“He works out in fatigues and a makeshift tactical vest? Didn't realize we’d be trailing one of the members of the A-Team.”

Judy snorted at Nick's comment, her eyes laser-focused on maps and documents that cluttered the tablet screen sitting on the dashboard of the car. “He's here almost every day, and a few times twice a day, according to the GPS data we have.”

Judy's phone buzzed. "It's Jen," she said, putting it on speaker.

"Hey, got that GPS data for you," Jen chirped.

“Great!” Judy exclaimed.

"It's weird. His phone was at home all last night, except... it wasn't. The signal dropped completely for about thirty seconds an hour before the attack, then again for a few seconds three hours after, as if it was turned off and on. Or like the network just... blinked."

Nick leaned forward. "A technical issue?"

"Could be, but twice? In those specific windows? Feels too neat. Just thought you should know, "Jen replied.

“Not exactly a large window to get to Jack and take him. Any other suspicious things you see?”

“It's hard to tell. He works as a mechanic at a shop in the Rainforest District, but his hours don't seem to be consistent. He's active, on the move frequently, and doesn’t even seem to go to the same coffee shop two days in a row.”

Nick peered over her shoulder. “No? Is that a paranoia thing, or does he just really enjoy trying new places?”

Judy shrugged. “I guess a question we're going to have to solve.”

Nick handed her the camera as Jen said her goodbyes, then took the tablet from her paws. He searched for a moment before tapping the screen a few times. “He has a credit card but barely ever uses it. I'll see if we can get Bogo to ask the bank for statements to see what he's spending his cash on, but that might be a hard thing to convince a judge to sign off on.”

“If we can get something a touch more solid, getting that warrant wouldn't be an issue.” Judy set the camera down and started the car. “Looks like his workout is done.”

The unmarked car they were in slowly pulled away from the curb, settling into a nice pace a few cars behind Asher. The silence in the car was palpable. The banter was minimal, replaced by the somber weight of their task.

Nick flinched slightly as they entered a roundabout, the glare from a few of the vehicle windows blinded him. He grabbed his glasses, flicking them onto his face.

Asher pulled up to a ratty-looking apartment building. The windows were covered with lengths of rebar, and the security gate seemed to lack any sort of security. He hopped out of his car, taking the stairs two at a time.

Judy pulled the car over halfway down the street, glancing at Nick as she bit her lip. “I don't think I ever saw this address on any of the forms we went through.”

The badger glanced around for a moment before disappearing behind the building.

Judy frowned. “Crap. No way to follow him in there without being spotted.”

Nick hopped out of the car, ripping one of the sleeves of his black t-shirt off. He tossed his belt into the car, reaching down to take a pawful of mud and smeared it across his chest and arms.

Judy stared at him for a moment, mouth agape. “What are you doing?”

“Probably something stupid,” he replied, sliding a few leaves into his fur.

“You've already done that.”

“Right. Then something crazy! Look around. This isn't exactly Palm View; there are multiple homeless mammals out and about. They won't notice a homeless-looking fox digging through dumpsters in an alleyway.”

He reached up and matted the fur on his head, shaping it in a few different ways. He reached into the backseat, grabbed a towel from his gym bag, rolled it on the ground, and gave it a few tears before grinding in plenty of dirt.

He gave Judy a wink and closed the door, wrapping the towel around him like a shawl and starting to amble away from the car, muttering to himself, his eyes focused on nothing in particular before disappearing down the alley as well.

Judy sat in the car, staring at the alley entrance. One paw was on the door handle, the other on her service tranq as she chewed her lip, waiting for any sign that she should jump out to help.

A soft breeze picked up, scattering trash across the asphalt as the distant honking of the highway floated through the windows.

Judy's eyes stayed locked on the alleyway entrance.

A car turned onto the street. It slowed for a moment before passing her without issue.

After what felt like an eternity, she saw Nick reemerge, his dirty towel wrapped tightly around him as he held a bag of trash close to himself, yelling gibberish over his shoulder and stomping away. A moment later, their badger appeared as well, glancing back and forth between Nick walking away and someone in the alleyway. He paused, then laughed as he gestured to his head.

