Loves Bond
Chapter 21 - Shot Through The Heart
Nick's cell phone dinged to alert him about an incoming message. When he pulled the device out of his pocket, he saw that the message was from an unknown number, yet a picture had been attached. Curious, he opened the message and what he saw caused his long jaw to drop before he began to salivate like a starving hyena.
There were no words in the message, only a very attractive rabbit in an alluring pose wearing nothing more than a sheer black teddy that left little to the imagination. The see through black cloth had some kind of leafy vines sewn into the delicate fabric giving the impression that she was cloaked in the thick underbrush of some ancient wilderness. Something clicked in the back of the fox's mind and he began to drool heavily at the sight of the rabbit's enticing form.
She had her cute and fluffy tail pointed at the camera while one paw was placed gently on a shapely hip. In this pose, the fox could clearly see that very little cloth covered the rabbit's lower regions. A single string ran between her legs to loop around her tail before it joined with the rest of the straps, wrapping around her soft, furry hips. The sight of her bare back and fully exposed tail caused the fox to shiver and lick his lips hungrily.
Looking over a bare shoulder at the camera, the bunny's large buck tooth bit her lower lip innocently while a white fingertip brushed her chin seductively. While she stood in a sexy half turn, Nick could barely see a pair of small yet firm breasts beneath the very revealing cloth. Her purple eyes and the innocent pose simply begged for his immediate attention.
The fox had to wipe away the large amounts of slobber that ran down his cheeks before he keyed in his response, "Who is this?"
The reply from his phone was nearly instantaneous.
Unknown Number: Daddy is not going to be happy with what you have done to his favorite rabbit.
Nick: Fru Fru?
Unknown Number: Yes, Dumb Fox.
He quickly updated the shrew's contact information with her new number. It was not uncommon for the spoiled mammal to get a new phone whenever the latest model came out and she would frequently change the number at the same time. Her father lived a dangerous lifestyle so it was safer this way, or so she claimed.
Nick: Where did you get that photo?
Fru Fru: You need to call her and apologize.
Nick: I haven't done anything wrong. She walked out on me.
Fru Fru: Don't make me tell daddy.
Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew that the mob boss would not interfere with his personal life, but he also knew that angering Fru Fru was bad for his health and that broken bones often followed in the wake of her wrath.
He quickly typed out his reply, "Fine, but I am in the middle of work. It will have to wait till later."
Fru Fru: Don't wait too long to fix your broken bunny.
Nick: She is not my bunny anymore.
Fru Fru: That is why you have to fix this.
Nick: Really have to get back to work.
Fru Fru: Here is some more incentive, lover boy.
Another image came through and he had to hide the phone before his body could react to the overtly revealing image of his ex-girlfriend. In the new photo she was wearing a dark purple teddy with a long 'V' shape down the front and the see-through fabric left nothing to the imagination. She was bent over with her tail in the air and her long ears brushing the floor while the camera had a clear view of all of her private, feminine parts. Oddly, he felt that her tail was wagging briskly at the time the picture was taken.
The fox had already had every opportunity to explore every inch of the beautiful bunny, but this new photo caused him to begin panting heavily. His tail also swished happily as he thought about the memories they had shared together. The long, floofy appendage did not care or had forgotten that she broke up with him almost two weeks prior. Panting and wagging, he closed the message app and turned off the phone before the drool could return.
Watching the fox quickly shove his phone back into his pocket, Lieutenant Tusken asked gruffly, "Girl troubles?" Tusken was a large boar with a prominent pair of tusks jutting from his lower jaw that he kept well polished at all times. Unlike Sergeant Razorback, the Lieutenant did not have a spiked band of fur running down his back, but its lack did nothing to blunt his sharp demeanor.
"Not at all," Nick replied with his signature smirk and casual laugh.
Today, Nick was dressed in police issue, black and green wilderness camo gear. His head and muzzle were also covered in the mismatched splotches, even his tail was wrapped in the dark green cloth that hid his signature fox patterns.
He stretched out on his belly and tried to keep his tail still while he pressed his eye up to a long, black scope. The scope was attached to a heavy rifle mounted on a pair of legs at the end of the flat black stock. It wasn't a very fancy gun but could be deadly accurate in the right paws.
The fox twisted several dials on the scope while the boar seated next to him read off a series of numbers. Lieutenant Tusken also wore the same camo, but his head and muzzle were not fully covered. In his hooves he held a pair of heavy binoculars while giving instructions to the fox rookie.
"Wind speed, eleven knots," the boar noted dispassionately. "Direction, south, south east. Altitude, two hundred and twenty four. Distance to target, one hundred and eighty seven point six meters. They are in the closest hut on the left." He reached over to a panel on the wall behind him and flipped a few switches while the fox continued to peer through the long scope.
Fox and boar were both sitting inside a squat wooden shack that was mounted three meters up in the air on sturdy looking stilts. The ceiling of the shack was barely tall enough for the boar to stand up in and one wall was missing entirely. A rickety wooden ladder led from the ground to the base of the elevated hut.
From the outside, the shack looked almost like a shorter version of the watchtowers that forest rangers used to keep a sharp eye out for fires or other woodland dangers. This shack was perched in the middle of a large grassy field far from the sight of any copse of trees and was not used to keep an eye on the wild lands.
No vehicles could be seen near the tower. Nick and his trainer for the day had parked their police cruiser several kilometers away on the edge of the dirt road and had to hike the rest of the way. As part of his training, the fox was required to lug the rifle in its case through the tall, dry grass and assemble it on site.
Before Nick could finish setting up the sniper rifle, his phone had chimed the message from Fru Fru. Once he finished the short conversation, he had turned off the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. Grunting down at the fox, the Lieutenant proceeded with his instructions.
Squinting through the scope, Nick focused on the distant hut mentioned by his spotter and instructor. It was dark inside the small building, but he could make out something moving inside. To the fox's eyes it looked like someone was pacing back and forth from one side of the hut to the other. As they moved, they regularly passed one window then another.
