Judy POV

I left work a little bit earlier than usual. Before I turned in my time sheet I texted Nick to let him know what time I would be at his apartment. We decided to go over a plan tonight since Micheal would be meeting his supplier pretty early in the morning.

I also told him I would be bringing dinner. When I was at his place yesterday I noticed that the fridge was bare. Double checking that I had everything I needed from work, I waved to Clawhauser at the front desk and walked out.

Nick texted back right as I got to my car. He said I was good to come over whenever. Unsure of what Nick liked to eat, I opted to go with pasta. It seemed pretty safe and there was a really good shop between the precinct and his apartment.

The restaurant had our food ready pretty quickly and I was back in the parking lot outside Nick's apartment less than an hour after I left work. I had been sitting at my desk for most of the work day so my leg was feeling a little stiff. I jumped out of the car and walked a few slow laps around it before I grabbed the food from the front seat.

The front door to Nicks apartment was cracked open when I got there. Gently, I nudged the door open with my foot since my hands were full. Inside, Nick had his back to me. He was wiping down the counter in the kitchen. The apartment looked very clean and there was a fresh fruiting scent. A basket of fresh folded laundry sat just inside of a dark room that I assumed was his bedroom.

It was a stark difference from how I saw the apartment the first time. Evening light filtered in from the open window, giving everything a golden glow. I couldn't help the smile creeping across my face. A clean apartment didn't mean Nick was 100% back to himself but it did tell me he was doing a lot better.

"You know, you shouldn't leave your door open like that. Anyone could just wander inside." Nick jumped and spun around quickly. I laughed.

"Well, the hallway outside is usually pretty quiet. Plus I was expecting a cop to drop by soon so it seemed okay." I closed the door behind myself and set the food down on the island. Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose.

"That smells amazing, what is it?" He immediately began digging into the bag, pulling out styrofoam containers and setting them on the counter next to the bag.

"It's just pasta from Anthonys, down the street. They are really good. I got a few different things since I wasn't sure what you liked." I began opening containers revealing four different types of pasta, some salad, and breadsticks. I may have got a little overboard but anything that didn't get eaten could just be reheated later.

Nick turned to a cupboard behind him and pulled out two plates. He set one in front of me and immediately began piling a little bit of every type of pasta onto the other one. I mostly filled my own plate with salad with a little bit of pasta on the side.

Nick had already moved to the living room. He was busy pulling the coffee table closer to the couch to make it easier to eat. I set my food on the table next to his. "So, am I allowed to sit next to you this time or should I sit across the room?" I asked, jokingly.

Nick looked confused. "Yeah, of course you can sit next to me. If you want to, that is." Suddenly his expression dropped and I immediately regretted my joke. "Oh, right. You don't have to sit so close. I can sit in the chair if that makes you more comfortable."

He started to pick his plate up and I grabbed his arm, pulling him back to his seat. "Nick, I was joking. Please, stay here, I want to sit next to you."

"Oh." He set his plate back. After a second of contemplation he seemed to move on and immediately dug into his pile of pasta. After a few bites he stood and went back into the kitchen, returning minutes later with two glasses of water. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" After a few sips of water he went back to the pasta.

"Well, Micheal said that he meets his dealer at the docks in Seaside." I pulled up a map on my laptop and turned it to face Nick. I had been to Seaside once when I first started at the ZPD. I thought it would be important to see every unique ecosystem in the city. I was expecting Seaside to be warm and sunny but it was very cloudy and wet. The air tasted salty.

But there was a secluded dock where apparently everyone just minded their own business. It was a great place for shady deals and shadier business.

Nick took another sip of his water. "Yep. I know the place. It's a great spot to avoid cops. He said they are meeting at five right?"

I rolled my eyes at the first part he said. Nick has been a huge help with this case and the last one and still seemed interested in becoming an officer. Sometimes I forgot that he was a criminal, even if it was just small time crime and illegal hustles.

"Yeah, five. It's gonna be a really early morning. I think we should get there an hour or so before them so that we can find a good spot to watch and no one sees us coming."

Nick looked up at me mid bite. "Get there around four. So waking up around three? You're gonna kill me." He finished his bite.

I turned the laptop back to myself. "Coffee is on me. We'll probably watch the exchange, I'll record it so we have something to turn into the chief for evidence. And I'll make sure my phone is on silent this time." I laughed and clicked my phone into silent now so I didn't forget. "Then once Micheal leaves we will confront the other guy."

"Why do we have to wait for him to leave?" Nick asked.

"Because, there's a good chance this new guy won't be alone. This might be dangerous and I don't want to be any more outnumbered than we may already be. Not that I think Micheal will put up a fight."

"Makes sense. What do we want from this new guy?" He finished his plate and brought it into the kitchen. Returning with a breadstick, he reclined back on the couch.

"Well, the mammal that Micheal is meeting is most likely not the guy who is making Nite Bite but he is probably getting it from that guy. I'm hoping he can be intimidated enough to give up his boss. That reminds me." I ran to the small backpack I left by the front door and pulled out a fake police badge that looked pretty real.

I tossed it across the room to Nick, he turned it over in his hands. "What is this?"

"It's a police badge. It's not real, but it looks pretty real if you don't look too hard. I'm hoping two officers threatening arrest will be enough for this new guy to give up information." I was definitely nervous. If he showed up with a group of mammals or the situation just seemed really dangerous then we would just record the exchange and make a different plan.

Nick put the badge in his pocket and then yanked it out dramatically. "Cool." He motioned to my empty plate and I nodded that he could take it.

I checked the time on my phone. It was already seven and we would both have to be up really early. I joined Nick in the kitchen and closed up the to-go boxes. The salad one would come home with me but I put the leftover pastas into Nick's fridge.

"Well I should probably go. See you in roughly eight hours." Nick groaned as I left the apartment.