A.N. It's been nearly a year since my last update. Real life intruded in just about every way possible, I'll spare you the details, and only recently was I able to catch up with my characters (both Disney's and my OC's) and do their endeavors justice. For those of my readers that stuck out this unfortunate delay, here is the penultimate chapter of Sandcastles. Life has recently improved drastically for me, and the last chapter here, and future writing endeavors should be far more timely. Of course, reviews are always appreciated, even angry ones for being so tardy with this. Thanks for you patience!
Chapter Thirty Three
Trials and Tribulations Part One
8:40 PM Tuesday, May 2nd southbound with Jack Savage on Federal Heights Boulevard, Concordia.
"Find something?" Jack said quietly as Nadine leaned over his head to look out ahead of them. The now plain clothed tiger officer's bulk in the aisle seat kept him well hidden from the other bus passengers.
"There's a Red Rocks Extended Stay coming up—looks to be decent and says it takes all sizes."
"No good, way too risky, Dr. Soren and Wilde were both there recently. We need something sketchier a couple miles further down—we'll get into an older commercial area there—it'll make this work better." He hadn't yet fully explained what 'this' was to the apparently somewhat straight-laced officer.
"Why do you want seedy? You live around here, don't you know where the better places to hole up are?"
"You're a cop, you know why. You just got spoiled back there." Understandable, Jack thought, the Growley's lofty suite was set up for big cats after all. Nadine finally spotted a couple more prospects ahead and signaled for the next stop. She held their luggage low to help shield him as he exited ahead of her.
The Bellevue motel nicely met his requirements, a well-worn structure with some rooms large enough for a tiger and likely several decades of tawdry stories behind them. It even had a ' acancy' sign out front.
"Be a little deferential towards me and back me up if needed—just go with the flow." He limped inside ahead of the perplexed officer to find a large sow seated behind a window and a once white countertop.
"We'll need a room for two for several nights...if you'd please," Jack said as he searched in vain for a name tag or sign. Her snout pushed out and tipped down to look at him; she took in his bruised and bandaged state, and their significant size disparity for several seconds.
"Don't want you bringin in trouble, what gives with you two?" she said with gravelly assertion.
"Had an accident on set, just need to rest for a few days," Jack provided the bare minimum of information hoping it would be enough. It wasn't, as the attendant merely crossed her arms on the counter.
"Lighting scaffold came down. Doc's just wrapped me to try and reduce the bruising so it won't show. Still need to finish my shoot before I can go home—I'm not local."
"So double Z's using smaller actors now?" the sow said with some more interest. "You're more their usual fare honey," she said, looking up at a suddenly dismayed Officer Fangmeyer.
"I'm a...production assistant...behind the camera," Nadine said quickly. "He's the...talent."
"They're expanding into new markets so they needed a name!" Jack said pridefully.
The sow turned a forelimb up and bade him continue with her larger pair of hoof tipped fingers.
"Jack Hammer!" he said, earning a snort of amusement.
"Usually don't get...the big celebrities in here Mr. Hammer," she said skeptically. "Double Z having ta cut corners now?"
"Just keep this quiet so we don't get occupational safety involved again. It's a private client shoot, we have to watch their budget."
Their porcine attendant nodded knowingly, took his prepaid cash card, and Nadine was given a fairly large room key. They remained silent until they were in their ground floor room near the rear of the property, and they'd finished a cursory bug search. For both live and electronic he had to concede. She then turned on the TV to make sure that it worked, then left the sound up enough to mask their conversation since one adjacent room was occupied.
"Not what I expected, but you did cover us pretty well Savage, she didn't ask for ID or even my name. We should be safe for a few days." Nadine shifted her luggage to the lone rack, put the evidence pack in the closet, then turned to scrutinize him. "You knew about this...studio—it must be nearby. Was this just a cover story or were you actually? Judy told me you were a wrestler...but not this kind of one."
"I was neither patron nor participant; although I once...assisted them with an administrative matter...a few years ago," Jack admitted carefully, hoping that would satisfy her curiosity.
"An administrative matter? For a porn studio? Were you on or off duty, or was this...from before?"
"I did nothing illegal or immoral, and also completed a minor assignment from my present employer."
"So. You were undercover Savage?"
"No, just a routine investigation. That studio is fairly notorious around here, and creative in skirting ordinances promoted by the less permissive elements of society—my mention of private clients contracting their services being one of their work-arounds."
Jack looked around at their marginally code compliant lodgings. Although billed as a dual medium/large room, none of the furniture looked particularly comfortable or accessible to him given his physical condition. He inverted a small wastebasket and used it as a step to get up onto his bed. Nadine watched him, obviously unsure whether she should offer aid.
"So, Savage, all we can do now is wait?" she said in resignation.
"Until we hear from one of the Wilde's—or one of your contacts about your chief. CNN's obviously censored and worthless, so we'll have to wait another hour for any other late news to come on. I don't expect there will be any change from the ones broadcast at six anyway."
"How long should we wait for Officer Wilde to check in? And for confirmation Chief Bogo knows?"
"Eight or nine in the morning? I'm honestly not expecting him to be able to," Jack said morosely. "As for Bogo, we'll have to forego his official cover for now and continue to disseminate this evidence as widely as we can. Getting it out there is more important than keeping it, and us, from being legally compromised. Even if we made the early mail pickup with the rest of these," he spread out the seven remaining flash drives and cover letters they'd copied out back at Pinnacles, "they wouldn't be delivered til late tomorrow; even the ones Eric dropped for us earlier might still be sitting in a box somewhere."
"If CNN's being censored Savage, why'd you have Eric give them a copy? And the other networks? That just reveals more of our evidence to the conspirators—and gives them time to react and suppress it!"
"And one to the police so we can say we tried proper channels," Jack added. "That way, any receipt or report generated helps our defense. And remember, the conspirators already settled on their narrative."
"The police..." Fangmeyer said with a twitch of her tail. "We've got one thing working for us Savage; there's been no mention of any officer or agent casualties during their phony raid. And nothing about who's in that announced fatality count."
"They've got the one shot by their own," Jack said, hoping his fiction would hold for Judy's sake. "Trying to explain that would be awkward, as would be revealing how some of the others were injured. Also, the real identities of those henchmammals would make it difficult to pass them off as victims."
"And plausible alternate ID's to make that work would take time they didn't have," she pointed out. "Disposing of those bodies was likely their best choice since they weren't the pred perps they needed."
"And still don't have; that's the big hole in their chosen cover story—unless Wilde gets caught," he said. "Now back to the networks. I'm hoping the conspirators are too busy keeping things off the air, and are stretched too thin to constantly check tip lines and mail coming in. We just need to have some uninvolved mammals see an explosive story cross their paws and spread the word. They temporarily doused a few big fires yesterday, let's see what they can do about a lot of little ones tomorrow. We just need to think like civic arsonists, and plant the rest of these where they can best ignite the..."
"Savage? Your face says you just had a wonderful, awful idea," Nadine said curiously.
"We have a well connected, locally well known cervid celebrity found in a compromising position. Think about who might want to see this officer Fangmeyer," Jack said easily, as he waved one of the flash drives.
"Tabloids," breathed Nadine. "And since we're public servants...we'll just have to give it to them."
