong smell of ammonia, like the room had recently been scrubbed just before they had arrived.
It was obvious to both cops that the house had been thoroughly cleaned less than an hour before they arrived. They found everything was in its place, the carpets had been vacuumed, the dining chairs all placed evenly around the table and fresh flowers had been set out on the coffee table. What they didn't find, was any evidence laying around, or even hiding under a seat cushion or in a drawer.
They met back in the main hallway that led from the front door all the way back to the spare bedroom. Looking at each other with their heads tilted and puzzled expressions on their muzzles, Judy shrugged with confusion, "Did the doctor know we were coming?"
"I really have no idea. This place is clean as a whistle though."
Shaking her head, the rabbit replied, "I have never seen any place this tidy before."
The wolf let his tongue hang out from one side of his muzzle, "You have obviously never been to the Ritz Caracal hotel."
"On my wages? Are you kidding?"
Raising his paws in the air the wolf replied, "I wouldn't put it past our goat to hire one of their maid's to do his housework."
Nose twitching, the rabbit looked around the room for the third time, "I guess you might be right. This place really does have the feel of an upscale hotel suite."
"Nick's scent was all over some of the clothes I found in a laundry basket." Judy's ears perked up and her eyes took on the usual predatory look she got when chasing a culprit. "So that means that our goat definitely came into contact with your partner recently."
"But we have checked everywhere that you could possibly hide a mammal and no one else seems to be here."
"All except there," the wolf pointed to a small, closet-like door at the end of the hall. The door was barred shut with a metal latch and a large padlock hung from it.
"Are we allowed to open that locked door?" Judy asked with a curious and concerned look on her muzzle.
Wolfard pulled out a sheet of paper from a pouch on his hip and read the warrant to the rabbit, "We are allowed to open and investigate any area on the premises that may contain a hidden mammal of medium size or larger. We are also allowed to investigate any container that may conceal illegal or controlled substances." He folded the sheet and placed it back into the pouch as he completed the summary of its instructions, "So basically, if we think your partner, or illegal drugs may be hidden in that closet we can search there."
The rabbit's ears drooped and her shoulders fell, "I don't think I could bust through that lock, no matter how hard those old muscles of yours throw me."
"Why do you have to keep bringing up my age, Rookie?" Wolfard turned from the locked door and walked down the hall. "I have a better idea."
In a few minutes, the tall, grey wolf returned carrying a pair of giant metal pliers with long handles and a sturdy series of mechanical hinges near the jaws of the device. He pulled the long arms of the device open as wide as he could, while the small jaws barely moved an inch. The wolf placed the jaw's narrow gap over the 'U' shaped bolt that held the padlock in place and squeezed the arms together.
With a loud crack, the bolt split and the lock fell free from the door, hitting the wooden floor with a clatter. The rabbit hopped up and lifted the cold, steel latch that held the door shut.
The door swung open revealing a dark portal that descended into a pitch black sea. Officer Hopps tread through the open door and onto a set of rickety, wooden stairs. On the crude brick wall to her left, was an old light switch which she immediately flipped into the 'on' position. A lightbulb hanging on a chain above the rabbit's head flickered to life, illuminating the stairs that led down into the basement.
A draft of cold, dry air rose up the stairs when the door was opened and Wolfard wrinkled his long nose. "A lot of strong smells down there, but nothing that smells like our fox."
"What do you smell?" the rabbit inquired, carefully advancing down the old, wooden steps.
Wolfard took another breath as if he was tasting the air, "Grease mostly, burnt plastic and gasoline."
"Do you think maybe the doctor is working on a car down there?"
"I highly doubt it Hopps," the wolf warned. "Best to proceed with caution."
"Roger that," Judy replied in the voice she typically used on the radio. She looked up at the detective from the bottom of the stairs and motioned for him to join her.
The stairwell opened up into a small, cavern-like basement that, unlike the rest of the house, was constructed with crude cinder blocks. In the corner nearest to the stairs, was a large table covered with glass bottles and tubes strung together into a complex chemistry set. Sitting next to the chemistry table, was a very old, metal oven with a triple-thick, glass window. Through the window, Judy could make out a baking sheet with two dozen small, white ovoids evenly spread across its surface.
"He was baking drugs in here," the rabbit declared excitedly.
