Tiger Trap (11 page)

“Go ahead, tell ’em,” Mr. McCurdy said.

Anthony sighed. “Okay. There are people in the legitimate animal community, people who run big zoos, who aren’t much different than these other people. They’re prepared to bend or break rules if it means getting the right animal for their zoo. Maybe they want to display them instead of slaughter them, but they’re still prepared to buy an animal, no questions asked, that was taken from the wild. Do you know what animal would be the most difficult to acquire?”

“A panda?” I asked.

“A panda would be
impossible
to get,” Anthony said, “but you’re right. I’m talking about a mountain gorilla.”

“A gorilla?” I said. “You have a gorilla here?”

“No, but we don’t need to have one as long as people think we have one. If things go right, we’re going to sell a gorilla we don’t have and in the process catch some people doing things that are illegal.”

“Is that why the cameras are in the lights?” Nick asked.

Anthony nodded. “Although they’re not just in the lights. There are lots of cameras around the barn and in here.” He motioned around the room.

“In here?” I echoed.

“This is where we did a lot of the deals,” Anthony said, “so we needed to record here. And it’s not just cameras but microphones. Doug worked the control room, recording all the illegal sales. It makes it hard for somebody to claim they’re innocent once they’ve seen the recordings.”

“That’s … that’s … ingenious,” I said.

Anthony smiled — not a smirk but a real smile. “Thank you. And now that you know the truth, it’s important you don’t tell anybody — including your mother — what’s happening, and that you don’t come back here again for at least a few days. Can you both promise that?”

“We can do that,” I said.

“Sure,” Nick said.

Then the phone rang, and I jumped slightly out of my seat.

“Doug couldn’t have been seen already,” Anthony said. “They couldn’t even be at the hospital yet.”

The phone rang again.

“It’s not Doug,” I said. I knew who it was. “It’s our mother.”

“We’re dead,” Nick said.

“Not if we tell her why we were here and … we can’t tell her anything, can we?” I said.

Anthony shook his head. “Sorry. As soon as it’s over, you can tell her.”

“In that case, you don’t have to worry about us coming back because we’re going to be grounded until it’s over and we can tell her,” Nick said.

The phone rang again. “You better get it,” I said to Mr. McCurdy. “She’s angry, but it’ll be worse if she gets more worried.”

Mr. McCurdy picked up the phone. “Yep, they’re right … Vladimir.”

It was Vladimir!

“They want to come now,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“They can’t come now,” Anthony said. “We don’t have Doug or Bob here. Tell him we have to delay until tomorrow.”

Mr. McCurdy relayed the message and waited for a reply. He lowered the phone from his mouth. “Vladimir says it’s now or never. They’re really nervous. Either we do the deal right now, they come out to the farm tonight, or they’re walking away.”

Anthony grimaced, then said, “Tell them … tell them … to come.”

“You two have to go home right now,” Anthony said. “They’re going to be here in less than an hour.”

“But what are you going to do without Bob and Doug?” I asked.

“I’m going to close the deal for the gorilla,” Anthony said. He turned to Mr. McCurdy. “And I need you to work the controls in the booth and record the deal.”

“Me?” Mr. McCurdy said. “I can’t even work my answering machine.”

“I could do it,” Nick said.

“You?” Anthony asked.

“I’ve worked the cameras before. I know how to zoom them in and switch from camera to camera. I just don’t know about the sound part.”

“That’s easy,” Anthony said. “I could teach you that in a few minutes.”

“Nope!” Mr. McCurdy said. “Nick, you have to go home. Both of you have to go home.”

“But this guy isn’t like the others,” Nick said. “You told us he was from a real zoo. He isn’t going to be carrying a weapon, is he?”

Anthony thought for a moment, then said, “He probably won’t be.”

“And, anyway, I’m going to be far away,” Nick said. “I’m going to be in the control room. I can lock the door. It’s got to be the safest place in Tiger Town.”

