Page 62 of Tiger Queen

Everyone else stopped arguing and turned to me. “What? Do you not have the invoices?” Rachel asked.

I tossed down my phone angrily. “They’re raising our prices.”

“What!”

“Apparently the owner of the food service had a handshake deal with dad. He gave dad a massive discount on food, and in return dad allowed his daughter to have special photo shoots with the tigers. Apparently she’s some Instagram influencer or something else stupid like that.”

Rachel made a squeak and glanced at Anthony. My brother turned as white as a sheet.

“What?” I asked.

“I think we already met her.” Rachel sounded like a teenager who was admitting that they had wrecked the family vehicle. “She showed up on the first day and demanded to take photos with the tigers. She left in a huff when we told her no. David, I know it’s tempting to bend our policy for this girl. But if we do it for one person…”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. This guy sent me an angry letter about the whole situation. He’s pissed off about how we’re sending animals to proper sanctuaries, so he’s jacked his prices way up.”

“Told you we shouldn’t be dismantling dad’s legacy,” Jake said.

“How much of a price difference are we talking?” Anthony asked. “Ten percent? Twenty?”

“Double.”

Rachel and Anthony gasped.

“He’s doubling the price. Effective immediately.”

“So we’re back to square one,” Rachel said to herself. “We’re still going to run out of money in a few weeks.”

“Right. And this bad publicity will certainly hurt our ticket sales.”

“Because that’s what really matters here,” Rachel muttered.

“Yes,” I snapped. “It does matter. Money matters. It’s the most important factor in everything we do here.”

She clenched her jaw and looked like she disagreed, but she didn’t argue further.

Jake got up from the table. “I’ll be back later.”

“Where are you going?” I demanded.

“Out.”

“We have a problem that we need help solving.”

“Maybe I’ll find the solution out there,” he said simply. The front door opened and closed.

I had to stop myself from grabbing my dinner plate and smashing it against the wall. Every time we took one step forward, something pushed us two steps back. It was like the world was out to get us. We were never going to succeed in moving the animals to proper homes.

I grabbed my plate, and instead of smashing it I carried it into the kitchen.

28

Rachel

I hated seeing David upset. He had taken all the responsibility onto his shoulders and the pressure was starting to get to him. It was getting to all of us, but him most of all.

I put my shoes on and ran outside. Jake was standing outside his car, talking on his cell phone.

“Would it kill you to be helpful for once?” I demanded.

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