"I can see movement," Nick noted calmly.
"Ok," the boar replied. "Now time the shot when you have clear line of sight with the target."
The target seemed to be passing between the two windows at regular intervals and Nick was able to count the heartbeats between each pass. Once he was sure that he had the timing down and began to count when the blur of movement passed the first window.
When his count reached six he pulled the trigger on the long gun without waiting for the movement to appear again. The gun belched forth a loud crack that echoed across the nearly empty field of grass. In less time than a single fox's heartbeat he saw the dark figure enter the second window where it lurched and fell.
"Good job, rookie," the trainer noted almost coldly. He flipped several more switches inside a box that reminded Nick of a household breaker box. "Now focus on the second hut from the left."
Turning the rifle towards the next target, Nick could once again see movement inside the new building. This time the target appeared to pause in front of a single window before moving on. While he watched the silhouette, he waited for the boar to call out the range metrics.
Several moments passed while the Lieutenant peered through the large binoculars. With a chilly calm he finally spoke, "Wind dropped two knots, direction remains the same. Distance increased to three hundred and seventeen meters. Try holding your breath before firing to improve your accuracy."
Nick adjusted the dials on the scope again and aimed the long range weapon where the shadow's head would appear in the window. When the target finally paused in the window, Nick took a deep breath and adjusted his aim slightly before pulling the trigger.
Again a loud crack echoed across the prairie, moments before the shadowy target lurched and fell back inside the small hut. Keeping his eye pressed to the scope, Nick watched the hut for any further movement. Everything remained still until the fox finally began to breathe again.
"Two for two," Tusken commented. "Now let's see if you can hit the third one."
Peering through the scope again, Nick aimed the rifle towards the third hut in the line. This one was much further away than the first two. If he were to take a guess he would have said that it was probably twice the distance of the second one. A fourth hut to the right seemed to be twice again as far away, but he had to complete this test before moving on to the next challenge.
Lieutenant Tusken flipped several more switches on the control panel before pointing his binoculars at the waiting hut. A minute passed in silence until he read off the numbers to the waiting fox, "Wind, thirteen knots. Direction, east, south east. Altitude, two hundred and fifty. Distance, six hundred and thirty eight meters."
With his green eyes pointed down the scope, Nick saw something begin to move inside the hut after the boar finished flipping the switches. A shadow passed briefly by one window and then a second shadow moved into view. After several more seconds, the fox realized that the movement was not regular or consistent, he even suspected that he could see movement in both windows at once.
"Two targets spotted in hut number three," Nick called quietly.
"The one on the left is your priority," Tusken noted, like he was calling roll for the hundredth time that day.
Adjusting the dials again, Nick pointed the crosshairs in the center of the scope towards the left most window. When he saw the movement pass through his receptacle, he raised the aim to what appeared to be the target's head. The target's movements were so erratic that he would not be able to time the shot like the last two. He was going to have to rely on his quick reflexes to pull the trigger the moment the target entered his field of vision.
Several heartbeats passed while Nick waited for the target to return. Without conscious thought, the fox pulled the trigger before he realized that there had been any movement, but by then it was too late. Less than a second later, Nick saw a spray of wood splinters from the frame of the window and the target moved out of view.
Dispassionately the boar commented on the rookie's aim, "You didn't hold your breath like I instructed."
"Yes, sir," was the fox's discouraged reply.
"Try it again, Officer Wilde," Tusken ordered without removing the binoculars from his muzzle.
"Yes, sir!" Nick returned confidently.
Nick checked the dials and repeated the range info that the boar had read to him earlier. He adjusted his aim slightly after holding a deep breath. When the movement returned to the left most window, he pulled the trigger, but the target did not stop or change its direction.
Frustrated, Nick pulled back the lever on the rifle to remove the empty cartridge and loaded the next bullet. They had only brought a pawful of rounds with them for this training exercise and Nick carefully inserted the last bullet into the chamber and locked it into place.
Taking several breaths to calm his nerves, the tod aimed the long weapon again. Both previous shots had drifted slightly to the left and were a little high, so Nick adjusted his aim down and to the right of where the target's head would appear.
Again, the fox held his breath and waited. The seconds seem to drag out while he lay motionlessly on the rough wooden floor. Not a single muscle on the fox twitched while he waited for the target to return to the window.
Only the slightest of motion in the distant window set the tod into action. The tiniest twitch on the trigger was all it took for the sniper rifle to ignite the powder in the cartridge and propel the heavy lump of lead out of the barrel at a velocity exceeding the speed of sound. Less than a second later, Nick watched the shadow inside hut number three crumple and fall to the floor.
"Third time's the charm," the boar replied coldly. "It looks like you will still need some more work on the rifle range." He put the binoculars back into their safety case and looked at the fox. "Let's pack everything up and reset the targets."
While Nick disassembled the rifle, the Lieutenant returned all of the switches to their original position. He then turned a key inside the box and watched a glowing green light dim and eventually fade. With the same key he closed and locked the box before heading towards the ladder that led to the ground.
When the rifle was properly stowed in its case, Nick followed the boar down the ladder. Once on the ground they marched out to the first hut.
Inside the first target hut was a series of gears and mechanisms that resemble an oddly complicated model railroad set. Laying across the machinery was a wooden cutout of a medium sized mammal.
Carefully stepping over the gears, Nick lifted the cutout and placed it inside the clamps that were welded to the car of the model train. Holding up the wood with his shoulder, he leaned over and turned the dial that would hold the target in place until another high powered bullet could knock it down. Once the fox had completed resetting the first hut, the boar locked up the building and they trudged through the tall grass to the next.
In the second hut the mechanism allowed the target to take multiple different routes and even had ramps to change its height. The third hut actually had three targets that could be set to perform numerous different behaviors from dancing around the center of the room to ducking behind windows while returning fire on the sniper.
