AN Rejoice readers! This chapter took only six weeks, unlike the six months for the last one. As always, reviews and comments are very much appreciated.
Chapter Thirty two
Foxhunt
4:20 PM Tuesday, May 2nd with Skye Winter in Aurora All Mammals Medical Center's isolation ward.
"Are you awake Ms. Winter?" said a concerned and vaguely familiar feminine voice.
She was. Worries about her precarious security had made what sleep she'd gotten fitful. Skye opened her eyes to find Dr. Sor...no, it was another white coated skunk that looked very much like their paleontologist standing beside her bed, with a similarly attired larger raccoon a step back. They waited for some response from her.
"I am. The ceiling and walls in here just aren't very...inspiring." Skye said to cover her apparent lapse of situational awareness. She must have drifted off again—she hadn't heard the door open to admit them.
"We know, they went for effective disinfecting over effusive décor in here," the skunk said conversationally. "Anyway, you can relax for now; we made sure you'll remain our patients here."
"I hope that's the case; since there's at least two senior people in the agency that need me silenced. I'd appreciate any other news you have...and did someone apologize for me to that...capybara doctor?"
"Dr. Pampa understands; we had no idea what exactly had happened to you two out there," the skunk physician said as she stepped closer to check Skye's infusion pump, and then the bandage around her middle. "You'll see one of us from now on for day shift. I'm just happy you didn't pull your IV out!"
It had taken her awhile to calm down to simple embarrassment after having frantically crawled backwards over the head of the bed and up against the wall behind it—ribs notwithstanding. She'd awakened to see the large caviomorph come into her room, and had immediately flashed back to being shackled on the exam table in Deer Trail. Her hasty explanation of that had thankfully quashed any use of restraints here due to her overreaction.
"I'm doctor Laurel; this is doctor See-o-kay." The raccoon sighed slightly as Dr. Laurel continued. "She can fill you in, and is available to help you with any coping issues. I need to get another draw from doctor Honeybadger down to the lab." The skunk wasted no further time as she turned to Madge.
The raccoon stepped up and set a dispenser box on the bed. Skye read its side with trepidation—Canid/Felid style sanitary elimination panties: small/medium.
"Doctor...uh...doctor, I'm quite able to use the bathroom by myself! It's right here! I'll be careful with my infuser." She received a shush gesture in front of a smile as the doc reached into the box, withdrew several individually bagged panties, then worked out a still packaged cellphone from below.
"Thank you so much doctor!" In all their haste, both at Deer Trail and in here earlier, none of them had considered her inability to communicate. Grateful the hospital had heeded her request for one, she now grimaced in realization; she still had to charge its battery first, and didn't have any numbers to call!
"Are you in significant pain Ms. Winter?" the raccoon asked, misinterpreting her expression. "Alright then; do you need to use the bathroom now?"
Skye again gently shook her head no. The doctor didn't seem very old, but had that kindly aspect about her. She had lighter markings than most of her species, and a somewhat fluffier tail as well. "I'm sorry doctor, I didn't quite catch your name before."
"That's a common malady around here. You can call me doctor See-o-ma-kas-kay, she said carefully, tapping the longish and space-less name on her physician's coat. "That's already a courteous contraction. Some contract it further for convenience," she glanced over at Dr. Laurel. "The whole thing's a very old and revered indigenous mammal name from a pre-contact empire. I felt somewhat obligated to choose this prestigious profession just to live up to it!"
Skye decided to let that drop for now—she waved at the box and its smuggled in cellphone. Dr. Seeomakaskay furtively unpacked it for her as she spoke.
"We have a couple of suspicious government agents outside this ward Ms. Winter—pronghorns—they wanted to take you into custody earlier. Fortunately, admin staff here were able to convince them that your specific treatments have legal precedence—and that we'd resist your removal—so for now they are awaiting further orders. Also, they know they're on camera—and that you are," the raccoon said pointing up to it in the corner beyond Madge. "That's normally a video only feed to the nurse's station, but it's now being recorded remotely as well. Do mind it while using this phone. As you wanted, we're posting photos and labs from both of you to online telemedicine sites and two medical blogs. We will let the media know about those—although we still don't have permission from Mr. Lionheart or the bear brought in this morning. We'll see if they'll try to censor any of that!
"I saw one news broadcast over lunch—they're definitely controlling those and trying to paint you as drug criminals, but your lab results and that journal you brought easily proved to us you're involuntary experimental subjects! Much of this hospital already knows there's a cover-up of that in progress, and as medical professionals this goes beyond what type of mammal anyone is, we'll do everything we can to keep protecting you."
"They never expected us to be found, let alone rescued," Skye said, "I have no idea what actions they might ultimately take in response to this, or what they'll feed to the media, since they have some very powerful mammals to protect."
Ones that thus far, seem unwilling to risk further exposure by ordering my removal from a hospital. That could quickly change as their perceived vulnerability grows along with accumulating evidence.
"Dr. Piedra only said this morning that you needed to be protected from possible criminal retaliation. So this is just like last year's events in Zootopia, with serious political involvement behind it?"
"Serious enough that our evidence could topple a significant part of the federal government this time!"
"Oh my. I was told that your partner agents have taken that evidence safely away. Since you're still under significant psychological stress, please try to rest, and call on me whenever you feel ready to unburden yourself." Dr. Seeomakaskay plugged the charger in and tucked the phone by Skye's pillow.
"Doctor? Since I've been...kept sequestered, did either of them leave me a recent contact number?"
6:00 PM, with Vivian Wilde in the Growley's suite at The Pinnacles.
"This is CNN nightly news with Peter Moosebridge and Fabienne Growley reporting from our broadcast studios in Zootopia," the pre-recorded intro intoned. It was similar to the one back home—except there they said ZNN.
"Good evening to our many diverse and discerning viewers! Our top story remains the still unfolding events at the old Deer Trail Prison outside of Concordia. Fabienne is off tonight investigating what underlies the many conflicting reports that have emerged throughout this day. Our latest information was just released by the FBI's incident investigative unit."
Peter was replaced by a closer in aerial video of the prison. Shadows were shorter, and there was a much larger plume of smoke with some flames from the eastern half of building four. As the viewpoint moved around to show more of the front of the building, a large square door ruptured and released a fireball that convected upwards through the smoke column. Several small figures zig-zagged towards it.
"Coverup," she muttered to herself.