"That might taint some of our evidence from Deer Trail, but those we rescued should be sufficient justification by themselves. If we get Verda splashed all over, it'll mean uncomfortable questions for officials desperate to keep their pointy little hooves clean. Garwood and possibly others might have to sacrifice Kinsley to protect their own hides. That's when we hit them with the Junction City evidence!"
"Savage? Why would Garwood and his cronies even think about setting up operations in a place called Deer Trail?"
"Long abandoned, remote, served their purposes for what was supposed to be covert research until...uhm...Agent Winter found it." Jack's trivial lapse still drew another quick grin from the tiger officer.
Alright, that look's beyond suspicion, so now there's four, possibly five mammals that know about us. Yeah, five. The way Dr. Soren looked at and kept Hopps away from Wilde when they showed up back at Pinnacles meant she knew about them—she'd naturally wonder about us next—did she find something in my house? My book was well wrapped when Nick brought it—so she shouldn't have seen that!
"Thought of a problem Savage." Nadine said, interrupting his concern over wider personal exposure. "How do the tabloids deal with unsolicited news like ours? Don't they usually use their own staff writers and photo stalkers? If they do take submissions, they might get a lot of them, so ours might not even be looked at for awhile."
"Unfortunately, you might be right. We need to get this out in a hurry—they are a publication and publishers have slush piles." Jack realized this would entail considerably more risk for them. "Direct delivery by a uniformed ZPD officer that was involved with the rescue should get their attention."
"I figured as much. Should probably do this as soon as their offices open. How much should I tell them about the wider conspiracy, or should I just emphasize that Verda was there and wasn't a victim?"
"Enough to get them to hold the presses and publish this now," Jack said. "We should also consider where else a personal drop would get this out faster. I'm thinking a talk radio station—maybe try for a live interview, we've got all night to think...wait, let's try to find a nocturnal blogger or news outlet first!"
Predawn, Wednesday, May 3rd inside a small fox den under four feet of earth and three inches of snow.
"My poor fox," Judy Hopps said for the fourth or fifth time. She crouched over his left leg, kneading its underside near the hip. That muscle was still tight, she'd only been able to make it partially release so far, and her paws were tiring. Her mate lay back silently, his head pillowed on some of their clothes, with eyes shut and face swathed in her shadow, cast by the flashlight she'd set in the entrance burrow.
Nick's apologies had run down and he'd withdrawn into unfounded embarrassment over the abrupt end of...our first time. Maybe he felt disappointment...for her. Her fox was still a work in progress, and from now on his transition from me to we would be more openly a joint effort. Although now, it was left to her.
"I owe you my life, and I'll always remember this," she said softly while continuing to knead his leg, "as an...example of what you went through to rescue and protect me." His head tipped a bit closer.
"Bordering on the banal there Fluff. And careful with the word connotation, example shares a meaning with emulate, and I don't want this to ever happen again," he said fairly evenly—surprising given his prior vigorous vocalizations. "So, when will I get the rest of my heroes reward?" he said more smugly.
"Well...considering how deeply in your debt I am, I think I'll need the lifetime installment plan...so I can make regular payments?" Judy teased, happy her bantering mate was back.
"You don't have to follow a rigid schedule, I'd allow reasonable variance regarding my...compensation."
"There may be something about those requirements in the rabbit regulations, I'll have to check them."
"As voluminous and restrictive as you've hinted they are, I doubt they cover our particular...state of affairs," her mate pointed out.
That's for sure. I'm...we're gonna be the biggest scandal the burrows have ever seen. Assuming I survive my family's wrath long enough to even see it spread. That'll also ensure that Sid and Tyne will be...vindicated in their eyes—and the community's.
That might be the worst of it, she realized; validating those prejudices and backwards attitudes of theirs that she'd fought to subdue. She did have support from some more tolerant or progressive family members, but how many would remain her allies when their suspicions about us became an overt fact that could affect their own social standing?
And none of that matters if we don't survive our present circumstances! Well into the wilderness, nearly out of supplies, no decent cold-weather gear, Nick risking disability with every step he'll take on this leg… Thank the spirits he twisted when he jerked to pull against his cramp—would've been squashed between him and the top of the burrow. An unexpected consequence of finally getting my powerful vulpine mate.
"How long can we wait in here...realistically? We've only got a couple sandwiches, I'm not equipped for the cold and I don't know how long storms back here can last," she seriously stated her worries as his muscle started to tighten under her paws again. Those felt about ready to cramp up too.
"Judy, quickly! Sit on my knee and pull my foot back as hard as you can." He leaned up behind her as soon as she did, grabbed her midriff and helped her pull. "Aaaah! Don't let go!"
It took over a minute before he abruptly sighed, released her, and flopped back down. She relaxed her hold on his foot but stayed in contact with it.
"I think I'm okay now if we leave it alone. You're right, my in the fur mate, we need to decide on a plan. This is a late season storm so I'm hoping we won't get really snowed in, although we'd...you'd better get dressed and check on the conditions out there. I shouldn't move too much right now."
She retrieved a cellphone from the pack—at least it could still keep time if doing nothing else out here.
"Three fifty-two, Nick."
"Good, well over an hour before sunup. I'd like to use that cover if we can; we're still only a couple miles away from the estate." He shooed her up the burrow with a paw, so she pulled the pack further aside and took the flashlight with her—ignoring his "put something on!" admonition.
It was utterly black and still outside—and quite cold. Up, the flashlight revealed a very light snowfall; down and around, a few inches of it on the ground and bushes. She didn't waste any more time before retreating to the warmth of her fox comforter and their den. Mindful of his leg, she pushed her way up under his chin and wrapped her arms and legs around him. She'd barely started to rewarm when her fox rudely broke their cozy ambiance.
"I hate to interrupt your deviously planned naked snuggle time, but it's getting colder, you didn't block the tunnel. We also need to take this opportunity while it lasts. C'mon, off, off."
She momentarily resisted his grasp, then let him slide her down to the side. With the flashlight now in front of her as she put on everything she had, it was obvious how filthy both they, and their clothes, were. She was now a blotchy brown and much darker gray bunny. If anything, he was worse. Whatever parts of his cream colored front he hadn't managed to soil while digging, she'd finished up while atop him. She carefully helped him get dressed in the tight confines of their den—if anything, a more difficult task than their removal had been—since they had to avoid re-aggravating his abused thigh muscles.
"Empty the pack, we'll finish off the food now before it gets any colder," Nick told her. She used a dribble of water to partially clean her paws, then alternated between eating her sandwich and feeding him his—invited by his smile and parted jaws.
"Don't expect this to become a habit Nick, remember I'm the vixen in this relationship. You're just dirty and can't sit up!"
Once finished, she helped him stretch on Jack's tight rain booties. Made sense, the bottoms of her feet were furrier than his. Then he took the pack, loosened the shoulder straps as far as they'd go, then awkwardly started to saw off part of its top with his knife. She helped him hold it and stretch the fabric to make it easier to slice—it wasn't until he started to carefully cut two holes in the bottom that she realized what they were making.
"A kit carrier Nick? I can walk better than you can right now!"
"You can also freeze a lot faster little Mrs. Judy Underdressed Wilde. The moment we leave the burrow, I put this on, you hop in, then my coat goes right around both of us so we can trap what heat we have."
"Would going belly to belly keep us warmer?" she suggested. He smirked briefly.
"Might, but I need you behind me so I can lean forward and keep my leg stretched."