After they finished resetting the three target huts, Wilde and Tusken began their several kilometer hike back to their vehicle. Nick carried the heavy rifle case in both paws as they marched over the rough terrain. He watched the boar easily hoofed through the tall grass with only the binoculars to weigh him down. A one mammal trail had been cut through the field like a snake in the grass, but the Lieutenant cut straight through, passing loose gravel and boulders alike.
Unused to the wild country terrain, Nick's paws were sore and itched furiously, while the boar's cloven hooves barely noticed the loose soil or irritating weeds. The fox had to occasionally stop to scratch at his hind paws as his instructor quickly out-distance him and caused Nick to have to sprint again to catch up.
When they arrived back at the dirt road where they left the cruiser, a second vehicle was waiting for them. It looked exactly like any other police car except that it was painted entirely in black. As Nick approached, he noticed that the words, Zootopia police department were written in a matching black paint on the door. Unless you looked at the car directly from the side, the words simply blended with the rest of the body making them unreadable.
Stepping from the tall grass and onto the clear dirt, Nick noticed a third set of tire tracks that had pulled in behind the partially unmarked cruiser. The new tracks were for a much larger vehicle that had parked for several minutes before driving off. This was a fairly long and empty stretch of road in front of what to the casual observer looked like an abandoned ranch. If he wasn't already a police officer, he would have found it very suspicious that a pair of cruisers were parked out here in the middle of nowhere.
Nick bent over to scratch at his paw again and spotted a very small set of clawed paw prints in the dirt near the large tire tracks. Standing up, his eyes followed them up to the all black cruiser where they stopped and stomped in the dirt several times before sprinting into the tall grass to the south.
Following the boar nonchalantly towards their own cruiser, the fox spotted Lieutenant Zanne sitting in the driver's seat of the second vehicle. The wolf was casually sipping a long cold thermos of coffee as his eyes scanned the sky in front of the black cruiser.
Once they reached their own car, Tusken opened the trunk and motioned for the rookie to load the rifle into the back with the other assortment of large and small weapons. He had placed his binocular case in its own slot before closing the hatch and turning towards the fox with an outstretched hoof.
Tusken, shook the fox's paw. "Good job, son. I can see that your skills have been improving, but like I said out at the blind, you should spend some more time practicing those longer ranges. In the city, a few hundred meters is usually more than adequate, but out in the country or in the Meadowlands, that extra distance could save your life."
"Thanks, Lieutenant," Nick saluted the instructor. "I will remember what you have taught me today."
The boar motioned to the all black cruiser that was parked behind his own. "Now I believe that Lieutenant Zanne had something he wanted to discuss with you." He climbed into his black and white police car and waved to the fox, "Good, luck and we will see ya when you get back to town." Without another word he flipped the car around and quickly sped back towards the big city.
Grumbling to himself that he had been left alone in an open and empty field with the speciest wolf, Nick watched the veteran sniper drive away. It was more than twenty kilometers back to the city from the ranch and it looked like he was going to have to ride back with the fox hater.
Zanne did not go out of his way to cause trouble for Nick, but he was quite open about his feelings for foxes. The large grey wolf despised the smaller canids and considered them inferior. As Nick's tracking instructor, he would never go easy on the fox, but seemed to delight in giving the tod the hardest possible challenges and watching him struggle with few tips and suggestions.
Nick avidly absorbed all of the information that the wolf gave him in the classroom and met or exceeded most of the challenges. Despite the fox's continued success, Lieutenant Zanne was nearly as hard on him as Major Fredkin had been back in the academy. Blindfolded runs through busy city streets and timed identification challenges pushed the reinard's nose to its limits. Everytime Nick succeeded he could see the frustration on the wolf's muzzle, but he would not back down or let up in the slightest, and he never once praised the fox for his good work.
The fox's paws crunched softly in the loose gravel that lined the edge of the country road. Nick raised his fox mask, showing only a friendly smirk. He then casually ambled towards the open, driver's side window, where Zanne leaned with one elbow. The wolf paid little attention to the camouflage fox and took another sip from his tall, steel coffee thermos.
"Lieutenant Tusken said you wanted to see me, Sir," the fox said as he stepped up to the large, bored mammal.
The lieutenant took a long pull on the nearly empty container without looking at the smaller mammal. He breathed deeply and closed the lid before asking, "Have you eaten?" Without waiting for a response, he tossed a wolf sized protein bar to the fox. "Here, you are going to need it."
"Thanks," Nick replied with his faux smile. That was the first time this wolf had ever done anything nice for him and he suspected that there was much more going on, so he stuffed the large, plastic wrapped, food into one of the many pockets in his black and green coat.
Once again, the wolf tossed another item through the open window without looking at the fox. He expected the smaller mammal to be quick on his paws and to catch whatever flew at him. Before Nick could catch the dark blue ZPD t-shirt, the wolf was giving him orders, "Find the mammal that shirt belongs to."
Nick caught the crudely folded shirt in both paws and gave it a long sniff. Three distinct mammals had pawed the shirt recently but one scent was much stronger than the others. He smelled Lieutenant Zanne's obnoxious perfume on the exterior of the cloth and knew that the wolf had deliberately applied it to throw him off the real scent. "You are going to have to start using a different distraction wolfboy," Nick thought to himself.
The two other scents were from a weasel and a raccoon, but the weasel's scent seemed to permeate every fiber of the cloth while the raccoon may have only worn it a few times recently. He did not recognize the scent of either mammal, but from other scents on the cloth he suspected they were from the Sahara Central district. The ZPD did not have officers from either species so it was possible that they worked in other departments, like IT or accounting.
Tossing the shirt back to the aloof wolf, he asked, "Which one?"
Zanne looked back at the short fox with a hint of irritation on his muzzle, "You figure it out Wilde." He pointed to his wrist watch and uttered with malice spread thickly on his voice like cream cheese on day old toast, "The clock is ticking and the perp already has a two hour lead so you had better get moving." The wolf then rolled up his window and returned to wincing over the cold and bitter coffee.
"Shit," the fox cried as he turned towards where he had seen those small tracks run off the side of the road and into the grass. He had smelled the weasel's scent around the black cruiser earlier, but hadn't paid much attention to it until after smelling the shirt. Now the smell filled his senses and drew him into the empty field.