"Bet they're burning more than the evidence we left," rumbled Nadine from her sofa. "Hundred to one they're burning bodies in there too!"
"Made for television melodrama," Jack Savage groused at almost the same time from beside her.
"Shhh! Listen!" she admonished, semi-accidentally thwacking Jack with her tail. She upped the volume with the remote.
"…ally breached around nine AM, to find the remaining holdout suspects dead after an apparent attempt to destroy evidence while engaged in a final shootout with law enforcement officers and agents. Although unconfirmed by CNN, one report from the scene claimed that at least one prey mammal body was found within the building—however the official death toll of five has not yet been revised upwards. Investigators caution that it will be some time before any more definitive information can be released, as the contents of the building were thoroughly consumed and forensic analysis will be difficult."
"Called it," Nadine stated as her tail gave its own emphatic flip.
"Mute that crap Viv!" Jack said as he pushed her tail away. "Don't tell me I'm wrong until I'm finished!" He looked at them in turn.
"First, Fabienne Growley isn't on assignment—she's obviously been muzzled. Alan Curry's report was cut short—no further mention of him on the news either. We've been outflanked again with regards to the media battle—they obviously had enough embeds in place to dilute or kill stories on the major outlets. Remember, they successfully curtailed Growley's earlier reporting about the Fairfield evidence!
"Second, they've bought more time to get their story straight, although I already suspect where they're going with this now—there's only one plausible explanation they can use to cover their asses while still blaming predators for this whole mess—and preserve some of their original agenda." Jack's downcast eyes and raised paw asked for their continued forbearance.
"They were experimenting with delayed action nighthowler variants on the captives we rescued," he said methodically. "There's a near certain chance that information will get out due to either our evidence or reports from the hospital. So the conspiracy's going to recast those prey bodies of their failed associates...as the victims! It's their only option! Evil preds were experimenting on them...to develop variants that would affect prey mammals in revenge for what was done to other preds last year out west. Since nighthowler already is highly toxic to preds, those in the hospital...they'll pop positive, but aren't badly affected...that can be explained away as lab accidents or even voluntary tests of prey specific variants intended to be less dangerous for themselves."
"You are not wrong Jack," she said. "But won't this supposed deliberate destruction of evidence during their 'last stand' mean that this group of virtual preds—I'm sure burned beyond identification—will be cast as having felt it worth their lives to try and protect a wider predatory conspiracy?"
"Exactly Viv, they have to project their schemes onto us! Someone in the conspiracy has already gamed this out—at least this far. Judy told me up in Bunnyburrow that unrefined nighthowlers adversely affected rabbits, and likely other prey mammals," he said. "Given the amount of research done on them over the last year, a lot of doctors and researchers must know that too. But the general public does not! The conspiracy can make this work for them if they stay ahead of us in the media—which they're doing—official announcements that feed their prejudices carry a lot of weight with the average mammal."
"So what do we do with our evidence?" Nadine sounded disheartened as she waved a paw at the packs set against a wall. "It's overwhelming, but we'll expose ourselves and probably lose it if we rely on the mainstream media route. And with the Chief arrested, and with LE departments back here compromised, we can't use official channels either. But we've got to reveal it somehow!"
"We assumed media exposure of the rescue would break the conspiracy—they've blocked that—Growley's muzzled and CNN reports are censored—have we even told anyone other than those reporters and the hospital staff that we succeeded? Shit! We just slept most of the day." Jack said reproachfully.
"Sent a long text to my ZPD contact list early this morning," Nadine said in obvious satisfaction. "Listed who we rescued, that they're in hospital, and asked them to try and tell the Chief so he can give us some official cover when they interrogate him."
Jack gazed her in relief. "I'm glad that one of us was professional enough to remember to submit an incident report!"
"Understandable lapse agent Savage, you all got pretty beaten up last night—I just had a touch of nausea," Nadine said with a grimace of remembrance, "Wilde contacted your...Doctor Soren too. Though I'm still worried that the chief might not know; I imagine they're keeping him well under wraps."
"I can call Mr. Murry, he's a public defender that knows myself, Judy, and chief Bogo personally," Viv told Jack as Nadine nodded. She pulled out her phone. "He should be able to find out whose representing him and get in contact." Jack's presumably regular cellphone started to chime out the opening bar of 'The Operative' theme before she'd finished. His expression as he looked revealed the caller instantly.
"Skuuu...Agent Winter!" Jack slurred as he struggled with his self-control. He couldn't help glancing over at Nadine, who smiled back with a slow nod. That discomfited the poor hare even more, and made her wonder about how much the tiger officer might also suspect about Nicholas and his absent mate.
Jack listened intently, his mouth twitching now and then as he stifled his replies. He finally took a short, sharp breath.
"Oh, thank the creator! Sorry...shouldn't reveal where we are! Yes, it's here with us. No they're not—she's been arrested—captured actually...yes it's them—he's gone after her. Wait...how's your treatment going? Whose in there with you?" Jack's eyes widened a bit and he gripped his phone harder. "No! Get someone in there with you now! You've got to have in room security at all times! Things are still very fluid—they could make an attempt on you at any time." He listened some more. "Yes, I'm aware there's media censorship going on...no, not yet...yes, with Growley...yes we got that...with her...yes they could...probably soon! We'll…yes d...I will." Skye's voice had been intermittently audible from Jack's phone using some unladylike words, and her ZBI agent mate looked rather stunned as the call ended.
Jack avoided eye contact for the moment, poked at his phone, told them Skye's new number, then saved it in his. That brief task fortunately seemed enough to distract a wide-eyed Nadine—Jack's tone of voice had been rather revelatory.
"Agent Winter just pointed out—quite correctly—that I am an idiot," Jack then said plainly. "She...reminded me that with CNN and Mrs. Growley both implicated, that we're in danger if we remain together in any location that can be back traced from her."
"Like this private resort suite," Nadine said in dismay as she looked about at the unaccustomed luxury.
"We need to disperse," Jack said decisively. "You and I need to leave with the bulk of the evidence as soon as Eric returns. Vivian, you should stay here with enough of the duplicate evidence to augment what Mrs. Growley got from your son—if she's able to return here to get it. But not right here. We'll arrange for...a less obvious place for you here since you're already registered on Growley's account under an alias and have a keycard. Elite clients like them expect and routinely use such privacy services—it's always useful for those ah...special guests. Staff here should also be able to resist anything short of a very specific search or arrest warrant."
