Tiger Trap by Eric Walters Read Free Book Online

behind the shed, then disappear from sight when they realized we were watching them.
    “That is them, isn’t it?” he asked.
    “Maybe. I really didn’t see who it was.”
    “You didn’t? That’s strange. I could’ve sworn you were standing there behind that shed with them before you came over to talk to me.”
    That sinking feeling in my stomach became a gaping pit. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I just wanted to run away.
    “I’m going over to talk to them, so you might as well come along,” he said.
    He started walking toward the shed. That really wasn’t a good idea. Once Vladimir found out the man was trying to buy tigers he’d pick him up and throw him off the property … say, that didn’t seem like such a bad idea. I scrambled to catch up to the stranger.
    “Hello,” he called out as he reached the shed. Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir stepped out into the open. “Which of you two is in charge of this place?”
    “Who’s asking?” Mr. McCurdy asked.
    “Who’s asking isn’t as important as why I’m asking.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mr. McCurdy demanded.
    “It means I have a business deal to discuss and I need to discuss it with the person who can do that business.”
    “What sort of business?” Mr. McCurdy asked.
    “Are you the person in charge of this place?”
    “I’m one of them,” Mr. McCurdy said. “And this here’s the second.” He gestured to Vladimir. “We own and run the place.”
    “Excellent. Perhaps we could go and talk some business.”
    “Whatever you have to say you can say right here,” Mr. McCurdy said.
    The man looked at me, then back at Mr. McCurdy. “I really think this should be a private conversation.”
    “Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Sarah. She’s an important part of this place. When we go away, she runs everything.”
    He turned back to face me. “I thought you didn’t work here.”
    “Well …”
    “I knew you weren’t telling the truth. You’re not very good at lying.”
    “Never was very good,” Mr. McCurdy agreed. “But you can still say what you want in front of Sarah.”
    “No, I can’t,” the man said, shaking his head. “I need to talk to you in private. Nobody but me and the two of you can be part of the conversation.”
    “And if we don’t agree to that?” Mr. McCurdy asked.
    “Then we don’t talk and you won’t know what it was I wanted to talk to you about.”
    “I guess I’ll take that chance,” Mr. McCurdy said. “You should leave now.”
    “Leave?”
    “That’s what I said. Go. Get. Vamoose. Vanish. Disappear. Understand?”
    “You’re kicking me out?”
    “No, I’m asking you to leave. If you don’t leave, then I’ll kick you out. Or, I guess, have my good friend Vladimir kick you out.”
    “Vladimir kick you off good,” Vladimir said, stepping toward the man in a very threatening manner.
    I involuntarily stepped back myself, but the man didn’t budge.
    “Listen to what I have to say and then, if you want, I’ll leave. Nobody will have to kick me out.”
    Vladimir balled his hands into fists and stepped even closer. “Maybe Vladimir will enjoy kicking man out.”
    “Look,” I said as I moved forward and put myself between Vladimir and the stranger, “I have to go, anyway. It’s time for me to feed the kangaroos again and then I have to get home. So I’ll leave and you three can talk.”
    “You don’t have to go, Sarah,” Mr. McCurdy said. “It’s my farm and I decide who stays and who goes — not him.”
    “But I
want
to go,” I said. “I
have
to go.”
    Mr. McCurdy didn’t answer right away. That was good. It meant he was thinking it over. “Okay, we’ll talk to this guy, just the two of us, but we’re only doing it because Sarah wants us to. Not because anybody else does.”
    “I don’t care why, as long as we do talk privately,” the stranger said.
    “Okay, I’m going,” I said. “If I don’t see you before I go home, I’ll be