Once outside, she had to admit the practicality of it as Nick carefully retraced their path around the modest ridge and back down to the trail. His coat was pulled tightly around them—enough to make her breathing an effort. She also hung low enough under it to restrict what she could see. Warmer than when they'd first come this way, she could still feel the chill slowly encroaching against her back.
"Glad it's still snowing a bit," Nick said quietly into the ears she'd draped over his shoulders. "Cuts visibility, keeps it quieter, and maybe it'll be enough to cover some of…" He stopped and slowly scanned the flashlight along the trail in front of them.
"What is it, Nick?" she asked, unable to see where the beam fell.
"Deer tracks. Single set. Heading back down the trail towards the Kinsley property. Not fresh, but not that filled in either. They must have dropped someone off at the trailhead where I came in from. They want us badly—that's for sure." He took a couple of steps, stopped, and she felt his tail swish beneath her. He repeated this several times—obviously trying to cover his prints. He then went on, swished his tail once more, then changed directions several times.
"Want them to see that we crossed over here and partially tried to cover that up Fluff. Trailhead's still a few miles away, developed areas are a lot closer downhill. Just some foxy misdirection for anyone behind us. I'll keep to bare patches under the trees before getting back on the trail. There's a high spot ahead where I know I can get a cell signal."
That cheered her greatly—knowing he'd found and escaped with her would relieve several anxious friends and family members—and remove a major constraint on how they could act. She squeezed him briefly to acknowledge that, then marveled at the care and endurance of her injured fox as he moved them alongside, and then down the trail.
The snowfall had ended and harbingers of a brighter sky illuminated thin spots in the clouds above when Nick stopped. They were at the top of a broad, open rise on the trail, the snow on the ground was a bit thicker, and the deer tracks in it were much less distinct. She'd agreed with him that the likelihood of another one patrolling the trail was very unlikely until later in the morning, and even if the first returned this way it was important to get their messages out at the first opportunity. Nevertheless, she felt beside her to make sure the weapons in the backpack's one surviving pocket were readily available—Nick's taser and one of the small chisels.
"You using any of Jack's codes Nick?"
"I don't see the point anymore—maybe just use our personal identifiers so they're sure it's us."
She was still typing out her message to mom when he announced he'd sent ones to Vivian, Nadine, Mr. Murry, and Jack.
Smart fox; dumb bunny. She finished hers, saved the draft as he must have done sometime earlier, and copied Jackie and Jeremy as well as mom. Their contact info already in this phone's list showed the planning that had gone into her rescue. That made her feel a couple of degrees warmer. Nick resumed moving down the trail as soon as she told him, "mine show as sent."
"Have to keep moving; keep my leg warm, I really started to stiffen up again back there," Nick muttered, likely for both of their benefits. "Stop again like that and I'll be done."
The trail now descended, but that didn't seem to be of help to her mate. There was a perceptible hitch in his now shorter stride. Her weight, the slippery conditions, the cold. His comment. She couldn't deny her mounting fear that each hesitant step could be the one that brought them down—their ultimate success having always stayed out of reach after their latest improbable exploit—and now escape. And they were so close now, and she was the burden that would cause them to fall…
"Judy it's OK, we'll get out of this. You're not in that cage, you're free with me." Somehow, Nick's voice remained steady. "I'm just hurting physically, what happened to you back there is gonna last longer and it'll ambush you any damn time. Don't let it. Keep talking to me, keep me going."
She thought that she'd done a good job of stifling any overt expression of her fears, but fox hearing was almost as good as hers. And he could feel her breathing as well as she could his. Her delay in being able to formulate some kind of upbeat reply induced him to continue.
"This is real Judy, I'm not fantasizing that I found and rescued you here—or that I got my...uh...our hero's reward for it. When I told Jack how we'd first met and started to work together, he did call it a rescue romance. Have to admit that in the past I've imagined lots of ways like that to meet, then sweep a vixen off her feet and win her favor—but none of those elaborate fantasies were ever ended prematurely by a cramp! While hiding in a hole. Only reality is that perverse."
He's right, even extremis induced escape fantasies should be more comfortable than this. Although he called it; we're living through a rescue romance right now. It's just not over yet, although we desperately need it to be. Think rabbit, there's got to be a way that I can help him!
"Nick, if it'll help, I'm in a good position to rub the back of your leg with my foot."
"Might do as much harm as good; it's tolerating the steady movement, and I don't want to do anything different that'll trigger it!" He then belied his words by taking several wavering steps to the side, off the trail and down the slope. He stopped with a paw on a tree to steady them.
She'd felt his heart rate jump along with hers—the slight imbalance before he'd found the tree had scared them both. He earlier fear was now the terror that they'd finally reached the limit of his endurance. Nick started to rhythmically flex his leg beneath her.
"I'm not done yet Judy—saw a larger car up ahead in the trailhead turnout. About two hundred meters away—I think I was only partially visible for a few seconds—it's steeper here but we don't have a choice—down we go," Nick said quietly as he started to carefully work their way further below the trail.
"Could it be someone else Jack sent for us?" she kept her own voice low knowing it wasn't, but wanted to say something optimistic for both their benefit.
"He's in hiding now, not running dispatch. Not enough time since we sent our messages anyway—assuming he's even awake. We'll keep heading down towards the through road—then down that—that's what I told him I'd do if we couldn't arrange a pickup—maybe we can flag down a ranger checking road conditions or something."
Nick's tone of voice mirrored her own doubts about the likelihood, or even the wisdom of risking that. Odds were that they'd meet someone sympathetic to the opposition anyway—her mate had mentioned how the media was treating them, and that he'd been all over it as a wanted fugitive.
"Shouldn't any news about those we rescued have gotten out by now?"
"Jack said hospital staff knows, but there are agents there keeping a tight lid on that. Skye's the only one capable of being interviewed there, and she's isolated by them. She was able to call Jack yesterday from there, so she's mostly up to speed...except about us."
"Jack's hiding? Not at Pinnacles?"
"Too risky to have all of our evidence together—and they certainly know by now that the Growley's are involved. Mom's still there with some backup evidence—she's been moved into more secluded lodgings."
"Where do we go? I assume you know where Jack and Nadine are?"
"Nope, op-sec. We literally aren't out of the woods yet O mate of mine. Keep checking your cell, those big estates aren't too far away and have to have coverage; some might leak over our way."
"OK, nothing here," she said. They both lapsed into silence so he could concentrate on negotiating the slope—which sometimes forced them to move uncomfortably close to the open road. The sky continued to brighten and clear over what felt like another hour of slow progress, before a few shafts of low-angle sunlight cheered their arrival at an empty junction. Nick crossed the road that led down to Concordia according to one arrow on the sign—ski Sunrise, and an unidentified Pinnacles being up the other way.
"Better cover on this down slope side and we won't cross the road that leads into the estates—it's a mile or so further on and a good place for them to post more surveillance," he pointed out.
That intersection, with curved stone walls announcing the exclusivity of the community behind them, was in sight ahead when Judy finally got a cell signal and text notification. Nick twitched at the sound, but kept silently walking, screened among the bushes on the now nearly level and snow free terrain.
"It's Jack! He's got us a ride! Gotta tell him where we are!"
