The tiger put a paw on the rim of the bowl and gave it a shove in her direction.
“Not to your liking?”
He uttered a low growl.
“Don’t tell me you have fancy tastes.” Then again, she couldn’t blame it. A glance at the ground meat showed it mostly gray, the air having oxidized the once-red beef, making it less than fresh. The flies that swarmed probably didn’t help.
The tiger sat and stared.
“Is this your way of asking me to fetch you something else?”
She’d have sworn he understood, seeing as how he nodded his head. She sighed. “Let me go see what else I can find.” It took her almost two hours. The zoo fridges had only ground beef, as they weren’t due for a meat delivery for another day or two. She chose to hit the market, where she took a moment for herself and had dinner before she hunted down some fresh cow femurs that still had hunks of red on them. By the time she returned to the zoo, it had closed for the night. It made her trip to the tiger’s enclosure quick, since no one stopped Nadirah to ask questions.
As she put her hand on the door to the secured part where her new tiger guested, a voice stopped her.
“Is this the building with the big cat found on that ship?”
She whirled to see a stranger, a male about her height but stockier. “Excuse me, but you shouldn’t be here. The zoo is closed.”
The man, dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt, pulled out a knife. “I asked you a question. Where’s the tiger that was brought in this morning? And don’t tell me you don’t know. I saw you on the news.”
Her mouth went dry. Did this man work for whoever was buying the feline? Had he come to fetch it? The tip of the blade aimed in her direction had her licking her lips before replying, “He’s inside undergoing a medical evaluation.”
“Show me.”
“Why?” she blurted out.
“Because the person paying me wants it dead.”
Nadirah couldn’t help but gasp. “Why?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. But they’re paying lots to have it done.”
The ludicrousness had her laughing somewhat hysterically. “You realize you most likely won’t get a chance to spend it since the cat will most likely kill you. The tiger not only outweighs you, but its claws are longer than your knife.”
“So you’ll put it to sleep first. I know you can do that,” he blustered.
“I am not helping you to kill a defenseless beast,” she huffed.
The knife waggled in her direction. “You will if you don’t want me to cut you.”
A threat she couldn’t ignore, but at the same time, she didn’t want to help this thug. “How much are they paying you to kill the tiger?” Perhaps she could offer a sweeter deal.
The amount he mentioned staggered. It was more than she made in a year. “That can’t be right,” she exclaimed. “Whoever asked you to do this is lying. They won’t pay you that much.”
“They’d better, or else,” he grumbled, waving around his short blade. “Now stop stalling and get inside.”
She’d rather stall longer in the hopes the night watchman came strolling by. However, the hired thug appeared to be donetalking and waiting. The knife tip came alarmingly close, and Nadirah had no choice.
They entered the building, her first, the thug at her back. The tiger lay with its head resting on its paws but lifted its noggin at the sight of her. He made a noise. Probably smelled the bag of femurs in her hand.
An idea hit.
As the thug stepped to her side and exclaimed, “He’s a big brute,” Nadirah swung the sack, the heavy bones connecting with the wannabe killer’s face, knocking him back.
The man recovered and darted for her, spittle flying. “How dare you!” The knife slashed, and Nadirah knocked it aside with the bag, which split, spilling the contents.
The tiger uttered a barking noise, most likely of hunger, but Nadirah didn’t have time to feed him, not with her life in jeopardy.