Not looking back at the wolf in the dark car, Nick never saw Zanne pull out his phone to make a call. "He is on his way," the lieutenant spoke into the receiver. "You had better get moving if you want to keep ahead of him." The wolf disconnected the call and casually watched Nick disappear into the grassy field.
The camo-covered fox could have followed the small tracks in the soft soil but using his nose was easier and he could run at full speed at the same time. For the first fifty meters or so the scent ran straight south, but after passing a very old fence post it started to zig and zag through the grass. At one point the scent made a hard right turn that nearly caused the speeding fox to fly directly past it, but he quickly turned around and after a few seconds of searching the area he was able to find it again.
While following the fading scent through the empty field, Nick's mind began to wander. The open grass had no other mammal scents to distract him and aside from the winding route the weasel took and the occasional back tracking, the scent was very easy to follow. Without the need to concentrate on his task, his mind returned to the text conversation with the shrew earlier.
With the need to maintain a steady pace, the fox decided to leave his phone off and in his pocket. He was still able to imagine the rabbit in that very sexy outfit and did not need a reminder of her alluring bare fur. Simply thinking about the picture caused his body to immediately react and his tail to swish in excitement.
Why had the tiny mob boss's daughter sent him those images? And how had she convinced his prudish ex-rabbit-friend to try them on, let alone allow herself to be photographed? It was almost incomprehensible to the fox. Even after they had mated, he could tell that Judy still had qualms about showing off her bare fur.
Her muzzle and ears would turn bright red whenever she caught him watching her change, or when he spied on her in the shower. She would often hide her eyes at the sight of him undressing in front of her. He found her shyness around him to be quite endearing and would often give her a hug and kiss in such situations, which only caused her even more embarrassment.
It was funny how often her embarrassment would quickly turn to fevered intimacy. That shy little rabbit could turn into a seductive little demoness in the blink of an eye, and the fox had to be careful teasing her too much lest he find himself flat on his back with no clothes on.
Nick was still confused with what was going on between Judy and Fru Fru. He knew that they were the best of friends and Judy often confided with the crafty shrew in all manner of city life. Picturing the photo in his mind again, the fox realized that it was not taken in the rabbit's apartment or anywhere that he was familiar with, in fact he thought the background looked a lot like a department store dressing room.
Following the weasel's scent over a slight incline, Nick tapped his chin with a sharp claw as he worked the lingerie dilemma over in his mind. The shrew had taken Judy to a specialty store and somehow encouraged her to pose for those photos, but why? What was that little predator up to?
After crossing the short hill, the scent descended into a long gully that had recently carried a small stream of water. It was rocky at the bottom and the weasel had climbed over several boulders trying to hide his scent from any pursuer. Neither well traveled pavement or random boulders could hide a perp's scent from the fox's long nose.
The scent back tracked several times, but Nick quickly realized that the weasel was headed in the downstream direction had there been any water flowing in that dry channel. He ignored any of the side branches that the smaller predator had left and continued down the gully.
In the back of his mind, the fox wrestled with the other problem at paw. For as long as he knew Mr. Big, he could never understand that shrew's daughter. She was a complete enigma to him. From what he remembered, the spoiled little shrew was constantly scheming to get whatever she wanted from her father or the other mammals around her.
As a young teen, Fru Fru had spent months trying to convince Nick to acquire a priceless dollhouse that was once owned by the princess of some far off country just so that she could have a royal bedroom to sleep in. Nick had eventually given in to her demands after her pranks started getting more elaborate. That shrew was relentless when she wanted something and his sense of self preservation was quite keen whenever she was near.
Yet, those two seductive photos she had sent him made him want to fall head over paws again for the beautiful rabbit. He even slipped on several loose rocks in the narrow ravine when the thought crossed his mind. Fru Fru was an enigma wrapped in a mystery surrounded by a ball of dangerous spikes and if he was not careful he could lose a paw in any dealings with her.
Without opening his phone he tried to remember what her message had said. The first words that returned to his mind were the shrew's threats to tell her father how he had hurt the bunny. It was Judy who had left him in a fit of tears, not the other way around.
Thinking back on that night nearly two weeks ago, he felt like something was out of sorts with the rabbit. She had been overly emotional that night, and her mood had shifted so fast that it made his head spin. There was something about that dumb news article that had seriously upset the rabbit. It was only more of the typical anti-inter garbage that mammals had been spewing for years, why was this one so important?
Nick could also not understand why she was so upset at him about the transfer. Yes, he had not told her about them, but he did not understand why she had been so upset. Was it something Bogo had said to her after he left? She said that she needed some time to herself to work things out on her own, but in all this time she had not called or texted him or even left one single email explaining what was going on. It was like she had walked out of his life that night and never looked back.
As the fox followed the gully down to a shallow stream, he remembered what Fru Fru had said. She had demanded that he apologize to Judy and ordered him to fix the bunny. Did the shrew blame him for the breakup? If the two females were as close as Nick suspected then Judy must also blame him for everything.
Slipping on more loose rocks at the bottom of the ravine, Nick thought about the last few things Judy had said to him. She was very upset about something he had done. Was she mad about him saving her job, again? Was she mad that he had joined the T.U.S.K. team? Or was it something simpler that he was missing?
These troubling thoughts swirled through his brain while he followed the weasel's scent up to the edge of the slow moving stream. Without hesitation or turning aside, the mustelid had waded straight into the shallow water. Nick could clearly see the small mammal's clawed tracks in the wet sand that lined the streambank.
The fox halted suddenly at the edge of the narrow channel of water. Looking across to the other side, he did not see any paw prints on the opposing shore only a couple of meters away. The weasel must have tried to follow the stream in an attempt to cover his scent.
Sniffing around the shoreline, Nick smelled the fleeing mammal's scent all over the place. The water must have pulled it from his skin and fur as it lapped at his ankles and legs. It was everywhere along the edge of the water, both upstream and down. So strong was the scent along the shore that Nick was almost confused to the point of losing the trail.
