The Short Road Home “…mn,” Nick said, summing up his general thought in one word.
“Yeah, and the workday’s just started,” Judy replied, exhaling heavily.
“Let’s go.” Only a small group remained at the crime scene to collect evidence, photograph the site, and obtain surveillance footage, while everyone else returned to the station.
A small team of technicians also stayed behind to evacuate the huge armored truck.
The wheel of the enormous bus stopped at the crosswalk markings.
A cheerful crowd of young animals from a nearby school passed by the hippo police officer, Jonsi, who was sitting behind the wheel.
They jumped happily and shouted loudly.
First came a crowd of young zebras, followed by piglets, foxes, martens, squirrels, beautiful llamas, and all sorts of other little ones.
Poor Jonsi the hippo was tired just from watching all this variety.
The last in line was a little hippo, lagging behind his peers.
Seeing his large relative Jonsi behind the wheel of the police bus, the little one stopped and started waving his hoof happily, grinning widely.
The walking-legs light on the traffic light began to flash, signaling that pedestrians would soon have to yield to traffic.
But that didn’t bother the happy little hippo at all, who was staring at Jonsi.
Jonsi sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, then finally smiled back and waved at the schoolchild.
It was impossible to describe the joy the little hippo felt at that moment.
He wasn’t even upset by the reprimand he got from his wolf teacher, who had to rush back to the roadway to get him off the road.
The bus Jonsi was driving was full of police officers.
It had been sent to pick them up from the Lemur Bank square.
Finally, the traffic light turned green for vehicles.
The bus slowly moved off and continued its journey towards the central ZPD station.
“There’ll be plenty of work for them, enough for the whole day and some left over for tomorrow.
Not to mention having to get the surveillance footage from the Lemur Bank, which requires a special court order.
This is just the beginning, then there’s the red tape with paperwork, witnesses, the Lemur Bank’s lawyers, their lawyers, the lawyers’ lawyers, and the lawyers’ lawyers’ lawyers, plus the evening press conference to talk to the media.
Analyzing everything that happened bit by bit, reports from every police officer on every step they took.
Piecing it all together into a single picture, reviewing mistakes, analyzing the legality of every action by everyone involved in the operation.
Filing a lawsuit against the Lemur Bank’s security, the investigation, the trial, and…” the lion Paddy, sitting in the truck, monotoned, looking at Nick sitting opposite him.
With each new word, Nick’s red ears drooped lower and lower, while his mouth, on the contrary, opened slightly.
He stared at the huge lion as if the lion, like a judge, was pronouncing a death sentence on him.
The bus swayed slightly from side to side, and the head of the sleeping Judy fell onto Nick’s shoulder.
She had fallen asleep as soon as they got on the bus.
Under the warm rays of the sun, she had finally warmed up.
In one paw she held her wet, broken phone, in the other, a small strap.
To their right and left sat two wolves Nick already knew, Keks and Zerni, who were smiling slightly as they listened to the lion’s speech.
“But that’s not the worst part,” Keks said when Paddy finished.
Nick turned his gaze to him.
“What comes next is pure routine!” Keks continued.
“What, are we going to sit in an ambush again?” Nick guessed.
Keks grinned slightly and continued: “You seem like a smart fox, but you still haven’t figured out that you don’t mess with wolves.” “And especially not with someone ten times your size,” added Paddy, who was sitting opposite him.
He leaned in almost right up to Nick.
The lion’s head was so huge compared to Nick’s body that if the lion wanted, he could swallow the fox whole.
Silence fell in the bus.
The large animals were all looking at Nick.
“Well, fox, what do you think?” Paddy asked him, squinting.
Nick involuntarily recoiled and, looking at the lion’s enormous head, remarked with a hint of irony: “I just don’t understand why they don’t put us on the bus with the squirrel snipers and the mole sappers.” Quiet laughter spread through the bus.
Paddy smiled and, chuckling a little, leaned back.
The bus with the police officers finally drove into the vehicle pool of Zootopia’s main department.
“Well, guys, we have guests,” Paddy said, looking out the window at the crowd around the main entrance to the police station.
The press was already storming the station.