"I think Mrs. Wilde and I have got informing Chief Bogo well covered," Nadine said, "Savage, who else needs to know before they start hearing all this fake news? What about Mr. Growley? He has to know about Mrs. Growley being back here by now, and probably hasn't been able to contact her!"
"Shit yeah," Jack said, looking disgusted with himself. "I'll do that now! And Viv, you call the Hopps. They'll need to spread the word and counteract whatever Dillon's managed to get on the air by now!"
"I'll tell them what we know about Judy," Vivian said. "I'm sure someone in the Burrows has seen or heard the news about her by now. Better if most of her family hears it from us first."
They made their calls, then she helped Nadine lay out and re-sort their evidence—less than a quarter of it would remain here with her. Then the resort's internal network provided an interactive listing of almost a hundred available support staff along with their individual specialties. Four foxes were presently on-call, one name, a Jasmine, triggered her recall of what Nicholas and Kristen had related to them earlier. One of that individual's functions was 'Guest relations and accommodations'. Vivian hoped—after Jack's innuendo—that it only meant she worked in reception or something, then clicked on the pretty vixen's professionally done profile picture to summon her.
"I called the vixen that I think checked Nicholas in; thought it might make things easier," she told them, and received an affirmative nod from Jack. They had less than ten minutes to wait before the elevator returned with its door view screen lit. She got up carefully and took a couple of steps closer to it.
"Entrance granted," Viv said clearly to the door—which they'd discovered responded to several simple phrases—it opened and the actual young fox paused in momentary surprise at seeing another unanticipated vixen before she started her obsequious introduction.
"Please don't," Viv said, raising a paw and beckoning her in, "I'm the one that will need your services, and I appreciate your being available so quickly. I'm Vivian, to whom am I really speaking?"
'Jasmine' took only a few seconds to assess her tone, and their odd group's less than well dressed and groomed state. "I'm Rina Wavetail Ms. Vivian," she said. "How may I assist you?" she continued automatically with a bit of a quaver in her voice.
"Rina's a pretty name, why didn't they just go with that for you?" she asked to hopefully put the younger vixen more at ease.
"Services had a flower theme going when I was hired, and they generally don't want us using our real names around patrons for our protection," Rina said, seemingly unconcerned about any threat from them.
"Actually, you'll be helping to protect us Ms. Wavetail," Jack said while he remained seated—still shirtless, bandaged and visibly bruised. "This should help us start to explain things; I'm afraid you may find them rather outside your normal duties." He held his agency warrant out towards her.
To Rina's credit, she took and examined both his and Nadine's badges carefully before returning them.
"Early yesterday afternoon, you greeted a red fox and his skunk companion upon their arrival. He is my son and is an officer serving with the Zootopia Police Department." Just a second sufficed before the realization showed on Rina's face.
"Our fox officer! But...excuse me," Rina said looking distressed, "But hasn't the news been saying that...he's…" She stopped, with her tail drooped.
"Wanted for drug crimes among other things, yes," Vivian confirmed. "Actually he's been undercover helping the department expose internal corruption, and those charges were retaliation by involved officials. We already have plenty of evidence to get those dropped." It felt good not only that Nicholas had a supporter this far away from Zootopia, but that she'd been able to set his record straight for her.
"And some of it's back there if you want to see it," Jack said as he tried to turn enough to point it out with his good arm. "Sorry, it's been a rough night. Be warned, you may find some of that...disturbing. Have you listened to any of today's breaking news Ms. Wavetail?"
"I've heard talk in our staff room about some kind of big raid…" She further validated her fox credentials by rapidly fitting the pieces together. "May I ask, how are all of you involved? And Ms. Vivian, will I be seeing your son and his...companion..."
"Both ladies are under witness protection," Jack said to spike any further speculation about them.
"Now, as for what you can do for us. Officer Fangmeyer and myself will be leaving this suite, and Pinnacles, with our evidence as soon as our transportation arrives—likely within the hour. Ms. Vivian will stay, but needs to be moved tonight from this suite to a more modest on site residence under a new alias—just in case. When officer Wilde returns, keep him away from here and direct him and any companion to her new residence. Once we are gone, and she and our property are moved, delete our keycards and any records of our presence in the Growley's suite! If Mrs. Growley returns, update her in private about these arrangements."
"We have several secluded cottages around the retreat that you might find suitable Ms. Vivian," Rina said slowly while she finished entering Jack's instructions on her tablet. "I could also request that a cleaning crew come in here if you'd like Mr. Savage," she added.
"That would be perfect!" Jack said. "We're fortunate you were available Ms. Wavetail. Now, if your regular duties permit, I like you to continue to assist Ms. Wilde here to help protect her anonymity. She's been under a lot of stress from recent activities, and needs recuperation and relaxation—she's earned it!"
"You can request me as a preferred personal assistant during your stay," Rina said, as she turned from Jack towards her. "That puts me on light duty in order to remain available, and I can adjust or extend my shift as needed—I'm normally afternoons—noon until nine PM." She tapped on her tablet and held it out. "Just pass your keycard over the Pinnacles sigil to validate your request Ms. Wilde."
"Vivian's fine Rina," she told the now smiling young fox as she did so—this change in assignment had to be beneficial for her. "Now after you get me relocated, I'd like you to order dinner for both of us so I can explain what's really happening and what's been on the news, so you'll feel more comfortable about having helped us." As Jack wanted to help her to not be alone while worrying about Judy and Nicholas.
6:25 PM, with Nick Wilde at the Cold Spring Canyon trail junction.
Nick stared at the Forest Service trail map underneath its scuffed and yellowed acrylic cover. The convergence of recent elements in his life that it illustrated was amazing. Straight ahead of him, the Rainbow Lakes trail climbed into the hills for less than five miles before it meandered past the lakes and campground where he'd nearly frozen his tail off with Kristen two nights ago. Fifteen miles further along it to the north brought it close to the unlabeled gorge that he now knew concealed the Pinnacles retreat.
To his left, the road went up the canyon a mere two or three miles more to the cave where the Mara fossil that had started all of this for them had been found. To his right, it slalomed down toward the flatlands where bits of Concordia peeked from between the lower hills. He'd driven that stretch at least five times now to do everything from mollifying a fashion-conscious skunk, to leading an assault on a prison.