“It is safe,” Anthony said. “And we really, really need this one recorded. This guy, this zoo director, will be harder to convict if it’s just my word against his, because he’s a respected member of the community.”

“I can do it,” Nick said. He turned to Mr. McCurdy. “I can.”

“Well … if you promise you’ll stay right in that room and don’t come out.”

“Fantastic!” Nick crowed.

“If he’s staying, then there’s no way I’m going anywhere without him,” I said.

“I didn’t expect you to,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“Besides,” Anthony said, “if Nick’s going to take Doug’s place, maybe Sarah can take Bob’s.”

“What was he supposed to do?” I asked.

“I don’t know about Sarah doing that,” Mr. McCurdy said, ignoring my question.

“She’ll be safe,” Anthony said.

“What was he supposed to do?” I asked again.

“She’ll be locked in just as tight as Nick,” Anthony said. “She’ll be just as safe. She will be.”

Mr. McCurdy nodded. “I guess she will be locked in.”

“Locked in where?” I asked. “What do you want me to do?”

“This deal involves a gorilla,” Anthony said. “And they’re going to want to see that gorilla.”

“But you don’t have a gorilla,” I said.

“You’re right, but we do have this.” Anthony walked across the room and picked up a green garbage bag. He opened it and pulled out a fur coat.

What good was a fur coat? I wondered. He reached into the bag again and pulled out a hat — no, it wasn’t a hat — it was the head of a monkey. It was a monkey
costume
 … a gorilla costume!

“Bob was going to wear this,” Anthony said.

“He was going to wear a gorilla costume?” I said. “You can’t believe that would fool them into thinking he was a real gorilla, do you?”

“It might if they’re not too close and there isn’t too much light and the person in the gorilla costume is sitting in a cage behind bars.”

“With the door all locked,” Mr. McCurdy added.

“And you want me to be in the gorilla costume?”

Anthony nodded.

“You can’t be serious.”

Nick started to snicker.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“But it would certainly help us … and help the animals we’re trying to save,” Anthony said.

“Come on, Sarah, do it,” Nick said.

I looked at Nick, then at Anthony, and then at Mr. McCurdy. Finally, I nodded and muttered, “I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”

•

As quickly as I could, I climbed into the gorilla suit.

“Now put on the head,” Nick said.

“I’m already too hot in this monkey outfit, so I’m not putting on the head until I really, really need to.”

“Couldn’t you put it on for just a few seconds?” Nick asked.

“Why are you so anxious to see me with the head on?”

“It’s not for me … it’s for Calvin … and for you. I figure if he liked you before, then he’s going to
really
like you once he gets a look at you in that suit. This could be love at first sight.”

I shook my head, then wondered what time it was. Instinctively, I looked at my wrist. Instead of my watch, though, all I could see was the fur of my gorilla costume.

“Okay, people, it’s time to get into position,” Anthony said.

“I’m as good as there,” Nick said. “This is going to be so cool.”

“Just do what I showed you,” Anthony said. “And remember, Nick, we’re counting on you.”

“No problem.” Nick started away, stopped, then spun around. “Sarah, be careful.”

“You, too,” I said as Nick disappeared out the door.

“Time for you to get to your position, as well,” Anthony said to me.

“You mean …?”

“In the cage. That’s where we keep our gorillas.”

He opened the door to the pen. Slowly, I walked over, hesitated for a moment at the entrance, took a deep breath, dipped my head slightly and entered. There, that wasn’t so bad. I’d just find a place to sit and — the door slammed shut behind me and I leaped into the air. Anthony was now putting a chain in place to seal me in.

“Do you really have to lock it?” I asked.

“If they don’t see a lock, they’ll know something’s wrong. Besides, this way you’re safely sealed inside where nobody can get at you … or examine you too closely.”

He wrapped the chain around the bars and then slipped a padlock between two of the links and clicked it shut. I really, really didn’t like this at all.