Nick walked right past the car, snapping his muzzle back and forth, bending down to shove more trash into his newly acquired bag. He mouthed to Judy to meet him down the street.

Judy waited for the badger to disappear back into his own car before flipping a U-turn and cruising down to the end of the block, pulling into a convenience store parking lot just far enough to stay out of sight. The store looked like it hadn’t seen a renovation in decades. A flickering neon sign buzzed out the promise that “Maps are Sold Here,” while a lidless dumpster sagged against one side, a sticky, unidentifiable puddle oozing into the cracked asphalt below it.

It didn’t take long for Nick to catch up. He tossed the bag into the dumpster, wiped his muzzle clean, and followed it with the filthy towel. He grimaced as he looked down at his shirt, leaning against the car. “I’m gonna need a new shirt. Got something on this one. It might be dirt. I hope it’s dirt.”

“I'll head into the store and see if they have any clothes for sale as you clean up in the bathroom. Get anything useful from your little improv game?”

“It's not a game; it was sophisticated undercover work. If undercover work had a Pawscars, I'd be taking home best original performance! And yes, it wasn't much. But he was meeting with an otter. They said something about wanting to move the merchandise from the docks; something about values being different?”

“Values like numbers or values like ethics?”

Nick took off the filthy shirt, using it to wipe off a bit more dirt from his arms. “Not sure. It was all very vague. The otter handed our guy a box, told them it'll help make a statement, and that was the end of it. “

“What was in the box?”

He shook a few leaves from his tail, frowning as he shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe Gwyneth Pawltrow's head?”

Judy rolled her eyes as she started to head towards the store. “If that's the case, does that make me Brad Purr and you K-9 Spacey?”

Nick waved his paw as he shouted back at her, “I'll be whoever you want me to be, just get me some clean clothes and the bathroom key.”

He let out a sigh as Judy walked into the store, leaning his head back against the frame of the car, biting at his nails. His eyes drifted closed as the information they'd gathered so far shifted in his mind, a puzzle that didn't fully fit together.

He jumped slightly, his eyes snapping open as Judy hefted a bag onto the hood of the car with a thump. “I hope you love Zootopia, because your shirt is going to be telling everyone you do.”

Nick stared at her for a moment as she stood there, forcing a smile, then pulled out a travel bottle of shampoo. “This was all they had.”

A joke died on his lips, looking down at the small bottle in his paws, his voice softening. “Sorry. I'm trying to stay positive and keep up with the jokes as if everything is normal, but it isn't normal, is it?”

Judy turned the bottle absentmindedly in her paws as she slowly shook her head. “No, no, it isn't. I think–I think the only way to get through it, though, is to make sure that we don't lose who we are because who we are is what makes us a great team and what lets us solve cases. So, we keep pushing forward…for Jack.”

He reached out and took the bottle from her paws. “For Jack. And if you ever tell him I was actually concerned about him, I'll deny it and ice you both myself in Mr. Big’s mansion.”

Nick took a few minutes in the convenience store’s bathroom, washing out his fur in the sink as best he could. He slipped the shirt on inside out. After returning the bathroom key, he walked back to the car. “Figured wearing it inside-out and all black was less noticeable than white letters and a giant red heart.”

Judy nodded as she opened the door. “You said they need to move the merchandise from the docks, right? You think the docks are the shipping docks? There's all those warehouses down there; it wouldn't be a bad place to keep Jack.”

Nick slid into his seat and pulled up the GPS data on Asher. “He had no history of heading down to the docks. My guess is he leaves his phone at home and carries a burner with him when he's doing shady business.”

“Well, there's way too many places to search without narrowing it down first. We need to follow Asher and see if we can narrow it down. There's a coffee joint nearby that he frequents. He's probably going to-”

Nick finished her sentence, “Drive right past us while texting on his phone. Are there any sacred laws left for this guy?”

Judy's ears shot up as she watched him pass them. She eased into traffic, following him from a few cars behind. “You know, we could be completely wrong about him. We still don't have any hard evidence that he's the one who took Jack.”

“That's true, I guess, but he's definitely doing something shady. He's our best lead.”

It took another hour of tailing Asher before they pulled up to the docks. Along the waterfront, sat a row of old, medium-sized warehouses and buildings, many of them sitting empty with no movement.