On the other side of the road behind him, the Rainbow arc trail wound its way through the hills and down to the town of Argo and its historical site. That was almost twenty miles away, but he'd leave the trail after only five or six and head down slope through unimproved national forest land to arrive at the western perimeter of the Kinsley estate—hopefully just before nightfall. They'd marked what seemed to be the best path for him on his Terra satellite image, but he'd make a final determination once he was actually there.
Which would only happen if he left now and kept his pace up—the sun was less than half an hour away from dropping behind the mountains, and the leading edge of the predicted weather front was already visible in the gaps between them. He turned and jogged across the empty road, then up the gently ascending first part of the trail. He could recover his wind on the long winding descent beyond.
It went more easily than he'd expected; his week spent back here seemed to have adapted him somewhat to the altitude. A couple of rich meals and a good sleep at Pinnacles hadn't hurt either. Mom had been right—he needed to be ready for this.
Close to the high-point of the trail, a hoped for text message update arrived. It was from Fangmeyer and said that she and Jack were bailing from the resort because of its connection to the silenced Fabienne Growley. That seemed wise. Mom would remain there in another location, so he was to contact her, Eric, or Jasmine there. The Hopps had been told about Judy, and Skye had called Jack and was still secure.
He sent a brief ' Pt. 2, all well, no trafic.' reply, then powered the phone off. He hoped they would keep themselves busy—having to wait most of the night for him to find the opportunity to report in would have to be worse than his own worries about engaging with Judy's captors. He'd gotten just a taste of taking deer down last night, and after losing her to them at the last minute, wanted a lot more.
Let your anger boost your skills fox; smarts and stealth will win, where simple savagery won't. You face formidable opponents on their home ground, they're larger, capable at night, and you're outnumbered by default, here's where you'll prove yourself worthy of her!
He was certain that Judy was somewhere on the estate—at least temporarily—the facts and surmises they'd debated just fit together too well. Spirits willing, none of the conspirators had followed that same train of thought and realized we could have done so too. It was the lesser circumstances that most concerned him. His knife and taser were the only offensive weapons he'd taken. From the equipment he'd used at Deer Trail, he'd taken just the flashlight, hardware store wire cutter and the two small chisels. At least the expansive estate wasn't built like a prison—it would have numerous vulnerable access points for a smaller, clever, and motivated fox.
And it's a large one, the wiki said that some forty to fifty members made up the Kinsley family. Like the Hopps, or any large group, most wouldn't be on board with anything like a conspiracy which needed to remain covert. So Judy probably won't be held in the main residence where she could be seen by random family—she'll be sequestered in an outbuilding somewhere—unless they stuck her in the wine cellar.
Just about sunset Nick reached the spot they'd picked for him to leave the trail. Some leading clouds had already moved overhead—they were gray, so what was coming behind them must be substantial. He chose two easily recognizable trees just off trail, and left a cache of most of his food and water in case they returned this way. The slope ahead was fairly smooth and slowly rolled off to become steeper and rougher, but was still negotiable. He had a wide view across the flatlands to the east, with the estate partially visible beyond a lower foothill. All was shadowed down there with many lights already on.
He moved as fast as possible—the sky was darkening and the clouds had already swallowed the crescent moon. One deviation from his course, and several added minutes, was forced by a small but impassable scarp that didn't show on his Terra map. The slope then lessened as he went around the last hill and brought the full estate into view. Its boundary, marked by a low, intermittent, and rough stone wall, along with a similar line of bushes, was closer than he'd expected it to be at this point. He went left to seek cover where the ground was slightly higher, and sat to consider his options.
The Kinsley estate was roughly rectangular, with the mostly single-story main structures on level ground almost half a mile away. From there, the ground sloped gradually upwards towards him to where he was concealed near the base of the hill, and was somewhat lower to the south where there was an adjacent property beyond a line of vegetation. There were two main residences, one half the size of the other, and a half-dozen smaller buildings on this side of them. Several cervid figures moved about near two of them, revealed by their architectural and walkway lighting.
Nick decided to wait a few minutes for them to hopefully go inside—the breeze at his back had become chill, and there was a hint of moisture in it. It would also carry his scent—in spite of his earlier shower—uncomfortably close to them if he moved any further down-slope. That's how he would have to detect Judy—he couldn't exactly do a room by room search. He'd need to get close downwind of the various structures to pick out her scent amid that of a whole herd of deer. He could go on the more brightly lit front side of the property, or sneak in between the main residences and the outbuildings this side of them.
He decided it would be safest to reconnoiter the outbuildings first, as it was a little darker there. He also hoped the main residences would be closed up soon due to the approaching weather, so his scent wouldn't be an issue. He crept a short ways back up the hill on all-fours until he was concealed within the thicker mixed deciduous forest on its lower slopes, then went around it until he was above where it intersected a wall than ran between the Kinsley's estate and their neighbors to the north. There was nothing to prevent anyone from easily climbing around or over the low end of it embedded in the slope, and going between properties, so this whole upscale area was likely controlled access. It also lessened the chance of there being any perimeter security on the grounds to deal with—these types liked to roam and must prize their unrestricted access to the forest lands upslope.
He'd be more exposed going down to and along the wall, although with the sky above and hill behind him equally dark, and with little light cast this way, the risk would be minimal until he got closer to the buildings. The top of the wall proved to be wide enough for careful all-fours walking, so he slowly and steadily closed the distance.
Nick stopped and flattened himself on top when lights shown out along the drive that came in back from between the main residences. A large white car drove up and stopped by the closest of the now evident guesthouses. There was a graphic on its door that he couldn't quite make out. The driver exited to load a few pieces of luggage while three of the waiting figures converged and got in back. The car turned around to retrace its route, and soon left the property altogether. One other left behind watched it leave, then walked back to the smaller of the main residences.
It was a strange time of day for invited guests or friends to leave, and they'd acted casually. If that was indeed a hotel courtesy car, it made it more likely that Judy was still hidden away here—they'd want as many uninvolved mammals out of the way as possible. If anything, it made it feel a bit more secure for him too. Ten minutes earlier and he might have panicked; thinking they'd just taken Judy away.
He crept closer towards the illuminated buildings—and eagerly picked up his pace when most of the exterior lights around the grounds went off. He leaped well out from the top of the wall towards the first guesthouse and scrambled over to its closest bunch of bushes. There were several decorative clusters of them, mostly near the buildings and the periphery of the grounds—and although they appeared somewhat natural from a distance, at least this bunch seemed actively cultivated. They also looked, probably to herbivores at least, more succulent than scrubby, so had likely been planted for casual browsing.
