Dash and Dingo Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    compassion in the other man’s eyes. “Do you like your father, Dingo?”
    Dingo looked surprised, as if it were a question with a foregone conclusion. “Yeah, of course. Why?”
    Henry cleared his throat uncomfortably and shook his head. “No reason.
    Would you like another drink?”
    Once again, a question with a foregone conclusion. Dingo pushed his glass back over the desk and watched Henry top his drink off. He decided to bite the bullet. “Do you not like your dad, then?”
    Henry’s eyes widened, and he downed his fresh drink in one gulp.
    “That’s rather presumptuous.”
    “You were the one who brought it up.”
    “It’s… complicated.”
    “He’s pretty high up here, isn’t he? I remember Lardarse mentioning it at some point.”
    Henry considered having another drink but decided against it. “He’s more well-known and regarded for his financial contributions than his academic ones.”
    “Ah, gotcha. Completely different to you, then.”
    Henry colored. “I’m not known for my academic contributions, Dingo.”
    Dingo shrugged. “I’ve a feeling you will be, one day.”
    Henry couldn’t look at the other man, too afraid he would give something of himself away.
    “Can I give you a bit of advice, Dash?”
    Henry didn’t correct him on his name this time. “I believe you would give it to me anyway, even if I did refuse.”
    “See, you’re getting to know me already.” Dingo grinned.
    “What do you advise?” Henry wasn’t too sure he would like it,
    whatever it was.
    “Don’t treat what we’re doing like it’s some way to prove yourself to your old man. Chances are you’re never going to get what you want from him,” Dingo said in all seriousness. “You had the purest of motives before.
    Think of the tiger. That’s all.”
    Dash and Dingo: In Search of the Tasmanian Tiger | 25

    It took Henry a moment to give a small nod in response.
    “So, are you in it for the tiger?” Dingo asked.
    “Yes,” Henry said with complete honesty. “It’s always been for the tiger.” He didn’t need to close his eyes to see that shrunken pelt before him, without shape and rightfully belonging on a living, breathing creature that deserved the opportunity to survive and thrive.
    “Good,” Dingo said, satisfied. “I’ll be off, then. See you Thursday.”
    As Dingo got to his feet, Henry tried not to let the disappointment sound in his voice. “I won’t see you before Thursday?”
    “Have things to do, places to go, people to meet, matey,” Dingo said off-handedly. “You going to miss me?”
    Henry tried to answer, but confusion and the inability to form a coherent sentence got in the way.
    “Don’t worry, we’ll be in each other’s pockets so much soon enough that you’ll be sick to death of the sight of me,” Dingo said with a laugh.
    Henry was starting to think the opposite but replied, “Yes. Most likely.”
    “Don’t get up,” Dingo said, while Henry remained seated. “I’ll see myself out.”
    Remiss of his manners because he was still fighting the turbulence aroused in him by Dingo’s casual ways, Henry leaped to his feet. “Oh, sorry.”
    “I said I’ll see myself out, and I’ll take a rain check on the hug.”
    Henry sat down with a heavy thud, his stomach even more twisted by Dingo’s recall of what had happened between them only the day before.
    “But I’ll expect it next time,” Dingo said with a wink. He slapped his hat back on his head and sauntered out the door, leaving a speechless Henry behind him.

    26 | Catt Ford and Sean Kennedy

    From Croydon to Paris and then a series of quick stops that included Rome, Athens, Cairo, Delhi, and Rangoon, it took a number of days flying in the little tin can high above the ocean for Henry and Dingo to reach Bangkok.
    During that time, Henry barely saw Dingo—part of the reason he had been able to arrange for their flight was by agreeing to co-pilot. He and his friend Major Dean Franklin were taking turns flying,