“Look, the big brothers are already here,” said Jonsi the hippo, pulling up to the parking line in the police station’s vehicle pool.
All the animals watched with interest as two expensive white cars.
They were parked not far from where the bus was passing.
They bore the emblem of the city of Zootopia and the inscription in the form of the letters SOOP.
Seeing how everyone was interested in what was happening outside, Nick simply couldn’t contain his curiosity.
He carefully placed the head of the sleeping Judy on the back of the seat.
Making sure he hadn’t woken her, he quickly jumped down from his seat and also joined the others at the window.
“And who are these big brothers?” he asked everyone at once.
“These?” Paddy replied.
“This is the Special Operations for Outstanding Perpetrators department.” “Right,” Nick whispered, remembering his police academy courses.
“They handle especially dangerous cases,” said the rhinoceros standing next to Nick.
“They’re dispatched by the Zootopia administration itself or the mayor personally.” Nick wanted to object that they hadn’t been around when the predators were being hunted during the Night Howler madness.
But then he remembered that Mayor Lionheart had deliberately held them back because he was involved in the predators’ disappearances.
“Their appearance means the mayor and the administration are very worried about what happened,” someone from the police officers in the bus said.
“Yeah, poor chief,” Jonsi felt sorry for Bogo.
And he braked sharply, stopping the bus.
Nick was looking at the SOOP cars through the window, and he swayed slightly when the bus stopped.
Behind him, Judy’s sleeping body swayed and slumped onto Nick’s seat.
She didn’t even wake up.
As soon as the bus doors opened, Chief Bogo flew in.
He swallowed some pills on the fly, coughed a few times, and quickly rattled off: “Keks, Zerni, and Paddy, follow me, don’t turn in your gear in the basement.
You’ll meet Gornos and the others there.
Your task is to escort the criminal to a solitary cell.
Everyone saw that SOOP has arrived?
I’m going to them, maybe I’ll go to City Hall.
I don’t know yet.
As soon as Harry Drago comes to, call me, got it?” Bogo gave his orders.
The lion and the two wolves immediately shot out like bullets to carry them out.
And the police chief continued: “Okay, Jonsi, you’re in charge of the morning shift change, you’ll cover for me.
Okay, Wilde, I need a report on your actions.
Not a word about your improvisation, you didn’t conduct any negotiations!
Got it?” Nick nodded in response.
“You were in the ambush with Keks and Zerni,” Bogo insisted, “otherwise, you’ll end up in jail with Harry.” And, already getting off the bus, he shouted: “And someone wake up Hopps, finally!” The police chief ran out of the bus and rushed off to his business.
“What’s got into him?” one of the rhinos muttered.
“You’d run too if your career was hanging by a thread,” Jonsi said, looking after the chief.
It was cool in the basement.
A cold iron chair.
Next to it, an identical iron table.
And opposite it, another chair.
All this furniture was welded firmly to the iron floor.
That was all the furniture in the room.
Next to the chair, in the floor, walls, and ceiling, there were metal brackets.
They were also welded.
Heavy steel chains were threaded through them.
They completely bound the criminal.
The fierce Harry Drago stared straight ahead, his body completely paralyzed by the chains.
A leather muzzle tightly covered his snout.
He had only recently come to.
The room he was in was brightly lit, with one door, as iron and gray as everything else.
Opposite him, next to the door, was a huge mirror.
It covered almost the entire wall.
Harry raised his eyes to the mirror and saw his reflection.
He knew that behind his reflection was another room, where they were watching him, monitoring his every breath.
Tasting blood in his mouth from his knocked-out teeth and ignoring the pain in his head, he squinted, trying to get used to the bright light.
As soon as he came to, he was given exactly one minute to acclimatize.
He was waiting for only one thing, waiting for the metal door to open.
Behind the glass, the huge lion Paddy watched Harry intently.
Behind him stood two wolves, Keks and Zerni, armed with rifles loaded with poison darts.
The lion quickly picked up the landline phone on his desk and pressed the number “1.” The police chief answered on the other end.
The lion spoke quietly and quickly: “He’s come to, Chief.” The light bulb in the room where Harry was sitting flickered a few times.
