Chapter Text
Nick’s POV
Carrots always had a habit of stressing me out, and today was no exception.
While last night had been one of the best nights of my life, today seemed determined to balance all that good energy out with the exact opposite.
I got to question Milton today. Just me, no Judy to lead the charge. Obviously, I had this.
I was maybe just a little nervous though.
Any minute now the car would bump its way up the driveway of Milton’s “home,” which was still exceptionally large and pompous, especially for a supposedly spare residence.
The concept of a spare residence had always annoyed me. I couldn’t even afford to own one home, so why did one sourpuss get to own twelve? Whatever.
At least I got to leave my apartment instead of being stuck under house arrest.
I pulled a note card from my pocket and double-checked the list of questions I had prepared for my interviewee. I had never really been one for lists, but Carrots was rubbing off on me a bit.
And this was, admittedly, pretty important.
Before I knew it, we were parked and after a few short walks through security checkpoints, I was sitting across a desk from Milton himself. He looked polished as usual.
A well-tailored suit. Immaculately groomed fur. Even the air carried faint hints of what my nose told me was bergamot.
Hmm. Fancy.
We stared at each other for a few moments, silently sizing one another up.
I knew I had to play this carefully and reveal only small pieces of what I knew. Find the cracks in his armor. Figure out what made him comfortable and, more importantly, what didn’t.
Sure, I had police training and maybe a few interrogation tips from Bogo, but I’d been preparing for this my entire life.
As a kid, I loved old detective shows. There was always a clear good guy and a clear bad guy. It made life simpler, which was comforting, especially for a young predator.
Modern stuff was entertaining enough, but I was getting a little tired of morally complex villains.
This case reminded me of those old shows. Milton was so unapologetically awful that it almost felt scripted.
He had lied, manipulated, and even killed just to preserve a way of life that had been stolen for him in the first place.
All I had to do was stay a few steps ahead of him and we could finally wrap this whole thing up. Then Judy could go back to being my partner instead of Pawbert’s nanny. Well… unless the whole dating thing threw a wrench into that.
Focus, Nick.
“Thanks for meeting me here today, Milton. I know you’re a rather busy fella.”
“Oh, do you? Not sure what would give you that impression. It’s actually quite boring here. A few rounds of indoor tennis can only be so amusing.”
He adjusted slightly in his chair and I could see the faint glow of the ankle monitor beneath the desk.
“That makes sense. Never been a huge fan of the sport myself. Though it does give me a better idea why you decided to stick your nose back into crime. Not really sure you ever fully unstuck it, though.”
“No idea whatever you could mean, Nicolas.”
I leaned back in my chair and sighed dramatically. Of course he was playing dumb.
“I mostly mean that duffel bag full of money you took for a nice romp through the woods a few days ago.”
Milton’s expression of nonchalance didn’t change even a bit.
“Oh please, money is just money. Especially after watching it tear my poor family apart. Can’t say I have much desire to look at another dollar ever again.”
“Funny. Most animals who hate money don’t usually carry around bags full of it.”
“Hence why it went into the woods. Not my problem who suddenly strikes it rich.”
“Really? Because it really seemed like you left them a nice little note for the road. MM could mean so many things. Magic Mouse? Moon Mushroom? Hmm, that doesn’t sound right. Any guesses?”
He just sat in silence.
Two could play at that game, so I tried a new angle.
“Look, if you’re upset about what this has done to your family, this isn’t going to help your case.”
“While I’m many things, I am not a snitch. Some secrets exist for a reason.”
“Did Catrina feel the same way?”
At that, Milton glared at me. Still silent though.
“No comment? That seemed to be your stance years ago too. Just a grief-stricken widower. How did you two meet anyways? I’ve heard such romantic things about arranged marriages. Especially when there are two substantial fortunes involved.”
I was pushing and I knew it.
But at that, he finally took the bait.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. I could have your job for this, and I will.”
“Oh my, threatening an officer. Not even physically. Guess you really are getting old now.” I leaned forward a little. “Old enough that you must’ve seen quite the advancement in technology, hmm?”
I casually slid a copy of the lab results across the table.
Risky, as per usual.
“Where did you get this?”
He snatched it off the table and glared at the results. His tail flicked once before his expression settled back into practiced neutrality.
“I’m not sure why upsetting me by reminding me of the greatest loss of my life is called for. I haven’t done anything wrong other than raise my three children to the best of my ability. Maybe I did so while covering up a family secret, but I’m sure you’ve realized by now that my children were never meant for work.”
