Judy POV

I thought my fake laugh sounded plenty real the first time but I put in a little more effort this time. As soon as we left the room I felt Nicks arm rest around my shoulder again. He steered me back to the table we had been sitting at before.

Immediately, his demeanor changed to his usual laid back but I could feel how tense his arm was. The way his chest rested against my shoulder I could also feel how fast his heart was beating.

Our previous table was empty. When I left both of our drinks were still there. Someone must have come by and cleared them away. I motioned for Nick to stay at the table while I went to replace them. "What did you order for both of us?"

Nick leaned against the wall while standing at the table, he rested his head in his hands. "Um, an old fashion and a lemon drop. You sure you don't want me to do it? I'm sure I'll be fine in just a few minutes."

I nodded. He seemed to be doing a lot better than before but I noticed his eyes had not changed back yet. "I've got it. You just take a second. Keep your head down and do not leave the table."

He gave me a thumbs up and I crossed over to the bar and waved to get the bartender's attention to order our drinks. As I pulled out my wallet to pay, a large hand rested over mine.

"I've got it." I glanced up to see Sara standing next to me. I hadn't noticed if she was there when I walked up or not. She didn't pull anything out to pay with but the bartender nodded. If she owned the place she probably had a tab.

"Thanks, Sara right?" I gave her a warm smile that she didn't return.

"So, what's the deal with you and Nick? I mean, no offense, but you don't really seem like his type. And I haven't run into him accidentally in so long, I know today wasn't just a coincidence. So, what's really going on?"

The bartender set a drink in front of her and the two I ordered in front of me. I could act decently, but I wasn't a very good lier. "I'm not sure what you mean, I don't really know what Nick's type is and he didn't mention anything about you guys being there. We were just getting coffee."

The first part wasn't a lie so I was trying to focus my attention on that. She raised an eyebrow and took a slow sip of her drink. "I don't believe you."

I reached for my drink but kept my eyes on her. Unfortunately I picked up Nicks instead. I only took a small sip but it was awful. I set it down quickly and made a face, switching to my own drink to wash the taste away.

Sara actually smirked a little bit. "Yeah, really not his type. You seem way too nice. Plus I would have never expected Nick to be interested in a bunny."

"Nice isn't Nick's type? He seems plenty nice to me. What happened between you two anyway?" She leaned her back against the bartop so she could look out into the crowd.

"I didn't say that Nick wasn't nice. And, what didn't he do? I put everything into my businesses and Nick was constantly coming up with these half assed shady business schemes that ultimately did nothing more than piss off my customers. Almost every week was a new idiotic idea. The VIP thing was the final straw. He sold a ticket to a really big name in the industry. I was putting out that fire for months. He almost got me shut down." She sipped her drink again.

Nick hadn't mentioned that part. "Does Nick know that happened? I really don't think he would have done anything like that if he thought it might hurt you."

She scoffed at that. "Hey, I am supposed to be the one asking questions here. So, how did you two meet?"

I ground my teeth together a bit to avoid telling her that we met when he was helping me with a police case. Actually, that wasn't even how we met. I didn't technically have to lie to her at all.

"It's a bit of a funny story. I was in an ice cream shop when I saw him and a friend trying to buy an elephant sized popsicle. I totally fell for his ruse and thought it was so sweet I offered to buy it for them."

Not the whole truth but it wasn't really a lie. "Later in the day I learned what they were doing with the popsicle and confronted him about it. I was really mad at first but it gave me an opportunity to really get to know him." I rushed out the end of my story to avoid going too far.

Sara seemed to contemplate what I said for a second before she spoke up. "Cute story. So, he's still working with that little jerk, Finnick?" I nodded. If she asked me anything about Nick's friend I wouldn't have to lie. The smaller fox was still a complete mystery to me.

This felt like a good opportunity to escape the conversation before I revealed information I was trying to avoid. "Hey, I have to go or Nick is going to get worried. I don't know what you think is going on between us, but you're wrong." That came out harsher than I was wanting it to.

I grabbed our drinks and fled the bar area quickly. I got turned around a little bit but found our table after a few minutes. Nick seemed like he was feeling a lot better. He was looking around the room and waved when he saw me.

Setting the drinks on the table I moved back to my spot. A quick glance at Nick's eyes told me that they were back to normal. I pointed at his drink. "That is disgusting."

He laughed and took a large sip. "Why did you try mine?"

"It was an accident. I was talking to Sara and I reached for the wrong one." Nick glanced away from me and back toward the bar.

"You talked to Sara? What did she say? What did you say?" His voice sounded a little panicked.

I was proud of myself for handling the situation with Sara and wasn't going to let his anxiety make me second guess myself. "Not much. She asked what was up with the two of us. Apparently I'm not your type." I smiled at the worry that took over his face. "I kind of brushed her off and played dumb. She did mention what happened with the whole VIP thing with you. Apparently you almost got her shut down."

He choked on his drink a bit. "What? I almost got her shut down? She never told me that." Brushing his hand over his face again, he turned back to the crowd. "Anyway, there's a goat weaving through the crowd looking suspicious. I think he might also be selling Nite Bite."

