Read Online The Sultan's Tigers by Josh Lacey - Free Book Online Page B

mine.”
    â€œPlus ninety thousand from your poker game.”
    â€œAnd a few thousand here and there for other debts to other people too.”
    â€œIf you added it all up, how much would it be?”
    â€œI don’t know and I don’t want to know. Life is too short. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about my financial situation. When we find this tiger, all our problems will be over.”
    â€œWhat if we don’t?”
    â€œThen I’ll have to run away and start a new life under a different name.”
    â€œWhat about me?”
    â€œYou’ll be fine. You don’t owe anything to anyone. Apart from me, and I’ll forgive you.”
    He had another card in his wallet that got him free entry to the British Airways executive lounge. We bagged a couple of sofas and lay down. Our flight left in nine hours. There was nothing to do till then but snooze.
    â€œGood night,” said Uncle Harvey.
    â€œWhat about Marko?”
    â€œWhat about him?”
    â€œWhat if he finds us? What if he comes in here while we’re sleeping? What if he steals the bag?”
    â€œEven if he finds us, which he probably won’t, he can’t steal the bag. She’ll be watching us.” Uncle Harvey nodded at the woman sitting behind the reception desk. Now I understood why he had chosen the sofa directly in her line of sight. “Anyway, I’m a light sleeper.” He was using his bag as a pillow and had looped its straps through his wrists. No one would be able to get near the zip without disturbing him.
    â€œWhen do we have to wake up?” I said.
    â€œDon’t worry about that. I’ve set my alarm. Now get some sleep. You’re going to need all your energy when you get to India.”
    He lay down. So did I.
    I tried to sleep. I really did. But I lay awake for a long time, worrying about Marko. I remembered his dark eyes, the glint of his knife, and the menacing tone in his voice. Where was he now? Pacing around Heathrow, searching for us? Wouldn’t he find us here? Would that woman at the desk really protect us? I knew I wouldn’t find the answers to any of these questions, but they spun around my head until I finally fell asleep.

13
    I was woken by Uncle Harvey shaking my shoulder. He thrust a cup at me. “Drink this,” he said. “You’ll feel better.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œCoffee.”
    â€œYou know I don’t like coffee.”
    â€œDon’t be an idiot. Everyone likes coffee.”
    â€œI don’t.”
    â€œTry it.”
    â€œNo, thanks.”
    â€œFine. I’ll drink them both.”
    He took a sip from one cup, then the other.
    I sat up, rubbing my eyes. A different woman was sitting at the desk. She smiled at me. I smiled back.
    The bag was still sitting on the sofa beside Uncle Harvey. So we hadn’t been robbed. That was good.
    I pulled my phone from my pocket. A text had arrived while I was asleep.
    Â 
    Where are you? Please come back and help clean this house. Mom.
    Â 
    Should I ignore it? No. Better to reply now and keep her off the trail. I tapped in a quick message.
    Â 
    Back soon. Tom
    Â 
    I pressed Send and switched off my phone.
    We gathered our gear and left the lounge. I searched for Marko as we walked through the airport, but I didn’t see him anywhere. He wasn’t in the line to get on the plane. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. He could have been up at the front in first class.
    Once we were airborne, I unbuckled my seat belt and stood up. “I’ll be back in a second.” I didn’t know what I was planning to say to Marko if I found him. Would I run back and get Uncle Harvey? Or confront him myself? I hadn’t thought that far ahead. First I wanted to discover if he was here.
    â€œWhere are you going?” asked my uncle.
    â€œTo the bathroom.”
    â€œYou went just before we boarded. What’s wrong with