mastermind.

"There," said Nick. "When we…ahem," he looked around to see if anyone was within earshot, "…crossed the red light," he whispered.

Judy looked at the video and spotted the van. It was on the adjacent street.

"It was following us," said Judy.

"No. It was following them."

Nick clicked on the 'next' button. It showed when the blue van exited the city to get onto Meadowlands Highway. And sure enough…

"There," said Nick, pointing at the brown flower van, which appeared parked on the side of the road in front of an emergency phone booth. "It seemed to know exactly where the blue van was heading, and it drove ahead making sure the perpetrators headed in the right direction."

"So that's our guy," said Judy. "The driver of the van from Granny Mae's Flower Boutique."

"Yes. Only there's one little detail," said Nick, taking out his phone and dialling a number.

Judy waited, wondering what was next.

"Yes! Granny Mae's Flower Boutique? I'd like to order a dozen roses for…huh? This isn't Granny Mae's? But this is the number they gave me," said Nick on the phone. "Is Mr Emmitt Otterton in? Yes, let me speak to him, please. Thank you."

Nick waited on the line.

"What're you up to?" asked Judy.

"Wait and see…..Yes, hello? Mr Otterton! A pleasure to speak to you! This is Nick Wilde. Officer Wilde, from the ZPD. Yes, same to you. Oh, just fine. How's the missus and the kids? That's great! Listen, Mr Otterton…was this the number to Granny Mae's Flower Boutique? No? Yes, I thought it had to be a mistake. That flower shop went out of business when I was a kid. Well, I'm thirty-two now, so that makes it more than twenty years ago."

Judy's ears perked up.

"Aha…yes, anyway, say hello to Mrs Otterton and the kids for us. Yes, she's here. Yes, I'll tell her. Okay, you have a good day, Mr Otterton. Bye bye."

Nick hung up and looked at Judy. She was stunned.

"Well, Carrots," he said. "Looks like we're looking for a brown van painted with Granny Mae's Flower Boutique. My guess is stolen, but it could have been bought by another owner who decided to use it for less-than-honest purposes."

"How did you…Nick, how did you figure…"

"Because, baby-carrot-cakes, I used to live down the street from Granny Mae's, and she closed up shop long before you were born," said Nick, tapping her nose playfully with his finger. "Now let's go tell Bogo what we found and have everybody in this precinct on the lookout for that van."

Old Todd walked into Madame Mystique's tent that afternoon. She was just finishing a show and the people were exiting her tent.

"Is it done?" asked Madame Mystique.

"Yes," said Old Todd. "I had the wild dog plant the doll in the fox's apartment. But I don't get it, this is more than I bargained for."

"Those two police officers, the ones who showed up at Bunny Burrow and here…they are Judy Hopps and her partner," said Madame Mystique. "The same ones who cracked the infamous night howler case last year."

"What was that case about?" asked Old Todd.

"Clearly you don't read the papers," said Madame Mystique. "But it doesn't matter. The point is they are smart and having them whiffing around is certain to spell doom for us. They already caught our associate, that odious little weasel. Duke, was he? Such a vulgar, common name. He's sitting in a cell at the precinct, awaiting his trial."

"But what you're suggesting…"

"Is the only way to go about it," said Madame Mystique. "Eliminate them from the picture and make it look like an accident, or better yet…a murder. That will throw the cops off our scent. While they are distracted, we get out of here with the cash. It's that simple."

"I dunno, Madame M, this is too risky," said Old Todd.

"Like you said, one more heist and we're gone," said Madame Mystique. "We just have to wait until the cops are distracted, then nobody will notice if we quietly sneak out of town."

"I hope you're right," said Old Todd.

"I am," said Madame Mystique. "Now go back to your booth. I'll let you know if something comes up."

The work day ended and Judy and Nick clocked out. Bogo was at the entrance hall as they walked towards the front door.

"Wilde, Hopps," said Bogo. "I want you to remain alert. Anything comes up, I need everyone to be ready to answer immediately."

