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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

NED

"I hope I don't need to stress the importance of findin' this Prophet bastard, and soon" said Captain Williston.

The division was gathered once again in the conference room, while the big Doberman paced in front of the whiteboard, frowning. "The media is havin' a ball sayin' whatever it damn well pleases 'bout our so-called ineptitude at catchin' the feller" Williston growled. "We can't have that! Especially with this Medea bitch sayin' she's declarin' war on everyone."

"My team is doing everything in their power" Lennox said simply. What else could she say? It wasn't like anyone had been slacking.

Williston's eyes flowed over the gathering of officers, as if looking for some exception to this statement, but finally he nodded. "Don't think I don't know. But our friend the Mayor is losing his patience."

"Then tell your friend that unless he wants to take over leadership of this investigation himself, to keep his muzzle out of it" Lennox growled icily. This was unusually short, especially considering she was speaking to her superior, but she did seem to be challenging Williston's authority more and more lately. Change in the air, indeed.

The Doberman frowned. "I already did. Anyway. Do we even have any new leads? Anything?"

Ned wondered if he should speak up, but this was not generally encouraged for rookies; experienced detectives did the talking when the Captain was present. Fortunately, Diego had thought of the same detail. "No luck with locating the white Prius" the wolfdog lamented. "Sure, we called the DMV and got a list of every white Prius in the city, but it's a common car."

"Isn't the Prophet's car choice just a hunch anyway?" Williston growled uncertainly. He was visually inspecting the ranks again, but when Ned felt the Doberman's eyes on him, he met the canine's heavy stare until Williston looked away.

"No" Arkady tapped some of the board writing. "Multiple witnesses place it at the Sota crime scene, and one of the Tiger Tail Nightclub's employees mentioned that a white Prius was parked across the street from the club when she left. Still circumstantial, but that is two of our crime scenes."

Williston was quiet for a moment, then scowled and barked "Well, get back to work then. Find something so I can prove you're not all a bunch of imbeciles." Ned and Scarlett gave each other a "wonder what's bothering him" look and got up to leave, but the Captain wasn't finished. "Oh - an' those of you who're supposed to be lookin' into the organised crime - I want more on this Medea. She's the focus now, boys an' girls."

That had been the end of the meeting, but what was actually upsetting had happened afterwards. Ned had gone downstairs en route to fetch his lunch from the Ford, when in the elevator he'd ran into a familiar cheetah - Detective Melody Simms, the very same Narcotics detective he'd seen Diego feeling up on the stairwell. Melody was a pretty girl with an easy smile, but somehow Ned couldn't lay eyes on her without picturing the way Diego's muscled arms had flexed as he'd slipped his paw into Melody's shirt, so he gave her a brief smile and moved to exit the elevator.

"Officer Parker?"

He turned back, wondering what she of all people would have to say him. The cheetah looked hesitant. "Yes?"

She took a deep breath. "I probably shouldn't even be saying this. But....you came to the gala yesterday with a coyote, right?"

"Yes, my boyfriend" he replied, noticing the way her expression deepened at the mention of the word "boyfriend."

She was biting her lip in the way someone does when they're not quite sure how to put what they have to say. "I....I thought I should tell you. I've seen him...the coyote...your boyfriend...before. In the Underworld."

Ned's tail began to slip between his legs. What? What business would Garrett have in San Fernando's crime district? "Are you sure? He's an actor, not a cop."

Melody nodded stiffly. "Not one hundred percent certain, but I've seen him from a distance twice before. He was wearing a leather jacket then, but the earrings were the same."

How many coyotes were likely to have the same exact piercings? Not many, and Garrett's best friend was none other than Xang Lan...no, he didn't need to go there. "Thanks, Officer Simms" Ned said calmly, refusing to show how the words had affected him. "I'll ask him about it - he might have been filming there."

Melody gave a nervous smile that didn't really mean anything and nodded, but after she'd left, Ned could not shake the memory of what he'd just learned. Garrett had been in the Underworld. Why would he need to be there? That would imply that maybe Olympia's true identity was not in fact a secret to the coyote.....but no, Garrett wasn't that type of person. He couldn't believe it. He said as much to Scarlett when she asked carefully about Olympia. "We're going to pretend we never learned who she is. That protects us, protects Garrett, and makes Olympia think she's safe. At this point, it's our best option."