"Say we'll be below the Rainbow Meadow turnoff in fifteen minutes!" Nick was already huffing a bit as he picked up his pace. As soon as Judy confirmed message sent, she squirmed out of the pack, along with small clots of dirt, and hopped down onto her own feet to relieve Nick's burden. His sigh as he shucked the pack and rolled his shoulders, as they moved beyond this intersection, made her regret not doing so earlier.
It was almost a half hour before Jack contacted them again—they had already found a concealed spot where they could watch the road, and she was giving him a penance leg massage as he sat. "He says a smaller reddish gold car; should be here in twenty to thirty, and a partial address," she told him.
"That's it? Nothing about the driver? Not like agent organized to be this...cryptic with us. Did he use his codename this time?"
"No Nick, and there was a typo."
"Let's just hope he's busy with something else—I don't see that we have much choice anymore." He paused for a few seconds to lean forward and stretch his leg, then put a paw on her. "I'm basically done. You're still fresh—be prepared to run if something doesn't seem right—I'll distract since they need me alive for a perp walk and trial to cover their asses."
Judy nodded mutely. That might be the same reason that Skye and Madge were still safe in the hospital— dragging them out over the protests of doctors would be really bad optics.
It wasn't long before they both heard a car—neither reacted because it was obviously heading down towards the city. Several more followed at irregular intervals—all large and well out of their price range. She almost missed their likely ride—only its slower pace coming up on their side of the road gave her time to get to the shoulder and be noticed. A rabbit sized two seat hatchback pulled over and stopped just past her—the driver leaned over and unlatched the passenger door.
"Nick! This is it!" she shouted as the oddly patterned driver looked back to size up her state of filth. That individual seemed slightly smaller than she was, and had a smoothly tapered muzzle even more pointed than Nick's. Soft brown on top; it had a very distinctive, narrow, nearly black wedge that ran back from the tip on each side, across the eyes, and on to merge with moderately sized dark ears. Whiter fur below that completed some very pretty facial features—Judy had no idea what mammal she was looking at.
Who looked up a bit and said "oh" as Nick came out of concealment—he said the same thing nearly simultaneously. They all looked at each other for a few seconds until Judy broke the silence.
"Nick, show your badge." He gave it to her and took a step back, trying not to be intimidating. She passed it on to the driver—likely medical staff based on a closer look inside the car. "We're Zootopia Police Officers working joint undercover with a local agency...got ourselves exposed...had to hide out overnight. Not ready to break the case just yet, but we're close. We need a ride back down to report in. Federal Heights Boulevard...South 15,000 block."
"Dr. Denton told me this is related to our patients and is important—I can take you, but I don't know if he can fit in back." The feminine sounding driver withdrew inside and the hatchback popped open a few inches. "Get yourselves in!"
Judy did—after their driver moved a folded hospital uniform from the passenger's seat to her lap to keep it clean. The car swayed gently on its suspension, and she felt pressure against her seat back as Nick tried to curl up behind it.
"Get going; I got most of me in," he said after a few grunts. "All I can do."
A glance in back showed that Nick had both lower legs stuck outside past a corner of the hatchback—which he pulled down on with a paw wrapped under its bottom. He was curled tightly—face against the floor, hips up over a bag behind the driver's seat, unable to turn and look back at her. The U turn was easy for their size car, and they soon exceeded the one speed limit sign they passed. Their anonymous driver had sensed their urgency, and negotiated the curves quite competently.
"Officer Judy Hopps. We are so glad to see you!"
"Mia Barna. Glad I found you; Doctor Denton was very insistent that I pick you up. Least I won't be too late for my shift." They sped up some more.
"Careful up there! Remember, there's a worse kind of being late!" Nick grumped, "I can only see some of where we've been! How about some running commentary? You know, like 'dangerous curve ahead,' 'steep icy slope coming up,' 'rockslide,' stuff like that!"
"Shush you, we got our ride. Now, if I may ask Ms. Barna..."
"Mia. I'm a numbat," she said carefully with a bit of an accent. "Marsupial insectivore, and unfortunately rather...uncommon."
"Land down under?" Nick said with some curiosity, apparently having also noticed it.
"No, that's where you all are; we print our maps the right way round." Mia said firmly.
"Got one? I'm in a good position to read it," was his rejoinder just before a dip in the road bounced the hatch and drew a yip out of him. "Careful! Helpless injured fox back here!"
"Yeah, he really is hurt Mia. Hafta take care of my partner...on the force," Judy clarified. Mia hmmmed.
"I remember hearing about you last year...was he involved too?"
"He was. We do work well together, and as the two smallest officers at the precinct...that kinda works out too." Judy decided that a little more deflection was called for. "Still worries my parents that I'm not tending to my own social life enough outside of work."
"Be glad it's only parents," Mia said with a note of exasperation. "My species has a registry devoted to...um...well, active matchmaking to bolster our numbers in a genetically optimum way. I'm thirteen thousand kilometers away and still get regular profiles and meet-up requests from them."
"My mom just tries to hook me up with her buck-of-the-month." They traded sympathy chuckles.
They finally spotted a car coming the other way—a large one that buffeted them as it passed even though Mia had started to drift them closer to the road shoulder.
"Hey! I've got legs out that side, I wanna keep em!" Nick groused, and squirmed a bit behind them. "Uhh...I suggest you speed up and ignore subsequent complaints from the fox—we've got company!"
Judy looked to her side mirror in time to see the car they'd passed finish a sharp reversal of direction on the side of the road while drawing a rooster tail of dirt. "Oh crap!"
"Congratulations on overcoming your long repressed usage of appropriate situational language officer Hopps," Nick stated quickly. "Now, what are we going to do? That's gotta be a faster car behind us."
"Just don't stop," she told Mia, "We've got evidence that implicates some very powerful politicians. They'll disappear all of us if they catch us!"
"Shit, shit, shit; what have you gotten me into?" Mia cried as she spared Judy a quick frightened glance, then went back to concentrating on the road for a few seconds. "We're almost to city limits, this road joins Boulder turnpike in a couple more miles—there's a small vehicle tunnel that starts right after—and I'm just under what's max allowed!"
"That works, thank the spirits you know your way around!" Judy said. "After we lose them, how close can we get to Federal Heights?"
"Right to it; there's ramps."
"Gotta lose them first, they're closing!" Nick shouted as he pushed the hatch further open—greatly increasing the swirling, and still cold, draft inside the car.
"Nick! What are you trying to do!" she shouted back over the wind and road noise.
"Hanging on! I don't want them to make our new friend's plate! About fifty meters back now.
"Thirty! I think they intend to ram!"
"Curve coming up! I'll hafta slow!"
"Not yet Mia, get closer to the shoulder! Give yourself room to correct back left—sharply," Judy directed with a paw, then rested it loosely on the steering wheel. "I'll help you with it...Nick!"
"Closer but slowing, think they're gonna try and just push us off the road."
"On Nick's mark. Mia, we'll get over to that far lane, then you brake. We want them to pass us. Don't let us skid!"
"Ten...five...now!"
Their car leaned alarmingly, and Judy kept Mia from over-correcting once past the center line.
"Now brakes! Not too hard!" Judy took her paw off the wheel once they'd straightened and watched their pursuers roll past and turn to get in front of them. Two deer were up front and at least one more shape was behind the tinted window in back. They were braking too, so she told Mia to stay well back. They ended up following them around the curve from a few car lengths behind—both going no more than fifteen miles an hour before they gradually slowed to a complete stop.
