Darkness

Chapter 14

I DON'T OWN THE PICTURE!

Nick lay stretched out on the couch, Judy sleeping on top of him, her head on his chest. He had fallen asleep not long after her. His chest rose and fell softly.

Ring! Ring! His cellphone rang, it's tone shrill and annoying. Judy mumbled in her sleep, trying to ignore it. Nick's eyes flickered open, and he groped around in his sleepy state until he found the pants pocket his phone was in. Sliding it out of the pocket, he hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear.

"ZPD..." remembering he wasn't at work, he corrected himself. "I mean Nicholas Wilde. Who is this?" He yawned.

"Yo, Nick. Long time." Finnick's deep voice answered from the other end.

"Hey, Finnick. It's been awhile. Is everything alright?" Nick asked sleepily.

"Yeah, well, with you joining the fuzz and all, it's not like I could include you in my schemes." He chuckled nervously. He wasn't nervous because Nick was a cop now, it was because he was an uncharged criminal, calling with information on another criminal.

"You could always join us." Nick joked.

"Say that again and I'll bite your face off!" He joked back, reminding Nick of all the fun they had had together. Finnick grimaced. "Nick, I need to give you a tip, but I need to remain anonymous."

"Sure, bud. What is it?"

Finnick sighed. He was a con, but he was by no means a monster or a savage. He'd heard from a fellow con that there were fights being held in the abandoned Farmer's Inc. Warehouse. Well, he'd always been good at making gambles and coming out ahead. So he went to place some bets, make some easy money, and if he were lucky, see some dumb drunken mammals swinging at each other with a 2x4 or an old office chair. He wasn't prepared to see kids being forced to fight. They were wearing strange collars, and if they refused to comply, they were shocked until they did. It also got under his fur that only the predators were wearing those collars.

"Bud, you there?" Nick asked after a long silence.

"Yeah, man, I'm here." He finally said. "You know those kids you and Officer Toot Toot have been looking for?"

Nick's ears shot up, a sudden wave of hope washed over him. "Yeah."

"I've found them, and you and the fuzz need to hurry. They're in bad shape." He said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Listen carefully, tomorrow night, there's going to be another fight. It starts at eight. You need to stop them before it gets worse. The kids are in bad shape, man." He said jumping into his van/home.

"Finnick, where are they?" Nick asked desperately.

"You remember the abandoned warehouse we used to party at awhile back?" Finnick asked.

"Yeah. Farmer's Inc?"

"Yep."

"They're there?" He asked, tail beginning to wag.

"Yep." Finnick replied, firing up the van. "Remember everything I've told you Nick, cause I'm going into hiding until this crap storm is over. Ciao!" He barked, revving the engine and making tracks to his favorite hide out.

Nick was fired up. The wretched ewe finally slipped up just as he knew she would. No matter how great a criminal mind thinks they are, they're not perfect, and eventually they make a fatal miscalculation.

He located Chief Bogo's number, and gave him a call. "Wilde, it's three in the morning, this better be important!" He yelled into the phone.

"Sir, I just got an anonymous tip about the children, we need to host an emergency meeting." He explained.