Asprin, Robert Lynn – Catwoman – Tiger Hunt (With Lynn Abbey)

“I was late, too. But wait until you hear why . . .” And she began the tale of the morning meeting.

Selina cut Bonnie short. “What about the relics? What happens to them in all this?”

Smiling with satisfaction, Bonnie explained, “The whole room’s going to Washington to be part of a museum exhibit. People will be shocked and, hopefully, they’ll realize that they’ve got to do more to protect wild animals from the Eddie Lobbs of the world.”

Selina sat back in her chair. The waiter came to take her order, giving her a few moments to think about what Bonnie had said. “Tomorrow,” she said slowly, debating within herself whether she’d kill Eddie tonight, before the Feds came and carted his relics away, or after. Her gut preference was for after he’d lost everything, but the Feds would probably have him in custody by then, and they were notoriously unsympathetic to free-lance justice. “Tomorrow. I can live with that.”

“But wait—that’s not the only good part. Look at this!” Bonnie unfolded her newspaper and spread it across the table. “What do you think of it?”

A moment passed before Selina spotted the announcement in question, but once she did it held her attention.

Alfred had fulfilled Bruce Wayne’s expectations. He’d retrieved the message cylinder and duly notified Commissioner Gordon of the upcoming exchange. That was the easy part. Contacting Catwoman and drawing her away from the scene had taxed his ingenuity. The fact that Bruce had seen Catwoman at the icon exhibit did not lead Alfred to believe that he could come up with an announcement that would lure her back, and even if she did return, that he could identify her. He could not look into a stranger’s face and know if she were a cat burglar or simply someone who let things get moldy in the back of the refrigerator.