"Drive."
The shivering chauffeur didn’t need to be told twice. At the hushed command he slammed his hoof on the pedal of the bulky van. The old vehicle gave a sputter before roaring to life. The two hooded figures shared a glance, the smaller of the two wrapped the long cloak tighter around themselves. They rode in silence, mulling over what just happened. Once the lush countryside of New York faded away to the grimy city they called home the shaken driver stopped at an intersection. Taking advantage of the deserted roads at this hour, he put the car in park. “This is bad. Real bad.” The normally orotund voice was tremulous and breathy, he gripped the wheel tightly as his eyes shifted about and his heart still hammered in his wide chest. “We didn’t have a choice, Ike.” While the anxious driver’s companion had meant to sooth the frayed nerves of her accomplice it sounded as if she was trying to quell her own bout of panic. “Yeah, that’s not the way the boss is gonna see it…” Ike drew in a shaky breath before throwing the car into drive and speeding down the damp streets. A few hours earlier.... “This is the second shipment in a row you have spoiled, Sam*. Next time I’ll end you.” The butchered reply was met with a swift nod. The achromatic tiger that sat behind the large mahogany desk laces his fingers together as he thought about his next step. The hunched stag that stooped before him took a gamble and looked up, trying to read the expression of his boss. “I know, Sy. It won’t happen again, I promise-“ “Enough, I don’t need excuses,” The brooding tiger’s pale eyes lit up as a plan floated to the surface of his idea pool, “Lucky for you I’m owed a favor from Jacks, go to this location and tell him I sent you. He will give us enough gin to tie us over, it won’t be quality but it’ll do the trick.” The tiger tossed a folded piece of paper at his subordinate then waved him off. Ike hobbled back to his office, collapsing in his rickety chair and rubbing at his bruised ribs. Sapo’s goons had done him over, taking this week’s supply with them. It had taken a considerable amount of time for Ike to stumble back to the van, he debated telling his boss or just solving the problem on his own. Eventually he reasoned that it was better to tell Yury straight instead of having him hear from a third party. Ike was lucky he didn’t get clocked by the burly tiger and was grateful that he had given him an opportunity to redeem himself. As he stared at the address trying to figure out where exactly it was in the city a soft knock reached his ears. “Yeah? Whaddya want?” “Ike? One of the girls said they saw you duck in here all banged up.” The soft features of a familiar feline emerged from behind the door. “I wouldn’t say ‘banged up’ a bit jostled maybe but nothin’ serious, Bev.” Ike attempted to chuckle but the movement caused a sharp pain to ripple across his chest. Beverly rushed into the dimly lit room, turning on the lamp by the door before taking her friend’s face in her hands. “Well they sure jostled you good. Ike you gotta stop challenging Sapo’s guys.” Bev set to work assessing his injuries, much to Ike’s chagrin. “Come on now Beverly, lay off. It’s nothin’ a good swig of giggle water can’t cure.” He gently pushed her away, setting to work on deciphering the address location. Beverly gave him a stern look before deciding it wasn’t worth the fuss, she snatched at the piece of paper in Ike’s hands. Turning it over she shot him a puzzled look. “What’s this? An address of one of your shebas? You gonna give her a spin in the ol’ struggle buggy?” The leopard gave Ike a playful wink and giggled at the slight blush that dusted Ike’s cheeks. “Shut your trap, ya bug eyed Betty,” Ike grumbled and dodged the open hand that flew his way at the insult, “Say, Bev you wouldn’t want to join me for a hooch run would ya? I could sure use your bluenose ways, this place is in the swanky neighborhood.” Ike gave a lazy smile, assuring Beverly that the jabs weren’t meant to wound. She tried to hide the excitement that sparked in her eyes as she coolly replied. “If only to make sure you don’t get into another scrap.” The two gathered their coats and scarves then made a swift exit. The drive to the upscale neighborhood was fairly quiet, both thinking about a strategy for approaching this potentially dangerous situation. The old car came to a squealing halt in front of a lavish mansion, the two hopped down from the car and pushed through the gate that surrounded the front yard of the home. The massive double doors that signified the entrance to the manor were adorned with a large, ostentatious knocker. Ike lifted the gilded wooden elephant head and released it, the satisfying clang being met with a muffled reply. It wasn’t long before the door was being dragged back by a scrawny looking jackal. He regarded the two for a moment before motioning them into the hall. “Isaac, I see you are looking…well.” “Yeah, good to see you too Jacks. I’m sure you know who sent me, what’ve ya got?” Ike rubbed his hands together in an attempt to get some warmth as he waited for the canine’s response. “This is short notice but I’ll see what I can scrounge up,” Jacks motioned for the pair to follow him, but stopped short once he remembered something, “Isaac, could you bring that hayburner around the back? It’ll make it easier to load.” The elk gave a short nod and gave Bev’s hand a reassuring squeeze before slipping back outside. It took Ike a good 20 minutes to get the car started and parked outback. When the cervine returned he found Beverly standing over Jacks’ motionless body, a bloodied candelabra in her hands. The wild look in Beverly’s eyes gave Ike pause. Without a word the two went about loading up the illicit alcohol into the false bottom of the truck. Once they finished Beverly went back inside alone as Ike went over exactly what just happened in there. While he trusted Beverly with his life he was confused as to how things escalated so quickly. Jacks was technically one of Sapo’s suppliers so any harm that came to him was likely to be repaid tenfold by the Columbian bear. The more he thought about it the more worried he grew, this wouldn’t go unnoticed by Sapo. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whew! This one was a bit hard to churn out. Lost my footing about half way through so sorry for the slight choppiness. DX *Sam is short for Samka (the English pronunciation of the Russian word) which is the Russin word for the female of a species. Here it is the equivalent of calling him a sissy in English.