He ran downstream for several meters before turning around and running back up. Running back and forth for several minutes, he began to realize that it was much stronger upstream. With the scent once again filling his large, black nostrils, he headed against the flow of water.
After a few bends in the stream, the shore began to sprout thicker foliage and the sandy shore turned to larger rocks and pebbles. Tall reeds and felinetailed grasses captured the weasel's scent and prevented it from spreading to the shore so Nick was forced to wade into the water and push aside the tall reeds.
With his progress slowed, the fox continued to press on upstream. The training that he had received over the past week helped him to identify that the scent he was tracking was still more than two hours old. The weasel had surely been slowed by the stream, but Nick had not caught up to them and had possibly even been slowed down when he had nearly lost them in the water.
Around the next bend, Nick saw an old, gnarled tree trunk hanging out over the water. This late in the fall he could not tell if the tree had recently died or would sprout leaves again in the spring. Its thick branches leaned out over the middle of the stream and nearly touched the surface.
When the weasel's scent vanished after passing the tree, the fox immediately knew what had happened. He quickly doubled back and crossed the stream near the tree and began sniffing the shore near its trunk. The fleeing mammal had clearly climbed across the tree, but after that his scent seemed to vanish, until Nick sniffed at a large boulder a few meters away.
The escaping mammal had jumped from a large branch to the rock and then to others along the shoreline. At another bend in the stream, the scent disappeared again. This time Nick was able to pick it up again on the wall of a nearby cliff. The weasel had easily scurried up the rough, vine choked wall, but the fox who lacked any climbing skills had to take the long way around.
Losing another twenty minutes, Nick was able to find a gentle slope where he could climb to the top of the cliff and found the scent trail once again. From there he followed it through a copse of trees.
Ten minutes of running through the sparse forest, he stumbled across a well maintained cabin. At first glance, Nick thought it was occupied. The area directly in front of the structure was clean and brush free while a fresh stack of firewood was piled neatly against one wall. Bright curtains even hung in the large, clean windows, but no car sat in the driveway.
His strong nose told him that the trail went straight to the front door, but no one answered when he knocked and the door remained locked. He did not know where he was or if the ZPD had jurisdiction in this part of the country so breaking down the door was not an option. For several seconds he thought about calling Lieutenant Zanne before his nose picked up the trail coming from a different direction.
Nick ran around the back of the cabin and found the weasel's scent leading from a back door up to an outhouse several meters from the main building. From the smells, he knew that it had recently been used. He also detected the faint hit of campfire smoke near the cabin, but whatever had been burning, it had been extinguished roughly forty minutes ago. It did not cross his mind that forty minutes was how long he had been tracking this mammal.
After leaving the outhouse, the weasel headed down the drive and back into the woods. Eventually the scent reached a dirt road that was nothing more than a pair of well ground ruts running between the large trees. The scent was very strong now and Nick began to sprint along the trail that could barely be called a road.
As the fox sprinted away from the cozy cabin nestled deep in the woods, he never noticed the sun set behind the distant hills. Once it was fully dark, Nick found himself completely lost in the thick woods. All he had to guide him was a pair of ruts and the scent of a fleeing weasel.
The ruts ran around a log that had fallen across a much older trail and the weasel's scent stopped at the log before continuing on. Nick could tell that the new trail was much fresher and he picked up speed. He was gaining on the mammal that he was tracking and he also knew that he could outrun most weasels any day of the week. It was only a matter of time before he caught this perp and his heart raced at the thrill of the chase.
Many minutes passed in silence as the fox raced along the rutted dirt trail. The thick trees created a long wall reminding him of a gloomy maze. Over his head, the naked branches also clawed towards the sky like thousands of bony fingers. After several more minutes the forest dropped away to an open plain.
Suddenly the weasel's trail turned off the road and into a field of tall grass. The road had broken free of the trees nearly five minutes past and cut straight through tall grass and weeds similar to the fields where he had started this impromptu adventure. Now the scent trail turned unerringly to the north like the weasel knew exactly where it was going in the moonless darkness.
The fox could see almost as well in the pervading gloom as he could during the day while wearing a pair of dark glasses. Daylight actually hurt the fox's sensitive eyes and he often had to wear glasses to protect the delicate organs from becoming dayblind.
At night he was in his element and he felt like he had woken from a long nap despite having been awake for nearly fourteen hours. Lieutenant Tusken had woken him early and they left the city long before dawn to set up the sniper targets. Now, renewed energy filled his canid body and he increased his speed as he chased after the fleeing mustelid.
After several more minutes, he began to hear a faint rustling sound in the tall grass, many meters ahead. "Stop, this is the ZPD," he called out to the running mammal.
The rustling sound stopped for only a pair of heartbeats before it returned with increased speed.
"Does no one ever stop when they are told to?" Nick asked the fleeing sound. "I guess I wouldn't stop either if I was being chased by a strange mammal in the dark, through an empty field of grass, on a moonless night." He chuckled at the irony of that thought, but continued to pursue the scent trail at full speed.
Two more minutes passed when he heard the sound of a car door open and recognized lieutenant Zanne's voice, "Quick, get in the car." Only meters ahead, he heard the cruiser's engine groan to life and the sound of tires slowly turning on gravel.
Nick broke through the tall grass to see the all black cruiser turn around on the road with a grey wolf at the wheel and a weasel in a white shirt and blue tie sitting in the passenger seat.
"Zanne, wait!" the fox cried before the Lieutenant could drive away.
The wolf hit the breaks for a second and looked back at the fox who ran up alongside his car. "Good job, Wilde, but you're two minutes too late." Hitting the gas again, Zanne yelled back at the fox standing in a cloud of fresh dust, "I hope you didn't eat all of that energy bar I gave you."
Waving a large paw in the air, Zanne honked the horn and flashed his headlights as he drove into the night. In the flat open countryside that surrounded the city, Nick was able to watch the car's red tail lights for several kilometers before they disappeared over a hill.