Judy parked the car as she watched him scurry into one of the warehouses with the package under his arm.

“What a beautiful waterfront view. Hopefully we won't need a bigger boat.”

Judy blinked. “We don't need any boats.”

Nick snapped a photo of the address, shaking his head. “Never mind. I feel like I should thank him for leading us right to the warehouse, though. This place would be so annoying to grid search.”

Judy pointed across the lot. “Look, they have patrols going. I see two groups of two making rounds.”

“At least we have confirmation that there's something Asher doesn't want other mammals to find. It seems like this might be a bit too guarded to waltz right in. Short of a warrant, we’re stuck.”

Judy surveyed the docks, taking stock of the few workers milling around as the afternoon sun beat down on them. Her ears perked up as she grabbed the clipboard off the dash. “Or are we? Maybe we can’t go in as cops, but what if we go in as something else?”

“What, you want me to dress in drag and do the hula?”

“Yes, but that's beside the point.” She shoved the clipboard into his paws. "What's something they won't see as a threat? Something they'll see as an... annoyance. A logistical problem they just want to get rid of. It's the one thing that gets into every secure building in Zootopia."

Nick glanced down at the clipboard. A slow, deeply impressed grin spreads across his muzzle.

"A minimum-wage delivery driver with the wrong address. Carrots, that is beautifully and criminally devious. I'm so proud. I bet I can snag a hi-vis vest off a dock worker."

“Perfect. While you distract them, I’ll see if I can get a few pictures from the side window. If I can get something with a little more sustenance, we should have enough to get Bogo to sign off on a raid.”

“Maybe we can turn you into an honest hustler!” Nick beamed as he slid out of the car, booking it across the far end of the docks.

Judy snorted, making her way down the opposite side of the warehouse. She stopped, glancing around the corner, and the loading zone of the target garage was in plain view. She watched as the guards loitered next to the back door. A few minutes passed. Then a few more. She looked down at her watch, concerned. Nick should have already been here. She gave another beat, slowly reaching down to grab her phone, when a white van pulled up.

Out jumped Nick, wearing a highlighter yellow vest, clipboard in paw, waving towards the group of guards. “Excuse me! Yeah, you guys, any one of you will do! I got a time-sensitive delivery here, and I can't freaking find Warehouse Nine! Are you all Warehouse Nine?”

The guards turned their backs to Judy, all eyes on the fox, shouting at them. She seized her chance and scampered across the lot, ducking behind a stack of weathered pallets. Carefully, she delicately moved up the fire escape, stopping at the window.

Nick's voice floated in from around the corner. “Pal, I've got a pallet of industrial solvent that says it belongs here. You want me to leave it on the curb? If it freezes, my boss will have my tail. Sign the refusal, I’m gone. I don’t even care if it’s yours.”

She ducked down, lowering her ears to make sure she was fully out of sight. The window was grimy and stuck, but she managed to pry it open a crack, enough to fit her phone's camera lens through. She didn't dare stick her head in.

She aimed the phone's camera blindly, trying to pan across the dark office. The first few photos were blurry shots of a desk and scattered papers. Useless. Her ears swiveled as she heard a door open inside the room, followed by Asher's voice, much closer now. She switched over to video and hit record.

"...take it if he isn't asking for money. We don’t have time to deal with him!"

Judy held her breath. Another mammal entered the office. Through her phone's screen, she could now see a sliver of the room's interior. A large badger—Asher himself—was grabbing a stack of papers from the desk. As he did, he nonchalantly picked up a small, silver object that was holding some of the papers down like a paperweight.

He dangled it for a moment, and her heart froze. A small cloud. Jack's necklace. She gripped the phone tighter, attempting to steady her paws.

Asher turned his back to the window. Reaching into the box the otter had given him, he pulled out a handgun. "We have to get everything moved out tonight! The damn coyote getting caught means I can’t trust this place is safe anymore.He should have had one. Maybe the bunny actually kicked him hard enough to knock him out. Thanks for the firepower, by the way. Heavier than I expected."

Judy frantically tried to get a clear shot. She caught a blurry image of Asher dropping the necklace into a small box on the desk, his back still turned to her. It wasn't perfect, but the shape was unmistakable.

