The trouble started when when I woke up and found that Lu had poured out the last of my good whiskey (along with my reserve of the cheap stuff) and stolen all the money in my wallet.  
	 	
	I knew better than to be surprised about the empty spot on the bed.  As for the rest, I only held a grudge about the whiskey.  Still,the landlord collected rent at the end of the week and I didn't want to end up homeless, so I went looking for Lu.
	
	I didn't bother to even brush my fur before I left.  Didn't matter.  I'm a scruffy mutt at best, and my jacket and fedora covered the worst snarls in my fur.  Keeping a roof over my head mattered more than personal care, and the sooner I found Lu, the less of my cash she'd have time to spend.
	
	“Paper, Butch?” called Danny as soon as I hit the sidewalk.
	
	“Can't.  Broke,” I told the little fox.  “Lu took the cash and ran.”
	
	Danny nodded.  “Yeah, I kinda figured.  I saw her get into the car with some big guy.”  A grin split the kid's features.  “Figure she's a nympho or something like that?”
	
	I cuffed the kid on the back of his head lightly.  What were the padres at the orphanage teaching kits these days?  I didn't talk that way when I was ten.  “She's not much of a lady, but you should still treat her like one.”
	
	“You'd know how much of a lady she is, Butchie.”
	
	“Never you mind.  Where the hell are your shoes?”
	
	Danny looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes.  “Stolen”  He shrugged.  The nuns don't have any shoes that are big enough for me.”
	
	“You'll step on some glass or get a splinter on a pad or something.”
	
	“I might.  If I wear what the nuns gave me, I'll definitely get blisters.  If I sell enough papers, I can buy my own in a couple of weeks.”
	
	I shook my head.  “Just be careful.  Don't want you to end up with a permanent limp.”  I felt bad for Danny's situation.  He worked hard when not a lot of people had jobs to work hard at.  But I couldn't help him while chasing after my rent money.

	I hoofed it down five blocks to a different set of run-down apartments from my own.  Seemed best to start looking for her in the obvious places.  Maybe I'd get lucky.
	
	Took the stairs two at a time, up to the third floor.  I pounded on one of the doors, which opened to reveal snarling feline rage.  

	That meant Jessie was home.  So much for luck.  “You got a lot of nerve showing that face around here,” she said.
	
	“What'd I do?”
	
	“Don't play stupid.  She stopped long enough to get her things, said you were taking her to Wan's to celebrate her moving in!”  Jessie hit me.  “How am I gonna pay my half of the rent and hers?” 
	
	“Who's playing?”  I fended Jessie off with my hat, held out way in front of me.  Didn't help; she had a good left.  “When did she say she was moving in?  First I heard about it!”
	
	“You're a liar and a schmuck, Butch.”
	
	“Just a schmuck.  Lu's left me and robbed me to boot.  At least you have half [i]your[/i] rent to pay.”
	
	“Serves you right.”  Jessie stared me down.  “Should've figured.  Said she had a driver, and I know you can't afford that.”
	
	“Thank you, Jessie.  Always a pleasure.” I started back down the hall.  “Like a trip to the dentist or polio, that sort of pleasure.”
	
	One of Jessie's shoes hit me on the way out.  Left me a bruise, but I at least knew to head towards Chinatown thanks to her, so it felt like a fair trade.
	
	

	 I walked off in the direction of Mel's diner.   There was a stop I needed to make if I had to head across town.  Besides, I felt this sort of prickling at the back of my neck, made my fur want to stand up on end.  I figured I was being followed, and I'd rather take time to flush them out and find out why.
	
	As I figured, Rory was still eating breakfast even though he should've been on his beat.  “Whatddya want, Butch?” he said.  He didn't even look up from his eggs.
	
	I slid onto the stool beside him and waved the waitress away.  “Can't I sit and just have a talk with my big brother?”
	