The darkness was now sufficient to conceal him from any non-dark adapted observers inside the main residences—but that advantage would persist for only minutes. Nick kept low and slunk around the front of the first guesthouse—it was dark and quiet inside, with no hint of Judy's scent among those of the several deer he'd seen there. He'd expected that, but needed to make sure—sniffing out every seam or vent opening that he could find. The second in the staggered line of four guesthouses was also clear.
The third was closer to the main residences, although the low hedge lined paths between them all, and its own mantle of vegetation, gave him enough cover to risk going around in front here as well. He alternated between watching from spots of concealment, then popping up for a few seconds to sniff around windowsills and the door. Nothing. He moved on to find the last guesthouse negative as well.
Crouched alongside it, he looked across the large formal garden that extended back from the primary residence, out past its central and now inactive fountain, to a boundary path a little further away from it than he was. On the far end of that path, closer to the south boundary of the estate, was a garage or grounds keeper's storage shed. If she wasn't in there, he didn't know what more he could do here. Watch and wait for her to be moved? Try to break into the residence? He'd still be outnumbered, had minimal resources and situational knowledge, no backup—he'd be a futile sacrifice no matter how hard he fought for her. Jack and Fangs had tried to warn him.
And they both knew I had no choice. I had to go after my mate. Fangs already suspects Jack and Skye, they made that pretty clear earlier. She has to realize now that we're also a lot more than just perfect ZPD partners. And I'm wasting time Judy might not have—waiting here because I can't bear to lose even the chance that she might be in that shed.
Nick forced himself to use the cover of the guesthouse to four-foot it back to that cross path and turn towards the shed. He watched the residence for a bit—all seemed quiet there—then fast crawled the forty feet over to the safety of the garden's low boundary hedge. Except for the central walkway gap, it protected him for over half the distance to the rather more substantial than a shed, garage door on the right, deer sized door on the left storage structure.
Before he could decide how best to move across the open space ahead, the subtle click of a door opening, then closing, came from around the south side of the residence. After a few seconds, a tall slender figure stepped into silhouette against the diffuse light that came around from in front of the structure. Nick watched as the deer turned in his direction and walked towards the storage building.
No rational reason for that one to go out there at this time of night unless she's in there! And they turned off the exterior lights first!
He needed to get in close so he could gain entrance when the deer opened the likely locked door. The open ground between them was too risky—there was still enough light to expose him to the cervid's peripheral vision. Nick eased himself slowly over the two foot-high hedge into the corner of the garden and turned to crawl along its side towards the residence—hugged close to it and double-timing as silently as he could. He risked a quick look when he got to the mid-garden side path—the deer was more than half way to the building and almost entirely faced away from him.
No time left. Nick stayed low and trotted across the gravel path until he felt the cushioning grass of the tended part of the grounds beneath his pads. He then stood and ran straight for the deer—now within yards of the building. He controlled his breathing, and his feet fell silently so as to not alert his prey.
The deer reached and opened the apparently unlocked door outward; light from inside spilled out past its body. Nick veered to one side to stay in the deer's narrow blind spot as its head turned slightly, reached for his taser, and turned it on by feel. The deer's movements seemed to slow as his heightened vulpine perceptions and reflexes kicked in.
Deer's large—go in low, undercut its legs. Odor of buck. Scent of Judy! Odor of fear—from her and another. Jump now!
"They'll be out in a couple more…" the buck started to say as he stepped inside just feet ahead of him.
Nick hit the upper back of the buck's right leg and felt it start to fold forward around his own as he guided the taser left-pawed up under its tail towards its vulnerable clothing hole. He rammed it home and felt a small part of the shock transmit through where the Buck's leg dragged over his—the buck bellowed explosively from the jolt up his spine and went down mostly behind him.
It took Nick a couple of seconds to disentangle himself and push his way out from under the inert buck's leg—the second buck further in took that time to finish turning towards him and to register his presence. Nick stood and drew his knife—the buck grabbed a triangular bladed hoe that hung on the wall.
Two quick steps and a lunge to get inside the arc of the longer ad hoc weapon—the back of the hoe's shaft caught momentarily on another hung tool as the buck tried to twist it from vertical to horizontal and start a swing. Nick twisted in mid-air to block the oncoming implement mid-shaft with the small pawguard on his knife, and dropped the taser so his left paw could grab it closer to the blade end.
The buck reflexively jerked it up and back—Nick pulled as well to bring himself quickly right up muzzle to muzzle with him. He slammed the angled pommel of the knife into the buck's head behind the eye—not having time to reorient his knife and arm for a stab. Nick got purchase with a foot, held position, and hit him again as hard as he could—remembering the trouble he'd had with the sheep at the prison barracks—and felt bone give under the blow. The buck made no attempt to protect himself as he went down hard—Nick pushed away and dropped to his feet—Judy's scent now close and strong.
Both bucks remained still—he retrieved the taser and turned to find Judy sitting spraddle-legged in a wire cage on a table just a few feet further back. He paws were cuffed behind her with the short chain between them looped through wires of the cage. Her eyes were on him and her small mouth was open.
"Nick?" she said plaintively, "I think he said there's more coming."
He twisted to get into his pack and find the wire cutter. He'd used it on the perimeter barbed wire at Deer Trail, and it proved adequate to cut the cuff chain. Judy pulled her arms free and slowly and stiffly leaned forward to crawl toward where he was cutting open the latch on the wire door. There wasn't room inside for her to stand or even raise her ears. He lifted her out as she tried to flex her legs. Her stress laden scent was intermingled with that of piss...and death. Someone had died recently in this cage.
"I'm carrying you!" he shouted to motivate her as he hoisted her back over his shoulder. "Get your feet inside my backpack and hang onto my neck." He stepped around the inside downed buck as soon as she had gotten a good hold, and saw that the door to the storage building stood wide open—blocked that way by the first fallen buck. Once there, he looked around its edge to see two more figures over by the side of the residence—both stared towards him and the sprawled and groaning deer by his feet.
"Hang on!" There was no time for a follow-up tase as Nick jumped past the rousing buck at the door and took a hard left. He veered around the end of the building to gain cover from the two now running deer—one towards them, the other back inside the residence. Shit was flying now and he could only hope to outrun it. He turned more to his left to run them straight at the closest part of the border vegetation between properties. It was dark, but he wanted his pursuer to see—and assume they would head back towards the more built-up neighborhood past the front of the properties, and a possible ride away.