"And more over here," Wolfard added, holding up a clear, plastic bag that was filled to overflowing with small, white pills.
Further into the basement, Judy could make out a wooden workbench where several old, flip phones and radio equipment had been broken down. Electronic parts were scattered all over the scratched surface, with bits of wires and diodes sticking out at odd angles.
Beyond the electronics table, were what looked like gardening supplies. Sitting in front of a tall shovel and a rake, were four bags of some kind of lawn fertilizer. Judy tilted her head curiously when she noticed that next to the bags, were a couple of gasoline jugs. Judging by the strong smell, they were still full of fuel.
"This is bad, Hopps," the wolf's shaky tone bordered on fear, as he pointed to the back corner of the basement.
Sitting in the dark, far away from the stairs, was an old milling machine and a metal lathe. But what caught the rabbit's attention and unnerved her larger companion, was what sat on the workbench between them.
On the workbench, that looked like it had once been a nice, kitchen counter, was a small, cylindrical device with the guts of an old cell phone duct taped to one end. There was also a digital display mounted to the side, that could have come from any modern alarm clock.
Judy gasped and held both her paws over her muzzle, "That looks exactly like the bomb Nick tried to disarm." Tears began to fill the rabbit's eyes, "That stupid fox could have gotten himself killed, leaving me all alone to take care of those school children."
Before she could finish her sentence, Wolfard grabbed the small officer in both paws and ran up the stairs. She barely fought against the wolf's grasp as the distraught tears rolled down her cheeks. He never said a word to her until he placed her in the cool grass of the front lawn.
"Officer, Hopps," He called to her as she sat sniffling in the grass. "We need to call in the T.U.S.K. team and have them clear any live explosives."
The bunny's tears dried and were suddenly replaced by a fierce resolve and conviction. She keyed the mic and called in for backup.
Twenty minutes later, a large, black van with the ZPD logo written on the side, pulled into the driveway of the fancy home. Three well-armed and armored officers stepped out of the vehicle. Two boars and a dirty brown wolf walked up to the waiting cops. One of the boars was dressed like a huge turtle in heavy, green armor, that covered his entire body.
Wolfard spoke with the less-armored boar who was named Lieutenant Tuskson and the brown wolf to describe the scene they found in the basement. The lead boar nodded to his turtle-like companion and they had a brief discussion before he slowly marched up the steps and into the house.
Another twenty minutes passed and then Tuskson ran into the house and returned shortly, hauling out the bags of fertilizer. Following the lieutenant, the green-armored bomb technician came down the front steps, carrying the pair of gasoline jugs and placed them as far from the bags as possible. The fuel and bags were eventually stowed safely in the back of the van.
With the dangerous materials safely secured, the lieutenant walked up to Wolfard and the grey wolf saluted the superior officer. "The basement is clear, Detective. You and Officer Hopps are free to return to the house and continue your investigation."
Judy walked up to the two taller mammals and saluted to the lieutenant, "What about the device we found?"
Looking down at the small officer the large boar gave the rabbit a professional smile, "It looks similar to a device found at the Lemuris Middle School, but we'll need to give it to the techs back at homebase to be sure."
As the T.U.S.K. officer left, Wolfard turned to his small companion, "Well, it looks like we still have a lot of evidence to bag.
"Let's take that pile of rotten cabbages for everything he's got," Judy nodded with clenched fists.
The fourth floor office would have had a nice view of the city skyline if there wasn't a large pine tree right outside the window. As the bushy crown of the young pine was at just the right height to cover half of the long office window, it forced the office's occupant to walk to the far right of the room in order to see the city's downtown area. Only the Palm Hotel and the strip in Sahara Square were visible otherwise.
A tall mountain goat dressed in a long, white coat over a plaid sweater and a striped tie stood in the corner contemplating the view from his new office. He pondered how much he would need to pay a beaver to chop, or chew down the infernal tree that was irritating him today.
His plan to force the clinic's director to move him to this new office had backfired. Staging the break-in and destroying the ground floor office to force that damn hybrid's paw, had resulted in putting the cops on his tail instead. On top of that, when he had finally been assigned an upper floor office, it was the one with the worst view in the building.