The coyote agreed with him begrudgingly, although pointing out that Montoya, Milo, and Jason had been dispatched that morning to investigate a slum shooting in the Underworld, for which the Triad was believed to be responsible. "These guys aren't small-time bad guys, Ned" she insisted. "They mean business, and they do kill people."

"If there was a way to take down Olympia without Garrett getting caught in the crossfire, I'd do it" he admitted. "But I just don't see a way."

She nodded, lacking a suitable argument to the alternative, and that was the end of the debate.

Was Garrett lying to him?

Hours had passed, and Ned and Scarlett had now returned from looking over Carlos Sanchez's car, which had been discovered abandoned in a car lot. Unfortunately, the car had been entirely devoid of evidence, not so much as a fingerprint or an abnormal scent evident. Analysis of Sanchez's last movements had turned up that he had visited a liquor store the evening prior to his death, which was the last place he'd been seen alive, but the liquor store did not have outside security cameras, so if Sanchez had been abducted there, video footage of the event was lacking.

Throughout all of it, Ned could not seem to forget the little piece of knowledge given to him by the narcotics detective. Sure, Melody Simms could have been mistaken; she could have seen another coyote, of which there were many in San Fernando, but somehow, Ned knew inside that the cheetah had not been wrong; she had indeed seen Garrett. The question was, why?

He should have asked her where exactly Garrett had been seen. Then again, doing so would have been touchy - Detective Simms had been very nice to even share the information with Ned at all, courtesy to a fellow cop, probably, when she could have just as easily just shared it with a superior. Granted, there was no law against being seen in the Underworld, but that was a very strange place for an actor to be seen, and as such would draw attention. Attention neither he nor Garrett needed.

Amongst this he just kept coming back to the all-important question: why had Garrett been there?

Which brought a return to the possibility that Garrett did know who Olympia was. Would he be likely to remain loyal to her under such a discovery? It was possible - people sometimes turned a blind eye to the faults of those about whom they cared, even if that meant ignoring monumental accountabilities.

Frustrated, he stared out the window next to his desk, where a haze of sun was faintly visible from within the clouds. Enough fretting, maybe? Glancing back at his desk, he was reminded of how Garrett had whined when he was bent over the desk, and at how he'd had to make new copies of some of the notes since Garrett had come all over them.

It was these thoughts that were running through his head when the coyote himself walked into the office, right up to Ned's desk, back to his usual leather jacket and jeans. Black seemed to be his clothing colour of choice, or at least that was what he typically wore. "Hey, wolf. Recovered from last night yet?"

Ned's ears flicked back, wondering if he should ask Garrett about his having been seen in the Underworld. But - no. He just didn't feel like having that talk right now. "Eh, mostly. I'm already looking forward to getting off tonight."

He'd meant that in terms of leaving work, but the instant smirk on Garrett's muzzle told that the coyote was thinking of "getting off" in very different terms. "I was hoping you were thinking like that" Garrett said. "Dinner at my place tonight?"

Dinner at Garrett's house meant dinner with Olympia, but that was just something he'd have to live with if he was going to date the coyote. "Sure."

Garrett sat on the edge of his desk. "This case really is weighing on you, isn't it?"

"Yes," Ned admitted, although that wasn't the only reason. "But it helps to have someone to come home to."

"Someone to help you loosen up and forget everything" Garrett grinned. He glanced over his shoulder to insure that none of Ned's coworkers were nearby. "Although you look like you could use that now."

I could, Ned thought, feeling irritable. In fact - the hell with it. "Meet me in the bathroom in a couple minutes" he whispered, feeling his sheath swelling already. "I need to get my mind elsewhere, for a little bit."

The coyote grinned slyly. "Glad to help, stud" he whispered back, sliding off the desk and leaving with a swish of his tail. For his part, Ned straightened up his desk and tried to act normal, like he was just stepping out for a moment. For a moment, he thought, he wanted to forget the Prophet, Olympia Rogan, Medea, and every other problem on his plate or that of SF Metro; what he needed was a decent romp with his sexy coyote boyfriend.