"Ball up Judy! I'll toss you over!" She pulled herself over his right shoulder, then curled up as he reached back to grab her while slowing his run close to the tall hedge. He jumped as soon as he had his paws on her back and rump and pushed hard. Judy cleared the hedge as he dropped back—he shucked the pack off, then threw it over behind her.
Nick backed up several paces—he'd need a maximum effort jump to clear the lowest spot he could find close by. He grunted as he leapt, and the hedge scraped at his back through his coat as he tried for a high-jumper's flop over its top. He over rotated as he fell, and had to roll the landing on his back and shoulders. He sprang back to his feet to find Judy holding the pack by one strap, with a look of annoyance on her face. He pointed past her upslope. "Run. Stay close to the hedge. I'll take that."
He scooped up the pack and caught up with her quickly—she wasn't able to make full speed yet. It took them a few minutes as her pace slowly improved to get to the western property boundary—an easily passed split-rail fence for this one.
They slowed to negotiate the mostly unseen rougher terrain beyond, and he stepped past to lead her towards the nearest tree cover. Suddenly, everything ahead of them and to the right was thrown into sharp relief and long shadows. Nick ducked into the one behind the nearest decent tree, while Judy froze near the end of the dark strip cast by the hedge behind them. A careful squint revealed several floodlights along the roof line of the Kinsley residence—their brighter illumination pattern around the garden made it more likely they were there for social rather than security reasons.
Several figures were now milling about the grounds near the residence—he waved Judy over to him as her motion would be directly away from them and likely not that noticeable this far away. She stayed low and moved slowly up to him.
"Water?" she said hopefully.
He gave her the bottle and the deli sandwich from Pinnacles. "All I've got with me; I cached more up on the trail," he said and pointed up slope while she drank down half of it.
"Good thing Nick," Judy said as she put the bottle back in the pack, "this landed on me when you threw it over."
"Sorry Carrots, bit of a hurry and all. We need to keep moving before they realize we aren't trying to escape street side." They moved from shadow to shadow further back through the scattered stand of trees, and found a reasonably screened spot higher up where they could rest and watch the estate. Or at least he could do so. He'd reached out for his rescued mate as soon as he'd sat, but had been too slow to intercept her pounce. She'd wrapped her legs and arms around his middle, her face burrowed under his chin. All he could do was wrap her gently back in his tail and arms as she wanted, and try to breathe. He hoped that she'd need to come up for air before he ran out of it.
He stroked her ears slowly as she sporadically murfled into his fur. He stopped and she tried to do the impossible and squirm in even tighter. "Carrots? Officer Hopps? Juudy? Can you let go just a bit?"
"Don't wanna."
"Need ja to," Nick wheedled at her. "Fashion icon though she may be, I don't think even Skye can make bruised fox ribs trend." That got Judy to loosen her grip and look up at him in brief confusion. She then pulled her paws back from around him and looked back down.
"Yeah Carrots, cuffs. Not really into that. Maybe I could..."
She held her paws up while he retrieved his small lockpick pouch, quickly removed each cuff, then put them in the pack. Judy frowned.
"Can't leave em laying around, too shiny. They might find we went this way. Sides, your decoy career is over!"
"Where are we?"
"Kinsley's estate. About twenty-five miles south of the resort. They thought you were Jack until they snatched you. We saw the helicopter video of that on the news. Weren't sure what to do with you, you're too famous to be booked in anywhere without questions being asked. You and I really pissed off Kinsley's niece Verda, so we thought it was a pretty good bet that they'd brought you here until they could figure out what to do with you. I just had to get here before they decided on something!"
He got hugged again—which did feel better without her cuffs.
"I thought it was over Nick!" she cried into his thinned neck fur, "I just knew I was gonna die!"
"None of them told you anything? Really? We figured the Kinsley's would have to make a deal with you to save their hides. How else could they explain Verda's presence there?" And they wanted their revenge too. "That cage had to have psyched you out, something awful happened in there. You being kept in that could meet the legal definition of torture." That made Judy think for a bit.
"Maybe they wanted me despairing enough to take whatever they offered. I was too panicked in there to think clearly." She remembered her sandwich and started to unwrap it.
"Or hadn't agreed on the best way to frame any deal," Nick said. "That's more likely. Its only been about seventeen hours since you were arrested. They've been too busy censoring media reports and coming up with a believable story to explain what we pulled off last night!"
"How's the word getting out? Is everybody safe?" she said through a mouthful.
"Slowly, we're fighting an organized disinformation campaign. Mrs. Growley's been out of contact since she left for the studio. Curry's one report was killed in mid-broadcast! Everybody else is safe for now, you were the only one unaccounted for. We need to keep moving, we're still way to close to the estate and they're starting to come this way!" He pointed down slope, where several flashlight wielding individuals could be seen checking outside the perimeter.
He let her finish her sandwich, then they resumed climbing up slope and realized a light rain had started as soon as they came out from under the grove of trees. It didn't impede them, and there was just enough light filtering through from the estate behind them to let them see their way...well him anyway as a small paw fumbled for and grasped the end of his tail. He slowed for her, and gave verbal suggestions as they worked their way up around ghostly boulders and the dark voids of tree trunks and brush.
"How can you see in this Nick?" she asked, making him wish he'd checked his Terra map back when there was more light. He estimated they were a half-mile or so south of where he'd descended earlier, and he didn't know if this part of the trail would be closer, or farther away. The slope was shallow enough to stand up on here, so he stopped and turned her around with him.
"What can you see?"
Just a dim glow on the underside of the clouds with a few brighter patches down between the trees I guess? Can't see anything other than that."
"I can still recognize where the estate is, which means I don't want to risk using my flashlight yet. This slope's pretty bare—I'll try to find some better cover." He led her on—she hadn't released his tail. The slope became shallower, then became flat for a few feet before going up again.
"This might be it." He turned them right and realized that it was the trail within a minute. "Should be less than a mile to my cache; I've got food and water for both of us, along with a cellphone for you in case we get separated."
"Do you have anything warm? I'm really starting to get chilled."
"I brought another top for you from your luggage," Nick said, realizing that she lacked the coat she'd worn during the Deer Trail assault. "Fraid that's it. Took your coat and searched you?"
"Took my badge too. Nick, we might be in real trouble here, weather's getting worse and we're climbing further up into it!"