The dry country road was dark and lonely after Zanne's cruiser vanished over the horizon. A layer of clouds had rolled in after sunset and blocked most of the light from the stars, but lights from the city illuminated the fluffy bags of water from below allowing the nocturnal fox to easily make out the shapes around him.
Jogging back to the city was going to be out of the question. It would take a fox, in the best shape of his life, a few hours to run that far. Even if he managed to get there quickly, none of the metro lines were running this late at night and it would take several more hours to reach his apartment. By the time he arrived home he would already be late for work tomorrow. He was going to need a ride, and Zuber would charge two paws and a tail to drive this far outside the city.
There was only one mammal that he knew that would be willing to pick him up for the price of only a couple of beers. He hoped that this samaritan was still awake and that his bright orange van was up and running.
In the nearly total darkness, Nick pulled his phone from his pocket and turned on the device. On the screen, a large red message declared that the phone did not have a good signal. Nick lifted his phone in the air and turned around several times with no change until he crossed the road. Pointing north from the western side of the road Nick's phone showed that it had a one solid bar of signal so he quickly dialed his friend's number.
On his first attempt the other end rang for nearly a minute before going to voicemail so Nick tried again. Three rings later the line picked up and Nick quickly spoke into the tiny hole where the microphone resided, "Hello."
"What do you want?" came the gruff and very groggy voice on the other end.
"Hey, Finn," the fox said, trying to sound cheerful. "I am in a spot of trouble and need a lift."
"What the hell, Red," Finnick's angry voice caused Nick to pull the phone away from his sharply pointed ear. "You do know I am on a date right now?"
A distinct female voice called sweetly from behind the fennec fox, "Hey honey. Is that the hot fox that my niece is dating?"
With his muzzle turned from the phone and sounding slightly hurt, Finnick replied, "Yes, but I thought I was the only hot fox for you."
The female giggled seductively and moved closer to the phone. "Of course you are dear, but why don't you join me here in this very warm bed and tell me all about your friend?"
"Finnick?" Nick asked nervously.
"Sorry buddy," the older fox replied, his voice sounding even huskier than normal. "I can't help right now. Give me about an hour." Another giggled could be heard over the phone before the fennec added, "Make that two hours." Several more giggles and a squeal followed before the line went silent.
"Finnick! Buddy?" the lone fox called in the dark. He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes towards the cloudy sky. "Good luck on that date bro."
Lowering his phone, Nick walked over to a large rock that had been resting on the side of the road. Lifting his tail to the side, the fox sat down on the rock to think. Who else would be able to drive out this far to get him? Judy was the first mammal that crossed his mind, but he knew that she didn't own a car and Bogo would never approve of using ZPD property for something like this.
His next thought was to call Fru Fru, but he dismissed that idea faster than you could say polar bear. There was no way he would even consider owing a favor to that shrew, and riding smashed between two large bears was not how he wanted to spend his evening.
Scrolling through his list of contacts, he stumbled across another number that he would never have considered before. With another sigh, he crossed his fingers and hoped that this mammal was off duty right now and willing to help out a fellow officer. Tapping a sharp claw on the call symbol next to the name, Nick waited several seconds before the voice of a middle aged mammal answered.
"Hello?" A familiar voice asked in a tone that said he was clearly still awake and alert.
"Wolfard," Nick cried urgently. "This is Nick. What are you doing right now?"
"Nick?" the grey wolf queried cautiously.
"Wilde, Officer Nick Wilde," the fox answered with only a hint of distress. He wondered how the wolf detective had forgotten his name so soon. It had only been two weeks since he had spoken to the older wolf, but the mammal's memory should not be failing him yet. Maybe he knew other Nicks. Shaking his head, the fox began to explain the situation but Wolfard spoke first.
"Hey buddy," Wolfard greeted cheerfully. "How is the T.U.S.K. team treating you these days?"
Holding the phone flat in front of his muzzle, Nick explained, "It has been great, pal. Training has been going well, but that is why I called. I need some help."
"Sure, anything to help a fellow officer," the grey wolf replied before pausing for a second. "I heard you were enrolled in the Sniffing and Tracking course. Did you need some tips? Don't expect me to do your homework for you."
"No, nothing like that," the fox waved his paw in the air frantically. "I am actually stuck out here at The Ranch."
"At The Ranch?" Wolfard coughed loudly into the phone. "If they brought you out there then you must be progressing very quickly. It's usually months before any of the trainees are even shown that place."
Nick thought about the wolf's statement for several seconds before he replied, "I was here with Lieutenant Tusken for some target practice. After we finished and were packing up to leave, then Zanne shows up. I wasn't scheduled for any additional Sniffer training today but there he was like he was taking a Sunday stroll."
"Zanne? Sniffer trainer?" The wolf's tone sounded dubious, even annoyed.
"Yeah," Nick nodded in the dark. "Lieutenant Zanne was assigned as my trainer."
"Lieutenant Jack Zanne?" the voice on the phone asked again.
"They never told me his first name, but he is a younger grey wolf that reminds me of you," the fox explained. "Do you know him?"
"If it's the same Zanne I am thinking of," Wolfard answered. "He is my cousin's son, and I taught that pup all he knows about sniffing and tracking. He would be a good instructor, but why are you stuck at The Ranch?"
Standing up, Nick waved a paw in the air and nearly yelled into the phone, "Because your damn cousin's son ditched me out here in the middle of nowhere."
"Whoo, calm down there son," the wolf said, trying to console the agitated fox. "Can you explain exactly what happened?"
Pacing back and forth across the street, Nick continued his tirade, "When I asked Zanne what was up, he assigned me a tracking task. Something he seems to do quite frequently at inconvenient times and places, so this was nothing new."
"Standard training practice to keep the trainee on their toes," Wolfard acknowledged.
"So he tosses me this ZPD t-shirt and orders me to find the owner," Nick explained, waving a paw through the thick blackness that surrounded him. "The shirt smelled like racoon and weasel, but the weasel's scent was all over the ground around the Lieutenant's car so I started tracking that one."
