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

“You’re nervous, Tiger. Why?”

“I ain’t, boss.”

“We’re bringing Seatainers of top-quality USArmy hardware—guns, ammo, and Stinger missiles—to Gotham City’s front door and you’re not nervous?”

“Yeah. No. It’s like . . . Yeah, I’m nervous about it, but the plan’s under control, so . . . No, I’m not. It’s like that.”

A considerable distance away, behind a real desk, in a real room filled with unique electronic and communications gear, a real hand fingered a real piece of paper. Three high-definition television screens provided an in-the-round view of Tiger swaying from side to side as the van bounced along its preset route. A cockpit full of telemetry displayed everything that couldn’t be seen, from the absence of his favorite weapon in its sheath beneath his sweater, to the temperature gradient between his cold-sweating hands and his hot-sweating face. Even the way his gut was churning.

Tiger was nervous—exceptionally so—and lying about it. The Connection made a mark on the paper. Then again, Tiger was usually nervous. He wasn’t as tough as he thought he was, or as smart. But he was tough enough, smart enough to have been a useful tool these last ten years. The Connection took a paternal interest in his employees; good men were hard to find in his line of work. They were all flawed in one way or another. He took it upon himself to see that the flaws didn’t get out of control.

“How is Rose? Has she been behaving herself?”

The image on the television screens nodded. Telemetry showed that his pulse was skyrocketing and his gut was hard as lead.