Something about those two small cops aggravated him when they had shown up last week asking about the damages to his office. That small rabbit's questions seemed to set his teeth on edge and the way that filthy pred kept flirting with her was downright disgusting. The ibex shuddered at the thought and tried to keep his lunch in his stomach where it belonged.
Luckily, that damn fox cop would not plague the city any longer, thanks to that sheep and his gang. That depraved rabbit, who thought she could somehow be a cop was another story. If she kept sniffing around with that ridiculously tiny nose of hers, then he would just have to take care of her as well.
Looking down at the base of the oh-so-annoying tree, he wondered if rabbits knew how to land on their paws, like the rumors about some of the smaller preds. An accidental drop from a high window or steep cliff could prove fatal in the right circumstances. Or maybe he could arrange for some other accident to befall the diminutive cop.
Dozens of plans swirled around in his head as he plotted how to remove the rest of the obstacles on his journey to the director's chair. The grin slowly spreading across his muzzle was interrupted by the ring of the phone on his desk.
Angrily, he walked over to the irritating device and pressed a button marked with the image of a speaker. "Rachelle," he yelled towards the device. "I told you that I wouldn't take any calls while I was on my lunch break."
"William," a calm female voice came through the phone's external speaker.
Glaring at the phone in horror, the goat wished he could hide in one of the many drawers in his desk, or have simply gone out the window rather than talk to the mammal on the other end of the line. "Y-yes, Ma'am," he stuttered, trying not to let his voice quiver.
"Sit down, William," the voice commanded calmly.
The large, black, executive office chair gave a dull 'fwump' as the goat sat down heavily. He took a deep breath to calm his shaking nerves before leaning forward to speak.
Before the doctor could say two words the female spoke again with an icy chill, "You have screwed up for the last time, Doctor."
Placing both hooves on the rich mahogany desk, William leaned over the large black desk phone, "I-I can explain, everything..."
Again, the goat was cut off, "The cops found the workshop in your basement."
Springing out of the comfortable chair, the ibex looked around the room, frantically trying to decide what he needed to grab before making a hasty departure.
"They are already on their way with a warrant for your arrest," the female continued.
He ran to the window where he saw three black and white cruisers pull up to the front door of the clinic. Blue and red lights flashed from all three vehicles. A wolf and that insufferable rabbit jumped out of the lead vehicle and raced into the building. From one of the other cars, a rhino and a grizzly bear headed around the side to the emergency exits.
"Don't bother trying to run, it's already too late," the voice over the phone instructed.
With a deep sigh, he knew that her words were true and he slumped back into his brand new chair, with the window looking pretty attractive at the moment. A few good butts with his strong horns and even safety glass would shatter. It was certainly a tempting thought.
Once again, the calm female voice interrupted his dark thoughts, "You know what to do, William." Her last words were followed by a soft click as the line was disconnected.
Yes, he knew. He would make that rabbit suffer before she could take him down. Waking across the room to a tall cabinet, he opened a small door where he kept his hidden minibar. Pulling out a can of beer, he returned to his large, polished, oak desk. From within a locked drawer, he pulled out a small, plastic bag that contained a hoof full of large, white pills. He carefully removed one of the pills, replaced the bag and locked the drawer again.
Placing the single pill on top of the mirror-smooth surface of his expensive desk, he started to crush it with the base of the beer can. He continued to smash the pill until it was a fine grained powder.
After he had gathered the white dust into a small pile, he opened the can and took a long gulp to clear the foam that flowed from the small hole in the top. He wiped his lips and let out a deep breath while looking sadly down at the dust pile on his desk.
Using the edge of a blank sticky note, he scraped the power into his palm before tossing it into his open muzzle. The powder was soon followed by a swig of the beer. He swished the contents around in his mouth for several moments before swallowing.
The ibex leaned back in his large chair and licked the powder from the palm of his hoof and cringed at the horrible taste. When his hoof was once again clean of the white substance, he folded both hooves on top of his desk and waited.
He did not have to wait very long before the disgusting rabbit cop waltzed through his door with an official looking paper in her paw. Behind the miniature cop, followed a middle aged, grey wolf that was trying to look tough by keeping his paws near his hips and close to his weapon.
Disgusting, William thought. She had already found a new toy to corrupt. "What do you want?" He demanded angrily from the smaller of the two officers. Out in the hall, he could make out at least one more cop standing near the door to his office.