"Sounds like he grabbed one of the office workers from his old precinct to take a hike in the woods."
"The guy he picked was extra squirrely," the fox said, shaking his head. "I don't think he could walk a straight line to save his life. He kept zig zagging all over the field and jumping over boulders and climbing cliffs like some kind of spidermammal."
Chuckling, Wolfard interrupted the fox's rant, "I could probably track Spidermammal you know. His scent would still fall to the ground even after swinging by on those ropes of his."
"What?" Nick yelled across the empty field.
"Nothing, mammal. Just continue with what has got you so pissed at the Lieutenant."
Taking a deep breath, the fox sat down on the large rock again and continued, "After wading through the river and up that sheer cliff I came across this tidy cabin in the woods where it seems my target was hanging out for a while."
"Cabin? River?" Wolfard tapped a sharp claw on his chin for a few seconds. "That must have been the old Hornsby residence. The chief has been trying to buy that place for years."
"Right," Nick said with a nod. "The weasel left before I got there and raced back to the main road where he met back up with Zanne." A frustrated snarl escaped from the fox's jaws but no one was there to see his sharp and shiny teeth. "I caught up with the runner right when he jumped into Zanne's car and the two of them turned and took off back to the city, but not before the Lieutenant told me I was two minutes too late."
Gasping, Wolfard asked, "So he saw you behind him and deliberately left you on the side of the road?"
"Yes, absolutely," the fox answered, nodding his head angrily.
"That bastard!" the older wolf snarled. "I am going to have to give that pup a firm talking to." The sound of something flicked loudly behind the wolf before he turned back to the fox, "For now, you sit tight and I should be there in about forty minutes. It is supposed to get cold tonight. Do you have anything warm to wear?"
Again the fox nodded before speaking, "I am in full camo gear with muzzle and tail coverings. This stuff is pretty warm. If anything there are the sniper huts a few clicks from the road."
"Alright," Wolfard instructed. "Stay by the road as long as you can and I will get there as quickly as possible, but if it starts pouring don't hesitate to take shelter and I will come find you."
"Roger that, Detective," Nick replied with a sloppy salute that would not earn him an elbow in the ribs tonight. Leaning back exhausted, the fox nearly fell from the rock as he disconnected his phone.
It was going to be a long wait on that dark and empty road before the wolf detective could reach him so Nick began to thumb through the apps on his phone. He only had less than half a battery left so playing one of the many free games he had installed was not an option.
Looking through his recent messages, he spotted the two pictures from Fru Fru. She had essentially ordered him to find a way to make up with Judy. Defying the little shrew was not something a mammal did if they wanted to have a long and healthy life. He still was not sure what to say to the rabbit that would make her forgive him, but the least he could do was talk to her.
While he was stuck out here, he had more than enough time to sit down and talk to the bunny. It was past time that they should have made up. He thought she only needed a few hours of time to think, but that was two weeks ago. Scrolling down to her contact information, he decided that he should apologize first.
Looking at the stats on top of his phone he realized that the current reception was terrible and the charge would not last long enough to have a decent conversation with the angry bunny. He decided that calling Judy would have to wait until he was home and near a phone charger or even the next day after he had a chance to rest.
As he was putting his phone back in his pocket, it suddenly dawned on him that he did not know Judy's schedule. He did not want to call her in the middle of work, that would have been a really bad move. Clawhauser would let him know when she was off next so he sent the big cheetah a quick text before sitting back against the rock to wait for Wolfard to arrive.
A loud horn blared waking the fox from his fitful slumber. A cloud of dust surrounded the old sunbird sedan causing the lazy mammal laying on the side of the road to sputter and choke. The fox rolled over in an attempt to dodge out of the way of the large vehicle, but it had already come to a stop beside him.
"Get off the road, ya lazy bum!" A familiar voice called jokingly from the car's open window.
Nick sat up and shouted back, "Cool that tail, Wolfard. I'm moving alright."
The fox had never seen the wolf's car before and could barely make out the shape with the bright headlights glaring in his sensitive green eyes. What he could make out of the shape after running around to the passenger side, reminded him of an old fashioned unmarked detective's car that he remembered seeing in some very old police movies. It was long, fairly boxy and nowhere near as sleek as the ones they got to drive now. He did manage to spot the tell tale spotlight next to the driver's side mirror.
Hauling at the heavy door, Nick was able to barely climb into the wolf sized sedan and buckle his belt while the wolf smirked humorlessly. Wolfard himself, was almost twice as tall as Nick and sitting next to the larger canid made him feel like a kit. Being a fox in such a diverse city, there were many mammals much larger than he was, but there were also many smaller species. The difference in sizes was something that Nick had gotten used to at a much younger age and didn't give it a second thought.
When Nick finally managed to close the large car door, Wolfard slowly turned the car around and headed back to the city. The suspension on the older car was also quite rough and the fox bounced in the oversized seat with every rock and pothole.
After several minutes of silence, the tod looked over at the wolf in the driver's seat and asked, "So what is the deal with Lieutenant Zanne?"
"He probably hates foxes as much as I," Wolfard snapped his jaw shut before finishing the sentence, but Nick caught onto the slip.
Raising his muzzle slightly to better see the large predator, Nick pushed the wolf to explain himself, "As much as you what?"
Wolfard took a deep breath and let it out slowly in a long sigh before he looked back at the fox and replied, "As much as the rest of my family does."
Shaking his head from side to side, the fox frowned and said, "No, I am pretty sure you were about to say, as much as I did."
With a slight snarl, the wolf relented, "Yeah. I used to despise foxes, ok." He threw up both paws as if to say, "So what?" He turned back to the road before continuing, "My entire family does, and I completely agreed with them. I never met a single honest fox in my entire career."
The car hit a short series of washboard ruts and the wolf had to slow down and hold the wheel steady as he spoke, "I was never one to immediately blame foxes for every crime in the city." He tapped the end of his long muzzle. "But the nose does not lie. More often than not, the perp at the end of the trail ended up being a fox, so you can see how that only fueled my suspicions and mistrust."
