Sunlight brightly illuminated the police car.
Keks and Zerni, having driven back the crowd of onlookers, were sitting in ambush again, watching their assigned sector.
And they could be sure no one would slip past them.
A raccoon was sitting in the back seat of the police car.
He had calmed down.
And to not waste time, Keks had handed him a pen and paper.
The raccoon was methodically writing down everything that had happened to him during those hours.
Nick, leaning his elbows on the hood, was watching the door like everyone else.
But his thoughts were flying far from this place.
He blamed himself for not being able to hold the grille, for letting Judy down.
“That’s what happens when you don’t follow orders,” Keks grumbled.
“Where did she even go?” “Hey, come on,” Nick objected.
“She ran to save the raccoon.” “Good for her!” Keks replied arrogantly.
“Hey, Zerni, are we going to report our long-eared chief to Bogo?” “No.
Can’t fix it anyway.
No need to distract the chief, he’s on edge as it is.
She can’t get any further than the room the raccoon escaped from anyway.
She’ll sit there until it’s all over,” Zerni replied.
Nick, of course, didn’t like the wolves talking about Hopps so disrespectfully.
But he didn’t argue.
He just believed that Judy would find a way out of the situation.
If she could get close to the criminal, she would definitely call Nick.
Nick took his phone out of his trouser pocket again and checked the connection one more time.
“Can you believe it — she didn’t take a radio or a weapon!” Keks wouldn’t let it go.
“Why did she even go in there?
Zerni, we absolutely have to mention this in the report.” “I’m telling you,” Nick couldn’t help saying, “the grille jerked and shoved her in there.
We weren’t planning on going in there anyway.
We were saving this guy.” Nick nodded towards the raccoon, then took out his phone again and looked at the screen.
“Sure you weren’t,” Keks said skeptically.
“Why don’t you just call her yourself?” Zerni suggested, noticing Nick’s constant fiddling with his phone.
“No,” Nick shook his head.
“She said she’d call herself.
Calling her is dangerous.
What if the criminal hears?” “What?” Keks asked incredulously.
“Well, there was this one incident…” Nick mumbled.
“Never mind.” And he waved it off.
The conversation died down again, and complete silence fell.
Nick leaned his elbows on the car hood again and watched the door.
And again he sank into his thoughts.
A considerable amount of time had passed, but Judy still hadn’t called him.
And this uncertainty baffled Nick.
Why?
If she hadn’t reached the criminal and was stuck in the bank’s basement, why hadn’t she told him about her situation?
The more time passed, the more nervous Nick became.
What if something had happened to her?
Maybe her phone broke, or the signal was being jammed?
Nick was pulled from his anxious thoughts by Zerni’s long monologue, and he involuntarily turned his head towards him.
“Sometimes we can sit in ambush for hours,” Zerni said monotonously, gripping his rifle loaded with tranquilizer darts tightly.
“That’s our job.
The main thing is to follow the rules strictly and maintain discipline.
You don’t always have to be on the front line.
Sometimes the most important thing for success is done in the rear, amidst the routine, sitting in ambush, we…” A phone rang in Nick’s pocket.
“Hold that thought!” Nick said to Zerni, pulling out his phone.
It was Judy.
He answered the call, and the screen showed a wall of the bank’s hall.
The image was dark; Nick could barely make out what he was seeing.
“Judy, it’s you!” Nick exclaimed happily.
“Yes, Nick, it’s me, just keep your voice down!” Judy’s quiet, worried voice came from the phone’s speaker.
Now Keks and Zerni moved closer to Nick and listened intently.
“Where are you?” Nick asked.
“I’m in the main hall of the bank, almost right next to the hostages.” “Damn, that’s great!” Nick was delighted, his gaze briefly flicking to the wolves.
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Zerni’s face.
Keks didn’t show it, but Nick thought he was also pleased with this turn of events.
“We never doubted you,” Nick continued.
“Listen to me, Nick,” Judy began.
“We don’t have much time.
Run to Bogo, give him the phone.” “Got it,” Nick said, glancing at the wolves.