	“There's a first for everything.  But I doubt it.  Make it quick.  Everyone at the precinct's been ridden hard since the museum robbery, and I gotta get back to walking the neighborhood.”
	
	“All right, you got me.  Don't suppose I can borrow some money for rent?”
	
	Rory looked up, finally.  “Lu left you.”  It wasn't a question; Rory knew me too well.
	
	I shrugged.  “Come on, it's not my fault she took my cash.  Help me out.”
	
	“It is your fault.  You're a lazy bum, and you got no self-respect.  That's why you can't find an honest woman and it's why you didn't finish at the police academy.”
	
	“This again?  I saw my future at the academy, and it looks a lot like you do now.”
	
	Rory looked down at his police blues.  He had bits of egg on his paunch.  “What's the matter with how I look?”
	
	“Never mind.”  I stood and slapped Rory on the shoulder.  “Don't work too hard, fatso.  Give Mom my love when you see her.”  I mostly ignored Rory's shouting as I left the diner, though some of the things he came up with to describe me got damn creative.
	
	Rory helped more than he knew—I managed to swipe some cash from his pocket on my way out.  The dog really should keep his money in his wallet.  At least I had some trolley fare.
		
	Outside I noticed somebody lurking in the alleyway, and I ducked down it.  Whoever followed me moved quickly.  By the time I'd gotten to the end of the alley, they were gone.  My stalker had slipped through a hole in the board fence there.  Small opening―probably a ferret or some other weasel.  They were good at squeezing into those tight spaces.  
	
	I took a trolley down to Chinatown with Rory's spare change.  I figured that whoever had been following me probably couldn't double back in time to keep up by then.  
	
	Still, I didn't feel at ease when I got to Chinatown.  That's normal for me, though.  It's walking past all the weird little shops in writing I couldn't ever figure out.  It's like being in a foreign country (not that I have any experiences there to draw on).  
	
	One shop, though, I did feel comfortable in.  It's this little Dim Sum shop that I like to go to.  I know the owner.  I ducked in there.
	
	“Ah, customer.  You want table for one?” said the panda tending the front.  His accent made it tough to understand what he said.
	
	“Not today, Rik.  Sorry.”
	
	“Oh, Butch.”  The accent fell away in favor of a local one once I stepped through the door.  Rik always did like to play things up for the tourists.  “Looking for Lu?”
	
	“Not really.  Maybe.  You seen her?”
	
	Rik sighed.  “I knew you'd ask.  Could cause me trouble if it gets out that I'm talking about it.”
	
	I shrugged.  “Except you mentioned Lu right away, so you can't be that worried.”  That didn't mean I wasn't.  Rik's warning suggested I'd be safer if I cut my losses right now.
	
	“I pay for my own protection.  You know how it is.  This neighborhood is usually off limits.”
	
	“Off limits for who, Rik?”
	
	“Right to the point, eh?”  Rik's eyes narrowed.  “Took your money?”
	
	“That obvious?”
	
	“She likes to talk.  Just didn't know if you were the guy she'd been talking about.  Those types...”  He trailed off.
	
	I frowned.  “Those types are my types.  But―point taken.  Who's she with?”
	
	“Fat Georgie.”
	
	I closed my eyes, rubbed the heels of my hands against them.  “Ah, damn.  Had to be him.”  Fat Georgie and I go far back.  He used to beat me and my brother up when we were pups.  I'd heard he'd made his hobby his job.  “Know where they were headed?”
	
	Rik thought for a moment.  “Hm, sounded like they were planning a cruise or something.  Might try the docks.”
	
	Finally, a solid lead.  Lu had gotten herself mixed up with the wrong people, though.  “Thanks, Rik,” I said, hightailing it out of the restaurant.  I felt for my gun as I went, made sure it was there.  If she was with Fat Georgie, no telling what might happen.
	
	The trolley had taken the cash I'd filched from Rory, so I had to hoof it to the docks.  By the time I arrived, the sun had begun to set and my legs were tired.  
	