“Stay in the back corner in the shadows as much as possible,” Anthony said. “And if they come over, try to hide your head with one of your arms.”

I nodded.

“Put the head on.”

“Now?”

“They could be here any time. We have to be ready.”

I pulled the head of the costume onto my head and adjusted it so that my eyes were looking out the eyeholes.

“There’s a little bit of flap showing on this side,” Anthony said. “Tuck it in.”

I reached up, fumbled with the place where the head met the rest of the suit and tucked in a piece of fabric that was sticking out.

“That’s perfect.”

“Do I really look like a gorilla?”

“As close as we’re going to get. There’s still one more thing I can do to help disguise the illusion.”

Anthony reached up to the light above his head. When he twisted the fluorescent tube, it went out. He walked over to another tube, and then another, until the entire stable area became dingy and bathed in shadows.

“Now you look like a gorilla,” Anthony said.

I was about to answer when I heard the sound of gravel against tires — they were here!

“Angus and I’ll go up and meet them. You stay right here … don’t be going anywhere,” Anthony said, flashing me one of those smirks.

Mr. McCurdy chuckled. “You make a lovely gorilla, Sarah. Sit tight.”

They disappeared out the door, leaving me alone in the semi-darkness, in the barn, in a cage, in the middle of the night … in a gorilla costume. This could be the first time in the entire history of the world that all of those things came together in one place. Just think, right now I could be home in my bed, safe, and sound asleep. I shuffled over to the front of the cage and gave the bars of the door a shake. It rattled, but it didn’t open. I knew it was locked. I just had to check. Then I heard voices — Vladimir’s for sure — and rushed over to the back corner of the cage, where I slumped to the floor.

Vladimir entered the barn along with Mr. McCurdy. Behind them came a man, then a second and a third. Anthony came in last. They walked over and stood in front of the cage —
my
cage. I peeked out at them over the top of my arm. The first stranger was in a grey business suit. The second man wore a blue suit. The third newcomer was different. He sported a scruffy leather jacket and jeans and was bigger than the other two. In fact, he was almost as large as Vladimir. And while the others stood right in front of the cage, he lingered off to the side. Instead of looking at me, he kept his eyes on Vladimir, Mr. McCurdy and Anthony.

“So what do you think of our gorilla?” Mr. McCurdy asked, gesturing toward me.

“Looks small,” Grey Suit said.

“It’s only a year and a half old, like Vladimir told you,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“It looks a bit thin,” Blue Suit said. “Is it healthy?”

“He’s in good shape,” Anthony said. “Good appetite, good activity level.”

“It doesn’t look too active to me,” Grey Suit said. “It’s just sitting there.”

For a moment I thought about getting up, but I knew my movements would give me away. There was no way I could move like a gorilla. Instead I scratched myself.

“It would be easier if there was more light in here,” Grey Suit said.

“It wasn’t our idea for you to come in the middle of the night,” Mr. McCurdy said. “If you want, you can come back tomorrow. But make it sometime in the afternoon so I can make up for the sleep you cost me tonight.”

“No, that’s all right,” Grey Suit said. “We’re here to do business.”

“Did you bring the money?” Anthony asked.

The man in the blue suit held up the briefcase he was carrying.

“And it’s all there?” Anthony asked. “All eighty-five thousand dollars?”

“All of it,” Grey Suit said.

“In the form we requested?” Anthony asked.

“No bills larger than twenties, all old bills, just the way you said it would have to be,” Grey Suit confirmed.

“You also realize we’re not about to issue a receipt for this money,” Anthony said.

The two men in suits chuckled. “We understand the nature of this transaction,” Grey Suit said.

“Good. You get your gorilla and we get our money. We’re not asking you where you got the money from and you can’t be asking us where we got the gorilla. Agreed?”

“That’s the agreement,” Grey Suit said. “Now we need to examine the gorilla.”

