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Hello there, readers! I am so happy to bring you the newest chapter of The Keyhole! I would also like to let you all know of my newest project, Found, which was inspired by the stories The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether and the sequel A Lamb Among Wolves by the amazing author WastedTimeEE! I absolutely recommend them! And I would like to, once again, thank my friend and proofreader, Trismegistus Shandy.

Chuck looked around. The cougar boy checked to make sure that Darryl was busy with a customer, an elderly capybara, before grinning to himself. With one more discreet look at the chinchilla, he reached over to a basket of chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips, single clawed finger extended with the intent of lifting up the plastic wrapping and sliding a single cookie out.

"Don't even think about it," the deep voice rumbled, making Chuck jump, literally. He whirled around, nervous, to see Darryl looking over his shoulder at him, over his shades. "No snacking on the product, Chuck."

Chuck nodded, looking abashed, and resumed putting the money in the cash box.

***

"Say, Arnie?" The timber wolf looked to his partner, who was looking around with a wide grin on his face.

"Yes, Chaz?" the rhino asked, excited at all of the different baked goods for sale, and the festive air.

So many mammals are going to be helped.

"I was wondering..." The timber wolf paused and looked away, rubbing the back of his head with a paw. They were in sight of the tower of baked treats and the castle cake, out of the way of a line of various mammals waiting to make a purchase.

"Yes?"

"What... uh... what does someone need to do to... uh... help out at this place... from time to time?" Chaz looked uncomfortable while Arnie smiled down smugly at his partner.

"Well now, Chaz, why would you want to know that?"

Chaz let out a groan. "Okay, look, you were right about this being a great place to help other mammals, okay?" Arnie chuckled and clapped his friend on the back.

"I knew that you'd come around eventually. And anyway, there's all sorts of things that you could do to help, big and small. I can even get you one of the newer pamphlets." Chaz rolled his eyes, but his tail still gave a wag.

***

"Thank you sir," Kimi said cheerfully as she passed the kangaroo the basket of chocolate muffins before turning to regard Lyla. "And that's another sale, bringing up my total to two hundred dollars, so fa--"

"Hold that thought just one sec, Kimi," the zebra girl said, holding up a hoof, before turning to resume her transaction with the group of lemming business mammals that were each passing her by, and each making a purchase. The tigress' eyes went wide as she watched each of the smaller mammals walk by while placing an order, placing the amount due on the table in front of Lyla, and happily accept their baked goods which were handed off, one after the other. Her mouth fell open at the growing stack of bills that Lyla was racking up.

"And thank you very much, Miss!" Lyla waved to the last of the long line, who had all made a large U-turn, and were promptly making for the exit. Lyla, casually counting up the money, turned to Kimi. "Sorry, Kimi, they were on their lunch break, what were you saying?"

A low rumble started to leave the white tigress' throat before the scoutmaster stepped in. "Very good work, scouts," he said, opening the cash box and holding out a hoof, "it's really nice to see you two so enthusiastic about helping others. I swear, most kids your age get too wrapped up in their own little worlds to see what's really important."

"Thank you, Scoutmaster Greene," the two girls said in unison, once more both looking annoyed at speaking simultaneously. They handed off the money, which was promptly locked away, and resumed taking and filling orders.

***

"Eddie, you can't just stop taking you medication!" Charlie looked exasperated as he sat on the park bench with his brother. Charlie was wearing a charcoal grey suit with a red tie, having had to leave work early to deal with his younger brother.

"Charlie, that stuff doesn't do anything for me except make me drowsy; besides, I am so close to a breakthrough!" Edwin said, his eye twitching. Their mother had been the one to call Charlie, him having always been the responsible one, and the one of their litter who was always willing to look out for Edwin. She'd called after she had dropped by for a visit to find Edwin, in one of his manic states, having gone days without eating or sleeping, constantly muttering something about making the electrical infrastructure of the city more streamlined. Charlie had promptly arrived, after apologizing to his boss for the sudden emergency departure, and talked Edwin into going to the park with him. It took quite a bit of coaxing on Charlie's part.

"Eddie," Charlie let out a sigh, already started to feel exhausted from the conversation, "you haven't slept in four days. And you haven't eaten anything either. And you're not making any sense. When you're not muttering to yourself about streamlining everything, and not explaining what you mean, you're cursing mammals you seem to think are trying to steal your credit."

"But Joakim is trying to steal my work, I just know it! He's always had it out for me!" Edwin insisted, his eye starting to twitch.

"Joakim is your attorney," Charlie slowly explained, already not looking forward to the call he was expecting from the capybara.

"That's just what he wants you to think!" Edwin insisted.

"Eddie!" Charlie said sharply, making his brother cringe back a little. "You are in one of your states, and you need to start taking your medicine."

"But I don't need it anymore! I've been feeling much better!" Edwin started to insist.

"Eddie, the reason that you've been feeling better is because of your medication. You have to go back on it."

"But--" Edwin started, only to be cut off.

"Mom called me up in tears. Were you aware that you're about to get evicted? You haven't paid any of your bills, and your work has left so many messages because you haven't been showing up!"

"I... m-my breakthrough?"