"Sorry for the rushed rescue, see what Skye thinks about that. We'll get the food, then get off-trail and build a shelter. I have a couple of tools. They'll probably follow us up this far, our scent's been blowing straight back to them. Once we get off to the side, this wind should carry it off and they won't know which way we went. They'll assume we're smart enough to stay on the trail under these conditions, so that's why we won't. All I can promise is that your accommodations will be better than they were, and your defluffed fox will do whatever he can to keep you warm if we keep moving!"
After a couple of hundred yards, the meager light failed as the weather dimmed estate became progressively hidden behind the hill he'd skirted on the way down. A sliver of light shone in front of them from his thumb covered flashlight allowed him to maintain a reasonable pace while towing his trusting mate with his tail. He periodically looked for any sign of light behind or below them, then started to carefully scan his own to the up slope side looking for his marker trees. He found them almost immediately, which he decided to ascribe to his innate navigational skills rather than dumb luck.
"Eat this, fuel keeps you warmer," he said while reloading the backpack. "There's two more in here for you and a couple for me." He shook out the flannel shirt he'd wrapped them in and gave it to her.
"We still need to get further away and not make it easy for them. Their plot's unraveling and you, and now me, are the best they have to deflect blame onto—they'll search hard to get us back." He led her further along, and up, the trail.
"Nick, it's g-getting colder!" she said maybe fifteen minutes later—and tail tugged him to a stop.
"I'll wrap you in my coat when we find a spot to shelter; I don't think you could walk in it very well. At least the wind's not as bad." The rain seemed to have stopped as well...his paw decided to uncap the flashlight and tip it up momentarily. Snowflakes swirled down through its beam. He scanned it to the side. "This slope's not too rocky, lets see what we can find up here." She didn't object, which worried him—he'd started to feel the cold too.
He wanted to get high enough above the trail to be out of sight of anyone searching for them along it, but realized he couldn't induce Judy to go much further. Psychological stress was as debilitating as physical, and she'd suffered plenty of both. He led her by the paw more across than up the slope to ease the climb, and was pleased that their route started to curve away from the hiking trail. It continued to do so until he felt they had gone around to the backside of a low ridge set at an angle to it. That should make it safer to use his flashlight—he slowly swept it around while still keeping the beam angled down.
They were on the lower part of this slope, the shallow and still mostly dry drainage along its base was about twenty feet below them. There were scattered big pine trees, more of them downslope, less above. Best of all were the thickets of dense, fox high bushes. They had a lot of deep green and firm looking small leaves that would provide hopefully decent shelter if they could get in under them.
Nick walked around three of the thickets and failed to find a place where they could penetrate or even adequately shelter behind them. He pushed some of the stiff outer branchlets aside with his flashlight in a couple of places to see that their interiors were just as impenetrably dense as the prickly outsides. The only spot that seemed to provide even a little shelter was a yard wide gap that went up between two of the thickets. Unfortunately, there was no overhead cover, and no level ground there, that short bit of slope was even steeper.
Something about it...he kneeled in front to look—still no access under the bushes on closer inspection.
"Stupid city fox!" he muttered to himself and pawed at the slanted ground in front of him.
"Judy!" He stood and removed his backpack, then his coat. She slowly came around from the downwind side of the first thicket they'd examined, and he wrapped her up in the coat. "I'm gonna dig! You find a good stick and scrape the dirt away." He gave her his knife, then retrieved the two chisels from the pack, stuck the flashlight in his mouth, and set to work.
It went as well as he'd hoped using his steel claws. The ground was somewhat crumbly for the first foot in, but firmed up as he got deeper. The few rocks he encountered were small, and the chisels made short work of the few intruding roots from the bushes. Once the ground seemed stable, he angled his burrowing downwards about thirty degrees—it just felt right. He got into a rhythm of digging, then pushing the accumulated dirt back under his belly as he inched his way forward. Every time it felt like it was piling up back around his hips and legs, he could feel Judy reaching in to scrape it away. Her need for warm shelter kept him going until he was close to eight feet in—and at least half that below the surface. His coordination finally failed due to deep fatigue—it was difficult to back himself out.
"Go ahead, get down there and keep busy," he panted at her. "You'll be warmer working inside, and you can clear out more of the dirt." He needed a water bottle from the pack, and didn't care if it was cold—he really was warmed from exertion. His arms recovered somewhat after a couple of minutes, so he stood and looked at her bent scraper stick left by the entrance, then went over to a larger down tree limb to rip off a thick chunk of bark. He broke off bits to make it into a better, roughly rectangular scraper, and gave it to Judy when she next reemerged, pushing his coat out ahead of her.
"Couldn't work in it, but it kept some of the warm in. Oh, that'll help!" she said, taking the curved piece of wood. "Still needs to be bigger down there for us; I had trouble turning around near the end!"
"I know, it's in deep enough but I just ran out of gas. I'll go back in and dig more out, you spread this pile around before the snow starts to stick, so it doesn't look like we're doing what we're doing!" He crawled back in to find both chisels stuck in the end face of the tunnel—seemed his smaller mate had found them and tried her paw at a bit of blind digging. He started to work more to the right, to maximize the depth below the slope above. He leveled off the crowned top of his advancing excavation, while digging the bottom down another foot to give them some headroom. His progress slowed—he was removing a lot more volume now widening it.
Nick found it easier to back out for his next break—Judy had partially squared off and flattened the bottom of the burrow for the first few feet in. She'd broken her bark scraper doing that, so he made her another while she went inside to drag out more dirt using his emptied backpack. There was soon enough room inside to allow a more efficient dual effort, and they finished a den a foot longer than he was, and just wide enough to turn around in.
She was back inside with the flashlight doing a final shaping of the walls and floor, while he shook as much of the dirt as he could out of his jacket and the backpack. He put the food and water back in it, and swapped them for the flashlight when she pushed her last load up and out.
"This is everything, I'll be down in a couple of minutes, I want to conceal the entrance." He first walked down to the drainage course to relieve himself, then gathered deadwood on the way back up. One branched piece served to rake more of the loose dirt away and spread it, then he arranged them to mostly block their hole from view of anyone that came around the slope the way they had. He remembered to set one length at an angle above their burrow to deflect any runoff. Then, a last quick scan around to make sure he hadn't missed anything before he turned off the flashlight—the darkness outside became absolute as he listened for a minute.