"What are you two doing! Where are they?" Nick struggled behind her.
"Stay put! They've stopped ahead of us...now they're backing up slowly. Mia, don't let them block us in! Go! Go! Get around them!"
Mia quickly moved the shifter and backed them away from the larger car. Judy found herself speechless.
"Come on! What now!" Nick shouted to the extent his contortion allowed.
Mia slowly turned as she backed, and as soon as the other attempted to follow, reversed her turn, shifted into drive, and managed to accelerate them past the rear of and around their pursuers. An overpass and on ramp were now visible half a mile ahead past an intersection.
"Ignore it, it's clear!" Judy found her voice in time to encourage Mia to blow through its red light. Their road widened to two lanes either way with a few other cars up ahead. A faint horn sounded from behind.
"Ha! They had to slow for somebody! We gained a few seconds," Nick exulted. "How much further?"
"Close." Judy reached and eased them towards, then over the center line—Mia nodded in understanding and swept them back in a broad curve through light traffic and onto the ramp without slowing. They almost bottomed out their suspension on a slope designed to be entered at a much slower speed, and slipped a bit on the rebound. Mia took advantage of that, and steered them onto a smaller, parallel ramp that ducked into a tunnel under the turnpike. She let them coast down to a sedate pace while maintaining a death grip on the steering wheel.
"They saw where we went, and are above us," Nick said with a manic edge to his voice.
"Mia, you did great!" Judy said while giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Could you speed up some?"
"Stay right where you are," Nick advised, panting the words out, "we can take it slower from here. Nice, safe, and slow."
"They'll get ahead of us," Judy pointed out.
"So what?" her mate said, voice steadying. "They shouldn't know...they can't know where we might be going, since we don't! But anyway, they're chasing us, they won't slow down. Give them a little time to go on ahead and lose us, they might get frustrated enough to give it up."
Mia showed her agreement with him by slowing some more, and Judy realized they all needed time to recover—her own heart was still hammering. Once it eased up, she checked her cell—of course no coverage down here.
They bypassed one exit up to the surface, and took the next side tunnel—it curved to merge them with another that crossed below theirs. Traffic was heavier here—it was getting into rush hour. Another couple of side exits went by, then their tunnel rose and deposited all of them onto the thankfully less congested side of Federal Heights Blvd.
"Seven thousand block south; we've got a ways to go," Mia commented. "Where do you want to be dropped off again?"
"Letting Jack know we're coming; he's our contact," Judy said, poking 'send' on her phone. It was a short wait before his reply. "Ex mayor number ten? Really Jack, not the time for your games!"
It was a few more minutes down to the fifteen thousand block—Judy suddenly smiled at Jack's brief but informative riddle as the Bellevue Motel came into view. "Anybody suspicious behind us Nick?" His negative answer had her waving her paw. "Anyplace convenient along here Mia!" she told their numbat chauffeur. She immediately pulled them over in front of a closed payday loan establishment—apparently, this wasn't the best neighborhood.
"Thanks so much! Be sure to tell Ms. Winter...your fox patient, that you found us and got us here—back into town," Judy said while Nick slowly extracted himself from the back. "And as soon as you can, write down exactly what happened this morning, that could be needed protection for all of us!"
"I will, she's been rather talkative so we have a good idea what's going on," Mia said, and took off as soon as Nick had closed her car's hatch.
Judy had to act as a crutch—Nick's paw put significant pressure on her as he awkwardly limped alongside; they passed a vacant lot, then turned into the motel. Of course room ten was in back—another hundred feet or so of discomfort for them. A curtain shifted, then Jack had number ten's door open for them, took a look, and notwithstanding his ankle helped her get Nick inside.
"Bleeding? Any significant injuries? Jack asked hurriedly, his nose wrinkling. "No, guess not, they would have gone straight to the hospital with you. What happened last night? You have to dig a tunnel to break her out? You need water?"
"She's chilled. Hot bath or shower. Then for me before my leg locks up." Nick ordered before Jack stepped away.
"It's running," he said upon his return, toweling his head and ears. But I don't know how long the hot will last—you'd both better get in there—clothes and all. Wash yourselves down, rinse those out and just throw them out on the floor—there's a laundry room here, I'll take them there." Jack helped as well as pushed them towards the bathroom—his nose still active. "Seems you two really took the rescue romance to heart."
Judy flushed due to Jack's accurate implication, but that would only promote further heat loss unless she got in that shower. Nick pulled the door open to one intended for mammals much larger than themselves—there was an upside-down wastebasket under the high valves which explained their wet hare. The spatter and steam from the ample flow promised the heat they both needed.
With Jack's step, Nick was just able to reach and angle the shower head so he could lean into a corner and relieve the strain on his leg. He pulled her into the stream with him and started to gently scrub her off from the top down. Muddy rivulets coursed off both of them and threatened to clog the drain.
As soon as the color of their runoff lightened somewhat, she raised her arms and he helped pull off both of her shirts. Nick gave them a couple of quick rinses and wringings, then tossed them over the door to splat on the bathroom floor. She then wiggled out of the rest while he held her from slipping. His turn next, he slid carefully down until seated in the corner so she could help work him out of his clothes. It was the second time this morning they'd disrobed each other, but it was with zero eroticism this time—she just wanted to get clean and soak in the glorious warmth.
The shower door swung open.
"Found this in Fangmeyer's stuff; figured you'd need…" Jack stood just outside with a generous bottle of gel fur soap hugged against his side with a paw. He used both to set it inside, then scooped up Nick's clothes while not quite not looking at them enough.
"Soon as you two finish up your mud wresslin' we've got a lot to talk about. I'll get these started."
He did mostly close the shower door before he left.
9:05 AM Tuesday, Pinnacles Retreat, cottage #8
"...vivian, Missus Vivian!" she was rocking slightly...in a bed...being rocked, pressure on her shoulder. She opened her eyes as the motion stilled. A young vixen had hold of her...with an eager expression…
"Rina? News?" Her own cellphone was held before her muzzle with a text displayed. Vivian snatched it out of Rina's paw to hold it at a more readable distance. From Jack Savage; Nicholas and Judy had arrived safely at his hideout, and would be in contact after they'd recovered sufficiently from their ordeal.
The joyful news from a few hours ago that he'd rescued her had been tempered by knowing they were on the run somewhere up in the hills. With this; they had successfully eluded their pursuers—at least for now.
Vivian hoped that they would finally be able to get some rest—their likely having been active all night as she and Rina had almost been. At least she'd been able to get some sleep after receiving initial word of the rescue. Her phone showed that it was past time for the morning shows—presumably nothing new had been on since she hadn't been awakened for them. She tried to sit up—her body's refusal to cooperate was rather uncomfortable until Rina pulled her the rest of the way up.
Getting out of bed hurt, trying to walk hurt differently. Grooming hurt—cuss, even breathing hurt. She had risen to the challenges of their rescue mission, but trying to ignore her age and physical limits could no longer defer payment in full.
Rina carefully and competently assisted the vulpine invalid under her care; correctly assuming need outweighed any embarrassment—which there was still a considerable amount of, Vivian admitted.
"Thanks dear, this is all a reminder that no matter how much gaming or role-playing you do, it doesn't prepare you physically, or mentally, for the real thing."