"Eddie, you are a brilliant mammal, but that doesn't mean that you can't take your medicine. Think about what you're doing to Mom!"

Edwin was silent at that, hanging his head.

"I-I'm sorry, Ch-Charlie," Edwin said, his voice starting to crack. Charlie gave Edwin a reassuring smile while reaching over to hug his brother.

"It's okay, Eddie, but you gotta start taking your medicine again," Charlie said, patting Edwin on the back.

"...O-okay... Charlie," Edwin said.

Edwin came out of his reverie. The memory was from five years ago, back before his other brothers had cut him out of their life entirely. Just after their mother had passed away. Charlie had always been there, but each time seeming a little more run down. Especially after Edwin had been arrested.

"Charlie," Edwin said aloud. The armadillo thought about his brother some more, and couldn't help but think of what he would say if he knew what was going on. His thoughts drifted to their mother, and what she would have thought of what he had done, and what he was about to do.

"B-But... it's for the... th-the betterment of mammalkind!" he weakly insisted to no one corporeal. "I-it is!"

***

Any second now, Honey thought to herself as she slowly unloaded the undesirable baked goods that were part of her cover. She did so one-pawed, keeping her other paw inside her coat pocket, never letting the human boy out of her line of sight. Her thumb brushed against the barrel of the tranq gun, and she smiled.

Gotta be ready to strike. Just grab it in the confusion and get the creature to the van. She continued to watch, even after she unloaded the last cupcake.

***

BANG!

Judy had been in the middle of trying, and failing, to keep a swarm of her younger siblings from clambering all over Nick. At the sudden loud sound, she froze and looked to the northern entrance. There was smoke, followed by screams, as panicking mammals all started to make a rush for another exit. The fear swept through many different mammals as a stampede began to form.

"Eli," Judy looked to her kit, who had looked around confused and worried, but whose eyes locked onto his mom's. "Stay back and out of the way while we handle this."

Eli nodded as he stepped back from the amassing crowd. There was a sudden sting on the back of his neck.

"Oh no," Mike said as he held onto Eli's hair, "I hope Lyla and Kimi are alright. That explosion happened near their--WOAH!" Eli pitched forward and then backwards, staggering on his feet. Mike lost his grip on Eli's brown locks, and suddenly fell forward, landing inside one of Eli's uniform pockets. Eli, having already started to feel woozy from the darting, was knocked backward onto a trolley that had rammed him from behind.

"Success," Honey whispered in excitement. In the confusion, no one noticed as she wheeled her prize out the door she had entered from, mammals too busy panicking. She quickly wheeled the unconscious human boy towards the alley where the van was parked. She was a little confused to see Edwin standing outside of it, holding his head in his paws.

"Doctor Shellison, help me load this thing in and restrain it, we have got to make out getaway!" Edwin looked up, and the color drained from his face as he looked upon the unconscious figure on the trolley.

"D-doctor Honey, wait," Edwin started, "th-th-this... we just... oh dear gods, we..." Edwin didn't finish his line of thought. A dart was sticking out of his chest, where there was no natural armor. In seconds, he had fallen over onto his shell, rocking back and forth. Honey sighed, and worked to load Eli into the back of the van, happy to find that the engine was still running. Once in the back of the van, Honey got out the zip-ties, and restrained Eli's arms behind his back, followed by his ankles. She took one more look at Edwin out of the back doors, shaking her head at his unconscious form.

"You just had to go and disappoint me, Doctor Shellison," she said before shutting the doors and making her way to the front of the van. Gunning the engine, she pulled out, unaware of a tiny pair of eyes peeking at her out from Eli's pocket.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, Mike thought to himself as he pulled out his phone. He set it to silent before he started to make a call.

***

"Where does anyone even get a smoke bomb this big?" Arnie asked as he examined the device inside the brown paper bag. It had been the source of the noise and the smoke, having been tossed into a trash can near the entrance. Chaz looked away from the tigress scout who was helping a limping zebra scout over to a bench.

"And why would they set it off at a bake sale for the homeless?" Chaz asked, letting out a low growl.

"Probably someone's idea of a prank," Arnie said.

"ELI!" The two officers looked towards the source of the familiar voice, to see Judy running around, starting to look frantic. "ELI!!!"

"Hopps? What's the matter?" Arnie asked. Judy looked to the two and bolted straight for them. "Have either of you seen my kit?! I told him to get clear of the confusion and now... I CAN'T FIND HIM!"

"Does he have a phone?" Chaz offered just as Nick showed up.

"He's not answering," Nick said, frowning but trying to keep a calmer head.

"He always picks up for us!" Judy said, looking ready to resume her search. Kimi and Lyla, who were sitting together nearby, were watching intently.

"Judy!" Judy's ears turned in the direction her name was being called and looked to see Mrs. Musculus, with her husband trailing behind her.

"I just got a call from Mikey! He says that they've been kitnapped!" Mike's mother's eyes were already welling with tears as she brandished her phone. Judy and Nick both felt their stomach's drop. Arnie was already reaching for his radio while Kimi and Lyla both let out worried gasps.

Sorry again for yet another cliffhanger, but stay tuned! Also, feel free to leave a review!