“I’ll be honest. That doesn’t seem likely. To collect a bounty, they’d have to prove they killed me. This feels more like targeted destruction. Could be those responsible wanted to destroysomething before it became public knowledge. Good thing we got to see the tiger shifter stuff before it happened.”
His remark led to her sliding a hand into her pocket and clasping the box she’d accidentally taken. When Khalid had told them of the intruders, in her panic, she’d held on to the box as they fled and, by the time she realized she still had it, didn’t have time to return it. “This is all very frightening.”
“Only if we assume it was meant for us. I think your theory of eco terrorists is probably more accurate. Those crazy fuckers do all kinds of crazy things, like glue themselves to floors and throw soup on valuable paintings.”
Her lips pursed. “That’s never been a problem here before.” She grabbed the front doorknob, noticing the lack of lights, indicating Nenek hadn’t yet returned home. “Maybe a night’s sleep will make things clearer in the morning.”
She opened the door, but before she could enter, Phoenix bumped her to the side.
Bang.
A gun fired, and Nadirah blinked because the muzzle flash had come from inside her house, but of even more concern, by pushing her out of the way, the bullet meant for her hit Phoenix.
In the gloom, she saw him waver on his feet, and his pale shirt darkened as blood poured from the chest wound—but didn’t kill him.
To her disbelief—despite knowing what he’d claimed and the fact that she’d seen it before—Phoenix suddenly changed, the clothes she’d bought him splitting to accommodate the lanky shape of a tiger.
A tiger who pinned the surprised gunman to the floor and growled in his face.
Rather than deal with that craziness, Nadirah went in search of her grandmother, who thankfully appeared to not be home.
The relief of not finding a body led to Nadirah slumping onto a kitchen chair and texting,Are you still at your sister’s?She stared at her screen rather than deal with the snarling tiger and whimpering man mere paces from her.
Yes. You need me?
The tension in her body eased.No. Don’t come home. There’s a problem with the toilet.A plausible reason for her grandmother to stay elsewhere for the night.
Nadirah put her phone on the table and glanced at the man lying on the floor. Like the thug at the zoo, he appeared local.
Two fat furry paws on the intruder’s shoulders kept him pinned to the floor. Even without, he most likely wouldn’t have moved, given the tiger that stared and kept growling in his face.
Suddenly angry, Nadirah pushed up from her seat and stalked over to glare. “Who are you? Why are you in my house?”
“Tell your pet tiger to let me go,” barked the stranger.
“I don’t think so. Who sent you? How did you get inside?”
“Backdoor was unlocked.”
Doubtful, meaning he’d likely kicked in the panel. “Why did you break in?”
“None of your business. Let me go and I’ll leave.”
“I don’t think so. You made it my business when you broke in and tried to shoot me,” she reminded.
“By accident. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Hardly the wrong place, since this was her home. She crossed her arms and went for a more direct attempt at the truth. “You came looking for a tiger.”
“No, I came looking for a man. No one told me about the fucking cat.” The man swore in Malaysian, and while Phoenix might not understand, he caught the gist by the tone and bared his teeth.
“What man?”
“As if you don’t know.”
“Humor me.”
“I was supposed to kill the foreigner staying with you.”