"What did you do? Tabletop, or like period re-enactments?" Rina asked cautiously.
"Mostly at home by myself unfortunately," Vivian said, "I've tried on-line multiplayer, but my connection isn't all that great. I was working my way through Dystopia Three before getting involved with all this mess."
"That's the best one of the series," Rina said more excitedly, "Is it the original, or the socially correct vers…you...you're really playing that?" Her face fell. "Sorry...it's not my place Ms. Wilde...uh Vivian."
"Are we suffering a mild version of realizing that your existence implies your parents were engaged in…?" Vivian let her pause hang for a few seconds before smiling. "Mine's the original where you can choose what the ferals are."
"One of our amenities is a dual player terminal connected to the widescreen Ms. Wilde. We have a comprehensive library of entertainments, and open accounts available," she said in her obsequious voice before continuing normally. "We've got over two hours to kill before the noon news comes on." Now Rina had an anticipatory smile. "Wanna join an on-line campaign, or just go with us?"
"I think us. Not up to being kit fodder again."
"Individual or team play?"
"Team," Vivian stated. "Can you start us at the point where we arrive at the city?"
By the time they paused their distraction, Rina had saved their tails nine times to her two. Also, her avatar's remaining strength accurately reflected her ongoing fatigue. As CNN/ZNN was likely still under the authorities scrutiny, they decided to watch two of the regional broadcasters on a split screen.
"They still don't have anyone else specific to blame this on," Vivian said softly as both presenters read statements that now ascribed the illicit Deer Trail operation to a previously unknown group fronting for organized crime in Zootopia. "My Nicholas was involved with the savage predator crisis there, and has had contact with that crime syndicate—they've already tried to exploit that. I think they are trying to tie him more firmly to it, and by extension, implicate the rest of the Zootopia police department, since they are the ones most aware of this conspiracy. Officer Hopps is just as involved, but doesn't really fit the story they want—that might be why there's been no further mention of her."
"Particularly since they just lost control of a possible eyewitness to their identities," Rina said, still holding her game controller. "They needed to keep her..."
"Look! Look! It's one of our photos of Verda Kinsley!" Vivian shouted and poked at Rina. It was up under a 'Breaking News' banner, although the correspondent did try to cast some doubt on its veracity.
"Miss Verda? She's tied up...is that blood? How could she get involved in that?"
"Sorry I didn't mention her name earlier; I had a lot of ground to cover for you Rina. Her uncle arranged the financing for the conspiracy and she was actively involved. We stopped her from murdering the badger doctor. We've been hoping to utilize her celebrity to help expose the conspiracy since they've censored much of the media. There's another angle of her! With the ZBI deer! This is the break we needed!"
"That should certainly do it if she was involved," Rina said hesitantly. "Wasn't on the other station, but it shouldn't take long for the rest of em to pick up on this! I assume Mr. Savage got this out to them?"
"Yes, we made several copies and he was going to send them to several different outlets in hopes that one of them would bite on this story. CNN came in and covered us on-site and their reporter...Al something...he was a coywolf...got most everything there on video, but that's all been suppressed..."
"Oh, that's Alan Curry, he does late nights… Ms. Vivian?"
She waved a spread paw to shut Rina up. "Let me think...I might still have...get that bag! We're looking for a memory packet about this big...in a clear holder!" To her relief, they found it in short order. "He sent one of these back with the helicopter, then gave this one to me later in case the authorities showed up before the helicopter came back—I was to go over the wall and get to one of the cars and get this to Ms. Growley while the rest held them off as long as they could before they had to surrender," she said in a rush. "Gave Jack the keys but didn't remember to give this back to Alan before I flew out!"
Rina looked shocked in spite of all Vivian had told her last night. It was her fault, she'd detailed the threat of the conspiracy to the young vixen, then emphasized their successes and the evidence they'd found—and not the many things that could have easily gone wrong and resulted in failure or death.
"If this is the one I remember...it'll have an interview where Jack...Mr. Savage was showing our evidence...and close-up video of most of the conspirators there—including miss Kinsley! Good enough that no-one could try to discredit it. I need to be sure first, can we play this?" Vivian passed it over.
"Don't think so, not here," Rina said while examining the broadcast grade memory pack. "I could take it to the AV department, they should have something."
"Write down the make and part number and go see what they have for it...I don't want to let this out of my sight!"
1:25 PM, with Jack Savage in the Bellevue motel, room 10
Physics said that time was a variable—it's rate of passage for an observer has a strict inverse relationship to their speed through space. That natural law seemed to have broken, Jack felt. For the outside world, time was indeed fleeting, wasted, irrecoverable; but for him here inside, it crawled even though his own velocity was kept in check by his sprained ankle.
His elation due to the news having shown images of Verda Kinsley at Deer Trail had slowly turned to frustration. Vivian had replied shortly after that, yes, she'd seen it, but had also sent back his own codes for 'stand by' and 'important'. That had been over an hour ago. Officer Fangmeyer hadn't checked in for over three in spite of her apparent delivery success. Wilde was wrapped around Hopps on the bed in the same position he'd found them in when he'd returned with their laundry. At least they were asleep and had a blanket mostly over them.
The vending machine by the office had a limited stock of junk food, regardless of anyone's dietary requirements, and there was nothing else nearby. He was hungry for both food and information—he needed to be taking some kind of action, not be Jack Savage, layabout, regardless if that's what his body needed.
He wanted desperately to make some calls, but the three of them and the bulk of their evidence were still vulnerable. All he could do now was wait for others, and for the scandal to percolate. At least Vivian and Rina had seen the story, and Pinnacles would be a great place for the foxes to spread the word to mammals with connections. What they really needed was for this to make it to the evening broadcasts with their far larger viewership.
Jack heard stirring behind him; Judy was trying to sit up as Nick unwound himself. She glared at him as he watched them and tried to pull the overlarge blanket around herself in such a way as to allow both modesty and movement. His expression probably wasn't any better than hers—Judy Hopps had an unfortunate habit of letting moral irrelevancies distract her from more immediate matters.
"Not like I haven't seen you naked before your grubby shower scene," he said, annoyance having beaten propriety by having originated down closer to his brainstem. Regret showed up at the same time Nick said "WHAT?"
"It's OK, I was a gentlemammal about it, we both needed the distraction!" Horror shorted out his speech center and forced his motor cortex to slap paws over his mouth. Too late, lack of sleep had spoken again.
They stared at each other wordlessly for a few seconds before Nick slowly spread his paws, pads up, and tipped his head slightly.
"We were both being watched at the Hopps warren by one of Tarija's co-conspirators, a hare like me, we needed to maintain our cover." Nick abruptly looked at Judy, who affirmed his statement with a nod before Jack continued. "We were in her room sorting both Ulric's and your evidence—only had a brief warning that he was on his way over—and we needed to buy time."
"Remember, Jack was supposed to try and recruit me into the cause," Judy said as she put a paw gently on her mate's arm.
"And Tarija rather strongly hinted that seduction was an acceptable way to accomplish that," Jack admitted with a slight smile at them. "No way that would happen, or did, because I'm Skye's—but Leland had been showing some interest in Judy."
"Soooo," Nick folded his paws and smirked at Judy. "Hid what you were doing and totally humiliated the rival love interest? He actually saw?" He waited for her nod. "He was the one watching mom too, right?"
