The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 72

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 8—Where There's Smoke...
(Continued...Pt. 6)

Their first inkling of how bad things were going to get came less than a minute after Nick and Judy landed back at the precinct.

It happened while they were crossing the front lobby, on their way upstairs to meet with Chief Bogo. Just a few yards shy of the concourse-ramp they spotted a pair of familiar faces—Burrow County Sheriff's Deputy Mac Cannon and BCSD Sheriff's Detective Walter 'Wally' Root. They were coming from the direction of the City Jail, and judging by the looks on the bobcat and the old hog's faces, it appeared that they too had enjoyed a productive evening.

Judy raised a paw and waved. "Hey Mac, hey Wally!"

The reaction was not at all what she might have expected; the pleasure abruptly vanished from the two deputies' faces and then just as quickly returned...but with an artificial quality that made her teeth want to stand on edge; the cookie-cutter smiles of a pair of thrift-store mannequins.

And was it her imagination, or had Mac laid his ears back for half a second there? Glancing sideways, she noted that Nick Wilde's ears were standing up and pointing at each other; had he seen it too?

"H'lo Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde," Root was unable to meet their eyes; Mac Cannon did, but it was the defiant look of a kit daring another kit to step across a line.

"Evening Officers," he told them, flatly.

"What the holy HECK?" Judy almost wanted to pinch herself, was this for real? When they'd greeted the two deputies earlier that day, it had been 'Nick and Judy', not 'Officers'...Wally Root had all but insisted on it.

Now here they were, back to formal titles again...and why? What on earth had happened while she and Nick had been chasing down that dead-drop in Sahara Square? (A part of Judy thought she knew—but still another part of her didn't want to know.)

"So I take it things went well with Craig Guiford?" Nick Wilde asked, hoping to break the ice. His efforts had about as much effect as trying to crack a hundred-kiloton glacier with a rubber mallet; the deputies' faces never wavered for an instant.

"Yep," Wally Root still wasn't looking at him, "The kid called for us a couple of hours ago; he's agreed to testify against his father in exchange for a recommendation of leniency." His words sounded as forced as the smile on his face. (The bobcat beside him only nodded sullenly.) It didn't bother Nick one bit, and why should it? Never mind the chill, this was just the news he'd been hoping for; maybe now he wouldn't have to take the witness stand against the young coyote's father.

"Hey, great!" he almost whooped.

"Yep, darn good news." Mac Cannon said, sounding almost pleased...almost. "We'll see what happens when his father gets the news. With a little luck, maybe that'll get him to change that Not Guilty plea." Left unsaid was the fact that the coyote's showboat lawyer would spare no effort in trying to get him to stay the course.