“Guys?” “Just go, hurry!” Zerni replied.
Nick smiled easily and dashed off as fast as his paws could carry him towards the chief, leaving the two wolves behind.
“Not like you’re any use here anyway!” Keks called after him.
Nick ran as fast as he could towards the main command post where Bogo was.
And there was a real commotion going on.
Security service cars from the bank were parked next to the police cars.
Nick had to slow down: first, because of the huge number of different animals, all much larger than him and constantly rushing somewhere; second, he was surprised by the Lemur Bank’s security.
Nick had heard about them before, but had never seen them in person.
These weren’t simple guards for dilapidated parking lots.
These were serious, well-trained animals with a considerable track record.
Passing by two black panthers dressed in the special uniform of the Lemur Bank security, Nick flinched.
He had already forgotten the last time he had felt so scared and unsure of himself.
Even before leaving for the academy, he knew perfectly well that everyone would look down on him with contempt because of his past.
And he wasn’t afraid to meet their gaze with a proud, arrogant look, unafraid of their jabs.
Especially since he was pretty sharp-tongued himself.
And now, walking past the Lemur Bank’s special forces, he didn’t want to look up at them.
It was an instinctive fear, and no matter how hard he tried, Nick couldn’t overcome it.
Passing them, he found himself near a large folding table.
This was Bogo’s command post.
And judging by the looks of the animals surrounding him, the topic of conversation was very serious.
Nick remembered Judy, but he hung back and watched.
He couldn’t interfere now.
Next to Bogo stood a small snow leopard in black.
They were very rare, and Nick was seeing these animals for the first time.
Judging by the conversation, they had just met.
“Chief Bogo, a pleasure,” the snow leopard began.
“I’m Seng Aysi, head of security for the Lemur Bank.” Seng was much shorter than Bogo, but in all his words, in his calm stance, there was a confidence that made it clear this was not an animal to be trifled with.
Nick was good at reading animals; he had long since learned to discern character through gestures, postures, and speech.
“Glad you got here quickly,” Bogo replied, trying to sound calm.
“As you can see, we have a difficult situation here.
In the building, in the hall, there are several hostages.
The perpetrator is possibly a crocodile.
His identity hasn’t been established yet.
He hasn’t made any demands.
My guys could have handled him themselves,” Bogo cast a glance at the Lemur Bank’s special forces, “but the alarm went off, and the entire building was locked down.
We’re planning to place charges here,” he pointed to a diagram on the table, “and here, and we’ll storm it with three groups.
But we need your help.” “I’m listening,” Seng replied dryly.
“I need your technicians; they can unlock the bank,” Bogo began.
“And what about your technicians?” “They can handle it, of course,” Bogo replied through gritted teeth.
“But it’ll take them more time.” “I’m sorry,” Seng replied.
“I can’t help.
The fact is that when the alarm is deactivated, the security and vault protection system will be unlocked.
That would give the criminal a chance to get into the vault.
And our priority is protecting the assets of the Lemur Bank.” Bogo couldn’t believe his ears and was simply stunned by such audacity, losing his professional composure: “Say that again, what did you just say?!
I’ll throw you and your whole chicken special forces behind bars!
So far and for so long you won’t see the light of day!” Bogo’s chest heaved up and down, and he took a threatening step towards Seng.
Not a single muscle twitched on the snow leopard’s face; he was calm and confident.
“No need to get angry,” he replied dryly.
“If a technician violates your order under these conditions, he is not subordinate to me.
That’s not my area; it’s stipulated in the contract.
I can’t order him, and he won’t comply with your demands.” “Well, call him over here!” Bogo furrowed his brow.
“He’ll sit behind bars for so many years his kids will inherit the sentence.
That’s disobeying authorities in an emergency situation.” “I assure you,” Seng continued, taking a step towards Bogo.
“He will not carry out your order in such a situation.
Even if he does go to prison, under the contract, he and his family will receive full support for two generations.” Seng looked up at the astonished Bogo, but Nick saw it quite the opposite.
“Then we’ll blow this building to hell!” Bogo bared his teeth.