Garrett was waiting for him when he stepped into the bathroom, which, being that this was a large police station, had quite a few stalls. No one else was in the bathroom at the time though, so the coyote merely grabbed Ned and pulled him into a passionate embrace, their muzzles instantly locking together as Ned thrust his tongue into the coyote's mouth. He felt the bugle in Garrett's pants pressing against his thigh and reflexively slid his own paw into the coyote's pants, grasping the hard cock he found there tightly.

For his part, Garrett's paw found its way down into the back of Ned's jeans, massaging his butt while one or two fingers probed warily under Ned's tail, causing the wolf to flick his tail downwards. Garrett was grinding himself against Ned's knee, in response to which Ned met with grinding of his own. This is the life, he thought, remembering vaguely that if they screwed in the bathroom some scent of it would be left there - but, if they were quick....

"We'd better get into the stall" he murmured huskily, pushing Garrett towards the stall farthest from the door. "It's gonna have to be a quickie."

The paw inside his pants retracted and Garrett grabbed Ned's paw, pulling them into the stall, even as they kept up the maddened kisses, paws already busy unbuttoning jeans and pushing down boxers. The stall door clicked shut.

Ned pushed Garrett hard against the wall of the stall, matching the coyote's grinding against him as they mashed muzzles. Both of their jeans were now open at the front, so sticky sheaths could rub together as Ned's thicker wolf cock ground with Garrett's coyote shaft. Both males moaned lightly as the friction of their shafts increased, even as Ned firmly shucked the coyote's jeans off his ass, followed by his boxers.

Garrett removed a paw from Ned's shoulder to grasp both their cocks and hold them together, bringing a gasp from both, until Ned breathed "Better turn around," reaching inside Garrett's jacket for the little tube he knew he'd find there.

"Thought you'd never ask" the coyote whispered, spinning around and putting his paws against the stall, tail lifting high and to the side. Just the sight of the soft beige fur and the shadowy hole above made Ned's cock throb all the harder, just like that first night not so long ago, except that this time it was he who almost emptied the tube into his paw, smoothing it over his sticky length and pressing the rest generously under the coyote's tail. Garrett groaned appreciatively as Ned thoughtfully inserted a finger, pressing the lube inward.

Enough preparation; oh god, how he needed this. Gripping his shaft in one paw, he aligned it with Garrett's now glistening hole and thrust up in one quick motion.

Perfection. Just pure perfection, slipping back into that void that seemed made just for him, hearing Garrett's groan of contentment. Involuntarily he began thrusting, hard, gripping Garrett tightly so as to gain the deepest range of penetration at every thrust. He was lost in the primeval joy of breeding, sinking his length deeper at every flex of his hips, his balls slapping against Garrett's as the coyote eagerly pushed back into his thrusts.

It was probably good no one had come into the bathroom at that point, because neither he nor Garrett could entirely control the moans and whines which escaped their muzzles. Ned's mind was practically short-circuiting, like the moment when you're pursuing an escaping suspect and for an instant all focus is on the pursuit, every fibre of your body lost in the adrenaline rush of the chase. I can't tie, not here, Ned thought vaguely, but it was so hard not to, not with Garrett pushing back the way he was. At that moment, Ned didn't want his cock anywhere but up Garrett's backside, knot and all, and so perhaps it was no surprise that, almost without awareness of it, he suddenly felt his knot plunge through Garrett's opening and lodge tightly within, making them one.

What made their tying even sexier was that almost concurrently Garrett turned his head round sideways so that as both he and Ned felt their shafts explode with orgasm, they pressed their muzzles together in another devoted kiss, moaning into each other's muzzles as they found their climax together. The kisses continued as both relaxed through the ecstasy, savouring the superb feeling of being tied, until finally Ned sank back to lean against the opposing stall wall, pulling Garrett to him, while both panted heavily.

Garrett had come without any assistance by Ned's paw this time, but as they caught their breath, recovering from the frenzy of mating, Ned rubbed his paw over the dripping length of the coyote's erection, bringing his paw to his muzzle to lick away the residue. "Thank....you" Garrett panted, for everything, and Ned pulled him closer, neither feeling like talking much, not with his cock still throbbing in Garrett's rear.