"Will do, Chief," said Nick.

"We're still tracking down the van," said Bogo. "As soon as the results are in, we can identify the new owner and it may lead us to something."

"Let's keep our fingers crossed," said Judy.

As they walked out of the building, Judy looked at Nick. He looked tired but satisfied. They had worked long hours and had actually made some progress. She felt they were close to cracking this case.

As they walked side-by-side, she felt a surge of affection towards him. Her arm moved as if on its own volition and wrapped around his waist. He looked down at her and smiled warmly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer.

"You did great, Nick," said Judy.

"Just doing my job, Carrots," said Nick humbly.

"Are you kidding? With your city smarts, you single-pawedly pointed out that van, and now we might actually find out who the mysterious driver is," said Judy. "Nobody else could have done that."

"Ah, well…things you pick up when you live off your wits," said Nick with a homely smile.

"You know, I really wanna do something for you," said Judy. "Something special. How about I cook you dinner tonight? I can make my mom's special carrot casserole. She taught it to me and all my siblings when we were old enough to cook."

"Hmm…actually," said Nick. "How about I cook you something tasty at my place? That way we'll be together and alert in case we get any calls, and we'll get to have dinner and chat."

"You…cook?" asked Judy, genuinely amazed.

"I can hold my own," said Nick.

"Okay! Great! Tell you what, I'll get the groceries," said Judy. "Just text me a list of what you need. I'll stop by my apartment and freshen up a bit, and I'll be right over."

"Sounds like a plan," said Nick.

They stopped at a corner to wait for the crosswalk light.

"There's a grocery store halfway down the block," said Judy. "Why don't I go and get the stuff and we meet later at your place?"

"Works for me," said Nick. "I'll leave the door unlocked."

"Great. See you at eight!"

Just as the crosswalk light turned green, Judy jumped up and landed a kiss on Nick's cheek. Then she scurried off to the store.

"Catch you later!" she said waving.

Nick waved back as he walked across the street, struggling to think about the ingredients he was supposed to text to her as his paw touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

Judy pushed the door to Nick's apartment open easily with her back. She was carrying a bag of groceries in one paw and her overnight bag in the other paw.

"Nick!" she called out. "It's me, Judy!"

No answer. She closed the door with her foot and walked into the living room.

"Nick?" called Judy, placing her bags on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Are you home?"

Then suddenly, a loud voice came from somewhere near. It sounded muffled, but somewhat melodious.

"I got a star on my car and one on my chest…" came a jolly singing voice from the bathroom, not far from where Judy stood, halfway down the hall between the bedroom and the living room. "Stun gun on my hip and the right to arrest…"

With a smile on her face, Judy tiptoed to the bathroom door, which was half-open, and stood against the wall, listening to Nick as he sang in the shower.

"My siren a-screamin' and my flashin' red lights, I work all day and I work all night ,just a-keepin' law and order, tryin' to do what's right…"

Judy suppressed a giggle behind her paw, listening to her beloved fox hit every note with uncanny accuracy.

"If your drivin' too fast like you shouldn't do, you can bet your boots, I'm comin' after you,if you wanna race then get on a race track, 'cause if you try and run away I'm gonna bring ya back…"

Judy listened to the entire song, trying hard not to giggle out loud. Then she heard Nick stepping out of the shower and drying himself. She quickly returned to the living room and sat on the sofa, waiting for him.

Nick walked out of the shower with a towel around his waist, playing air guitar and humming to himself.

"You're quite the singer, Mr Wilde," said Judy from the sofa as he walked by.

Nick jumped with surprise and his towel almost fell.

"Wha…when…did you…!" his eyes were wide with surprise.

"Just now," said Judy.

"Well! Aren't you the stealthy one," said Nick, gripping his towel firmly.

"I brought the groceries."

"Awesome…let me just get decent…"

"Oh, don't bother on my account," said

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Next page