	I found what I wanted at the first set of warehouses I checked, near a big steamer ship.  There parked a white car with the ragtop down, too fancy to be around this part of town so close to nighttime;  a legit businessman might visit the docks in the daytime, but never after dark.
	
	A check around the building and I found that a door had been left ajar.  I slipped inside.
	
	The inside of the warehouse seemed huge, but it was lit up enough to give me a good view.  Risky, though; I could see well, but so could anyone looking for me.  The sharp, clean smell of fresh sawdust filled the air, and no wonder; the floors were covered with it.  Figured someone was using it for packing.  At least that meant I could easily track who had gone where.
	
	Before I could begin my search, though, I heard the creak of a floorboard.  I ducked behind a stack of crates and worked my way around them, quiet as I could manage.  I could hear the occasional step from my pursuer; they seemed less worried about being unheard.  
	
	I completed a circuit around the crates and checked the prints on the floor quickly so I could get a feel for whether or not my assailant had followed me behind the crates.  Seemed he did, from the direction they went.  I clenched my fists and turned around, ready to meet him.  When my stalker came around the corner, I thrust out my hand and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.
	
	He didn't put up a fight, and why would he?  Foxkit versus me, that's no even match.  Not even if I were dead drunk, and I was tragically sober.  “Hiya, Butch,” said Danny.  He grinned.  “Pretty good job of trailing you, huh?”
	
	The fox's nonchalance just made me angrier.  “Are you crazy?  Look!”  I gestured at the floor, where the kid's bare feet had made clear prints all around the pile of crates.  “No good trailing someone if you're gonna make it that easy to catch you.”
	
	Danny started to wriggle in my grasp.  “I didn't mean to do that.  I just wanted to help.  Come on, Butch.  I wanna be a detective someday, anyways.  You could train me.”
	
	“Train you?”  I growled low.  “Kid, you're lucky if we don't both get killed because of your stunt.”
	
	As if answering me, the crate by my head threw splinters out as a shot rang in the warehouse.  I pulled Danny around the corner of the crates and ducked low.  With luck, there'd be just enough shadows to make us hard to hit.  “See?”  I reached for my own gun.
	
	“I'm not scared.  You'll get 'em!” said Danny.
	
	“Then you're stupid.  I'm scared out of my mind.”  I peeked around the corner.  I could see, just barely, a pair of eyes glinting from near the office area.  If it wasn't Fat Georgie himself, it would be one of his men.  They tended to collect felines.  I fired off a couple of shots, more to flush the guy out than to get a hit in.
	
	“Get him!  Shoot his nuts off!” said Danny. 
	
	 Seriously, what did the padres teach fox kits these days?  I pushed hard on Danny until he lay close to the ground.  If someone was gonna get hit, I wanted it to be me.
	
	Another shot almost grazed me, came close enough that I could feel it whistle past my fur.  I firedt and heard a grunt, then the sound of someone hitting the ground.  I'd hit my mark.  
“Stay here,” I said to Danny.
	
	I crept over to where the body lay.  On the ground, Fat Georgie moaned and clutched his hand.  “Fuck, that's my good paw.  I'm going to--”  He saw me, and despite his pain, looked as dangerous as when he used to pick on me and my brother.  “You.  I'll kill your whole family for this.” 

	“Butch!  There's jewels in the crates!” shouted Danny excitedly.
	
	I laughed.  I'd gone looking for my rent money and found Rory's thief.  “I'll have a few years to worry about your threats.  Judge Wallace donates a lot of money to the museum.”
	
	Distantly, I heard the heavy metal door of the warehouse slam.  
	
	Danny came running up.  “Butch!  Butch!  There was someone else!  I don't know who, but they ran out the door!”
	
	“What did I say about staying down, Danny?”  I frowned at the fox. 
	
	“I think it's safe now, Butch, really.”  
	
