6

Judy and Finnick strode into the ZPD, the small fox clutching a pawpsicle in his paws. The leopard behind the reception desk looked up and gave the rabbit a broad, friendly smile.

"Judy!" He lowered his voice as she drew closer. "You're back early. Is there a problem?"

"Yes, I, erm..." She glanced down at Finnick and Clawhauser followed her gaze.

"O... M... Goodness!" The leopard clapped his paws together. "Why, aren't you just so adorable?"

Finnick removed the pawpsicle from his mouth and frowned. "Excuse me, cop? Adorable?!"

Clawhauser's smile was replaced with confusion and embarrassment and he placed both paws on his cheeks. "Oh I'm so sorry! I thought-"

Judy cut him off with a wave of her paw before he could make the situation any worse.

"Finnick here is a friend of Nick's," she said.

"Ooh!" Clawhauser leant over his desk to look down at him again. "How is Nick? I've been so worried about him."

Finnick stared back at the leopard and raised an eyebrow. The silence that passed between them made Judy shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Erm, Clawhauser. Is there any chance we can use the computer room for a little while?"

"'We'?" Clawhauser looked from her to the fox and back and scratched his ear. "Well... since he's authorised, I don't see why not. But... could you explain why?"

She fished around in her pocket and pulled out the small tracking device. "This was found on his fur. He's been targeted by the kidnappers."

Clawhauser's jaw dropped and his donut in his paw bounced off the desk and onto the floor.

"So if we can trace the tracker," Judy went on, "then we might be able to find one of the kidnappers."

Clawhauser sighed and wound his paws together. "I don't know, Judy. I think you'd be better leaving it with the Chief."

"I really can't do that." She stared back at the leopard for a moment, watching as a look of worry crossed his features. She didn't really have much choice and out of all the police officers in the ZPD after Nick she trusted Clawhauser the most. She gave Finnick an apologetic look and pulled herself up onto the counter, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Can I tell you something in confidence, Clawhauser?"

"Of course you can! Is something wrong?"

"Yes. You see... Nick isn't sick. We went undercover and followed a pair of suspicious mammals. He tricked them into trusting him and went with them, but I can't let Chief Bogo find out because I'm worried he might not see it that way. And even if he did, if he sent out a team and something happened to Nick..."

His jaw had dropped with each word and he shook his head sadly. "Okay, Judy. I understand. I won't say a word, but... if you need back up, ask for it. Okay?"

She smiled broadly and nodded. "Thank you, Clawhauser."

"I can let you both into the computer room, and I'll do my best to keep anyone else out until you're finished. Here's the key."

He dropped a rather large key into the rabbit's small paws. With another 'thank you' she bounced off the counter and Finnick followed after her, giving one last glance back to the smiling yet worried leopard.

"So you told another cop," he said flatly.

"I didn't have much choice," she said, "and I trust Clawhauser."

"Oddly enough, so do I."

The computer room was very quiet. A lone porcupine was sat at one of them, but all she did was glance up at them briefly. Judy recognised her as one of the analysts who spent her whole time in the computer room researching and analysing data.

Judy gave her a small smile and climbed onto one of the large chairs. Finnick climbed up beside her and watched intently as she turned on the computer. There was nothing immediately obvious to help trace the tracker, nothing stood out to her at all. She made a thoughtful noise and pulled the tracker from her pocket, turning it around in her paws. Nothing to attach a cable to either.

"You ain't got a clue, have you?" Finnick whispered.

She shook her head. "I... thought it would be more obvious."

He gave an audible sigh and tried to wipe his sticky paws off on his shirt. "Well, while you faff around with it, I'll go wash this stuff off. Where's the loo?"

Judy gave him directions to the nearest toilet and watched him strut out of the room. With a sigh of her own, she sat back in the chair and turned the tracker around once more in her paws. Nothing. There was nothing obvious.

"How do they trace these things?" she muttered to herself.

"You sound like you're having trouble." The porcupine slipped off her chair and shuffled towards her, her long spines rustling together with every small movement. "Anything I can help you with?"

Judy rubbed at her ear and gave the tracker another defeated glance. "Actually, yes. Do you know how I can trace this thing?"

The porcupine took it and made a thoughtful noise. "This runs off a microchip. Simple enough. I can have this traced for you in no time flat. Easy peasy!"