"Enough snow coming down that I think it'll cover everything in a couple of hours," he told Judy once back inside. "Heard nothing, sure we're safe here for at least the night." He gave her the light and spread his coat on the ground as insulation—and discovered that the primary issue with his den design was insufficient headroom for him to sit up in. His petite mate had enough if she kept her ears folded back.
"I'm still chilled, I'll try blocking the burrow," Judy said tiredly as she removed a few things from the pack, then pushed it partway up the entrance. "There's enough gaps, we'll still have plenty of air."
"If you need to plug it some more, get this shirt off me, it couldn't get any dirtier." She took it, he then curled on his side and tried not to press his back against the cold ground behind. "Should warm up more with both of us in here." His bunny then settled in the only spot she could, pressed close against him, and demanded his tail with her paw. She caught its tip, pulled it over her, and turned off the flashlight.
"Warming up any?" he quietly asked his snuggled mate after a few minutes. He could feel that they were, but needed to hear it from her. Their frantic escape and race to find shelter hadn't allowed him enough sensory confirmation that he really had her back. Dreams, perhaps only his, in the dark like this, usually involved just one or two senses—not enough to sustain the reality he craved. Here, now that he had the time to reconnect with his mate, he had two, he held her, could feel her breathe, and her scent filled his muzzle. He needed at least a third—sight and taste were out of the question—his own heartbeat masked hers, and her occasional gentle snore while cute, was too subtle. They both had to be dead tired, he certainly was, but he still needed to hear her voice, to talk some more with her.
"Mmmm hm," she said softly. "Warm foxy."
That was better; at least she was still somewhat awake. "I've got you safe with me now," he said softly while trying to work a paw under his own tail to stroke her soft fur. "You had to know I'd find you no matter what—fight anyone to protect my mate."
"N my hero did it with-out even bruising his may leego." She shifted a bit and made him abruptly aware of where her tail pressed against him. "Nick? Know what else ya did?"
"Got me a bunny to cuddle."
"Nooo. Liddle bit more. Ya just mare-reed your cuddle bunny all traditionally n officially." She twisted a little to presumably try to look back at him in the utter blackness.
"Don't remember seeing any civil justices around here, or hearing any recent vows Carrots."
"I said traaditionallly. Old, old timey one. Not many families do it anymore. Buck digs a burrow t prove his fitness to pro-vide a home for his doe. Now-a-days even the conservative ones just shovel out a butt-deep hole ta stand in for the cer-e-mony."
"Any more rabbit rules and regulations I'll need to be cautious about?"
"May-bee. Hafta check with the rab-bit council. Yar still stuck—ya dug it out—gotta keep me now!"
"Well...alright. Let's sleep on that, I'm wiped, and you're really...rambling here Carrots."
Awareness came gradually. First was the rhythm of his heart, subtly felt and heard. There was also the faintest of rushes in his ears that synchronized with those beats. There was more of him beyond that, he had size, a sense of his presence spread to reveal he had extremities too.
There was a not-him as well. Another locus, another rhythm, faster than his, barely audible over his own but more easily felt. There was space to contain them both. An ancient sense signaled the rightness of the other, comfort, and belonging.
He was still curled protectively around Judy—in an utterly still and dark den that provided little room for anything other than a profound sense of privacy and security. He was now quite warm right around his lapine heating element—he lifted his tail away, as her restraining paw had slipped off of it.
Nick had no idea what time it was; no light filtered down from the entrance. It could still be night; although the day could be effectively blocked out by clouds, snow, the flanking brush, and the backpack. He still felt some muscular fatigue from hard work well done, but hadn't stiffened up from it yet. So it was probably still night.
He actually was quite comfortable at the moment, certainly a combination of satisfaction from a successful rescue attempt, contentment over Judy's presence alongside, and the realization that although circumstance had striven to keep them apart ever since they'd declared themselves mates, it would at least for now finally grant them some privacy.
He flexed his paws and feet, then rolled away from Judy a bit, to try for as much of a stretch as he could manage in here. As he did so, he felt Judy stir; one of her small paws quested unsuccessfully after his absent tail, then pressed against his bare furred belly as she presumably sat up. It pushed harder as she started to crawl over him to where she'd stashed the food and water beside the entrance.
He said nothing—unaccountably delighted by her slightly awkward journey across the land of the stretching fox. Nick slid fully onto his back while he heard her briefly rummage just beyond his feet. He heard her drink before she returned overfox and gave him the rest—sliding the plastic bottle up towards his chin. She lay on top of him with a paw gently on his throat, feeling him drink it. And said nothing.
So it's a game, he thought, as he flipped the empty bottle back down by his feet. Probably something to help bury the trauma she just went through—better let her. She's already working her paws through what mom left of my chest fur, getting friendly, trying for a response. He retaliated by gently grasping her below her arms and dragging her shirt up enough to get his fingers in underneath and into her fur.
Judy immediately stretched her arms overhead, and used her legs to skootch herself a few inches southwards—encouraging him to pull it off altogether. He did, calling her bluff, he knew there was another underneath. She immediately flexed to demand its removal as well—upping the ante in silence.
No limits this time, he realized, as she was now working on loosening his pants. There wasn't enough room for him to help very much, he just rolled his hips and alternately stretched as she worked each leg of them off of him a few inches at a time. She then squirmed around by his feet, soon joining him completely free furred and laying atop him. His imminent lover moved up face-to-face with him, exploring his upper body with her paws and petite muzzle—inviting him to do the same with her trim body wriggling in his arms.
In all Nick's imaginings, he'd never expected that his first sexually intimate time with his in the fur mate, would be with her completely invisible to him—and silent! He could only respond in kind, feeling her soft contours as she quivered under his paws, brushing a finger along her eager smile or up an ear. It was interminable bliss as they familiarized themselves with aspects only felt, scented, or occasionally tasted as their tongues darted together while he marked her repeatedly.
Nick's excitement exploded when Judy started to nibble at his neck and jawline—she'd remembered to be his vixen, and had solved his dilemma over going that far with her again. She repeatedly tested his self-control, and had to restrain his emergent enthusiasm between her legs, before she slowly slid herself down his torso to consummation. It was difficult for him to let her set the pace as he'd promised himself he would.
Slowly and carefully at first, they moved together in a rhythm that was far, far older than any other.
AN There are a few minor shout outs in this chapter.
There's more to come in the penultimate installment of Sandcastles: Chapter 33 Trials and Tribulations