	I nudged Georgie with my shoe.  “Who else came with you?”
	
	“Fuck you,” said Georgie.
	
	I kicked him in the side.  “Who?”
	
	“Ah, shit...Lu.  Just Lu.”
	
	I shook my head.  “Figures.  Lost the person I wanted to find.”  I glanced at the office.  “Danny, if you can't stay put, go call the police.  Should be a phone there.”
	
	“Sure thing, Butchie.”  Danny ran down towards the office, but halfway there he yelped and began to hop on one foot.
	
	I was by his side in a flash, ready to cover his body with mine if need be.  “What's the matter?”
	
	The foxkit whimpered and checked the bottom of his foot, held it out towards me, all teary-eyed.  “I got a splinter.”  
	
	“See?  What'd I tell you?”  I sighed, then picked the kid up and got him on me piggyback.  “Hold on.  We'll make that phone call first, then get a look at your foot.”


	Georgie had been taken away from the warehouse long before Danny and I were allowed to leave.  
	
	“Rory, I've talked to you, the sergeant, and the lieutenant already.  Are we working up the whole chain of command before I get to go home?”
	
	My brother shrugged.  “I got no sympathy.  I should've been home hours ago, but then you had to get mixed up in this crap.”
	
	“It's not like I asked for you specifically,” I said.  Over by the police cars, I heard a few of the officers laughing at one of Danny's dirty jokes.  “And could you guys stop encouraging the kid?  I think he's got a few screws loose or something.”
	
	“Yeah, no kidding.  St. Mary's turn into a burlesque theater or something?”  Rory glanced over towards the sound of the laughter.  “Why's the kid here, anyways?”
	
	“Long story.”  I jammed my hands into my pockets.  “Look, it's been a long day.  It's past midnight, and my nerves are shot.  If I promise to come by the station tomorrow, can we please go?”
	
	“Okay.”  Rory nodded.  “I'll make it work.  I'll drive you home and we'll get Manny or someone to bring Danny-boy back to the orphanage.”
	
	“About that,” I said.  
	
	“What now?”  Rory sounded exasperated.  I didn't blame him.
	
	“I'll take him to my place tonight.  I want to personally make sure he avoids getting his hide tanned for not showing up at the orphanage this evening.  And I need to have a talk with him in the morning so he'll stop trailing me.”
	
	“Sure, whatever gets you—and me, more importantly—out of here.  Come on.  I might get an hour's sleep tonight if you hurry up.”
	
	By the time Rory dropped us off at my apartment, Danny had fallen asleep in the back of the car.  I carried him up the stairs and set him down on the couch, blanket over him.  

	Danny stirred.  “Did a good job, huh?” he mumbled, still more asleep than awake.

	“Yeah, you did.  We did.”  I stroked the foxkit's ears back.  “Solved the case.  Shame I couldn't get the girl, too, just this once.”  But Danny had already drifted off again.  I went to my bed, shucked my clothing and passed out, too.
	
	I woke from a dream about Lu―I knew it was a dream because she did things she wouldn't for real—like give head―and that was great, except I woke to find that while Lu would only suck on me in a dream, Danny had no problem with it at all.
	
	“What the hell,” I mumbled, when I saw the kit there, muzzle open wide and stuffed with my dick.  I blinked a few times, but it seemed like I couldn't quite focus.  I'm still not sure if the exhaustion was doing that, or if it was because Danny out-blew every lady I'd ever been with.
	
	“Mm,” said Danny.
	
	Mm, indeed.  I tried to push at the kid with one hand―I meant to push him away, at least, but instead fed him more of my dick.  I guess my arms were working about as well as my eyes, wouldn't do what I told them.  “Gonna guh...gonna give you 'till three to get off my cock.  One...two―aahhfuck...”
	
