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

A harried technician raised his hand at Tiger’s wounded shoulder. Tiger backpedaled, but stayed in the crowd as the movie-star-handsome reporter called for a sound and light check. He couldn’t keep from holding his breath as the tape began to roll.

“Who is Eddie—Tiger—Lobb? In one night he’s gone from being a precinct nuisance to worldwide notoriety. Two things are clear. First, as the nation and the world saw earlier today, Eddie Lobb turned his Gotham City home into a conservationist’s worst nightmare. And second, he was a major factor in the Pier 23 shoot-out that left one policeman dead, two injured, and made Bessarabia a household word. But who is Eddie—Tiger—Lobb? With me now is Ramon Diaz, the doorman here at the Keystone Condominiums—“

The reporter paused dramatically. Tiger was seized with fear. Rayme would recognize him standing here at the front of the crowd and it would be as good as over. The pause lengthened uncomfortably.

“Where the hell is he? Where’s the little guy? Stop rolling.”

Tiger recognized an eleventh-hour reprieve when he got one. He melted back through the crowd. An all-too-human part of him refused to believe this was happening. Then a gap opened in the crowd farther up the block and he looked into the back of a moving truck. All his tigers were in there, jumbled together without any respect or order. They’d never forgive him for this. They’d destroy him. He was as good as dead. He’d have been better off staying in the river and letting the tide take him out to sea.