Examine? What did he mean by that?

“You can examine all you want as long as you stay on this side of the bars,” Mr. McCurdy said.

Grey Suit indicated the man with the briefcase. “I brought my veterinarian along to do a full examination.”

“This is a gorilla, not a puppy,” Mr. McCurdy said. “You go in there and it’ll rip one of your arms off and stuff it up your nose.”

“Not if we tranquilize it,” Blue Suit said. “Along with the money I have a tranquilizer gun in my —”

“Nobody was supposed to bring any sort of weapons!” Anthony snapped. “As far as I’m concerned, this whole deal is off!”

“No, no, please, we really want to make this deal,” Grey Suit pleaded. “Honest!”

Anthony frowned. “Well, I guess we could still go ahead. It was probably just a misunderstanding.”

“Exactly,” Grey Suit said. “Besides, I hope this will be the first of many deals.”

Anthony smiled. “We can supply almost any animal you want. As long as you have the money and realize we’re getting the animals through illegal means in violation of international law.”

“I don’t care where or how you get them as long as you can get them,” Grey Suit said.

“Then I think this could be the start of a very long and profitable relationship.” Anthony thrust out his hand, and the man in the grey suit moved forward to shake it.

“Sarah! Nicholas! Mr. McCurdy!” It was my mother! She rushed into the stable. Then she saw Mr. McCurdy. “Mr. McCurdy, Sarah and Nicholas are gone and I was hoping —”

“Freeze!” It was the third man. He was holding a pistol!

“All of you, back off!” he yelled.

Nobody moved. It was as if they couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Now!” he shouted.

Anthony and Mr. McCurdy hustled over to my mother’s side. She looked scared, confused … sleepy.

“What’s this all about?” Grey Suit demanded.

“She works for me,” Anthony said. “She didn’t know what was happening here, but it’s okay. She won’t talk. Put away the gun before somebody gets hurt.”

“You work for him?” the man in the leather jacket asked, pointing the gun at my mother.

“Um … yes … yes, I do.”

“And who were you calling for?” he demanded. “Who were you looking for?”

“Sarah and Nicholas,” she said.

“Those are her pet
cats
,” Anthony said. “She’s just looking for her cats.”

Even in the dim light I could see the confusion on my mother’s face, an expression I was sure the strangers could spot, as well.

“This isn’t the way this was supposed to go,” Grey Suit said. “But we’re going to conclude our business, anyway.”

“That’s good,” Anthony said.

“But with one difference,” Grey Suit said. “We’re going to keep the money and take the gorilla.”

“You can’t do that!” Mr. McCurdy said.

“Yes, we can,” Grey Suit said. “We have the gun, so we can do what we want. Besides, what are you going to do, call the police and report you were trading in illegal animals? Now give me the keys to the cage.”

Nobody moved.

“You have to realize I’m a reasonable person,” Grey Suit said, “but my friend with the gun isn’t so reasonable. Now give us the keys!”

“You don’t want that gorilla,” Anthony said. “It’s not well. You bring it back to your zoo and you could infect your whole primate program.”

“Let me worry about that,” Grey Suit said. “We’ll tranquilize, examine, test and quarantine this gorilla to make sure it’s not going to cause any troubles. But none of that’s your concern. The keys,” he said, holding out his hand.

They were going to shoot me with a tranquilizer gun! That couldn’t be good!

All three strangers stood with their backs to me, facing Mr. McCurdy, Vladimir, Anthony and my mother. The man in the leather jacket had his gun trained on them. Somebody had to do something. Maybe I was the somebody.

The strangers’ backs almost touched the bars of the cage. Their eyes were focused forward, away from me. Quietly, slowly, I started to crawl toward them. As I moved, the head of my costume shifted to the side so that I couldn’t see out of the eyeholes. I reached up and readjusted it so I could see. Then I began crawling again as Grey Suit turned toward me.