“Hmm, I agree with you there. Especially Pawbert.”
The Lynx scoffed.
“Yes, definitely. Even at birth he was weak and I sought to protect him, even if that ended up leading him astray.”
“Wonder why he was born weak, though? See, these results seem to say poor Catrina fell quite ill late in her pregnancy. Really a miracle Pawbert even survived, according to some of the reports back at ZPD.”
Milton stiffened.
Clearly the mention of Catrina had made him uncomfortable, but this was about all the leverage I had. Time to ease off a bit.
“Spit it out, fox.”
“You just seem to be at the center of an awful lot. It’d be rather wild to believe you were doing all of this by yourself. Never had any backing from, hmm… let’s say another key Tundratown resident? Crime boss Mr. Big?”
“Oh please. That softy left everything to his daughter, who turned the whole thing into a purse business. Hardly a serious family.”
“Hmmm, sensing some tension there. Guess not everyone was happy with the more ethical business model?”
“It was none of my concern, but it always concerned my children. Especially dear old Pawbert, who was always so eager to prove himself.”
Milton let out a quiet scoff.
“Rather pathetic, really.”
I stood up and began pacing the room, pretending to think everything over.
In reality, it seemed rather obvious that Milton was trying to make Pawbert look bad. Clearly there were still some very big feelings surrounding the whole accidentally exposing the family secret thing.
Maybe that made him the perfect snitch.
“I assume you still love him, though. He’s the last thing you have left of your late wife, after all.”
“He’s what took my wife from me. My wife, my other children, even what the family name stood for.” Milton’s voice remained flat. “He is my biggest mistake.”
“Then that means he couldn’t possibly have been the one the money was for?”
Milton remained silent for a long moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
“He just said he needed some help.”
Another pause.
“He’s still my son.”
Without another word, I turned on my heel and left the room.
He admitted to giving Pawbert the money.
He gave me a potential motive for kidnapping Fru-Fru. Everything was starting to line up.
I pulled my phone from my pocket after stepping outside and dialed Judy’s number from memory. I could’ve pulled it up from my contacts, but it felt nice knowing I had it memorized.
Comforting, almost.
“Carrots, I’m heading to Pawbert’s. He definitely knows where Fru-Fru is, and I think he had something to do with it.”
There was a brief pause before Judy answered, sounding almost sheepish.
“Soooo… I’m actually already here. I didn’t go in or anything.”
“Uh… where is ‘here’ exactly? And for how long? Judy, you told me you’d stay put.”
I pinched the bridge of my muzzle.
She was always doing things like this. I didn’t know why I was surprised, especially when it involved one of her friends.
“I didn’t go in, I just wanted to be around if I was needed.”
I sighed, unable to stay annoyed with her for very long.
“Okay, okay. We’ll talk about this later. Just stay safe and out of sight.”
“I will.” I could practically hear her smiling. “I’m not an amateur, you know.”
“I know. Just… be careful, okay?”
I smiled despite myself.
“I will. Love you.”
The words caught me just a little off guard. They still felt new.
“Love you too, Carrots.”
⸻
To say that I booked it to Tundratown would be an understatement.
It was a miracle my tires didn’t find a patch of black ice on the way there. An even bigger miracle was that when I finally pulled up, I could see Judy’s ears poking out from behind a bush.
Stepping out of the truck, I watched her emerge from her hiding spot and walk toward me.
She was smiling. Cold-looking, but safe.
“See? I can follow orders.”
“That was more of a request than an order.”
She tilted her head innocently.
“So I could’ve gone inside this whole time?”
“No.”
She grinned. At least she seemed to be holding up okay despite the disappearance of her friend.
“Should we go in now then?”
I was about to say yes when a van suddenly peeled out from behind the mansion.
“Shit.”
I pointed after it.
“We can’t let that van get away. You go inside and question Pawbert about whoever was visiting. I’ll go after the van.”
“Wow, I sure do love a fella who takes charge.”
I rolled my eyes, stepped forward, and stole a quick kiss before jogging back toward the truck.
“Love you too, Carrots,” I called over my shoulder.
As I climbed back behind the wheel, I watched Judy walk up to Pawbert’s front door.
He opened it almost immediately after she knocked. For a brief moment, Pawbert and I locked eyes.
I backed out of the driveway without looking away, then threw the truck into gear and sped off after the van.
I trusted Judy to keep herself safe.
I just didn’t trust Pawbert to do the same.
Fru-Fru had to be found, and that van was the only lead we had.