	Damned if he didn't suck twice as hard by the time I got to three.  His tongue lapped faster than it would on any ice cream, right on the tip, hot and far too slick to resist.  Little fingers pushed my sheath back from around my knot and tugged, sending electric jolts of pleasure that spread to my fingers and toes and tail.
	
	After that, I don't think much of what I said made sense.  Another minute, and my knot had swelled up full and I'd pumped what felt like a pint's worth of jizzum into Danny.  

	I'd like to say I felt ashamed, but all I could think about was how he swallowed every drop.  Maybe it wasn't so bad that I didn't get the girl, after all.
	
	Danny pulled off me with a loud slurp and grinned.  “Good morning, Butchie.”
	
	“Guess it is at that, little man.  Shouldn't be doing that, though.”
	
	“Why, did you want to put it under my tail?” 
	
	I slumped back and pulled my pillow over my face.  “I'm too tired for this.”
	
	Danny just laughed, but then sat up.  “Can I get some water?  I swear, even your cum tastes like cheap booze.”
	
	“Go ahead,” I said, keeping myself muffled by the pillow.  
	
	Danny padded off, and I think I might've dozed for a minute.  But I heard a click, and that woke me up.  I moved my pillow aside slowly—and there stood Lu, gun pointed at me.  “Not enough to rob me, is it?”  I asked.
	
	“You messed up, Butch,” said Lu.  “Half of those jewels were supposed to be mine.  Georgie and I were supposed to be on our way to Rio by now.”
	
	I laughed.  “Knew you had expensive tastes.  If you wanted a fat guy, should've slept with my brother, though.”  On the inside, I was far from laughing.  Best morning of my life, and I was gonna get killed on it.  My best hope was to anger her so she'd do it quick and not even notice Danny.  I prayed that the kid would be smart enough to hide.
	
	“Stop laughing!  You were just a fling to make Georgie jealous, but you've ruined everything.  I'm looking forward to blowing off your ugly face.”  Her hand trembled, and she looked pissed.  At least, she did, until one of my empty whiskey bottles hit her in the back of the head.  Then, her eyes rolled up and she just looked conked out.
	
	Danny looked at me, eyes wide, paw clenched around the bottle's broken neck.   “Did you see?  I snuck right up on her.  Told you we'd make good partners, Butchie!”  
	
	I smiled.  Who wouldn't?  He didn't ever give up.  “Hold still a minute and I'll lift you out of there.  I don't want you stepping on broken glass.  You might, with your sense.”
	
	Danny scowled.  “Aw, I'm not just some dumb kid you know.”
	
	I hooked my hands under Danny's armpits and lifted him up and away from Lu and from the scattered bottle fragments.  “Yeah, you are.  That's why I'm going to buy you some new shoes on the way back to the orphanage.  You're not careful enough.”
	
	“The orphanage?”  Never seen a fox's ears go flat so fast.
	
	“Yeah, the orphanage.”  I paused, and then added, “We gotta collect whatever else there that's yours.  You're coming to live with me.”
	
	Danny hugged around my neck so hard, I thought he might choke me to death.  “Really?  Don't say if if you don't mean it!”
	
	“I mean it.  Easy there, you're choking me.”  To get Danny to loosen his hold, I snuck a paw down and tickled those cute little toes of his until all he could do was curl up helplessly.  Then I called the police so they could come and collect Lu.  Despite the resulting commotion, I had a wag in my tail that lasted all day.

	The nuns seemed pretty happy that I would be taking Danny in as my ward—something about him being too much of a distraction for the priests.  They even promised to fill out all the paperwork for me.  I paid my rent that week, and with the reward money for finding the jewels, moved out of that rat trap and into a better place a month after that.

	Word got out that I was the sort of mutt that got things done, and that brought in more work.  Danny did become a junior partner of sorts.  Having a cute kid around seemed to bring in business.  Helped at home, too—I felt like drinking less with a cute fox in my bed.  Sure he's trouble, but that trouble ain't half bad.