Ned had always felt he was rather gifted in having particularly long tie-times - a half hour or more usually, and certainly never shorter than twenty minutes. Typically that allowed a delightful period of mutual oneness and caresses, but now as his senses began to return, he remembered he was in the public bathroom of SF Metro, and hoped wishfully that this particular occasion, he would be able to pull out sooner than normal.

"You're one hell of a stud, wolf" Garrett whispered, his eye rolling back to look at Ned. "One week of dating and already I'm smitten."

Ned was not used to quick romances, nor did he typically even so much as believe in them, but he could not argue with the coyote as to that the two of them seemed to be hitting it off better than....well, any of his past relationships, that was for certain. Ned was not one for one-night-stands, and never with his previous boyfriends had he gone so far as to have....well, this would be the fourth such encounter with Garrett, if you counted the night they'd fooled around in Garrett's Mustang.

"You're not the only one" he replied simply, rubbing the coyote's still-hard knot.

Normally Ned would have felt silly when admitting to such emotions so early in a relationship, but for some reason, today admitting that he unexplainably had strong feelings for the coyote seemed only natural, and in truth, made him feel...good, to do so. In fact, now that they'd just had some pretty hot sex and mutually admitted to having unusually strong attractions to each other, he no longer felt quite so uninspired and tired as he had earlier - in fact, he felt pretty good.

Or at least he did until he and Garrett, having dressed and wiped up the mess Garrett had left against the stall as best they could, stepped out of the stall...and spotted Diego Redfield at the other end of the room.

Oh shit.

When had Diego come in? He was just inside the door, across from the sinks, but his paws were not wet, and he was looking towards the direction of the stalls. No sooner had Ned and Garrett stepped from the stall than the wolfdog's ears fell; his face taking on the look of someone who's trapped; a pup caught with his paw in the cookiejar.

"Diego" Ned said. "We were..."

Diego's ears came up and immediately fell down again. His eyes were darting from side to side, like he wanted to disappear. "Oh, uh, hey Ned....Garrett...looks like you were having...fun?" He quirked a lopsided smile.

It was so unlike Diego, normally a picture of confidence. Out of the corner of his eye Ned caught Garrett's expression...the coyote was grinning. He glanced back at Diego, and noticed then what Garrett had already seen: the front of Diego's tight jeans was sporting a huge bugle.

Diego had come into the bathroom, figured out what was going on in there - had he been there a whole half-hour since they'd tied? Probably not, but if he'd smelled the scents....

That didn't matter. What did was that Diego had figured out what they were doing, and he was turned on by it.

That meant only one thing....was Diego gay?

The wolfdog spoke again. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but I smelled..." he was looking at Garrett. No surprise, Ned had come inside Garrett, so the coyote's scent was stronger. Probably good, that - anyone who came into the bathroom would think that one of the coyotes at SF Metro had just been jerking off, or something.

"Not a problem" Garrett grinned. "We were already done, or you could have joined us."

"Garrett!" Ned growled, but he was already imagining a threesome involving himself, Garrett, and the sexy wolfdog. No, he didn't need another erection.

"Just kidding" the coyote smirked.

"I think we'll be going now" Ned muttered, trying not to show that he was finding their discovery by Diego somewhat arousing. He and Garrett crossed the bathroom in a few quick steps and nodded to Diego, whose lopsided grin had turned to one of...Ned wondered if that was lust. Ok, no doubt it was, especially when Garrett quickly grabbed, squeezed, and released the bugle in Diego's jeans as they brushed past him, making the wolfdog gasp, before they slipped through the door and left Diego to ponder his orientation, or whatever.

"Did you really mean that, about Diego joining us?" Ned asked Garrett, after they'd gotten where no one else could possibly hear them.

"Sure, why not?" the coyote smirked, but the brief quiver of his ears and hesitation before the words made Ned think that in truth Garrett was much less open to the idea than he let on. "Although only because I was pretty sure you had similar thoughts. If you hadn't, I'd never have mentioned it."

Ned believed him. In relationships, everything has to be in agreement, mutual comfort taken into account, and that was what they had here. "Well, who knows? He seemed pretty turned on" Ned chuckled. "I suppose if the opportunity presents itself, maybe we will involve Diego someday....although I can't imagine how he'd make our encounters any sexier than they already are.

And the expression on Garrett's face told him that the last part of the comment meant far more to him than the suggestion of a threesome with Diego had.