Once past the rougher parts of the road, the ride did not feel any smoother and the fox continued to bounce in his seat. "But what about Zanne? Was he born with the same mistrust?"
"Not exactly," Wolfard said, shaking his head. "I learned that you could be trusted with the help of a certain rabbit cop who would not stop talking about you while you were in the academy. Jack on the other paw, probable deals with fox smugglers every day. His specialty is detecting contraband while mine is tracking."
The wolf shook his head again sadly. "Due to our jobs we tend to have a pretty jaded view of foxes, and having a family of mostly cops and correctional officers does little to improve the situation." He reached a paw across the car and placed it on the fox's small shoulder. "After working with you for several months, I can tell that you are a trustworthy and very loyal mammal."
The large grey paw that had clasped the fox's shoulder now reached in front of the small red mammal in an offer to shake. "It has been an honor working with you, Officer Wilde, and I would be glad if you could call me a friend."
"Thank, buddy," Nick replied, reaching for the much larger paw. "That bunny you mentioned earlier has always spoken highly of you so I would be honored to call you my friend, if you can do the same."
After the two mammal's shook, Wolfard continued, "Hazing is highly frowned upon in the ZPD so I will bring this up to Bogo as well as speak with the pup myself. That should put an end to Jack harassing you further."
When Wolfard finally pulled his old car onto the main highway that led directly into the city, Nick decided to change the subject. "Speaking of a certain rabbit cop, how has Judy been doing?"
"Officer Hopps has been fine," the wolf answered quietly.
Ignoring the aversion in the wolf's tone, Nick continued his inquiry, "So are the two of you still going on patrols together?"
"Nope," was the wolf's flat response. "Bogo has her teamed up with Fangmeyer for the time being, while I work with the Meadowlands precinct to prevent another gang war."
Happy to hear any news of his ex-bunny, the fox clapped his paws excitedly. "Has she said anything about me? I have not spoken to her since I transferred to the T.U.S.K. team so I am worried how she is doing."
"She hasn't spoken about you at all." Wolfard let his hind paw off the gas and the car slowed significantly while he turned to the fox beside him. "As your friend I suggest that you keep your distance from her for now."
"Why is that?" the fox asked curiously. "Does she have a new boyfriend?" His ears twitched nervously but his tone never showed any agitation.
"Look," the wolf stated with a loud sigh. "Judy has been very upset since you two had that big fight."
"She told you about that?" Nick blew a puff of air past his sharp fangs and seemed to sink into the seat slightly.
"Yes," Wolfard nodded sadly. "She told Fangmeyer everything about that day and I was sitting next to them at the time."
"Did she explain why she left?"
"I heard enough to know that you both are to blame for what happened."
"So I should call her right now and apologize?" Nick asked, sitting up straight in his chair and pulling out his phone.
Wolfard reached out his big paw and placed it over the phone. "Hold off on that thought for now."
"Why?"
Another long sigh escaped the wolf's lips. "Judy has been struggling these last two weeks to put her life back together and she doesn't need any more complications right now."
Holding the blank phone in both paws, Nick turned to look up at the large wolf. "What are you saying, Wolfard?"
"She needs a lot of space to work out her feelings," he explained. "I am sure you know bunnies better than I do, but I suggest that you give her some time to figure things out. Don't be a jerk and leave a bunch of pathetic voice mails on her phone or a ton of sappy text messages. Write her a single apology email and leave it at that. Let her decide on her own when she is ready to talk, but right now is not a good time to get pushy with that rabbit."
Nick's eyes opened wide and his jaw slowly dropped while the wolf continued to talk. "Complications? Figure things out?" He tapped his chin once Wolfard finished and an idea struck him light lightning. "She is seeing someone else, isn't she? Don't bother telling me, pal. I already know the answer."
With the best fatherly tone the wolf could muster, he turned and spoke to the irate fox, "I think that the two of you should spend some time apart. It is what is best for both of you right now." He placed a large paw on the fox's shoulder. "Please, just stay away from Judy for now and let her decide if she wants to see you again or not."
The fox's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed into a scowl. "Don't worry about me, Wolfard. I understand what you are saying as plainly as a clear summer day." He turned on his phone and quickly opened the messaging app. Patting at the large paw still resting on his shoulder, he spoke without looking up, "Thank you for telling me the truth. It really means a lot to me."
A faux mask slammed shut over Nick's muzzle as his heart was crushed by those few, short words. His jaw clenched tighter in the dark and his ears fell to the sides of his head while his entire body stiffened.
In the fox's paws he made a few swiping motions with a clawed finger and deleted the entire conversation from Fru Fru earlier that day. He made sure that both the messages and sexy images were removed. Browsing through the local and cloud files, he ensured that everything the shrew had sent was wiped from the phone's memory.
With a few more flicks of his paw, Nick almost did the same for his last conversation with Judy. His sudden anger nearly wiped the fiery rabbit from his life in one fell swoop, but something held his paw. He felt that she did not deserve such scorn.
Judy was an important part of his life now and to simply wipe her memory from existence was a mistake that he knew that he would regret for a very long time. Wolfard said that she was not ready to speak to him yet, so with a long and shuttery sigh, he decided that he would wait. In his heart he still loved that excitable young rabbit so he would wait until she decided to come find him.
[A/N] Oh no! What has Wolfard done? Has he ruined everything for our favorite couple? Is Nick ever going to call Judy back, or is Fru Fru going to have to step in with the help of some large white bears? Fine out what happens in three weeks when the next chapter gets uploaded.
Things have been pretty rough for me this year. Normally March is when I am the most creative, but with a second job taking all my time I have barely written anything this month. At this time there are still three chapters left unfinished. Don't worry, I still have six more written that are waiting on beta readers, so I have several more months left to get the last few chapters done.
For anyone asking, I do have something special planned for the end of part two. I just need to find some time to put it on paper.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story for all this time :)