All Up in the Fur

Chapter 3

3

There was absolutely no way Judy could tell Chief Bogo what had happened.

She'd run it over in her mind over and over again. It was much too risky. Not only had they gone undercover without permission, Nick's act to gain information from the coyotes was too... convincing. Not only had he taken a massive risk, there was the possibility he'd likely be pulled up as a suspect himself.

Several hours later, things were becoming even more worrying. No matter how many times she tried, she just kept getting his answer machine. She hadn't been able to sleep a wink she was so worried, and it hadn't helped matters that the licence plate she'd noted had belonged to a stolen bike and not a van. That solidified her worries. The coyotes were certainly suspicious.

With every passing hour she was starting to feel very alone, and strolling into the ZPD without her partner only amplified the hollow feeling in her chest.

"Good morning!" Clawhauser cheered from behind his desk. His face fell when he saw her and he pushed himself up to see through the door. "Isn't Nick with you?"

"No." She paused and rubbed her ears, currently held flat against her head. She hadn't really prepared for this. No Nick... and he obviously hadn't called in himself. "He's... exhausted. He won't be coming in."

Her stomach knotted as she saw the sad expression on the cheetah's face while he nodded his understanding.

"Poor little guy," he said. "Maybe he should try some sleeping pills?"

Judy made a non-committal grunt. She hated to lie, but right now she felt she didn't have much choice. What if Nick was fired? Or in so much trouble a team hunting him down might cost him his life? She bit her lip at that thought, trying to shove it out of her mind. She didn't need that right now.

She strolled into the bullpen, feeling the cheetah's eyes on her back as he watched her vanish into the room. Most of the officers were already there, watching as she took her spot on the oversized chair. Alone.

Chief Bogo wasn't far behind her and he glanced around the room, his eyes falling on the lone rabbit drowned in her chair.

"What? No Wilde?" He shrugged and looked down at his notes. "You can tell him, Hopps, that I expect an explanation off him for his absence."

"Oh, he has one," she said hesitantly.

Bogo wasn't really listening. Instead, he pinned another photo to the board of missing mammals. Judy's heart did a somersault. The face in the photo was familiar. A brown alpaca.

"Is that-" She was cut off as the buffalo turned to face them.

"The alpaca who came here with a complaint yesterday? Yes it is. Apparently he never went home to his family. I want Fangmeyer and Delgato to deal with this case." He looked around the room, shouting out commands to all the officers until only Judy remained.

She knew exactly what was coming.

"Hopps? I can't have you out there alone without your partner. Parking duty."

...

Judy had to admit it hadn't been her best record for dishing out parking tickets. Despite how she was feeling she had still tried her best, but she'd lost the spring in her step. As she typed out tickets she kept re-living the previous night over and over again. Was there anything she could have done to prevent all this? Even if she hadn't accompanied Nick he would still have gone without her. He'd made that pretty clear.

No. There was nothing she could have done. And now she herself was dealing with her own missing mammal case. Her own partner. Missing, and the ZPD hadn't a clue.