Serendipity's Shadow
Rated T
Chapter 39
"So…let me get this straight." Chief Bogo picked up the flash drive. "Miss Mustela when we were negotiating, at some point when my back was turned, hid this in my nameplate?"
"She is a clever woman." Judy shrugged.
"All this time. Right under my nose." Chief Bogo had to laugh.
"… It's no longer safe here. Chief, you know the plan-"
"You mean the suicide mission?"
"This could be our only shot at getting Ermine for good."
"…I highly disapprove."
"Noted, Sir."
"I'll inform Fenton."
"Thank you, Sir." Judy offered a small smile to her chief in hopes to calm both of their nerves.
"Clawhauser?"
"Yes, Chief Bogo?"
"Send in Fenton."
"Yes, Chief."
Judy and Bogo only had to wait a few minutes before Fenton knocked politely on the door.
"Enter." Bogo called to the tiger standing on the other side of the door.
"Sir. Hopps." Fenton greeted.
Bogo spared one last glance at Judy before addressing officer Fenton.
"Fenton… you and Judy are the only two I can trust right now." Bogo held up the flash drive for Fenton to see. "Judy retrieved this from Miss Mustela when…an associate who previously agreed to work with the ZPD had a… disagreement, shall we say, with Hopps."
Fenton's ears remained perked as he listened to Bogo speak.
"What is it?"
"Everything we could ever need to bring Ermine down." Judy answered before holding her hand out to Bogo.
"How…what…when?" Fenton asked, amazed at the sight of the flash drive.
"Important questions for another time." Bogo handed the flash drive to Judy. "It's not safe here."
"I have a contact I'm meeting up with to give this flash drive to. Fenton, I trust you understand why I'm telling you this."
Fenton paused for a moment in thought before responding.
"I'm back up. Protection for the flash drive."
Judy nodded solemnly.
"You'll need to change into civilian attire so as to not scare off Judy's contact."
"Understood, Sir." Fenton saluted Bogo. "Permission to leave and prepare Chief?"
"Get out of here you Navy Brat." Chief Bogo chuckled as he sent Fenton on his way.
Only once the door was closed did Bogo address Judy.
"Are you sure this plan will work?"
"It will work. It has to work."
An hour later Judy was driving an unmarked car with Fenton riding shotgun.
"Hopps… I have to ask."
"What is it?"
Fenton shuffled in his seat placing his paws in his front pockets.
"Who were you working with?"
"No one good. An ugly shadow that follows and consumes all the good in the world.
"Why- why did you partner with them then?"
"There's a mole Fenton."
"…shit." Fenton sighed as his ears sagged.
"Bogo trusts you. In return I trust you. This flash drive…it would be only a matter of time before the mole found out I had it at the ZPD Headquarters. So, I need you to help me keep it safe."
"How…how are we doing this drop-off?"
"I don't know this person personally. I've never met them. But they always come through. We hide the flash drive in an alley in the construction district. Then they'll come and pick it up tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Fenton was surprised by Judy's words.
"It is their way of staying as anonymous as physically possible. Once they go under the radar, they are impossible to find. It's our best shot of keeping the flash drive full of evidence safe until Ermine's trial."
"…We can't drive through the construction district though."
"We're gonna have to walk at some point. Simple as that."
A silence had fallen between the two as Fenton shuffled in his seat again.
"Nervous?"
"…yeah. Yeah, it's fair to say I'm nervous."
"Don't be." Judy tried to calm him. "It should be just in and out. Walk in, drop off the flash drive, walk out, then pretend nothing happened."
"It's the pretend part that's gonna be a little tricky." Fenton laughed shooting Judy a smile.
Judy laughed a small giggle before turning back to silence.
Nick, I hope you are holding up your end of the plan. Judy silently prayed as the construction district came into sight.
The construction district, or rich bitch town as some have called it, is a small portion of the city that's always being worked on. Its was constructed by the rich for the rich. A sort of play zone for them to waste their money on. The most ridiculous thing Judy saw in there was a city building completely redesigned to be a child's playpen. Judy still remembered the clear glass slide that wrapped all the way from the top of the five-story building to the ground level. The longest time that the construction district went without any new changes was a week. And it was also known as a popular killing ground. Filled with many people who were too focused on their work, surrounded by loud machinery, and too tired to notice subtle changes in the environment. It was impossible for anyone to see, hear, or on the worst occasion, care enough, to report anything suspicious. Thirty percent of all crime relating to the bodily harm of another appears in the construction district.
And now…that's where I'm headed.
Once the two found a decent enough parking spot Judy began to feel her heart pound faster in her chest. But she had to remain calm. She had to remain clueless in order for this plan to work.
Time seemed to have sped up as they approached the alleyway that Judy had previously described to Fenton. Fenton paused at the entrance hesitating for a minute to follow.
"You coming big guy?" Judy called with a laugh trying to calm herself.
"Wouldn't miss this for the world." Fenton called placing his hands back into his pockets.
Judy walked further into the shadows of the long alleyway with Fenton keeping a respectable distance.
"So…where we gonna hide it?"
"I don't know. The contact said I'd know it when I see it."
"Hey, Judy?"
"Yeah?" Judy turned to face Fenton in time to hear the familiar click of a gun loading a bullet into the chamber.
"Fenton?" Judy asked as she stared down at the end of his gun. "What the hell are you doing!"
"I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I'm sorry that your dumb ass believed in the questionable rookie who knew everything from the start." His tone took an aggressive turn as he finished talking.
"…You. You're the mole?"
AN: Someone called it. Who else thought Fenton was the mole?