"Also?" I asked. I figured he had disappeared last time because he was confronting someone but I wasn't sure. Now he had all but confirmed that.

Nick wouldn't meet my eyes. "Yeah. There was a weasel I noticed earlier. That did not go well." His hand moved down and rubbed along his ribs. He winced slightly.

I ran my hand over the waistband of my jeans where I had my police badge tucked in. It was clipped to the thick fabric but facing inward so that the cold metal was pressed to my fur. If Nick had already confronted one mammal tonight about selling Nite Bite we would likely not have another chance.

It wouldn't really matter if our cover was blown once we confronted this goat. Although, it might not look good for either of us if we made a big scene right here. It would be best if we could lead him out of the building.

"Okay, well this time we go together." I downed the last sip of my drink and he did the same. "Let's go."

I let Nick lead the way into the crowd since I wasn't sure who we were looking for. After weaving through the crowd for a bit, Nick grabbed my hand and started to move faster. Very quickly we were standing in front of a goat, blocking his path.

Nick took over the conversation. "Looks like business has been good tonight. Think we could talk?" I pulled my badge out just enough for him to get a good look at it. The goats eyes were wide and he looked around quickly, looking for an escape.

I held my hands up to calm him down. "Hey, you're not getting arrested tonight if you work with us. We just want to talk. Can we go outside?"

He nodded. Nick and I both fell into step on either side and guided him out of the club through the same door we came in. I knew why we had to park so far away but now I was really wishing we didn't.

Outside in the alley I was ready to stop and talk but Nick continued walking. The guy walking with us kept begging to be let go and insisting that he wasn't doing anything. I realized that I didn't personally see him selling anything, I just had to trust Nick was right.

Half a block away, Nick steered us behind a building and stopped walking. "Okay, buddy, cut the crap. I saw you sell a little bag of something to that zebra so either you are going to jail tonight or you can help us."

I was looking quickly from Nick to the goat and back. For a second, I forgot I was the cop here. Nick was a little bit scary in this moment. His expression was dark and his teeth were barred. I leaned forward slightly to see his eyes, they were normal. His breathing was also even and his voice didn't have any of the growl to it.

I realized Nick was staring back at me. Right, I was the cop. "Uh, what's your name?" I hadn't thought about what I would do or say when we found someone selling Nite Bite. Or if this guy even was. Maybe I should have asked that first.

The goats voice wavered when he spoke. "Michael West, officer." I nodded and pulled out a small notebook from my pocket to quickly jot down his name.

"Okay, Mr. West, and were you selling Nite Bite back there?"

"Uh, nope. Not at all." He gave me a smile that was incredibly fake.

Nick rolled his eyes and yanked a few plastic bags out of Micheals pocket and dropped them on the ground like they were poisonous. It was identical to the images chief Bogo showed us. "You want to change your answer there?"

Micheal started to lean down like he was about to grab the bags off the ground but thought better of it. "Hey, you can't just grab stuff out of my pocket like that"

Nick leaned in a little closer to him. "She can't just grab stuff out of your pocket. But I'm not a cop yet. So, Micheal, who did you get this stuff from? And don't lie this time."

"I don't know his name, honest. We have a meeting spot on the edge of town." He looked at me and leaned a little bit away from Nick. "I see him every other Sunday. We-we're meeting this in two days, if that helps."

That did help, a lot actually. If he was planning to meet someone, we could follow him and get one step closer. Before I could say anything, Nick took over again. "You are going to tell Officer Hopps here exactly when and where you two are meeting and then we are both going to forget we ever saw each other, got it?"

Micheal nodded quickly and spouted off the information that Nick asked for. When he was done took a tiny test step away from us. When we didn't move to stop him he began running.

I tucked my notebook back into my pocket and turned to Nick. "Are you okay? You were a little scary there."

Suddenly he looked exhausted. "Yeah, let's just go." He still sounded normal and his eyes didn't look any different but his body was shaking a bit.

We walked another half a block before Nick spoke up again. "I saw a number of mammals buying that drug. I can't believe someone would take this stuff willingly. Like, I am being forced to endure the effects of night howler every day and these mammals are treating it like it's a game or something. It just sucks."

I didn't have words. Nothing I could say would express how sorry I was about the whole situation. Instead I reached out and took his hand while we walked and tried to change the subject hoping to get his mind off of it.

"It does suck, and I am so sorry. But I did want to ask you something. Back there, you said 'I'm not a cop yet'. So, are you still interested in joining the force? I had already mentioned that I really need a partner as soon as possible."

I didn't dare look him in the eye yet. "Why don't you have a partner yet? I mean, it made sense when you were just a meter maid but I am shocked the chief didn't assign you one yet."

I had to be careful with what I said next. As much as I desperately wanted Nick as my partner, I also didn't want him to feel pressured. I wanted him to want to be my partner. "I will probably get assigned one after this case. If I don't find one before that. You didn't answer my question."

This time I did steal a glance in his direction but now it was his eyes that were locked on the ground. "I don't know Judy. I mean, I WANT to so badly. I just haven't decided if it would be safe for me yet. I don't want to let you down."