"Yes," Judy said. "And it was kinda...my idea...and didn't take too long."
"Disappointed her Jack? Well, given that it worked, and was justified—there is still the issue that you were naked in bed with my mate!" Nick said to him sharply with a rather unconvincing scowl.
"We did keep some of our underwear on, under a sheet," Judy said in a low voice. "And Jack only needed to put on a show long enough for us to be seen."
"I'm just glad that you took this as calmly as you did, Nick. Can be a touchy subject," said their hare.
"Well…" Nick looked at Judy warily, "I'm not exactly the guiltless aggrieved party here; I did sleep with a skunk a few nights ago."
"Kristen told me you were a complete gentle-fox that sacrificed your own comfort for hers, and that I was extremely lucky to have you," Judy said evenly as she looked up at her suddenly surprised mate, then over at him. "She knows about all of us; said she's a scientist and figured things out."
"I don't think any of us were actually very circumspect about this recently," Jack said in resignation. "I hope she'll be that way for us. Be that as it may, we've a lot more to talk about than our leaky secrets. Go get yourselves dressed so I don't have to worry about shooting my mouth off again." He turned away.
After their return, the mutual update summary rapidly turned into a lengthy therapy session for Judy as she talked on about what she'd endured. Brief as her captivity had been, it had seemingly left her as traumatized as he was afraid Skye must be. Judy didn't try to hide her lack of vulpine stoicism as Nick struggled with his, periodically burying her face in his shirtless fur—as if he'd anticipated her need.
That was his fear about Skye—that she wouldn't find a way to release her anguish and thus hold it in until her psyche shattered. He was thankful she was in the hospital; hopefully the doctors there would understand her plight. She and Judy both might have months or years to go before their issues could completely resolve based on how closely they'd flirted with death. He looked at Nick and saw his own fears mirrored there—that might be the key, their mates might need to help each other to overcome their shared trauma. They'd suddenly become far more than merely law enforcement allies, or even simple friends now.
Judy was relating about how Nick had persevered in spite of his abused leg, when a text notification came through. Judy stopped—they all seemed to welcome the interruption.
"From Vivian," he said, "been waiting to hear what news she said she ha… Spirits above! She's got some of Alan's video! His interviews with both of us," he caught Nick's eye briefly as he scrolled, "and clear close-ups of Verda and several others! They didn't get all of CNN's video!" He started to reply and narrate. "Telling her to copy it and get it out any way they can! To channel four, they showed the pics...credit Alan, credit CNN, show anyone that wants to see it...let em put it on Flikker, whatever! Photos could be passed off as a fabrication, but not lengthy video and audio from a known correspondent."
He sent his reply, then passed his phone to Nick so he could read Vivian's message.
"What can she do Savage? Pinnacles staff might not want to draw attention to themselves with anything controversial. Growley didn't even want us emailing the studios from there."
"We were trying to remain covert then. Now...Vivian can show it to...say small groups of employees in her bungalow and hand out copies. We know Rina can help with that. Then the rumor mill will get it out," Jack said looking at Judy. "We have to hit while this is hot; it'd take too long to find a way to get us a copy and then we don't have a good way of disseminating it from here."
"Can we risk sending more messages ourselves to spread the word about it?" Judy asked. "Do you have Nadine's ZPD contact list? And I'm really hungry; are there any places to eat around here?"
"We need to, and I do. Also, there's no place to eat other than a vending machine full of crap in the lobby. I'm hungry too, but we shouldn't be exposing ourselves unnecessarily, so stay put," Jack stated.
"I reeally need to eat. I'll be careful—straight there and back with something for both of us."
"We were on the run and had short rations last night, and they hadn't fed her. Let her go," Nick said.
"Here, you'll need these," he said to concede the point, and gave her the remaining quarters he'd gotten from the change machine in the laundry room. "Also, just in case, I mentioned to the manager that someone like you might be by today in case she sees you—she's porcine. "Also, our cover for getting this room anonymously is that I'm a porn star working at a local studio, and Fangmeyer worked in production there. I'm resting up from an on stage accident."
Judy's shocked look turned to one of anger, but it wasn't aimed at him. He turned to see a grin threatening to split Nick's muzzle.
"Better think up a cover story in case the manager asks about it Carrots," the fox said airily "Unless you've lost your appetite!" He carefully limped over and opened the large door for her after she got her expression under control and had walked over to it.
"Do you feel we're secure here, Nick?" he said to restart the conversation after several minutes of waiting for Judy.
"Yeah...they had no way of knowing where we were going—we lost them miles back. Kinsley's got to be panicking since they did look for us all night and called in reinforcements before we met our ride. They lost Judy to me—I'm sure they knew it was me—and now Verda's been exposed. How do you think they'll react to all that?"
"Depends on how fast they can come up with something plausible. If this scandal has legs and makes the evening news, that'll force an immediate response on their part. Not long to five; though it might be too much to hope this blows up tonight. Might have to wait for morning to see what..."
The door clacked and swung open to reveal a fuming Judy Hopps. Somehow she'd managed to reach, unlatch, and push open a tiger sized door. There was a long, loose roll under her arm. She thrust it out towards them as she entered. He took it and Nick closed the door.
Two packages of some kind of vegetable matter hit the floor as he unrolled the cheap paper...tabloid. It was the Weekly Whisperer, yet the bold caption under Verda's scowling, spattered, and zip-tied muzzle, fairly shouted: PRISONER? PATSY? or PARTICIPANT!
Jack started to turn it around so they could share in their success, and found a still angry rabbit immediately behind it.
"What did you say about me to that gross...creature?" she demanded, eyes narrowed.
"Just a very general description; like I'd told you!" he said hurriedly. Her serious scowl didn't change.
"She said to me," Judy's voice dripped acid. "Bet that's gonna be a popular video. They did good, you look just like her. Could ya wait until you get back to your studio before you 'arrest' Mr. Jackhammer?"
Jack was saved from a likely futile attempt to stifle himself by the helpless vulpine now leaning against the side of the bed for support. Nick shook with a paroxysm of shrill yipping fox laughter that devolved through a few screeches, then into deeper gasps for breath.
"That...that explains everything! All we've been talking about. You and me. You and Savage. The rumors, affairs, smutty nudity for pay...finally, the double life of sweet little Judy Hopps is revealed!"
She was the exact opposite of that as she looked daggers at them alternately. Judy actually seemed more upset with him for visibly trying to hold it in, than she was with Nick's flamboyant performance.
"Oooh! What's your professional name sweet-cheeks?" Nick noticed and daringly doubled down on her.
Judy stiffened and closed her eyes. "My...professional name is Officer Hopps...ZPD precinct one...and we still have an investigation to close out here," she finished in a near normal for her cop voice.
"You really don't have to stay in character any more miss," Jack said to her snidely as he picked up the two wrapped packets—vegetable matter was a good descriptor for them—and gave her one. She sighed, took it, and let Nick lift her onto the bed next to him.
"Whatever I came up with wouldn't be as lame as 'Jackhammer'," Judy said before they closed out their stress relief session with a mutual chuckle.
"Whatever works," he said. "Now, as fun as its been ragging on you Judy, do you think the manager's fully bought into our cover here, or do we have a possible security problem with her?"
"She asked if I'd done prior work, so I had to tell her I was just recently...hired for the role. We're OK."