She silently closed the window and hopped off the fire escape before peering around the corner.

Nick was frantically gesturing to the clipboard with a pen. “You know what? Forget about it! I'm marking this 'delivery refused, recipient belligerent.' You can explain to your boss why your industrial solvent is sitting in a puddle in the rain. I'm out." He chucked the clipboard back into the van, slamming the door shut with enough force to rock the vehicle back and forth.

Judy bolted back around the warehouse, slinking back to the car. She sat on the hood and waited, eventually seeing Nick strolling towards her, the hi-vis vest draped over his shoulder.

He snickered as he waved it around. “Convinced them that I would be fired if I didn't have a vest for my next few stops as well. They said it was an extra one and I could keep it!”

“That's great and all, but where the heck did you get a van?”

He opened the car door and paused. “It was sitting there. No one was using it, so I thought, why not?”

“You stole the van?”

He shrugged as he tossed everything back into the car. “Hey, I didn’t steal it. I relocated it for operational efficiency. Besides, who leaves their keys in the door? Now for the real question: Did you get enough to get Bogo to issue a raid?”

“I got a video of Jack's necklace being held by Asher. They said they were moving everything out tonight, so if we want evidence, we need to get back and get the raid approved now.”

“Let's hit the road, Jack!” His smile immediately faltered, slumping over as he sat down in the car. “Yeah, I heard how that sounded as it came out. Let’s…Let’s get back to the precinct so we can find this guy.”

They pulled away from the docks, calling in to dispatch. Bogo had them send over the recording, putting in an emergency request for a warrant. Dusk had started to fall on the city. The buildings outside the car had a muted gray tint, and the soft yellow glow of street lights flicker red and casted shadows on the buildings.

Judy glanced at the time on the dashboard, drumming her fingers against the door as she pulled into the precinct.

Fangmeyer and Wolfard were already sitting at the front of the bullpen, filled with a number of other officers as well as a pawful of T.U.S.K. agents. Bogo looked up from his podium, giving them a nod as he took a step back. “Attention! Hopps and Wilde will fill you in on what we know so far.”

Nick leaned against the podium, cupping his paws together and hoisting Judy up, allowing her to hop on top of it. She turned and faced the officers, giving them a curt nod. “Our suspect is Asher Maddox. We tailed him to one of the warehouses down at the docks.”

Nick looked around the room as she continued to explain what they had found. His eyes snapped over to a lion sitting at the back, raising a paw. “How do we know he has Jack? Seems like he's up to something, but the evidence for him having Jack feels a bit thin.”

Nick frowned. “If she hadn't seen the necklace, I might agree. Jack wears a very special necklace at all times, which was given to him by his family. There can’t be many bunnies who wear something like that, are missing, and also have a connection to this badger.”

Bogo stepped forward, interjecting. “It may not be a silver bullet, but it's the best lead we have, and it's enough for a warrant. Time is a luxury, and it's not one that we have. I would love something more concrete, but we got a green light, so we're going to take it. Now, if there are no more questions, we have a time crunch, so let's get suited up and head out!”

Judy hopped off the podium, following close behind Nick. The silence as they walked made Judy queasy. She pushed open the door to the tactical supply room, heading over to the smaller mammal station. She grabbed a spare tranq gun, checked to make sure it was loaded, and placed it in her back holster.

Velcro was readjusted, gloves slid on, and boots were tied. Nick gestured for Judy to turn around, shaking his head as he resecured her vest. “How did you suit up before I became your partner?”

She tugged on her glove, flexing her fingers. “I didn't, I just ran at the bad guys and figured I'd outrun any weapons.”

“Let's try to avoid running at any weapons tonight, yeah? Stay behind Wolfy, he makes a fantastic meat shield." He snorted as he moved back in front of her, looking her up and down for a moment, his expression faltering slightly.

Judy patted his chest and nodded. ”We'll be fine. Let's make sure Jack is as well.”

“Let's go, you two, you can catch up during date night later!” Fangmeyer said, smacking the lockers to get their attention. “Our van is moving out!”

They glanced at each other before both flipping off the tigress, trotting after her as her laugh echoed in the now-empty supply room.