Holding up the official looking paper, Judy read in a clear, commanding tone, "Dr. William Walia, you are hereby under arrest for..." She took a deep breath before continuing, "the possession, manufacturer and sale of illegal drugs, multiple counts of the theft of a controlled substance, breaking and entering, attempted bombing of a public school, assault and kidnapping of police officer and finally, as an accomplice to murder."
While the rabbit was reading off the list of the mountain goat's offenses, he had taken another swig of his beer and swirled the bitter liquid around in his mouth. Before she could finish the word murder, he leaned over and spat the contents directly in the muzzle of the small mammal.
Due to her quick reflexes, Judy was able to block most of the spray with the arrest warrant. She was still doused with enough beer spit to cover her small muzzle and was forced to wipe the disgusting mess from her eyes. "You can add another assault charge to that list Dr. Walia," she declared coldly.
Wolfard's quick reflexes took over and he charged at the ibex with a shiny pair of cuffs in his paws. The wolf thought he would be able to easily subdue the pompous doctor, but to his astonishment, the goat shuddered and fell down on all fours with his head lowered, horns pointed at the grey-furred detective.
The change in the goat happened so fast, that Judy did not have time to blink. One second he was standing at his desk with a red, angry glare, the next he butted his long, crescent horns into Wolfard's chest.
Wolfard let out a loud grunt as the full force of the billy's charge knocked the wind out of him and shoved him into the hall. He felt all four of the goat's hooves trample him as the crazed doctor barreled over the wolf in an attempt to flee.
Elizabeth Fangmeyer watched as her lover was easily thrown to the floor by a lanky mammal half her size. As the goat flew past, she sprang to action and jumped in the horned mammal's path. She grabbed both of his huge horns and tried to wrestle him to the floor, but the force of his charge continued forward until his head hit the opposite wall. Unfortunately, the tiger was between them and she hit the wall with a loud crack that left her gasping for breath.
Bouncing off the tiger's uniformed body, the goat shook his head for a brief second before he turned to charge down the hall towards the elevators.
That one brief second was all it took for Officer Johnson to pounce on the stunned arrestee. Even though the lion was nearly twice the goat's size, he was hard pressed to subdue the struggling mammal. With both paws on his horns, Johnson attempted to force the ungulate's head towards the floor to prevent him from trying to butt anyone else. Still fighting back, the goat rammed the lion in the chest, causing the larger mammal's paws to slip on the dangerous horns.
Another quick jab and Johnson was nearly thrown off the goat, but the doctor's struggles began to lessen and the lion was eventually able to bring him to the floor and cuff his hooves behind his back. With a quick sigh, he stood up and wiped his brow before noticing a small, green dart sticking out of the goat's neck.
Stepping back from the cuffed mammal, the lion looked back down the hall and saw the ZPD's smallest officer standing in the doorway with an empty tranque pistol in her paws. "What took you so long, Hopps?" he asked with a chuckle.
Judy replied to the large predator's question with a wink and a smirk, "I thought we could add resisting arrest to his list of charges."
[A/N] I am not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out. The beginning feels a little too dark for what I wanted from this story. It was supposed to explain what happened to Nick, but I got stuck trying to come up with a good reason that fit with the rest of the story. This is what I ended up with but am still not happy with how it turned out.
The big news is that Loves Bind is almost done. There are only a few more chapters left, so I want to know what everyone thinks of the over all story so far. Honestly it started as just a bunch of random ideas that I threw together before I started trying to develop any kind of plot. I have never written anything this detailed or long before so it has been a major undertaking for me.
I also want to point out that even though this part of the story is coming to an end, I still working on plans for a part 2. I want to continue developing their relationship and as with every great WildeHopps story Judy has to take Nick to Bunny Burrow. Yes he has already met the parents, but I don't feel its the same as being surrounded buy hundreds of bunnies.
Part 2 should be a lot more structured and will require more planning on my part before I can start writing so there may be a small break, I hope. As I have seen from other authors I think I am going to add part 2 to the end of this and keep them together in one continuous story since the first chapter will pick up not long after then end of this story.
And a great big thanks to everyone who has read this story. I love reading all the great comments and criticism, it really helps me improve the story. Unlike a finished novel this is a work in progress and gets written as I go so its always changing and I hope improving. So thank you to everyone!