He then held out the tabloid for them. "This, and the noon newscast was decent coverage for being out in public this soon. This is enough to force a fast response from Kinsley at least, if not the conspiracy. How they spin this will determine our next moves." Jack turned on the TV; sufficient time having now been wasted.
"Okay, this is basically the same as what I saw at noon," he said as their pictures again led channel four's broadcast. "Not this one," as the second was replaced with a more celebrity flattering one of Verda. He bumped up the sound.
"A spokesmammal for the Kinsley family has now confirmed that Verda's abduction three nights ago was kept from the media for her safety; so as not to reveal her pending rescue operation to her captors. She is recuperating back at her family home, under additional security." The image switched to one of the Deer Trail complex. "The joint law enforcement operation to raid the drug factory hidden at the old Deer Trail prison was confirmed by the FBI to have been moved up a day to deal with this development, and thereby accomplished Miss Kinsley's rescue even before her captors could release any demands."
"I don't believe this! Take some notes!" he told them, looking around for something to write with.
"...aring incursion to snatch Miss Kinsley during her evening stroll was confirmed by eyewitnesses to have been led by rogue ex Zootopia police officer Nicholas Wilde; already wanted for drug crimes that took advantage of last year's savage predator crisis, and now a mob connected principle in the Deer Trail operation!" Nick's out of uniform arrest warrant picture was replaced by one of Skye. "An unnamed FBI IT worker has now been identified as Wilde's inside contact and may explain how he has maintained his criminalenterprise and continually eluded capture. This individual was injured during the Deer Trail joint raid, and is under armed guard at Aurora All Mammals hospital."
"OK, that was a load. Let's try to parse this out," Jack said as the station went to their 'contact the authorities' graphic, then promised an update on the six o clock news. "My take? Verda's undeniably and irrecoverably exposed as having been there—they're already cobbling together excuses and adjusting the timeline to fit. You and Skye are now the sneaky fox masterminds behind their pred revenge plot—they've not identified any other names, or anyone else seen in Verda's Deer Trail images." He waved at the TV.
"There wasn't anyone else Jack, those were both closeups," Nick said. "As was the tabloid. And, has anyone other than Judy or me been identified as having been there at all? I mean by the feds. Fangmeyer was on that bit of CNN video that was shown, and I remember mentioning Lionheart was there."
"Oh, right, you were, we really should have been taking notes all along! The first, uh, noon, broadcast on channel four—that second photo was a wider one that showed two other conspirators, one was our deputy director! He was cropped out for this one, so they still have some control over the media, and need time to cover up broader agency involvement and assign blame where convenient. That might be why they didn't mention Skye's name; she's contained for now and they haven't decided how best to utilize her involvement to insulate the conspirators. Which they won't be able to do if Vivian releases Alan's video!"
"Aren't the prisoner rescues and our evidence more than enough to break this?" Judy asked incredulously, "Miss celebrity isn't the crime here!"
"While you were...absent," Jack said, "the conspirators successfully censored almost all of the post rescue reporting we were relying on. Its become a media battle; like it or not. That's far more immediate to the general populace than all the complicated and boring trails of evidence, past historical events, or scientific mysteries we've been wasting most of our time on. It will be hard to get any of that out past the government's professional liars, sensationalism of their raid, and smearing of us!
"Look at what they already hope the public will swallow! Your Nick kidnapped a celebrity and took her to his supposedly secret drug lab in the boonies, for what? Ransom, extortion?" he shouted. "Then they were conveniently joined by his best kept hidden inside agent just in time for a daring rescue, and bonus exposure of said agent? That's insane if you'd thing about it for a second—which the public doesn't do."
"Fluff, they showed your capture on a couple of early morning broadcasts, but nothing since. You don't fit their account of what went down out there. If you'd been a scary predator, as Fangmeyer said they needed, they'd already be parading you before the media," Nick captured her arm as he spoke.
"They're shouting us down, and flooding the airwaves with fabricated stories," Jack's voice rose again. "Those showed us they've destroyed evidence at Deer Trail and likely eliminated several of those we fought against there to plug possible leaks that would contradict their narrative—which they change on the fly and plant in the media at will—it's hard to compete with that!" He took a breath.
"This Verda scandal had been our best shot so far—that's hurt them and forced them to change their story. That might be noticed by some, but all they have to do is keep repeating the new version until it's accepted by the masses! All the rest we've got—it might be solid courtroom ready evidence, but we have to get it there! Numerous mammals have seen and understand it, but they're not organized. They can be individually contained, discredited, or silenced."
"They've blamed Nick for the kidnapping, and implied he was a big part of the organization," Judy said. "But not that he actually led it. He and Skye don't have the resources for that...so who do they think does?"
He exchanged a brief, horrified glance with Nick before they simultaneously said, "Growley."
"Shit, it's so fucking obvious!" he moaned. "Tarija must have ditched the meat farm plan before we even captured the feral Coypu! It was just taking too long, and explains our lack of logistical support. Skye's activities tipped her that we knew and might be able to undercut it. As soon as she finds out we used Growley's jet..."
"And their resort suite," Nick finished for him. "I'm now the direct connection from him to the Deer Trail operation—they'll find out soon enough from Mrs. Growley—I've been set up at both ends!"
"Actually all four of us were—remember, Skye's endorsement of your application came back on her too. Tarija'll go with the pred-at-large of course. Skye's right, I am an idiot. Tarija's now got her wealthy, reviled, revenge-fueled supervillain to justify her pogrom!"
"Does she know it yet?" Judy asked, "Remember, wouldn't 'loose lipped llama' have already done something if she did?"
"She did get Judy mentioned on CNN the other morning; maybe she doesn't know," Nick said hopefully.
"Maybe," Jack said morosely. "But I still scored an own-goal here."
"Poor traumatized celebrity," Judy said bitterly as they sat through the top of the six o clock news. There were slight embellishments to the story they'd seen an hour ago, so she and Jack finally took a few notes.
"...was injured during the Deer Trail joint raid, and is under armed guard at Aurora All Mammals hospital." Skye's picture was replaced by one of an elegant buck in a suit. "Just in. We have learned that Trace Kinsley the second, age thirty-six, Vail Kinsley's youngest nephew, has passed due to injuries suffered earlier during his valiant defense of Verda Kinsley from her abductors. His half-brother, tased and disabled during the struggle, positively identified Nicholas Wilde as having delivered the fatal blow. Additional corroborating evidence was gathered at the scene. Commissioner Gervase said that no effort will be spared to bring this murderer to..."
"I'm sure it's real—he was between me and Judy's cage—I felt bone give both times I hit him." Judy said nothing as she hugged him. "No regrets at all," the fox finished and wrapped her closer.
"I was afraid of this the first time you described it Nick; it gives us...you one choice. They must have enough information now to make you expendable—this will give them favorable coverage and public engagement as they hunt you down. And they eventually will—it can be used to buy them time. When they're ready, no arrest, they will kill you—immediate and deserved justice to placate the public."
"What choice?" Judy whimpered through Nick's fur.
"We try to arrange a media witnessed, public surrender for him to as neutral a law enforcement agency as we can find around here. I see no other way that could keep him alive given the circumstances."
Our next exciting installment will obviously be: Trials and Tribulations Part Two! Plus an entertaining epilogue for those patient enough to get this far.