The van was mostly filled, leaving the two spots closest to the door. A few minutes later, they were being lightly jostled as the van cruised down the dimly lit street.

Light chatter floated around the back. Someone grunted. Another let out a yawn. “What's the over-under that he's already dead?” Someone asked from the back.

Nick growled as his head snapped towards the voice, biting back the venomous reply that he wanted to launch. He turned back to face Judy, her eyes glazed over as she stared out the back window. “He's going to be fine. They wouldn't be moving him if they wanted him dead.”

“I know. I can't imagine how terrified he must be. It's been more than a day since he's been taken.”

“He knows we're on our way. He's the second strongest bunny I know.”

Her ears perked up as the van started to slow down, then turn off the main road. It stopped, and there was a tap on the back before being opened, all of the officers spilling out into the brisk night air.

A gentle breeze washed over them, and the sound of the ocean water crashing against the docks rolled through the night. Judy scanned the warehouses in front of her, everything deathly still from what she could see.

A boar wearing a T.U.S.K. vest gestured for their group to follow, quickly making their way to the front of the warehouse. She glanced around; the lack of any patrols or guards made her fur stand on end. Why weren't they out here? They wouldn't make it this easy, would they?

Time stopped for a breath before the static from the walkies cracked through the silence. “BREACH NOW! GO!”

All at once, chaos broke out. The door was taken down, and a flash grenade was tossed through it. It went off, followed by the yells of T.U.S.K. agents’ directions. They swarmed into the building, spewing in from the sides, the ceiling, and breaking through windows. Judy swept to her right as Nick swept the left, staying shoulder to shoulder as they advanced down the hall.

Movement caught her eye, and she swung towards it, her flashlight illuminating a bird taking flight.

The dust began to settle, and short calls of “Clear!” started to ring out from different parts of the warehouse. Her ears swiveled, picking up the footsteps and calls from her fellow officers, but nothing sinister called out. She lowered her gun, stepping into the main room of the warehouse.

Half-shredded papers were spilled across the floor. Off to the side sat a metal tub, filled with charred materials, the ash and embers still swirling in the air.

“They're gone,” she said softly, her eyes falling to the floor. “We missed them.”

“It’s like freakin’ Heat out here. They vanish before we even know, like we're chasing ghosts.” Nick placed a paw on her shoulder and squeezed it, staring at the swirling smoke in front of them.

Bogo stepped up beside them, sighing softly. “I know this wasn't the outcome we hoped for, but at least we got here before everything finished burning. We have some new evidence to sift through, and the fact that there’s nobody means they don't necessarily want him dead.”

“I know I-” She huffed and ran a paw through her ears. “I thought we had them. He had to be here earlier. If we had gone in when we were here, maybe we could have saved him then.”

“Or maybe you would both be dead, and they would know just how close we were. You can't -”

“Bogo! Hopps! Wilde! I think you guys should see this!” Wolfard's voice shot through the halls.

They turned, rushing next door. Sitting in the middle of the cramped room was a wooden crate. Holes had been poked along the top of it, and parts of it were stained red.

“This was shoved in the back. It's got scorch marks like they were trying to burn it, but the wood was too wet to catch. Looks like he was being kept in it. Doesn't seem like it's too much blood, probably from minor scrapes or cuts. Nothing life-threatening,” he squatted down, aiming the flashlight at the back of the box. “He carved something back there. I think it says… Fish?”

Judy gripped the crate and nodded. “He was here! He probably didn't have much time to get a message to us. Fish, because the first time we met him, I ate fish. He's telling us he was here, that we're on the right track.”

The group stepped away as the crime scene squad came in. They filtered back outside, Judy sitting on the bumper of the van, Nick leaning against the side.

Nick snorted, staring out at the night sky. “There are thousands of four-letter words to choose from, and this idiot writes fish. As soon as we find him, I'm roasting him for the theatrics.”

“He is an actor.”

“I get the reference, Carrots. The lunch, the fish. But it’s... weird. Of all the clues he could leave us, why that? Why not a name, or a number? Is he just telling us he was here, or is there more to it? It feels too… dramatic. Too much like a line from one of his movies."

He rested his paws on his hips and looked up at the night sky. “Freakin’ actors can’t resist a bit of drama."