But it didn’t distract the crocodile from his thoughts.
He stared intently at the door, like a hunter, not distracted by anything.
Finally, his agonizing wait was over.
The door creaked unpleasantly, and the silhouette of the police chief appeared in the room.
Looking directly into the eyes of the huge reptile, Bogo sat down opposite him.
He was breathing calmly, but it was clear that, despite his apparent calm, the police chief was in a hurry, which made him a little nervous, although he tried to hide it.
Harry also looked him in the eyes.
He saw right through him.
The police chief was a bad actor.
He was better suited to openly expressing his thoughts and feelings.
Especially anger.
Harry involuntarily felt the holes in his gums from his knocked-out teeth with his tongue.
Yes, this was exactly the kind of interlocutor he would have liked to deal with.
“Uncompromising, strong, always keeps his word.
An ideal business partner, if things had turned out differently…” Harry thought.
And Harry himself was, in his heart, just as hot-tempered, stubborn, and always relied on his strength.
These qualities had let him down.
And now, thinking it all over, he knew he didn’t have much time left, and all he could do was rely on his last trick — cunning.
The game of “who can stare the longest” quickly bored Bogo.
He had work to do, and he had to do it quickly before the SOOP guys interfered.
“Well, you’ve really made a mess of things, Harry,” Bogo began.
“You just don’t understand what a commotion you’ve caused.” “The rabbit,” Harry hissed through the mask.
“What?” “I want to see the rabbit,” Harry said again.
“Would you like some chocolate ice cream too?” Bogo began to get furious.
“Do you even know what they’re going to do to you?
The special department has already come for you.
And do you know where they’re going to take you?
I need the truth, and I need it now.
What was the reason for your actions?
Is it connected to the financial deal between your father and the Lemur Bank?” “I want to see the rabbit first!” Harry replied.
“Then we’ll talk.” After these words, Bogo stood up, growling menacingly.
“You don’t have much time,” Harry continued, ignoring the threat.
“They’re already coming for me.” “You know,” Bogo suddenly changed his tone and leaned back onto his chair, “maybe this is for the best.
Let SOOP deal with you.
Now you’re their problem.
You don’t want to talk, fine.” Bogo stood up from his chair and headed for the door.
But before leaving, he added, looking askance at Harry: “You know, your father at least knew how to lose with dignity.” Bogo left the room under Harry’s malevolent gaze.
“Keep an eye on him,” Bogo said as he passed Paddy, and headed deeper into the corridor.
The elevator doors opened, and Bogo, with a thoughtful look, stepped out into the huge main hall of the police station.
Greeting the chief, the hippo guarding the elevator doors leading to the basement snapped to attention.
“Greetings, Chief!” he said.
Bogo didn’t even notice him; he was lost in thought.
“What is that crocodile up to?
Why does he want Hopps?
Does he want to take her hostage?
Impossible, there’s so many chains on him, a herd of elephants could be held.
He won’t be able to escape.
Then why does he need her?” At that moment, Clawhauser, scared and nervous from the chaos reigning in the station, ran up to him.
“Sir, they’re waiting for you!” he almost shouted.
“Chief!” Bogo kept walking, ignoring him.
“Chief!” Clawhauser said again.
“The people from the special department are waiting for you.” “What?” Chief Bogo finally snapped out of it.
“Where?” “In your office,” the cheetah replied.
“Miss Maina is there.” “What?” Bogo bristled and shifted his gaze to Clawhauser.
“That’s all I needed?!
Why was she sent here?” Clawhauser shrugged in response.
“Well, well, well…” Bogo tapped a hoof to his chin.
“Alright then, listen up.” Clawhauser rose onto his tiptoes and stepped closer to his police chief, not wanting to miss a single word.
“Get to Hopps and bring her to the prisoner,” he whispered.
“He wants to talk to her.
Let him have a heart-to-heart with her if he wants.
I’ll go and greet our older brothers.
And tell the rest of them — no surprises.
They better keep their eyes peeled!” Bogo gave the order, and Clawhauser dashed off to carry it out, while the chief himself walked slowly toward his office.