“Does the Lemur Bank need that kind of expense?” “The building is insured against anything that could happen to it.
And to break in, you’d have to raze it to the ground.
But then you’d kill everyone inside.
The vault is underground; it won’t be damaged in that case.
And in that event, I assure you, you will lose your position, and the city treasury will rebuild the building at the taxpayers’ expense.
After all, the police would be responsible for such destruction, not to mention the lives of the hostages.” After these words, a fire seemed to ignite in Bogo’s eyes.
Only one step separated him from Seng.
But it was enough for a heavy blow from the police chief.
Nick watched everything from the side and was simply stunned by what was happening.
Two hippopotamus police officers standing behind Bogo grabbed his shoulders as he intended to take a step.
Nick had heard at the academy about Bogo and his famous left hook that could punch through concrete walls.
It was with that punch that he had won the police heavyweight boxing championship.
And now this behemoth might break his leash.
It was time for Nick to step in, and Judy was waiting too.
He took a step, then another, and another, until he was in the center, right by the table.
His casual, unhurried appearance slightly lowered the tension.
When all eyes fell on him, Nick spoke, addressing Seng: “Sir, if I may point out, there are innocent animals in there.
Don’t you feel sorry for them?” “And who is this?” Seng said dismissively, realizing the conversation was over and getting ready to leave.
“Wild?
What are you still doing here?” Bogo asked in surprise, forgetting about Seng.
“Goodbye,” Seng said coldly, walking past Nick.
“One moment, sir,” Nick stopped him.
“But those hostages are clients of the Lemur Bank.
Right?” Seng stopped.
Standing with his back to Nick, he listened.
“And if they all get blown up, that will affect the bank’s reputation too.
Right?” “A minor loss, the lesser of two evils,” Seng replied.
He was finally ready to leave and even raised a paw to take a step.
“Yes, I agree, but rumors that the Lemur Bank can’t keep its clients safe, especially right inside the bank, will scare off many new clients and worry the old ones.
What’s the point of their money being safe if they can’t use it?
Not to mention the clients finding out about the bank’s, shall we say, dismissive attitude towards its clients?” Nick said, barely suppressing a smirk.
Seng lowered his paw and turned around, looking Nick straight in the eye.
“Are you sure you’re from the police?” he doubted, looking at Nick’s uniform.
“Yep,” Nick smiled.
“I’m on my practicum.” Seng sighed and said: “I really don’t have the right to remove the security, and I can’t.
But I can connect you to the cameras in the hall.
Also, your criminal, the crocodile, is Harry Drago.
He owns a chain of bankrupt hotels.
He got into debt and couldn’t pay.
The court awarded all his assets to the Lemur Bank.
He’s very angry and came for revenge.” “How do you know?” Nick asked.
“When he took the hostages in the bank.
He called Mr.
Erhordon — the head of all Lemur Banks — and threatened to blow up his bank if he didn’t forgive his debt.” “And what about Mr.
Erhordon?” Nick asked again.
Seng lifted his gaze from Nick to Bogo and replied dryly: “You don’t have much time.
You’ll get camera access in five minutes.” With these words, Seng turned and left.
Nick did the same and, spreading his paws slightly to the sides, palms up, looked at Bogo.
“Chief, you should give me a bonus or a commendation or something!” Nick praised himself.
“Wild,” Bogo shouted angrily, “why aren’t you at your post?” “Oh, I was just… Chief,” Nick said happily.
“Judy is on the line with me.
She got into the bank’s hall and is waiting for your orders.
Here’s the connection to her.” Nick put the phone on the table.
“What?
How?” Bogo was stunned.
“Alright, no time.
I’ll fire you all later!” He grabbed the phone and addressed Judy, trying to make out the dark image on the screen: “Hopps, it’s Bogo.
Never mind how you got in there.
The situation is critical.
You need to get closer to the hostages and show me where they are.
And most importantly — show me where the crocodile is.
We don’t have much time.
There’s information that he has nothing left to lose.
He could blow everyone up at any moment.
With you and the cameras, we’ll get the full picture.”