Judy watched the analyst shuffle back across the room and pull something from a drawer. It looked like an old fashioned walkie talkie but half the front was taken up by a screen. She joined the porcupine and tried to look over her shoulder for a better view.

"Here, look at this!" The analyst lowered the device so she could clearly see the screen. "It's tracing it now! When it's done it'll print off the information for you. Simple."

Judy couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. It hadn't seemed simple to her, but this porcupine had shaved off a lot of time. The machine let out a long beep and a sheet of thin paper trailed from a slot at the top.

"Thank you, erm..."

The porcupine smiled fondly. "Eileen."

"Thank you, Eileen. You've been a total star!" Judy took the paper offered to her and read over it twice before racing from the computer room.

She almost bumped into Finnick in the hallway and trotted backwards before the pair of them ended up in a fuzzy heap on the floor.

"Nice save," said the fox. His eyes went to the paper in her paw. "Did you figure it out then?"

She placed a paw on her hip and beamed. "I got the information! Here, see for yourself."

He took the slip and frowned down at it. "Says that it's traced it to the edge of Sahara Square."

"Yup! It makes me wonder if there really was something behind telling us to meet at the Canyonlands."

"I still think the Canyonlands was a ruse." He thrust the paper back at her. "But Sahara Square ain't small. I say we check this location out this evening."

"I was gonna suggest the same thing."

He winked at her and turned away with a chuckle. "Great minds, hey, Hopps?"

...

As she sipped at her Pawbucks coffee, Judy felt a lot better that they now had a clear plan of action. The strip of paper lay in the centre of the table between two empty plates and what was left of Flash's lemon drizzle cake while Finnick leant over an oversized map trying to find the fastest route both to and from their target destination – a little street coming off Cactus Grove.

"I think," Finnick began, "the fastest and safest route is to go up through Downtown towards Peak Street Station and cross the bridge to Sahara Square from there. Quick 'n' easy way towards the northern outskirts."

Judy eyed the map and nodded her approval. "Since we don't know exactly where their base is, it's safer than driving straight through the centre of Sahara Square from where we are."

"That's what I was thinkin'."

"Now that leaves us with the next problem." She looked pointedly at Flash. "How comfortable are you with driving a van?"

"Not... very... fast," said the sloth. "Too... much... air... resistance."

"It'd still go faster'n a coyote," said Finnick. He blinked and looked up with a jolt. "Wait, what?! Who said anythin' about him drivin' my van?"

"Well, we don't have any other transport," said Judy. "His car got stuck full of bullets!"

She'd decided to not ask Flash what he'd told the repair shop. But she could imagine the sight was met with many raised eyebrows.

Finnick crossed his arms and frowned at her. "I don't even let Nick drive my van. Why would I let a total stranger?"

"Because we need someone behind the wheel, and I need you with me!" She returned his frown. "And you know Flash now. He's not a stranger."

Flash watched them bickering over his mug of iced coffee and lowered it slowly to the table. "We... could... always... hire... a car?"

Judy and Finnick turned to stare at him, Judy with a look of bewilderment.

"We can't do that!" she gasped. "Imagine the costs if we damaged it? You saw what happened to yours!"

"Hey, and you're happy to risk my van?" Finnick snarled. "I live in that thing!"

Judy slumped into her arms and groaned. "I'm at a loss here."

"Besides," he went on. "They know what it looks like, since that wildcat came to it in person."

Flash raised a claw and smiled. "Paint... job."

"You ain't paintin' my van! That took me ages!"

Judy's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow, you..." She shook her head sharply. "We haven't got time for this! We need to find a plan. A car. If you can't use your van, and Flash's car is in the shop, then what shall we do?"

Flash raised a claw again but Judy cut him off.

"We can't hire one."

He lowered it again and sipped his iced coffee through a straw.

Finnick sighed and smoothed out the map, his eyes distant as he was deep in thought. Finally he looked up and broke the tense silence.

"What car did you use with Nick?"

"An undercover car," she said.

"Get it back."

Her spine stiffened and she opened her mouth to retort, but all words froze in her throat when she realised one thing.

He was right.

They really did have no other choice.

"All right," she said with a sigh. "But we must try to avoid it getting shot at. Because if I return a car I'm not even meant to borrow and it's full of bullet holes, Chief Bogo will be after my neck."

Finnick snorted and folded up the map. "I think he'll be offerin' you a medal after you solved this case."