The second I padded out of my room in my fluffy socks, a male voice startled me.
"Morning. Do you want me to wait in the hall?" Orion leaped off our couch and was halfway to the door by the time I got my bearings.
"No, no, sit down. I assume Mary asked you to be here?" He nodded while he edged toward the door. "Today is an important day for her, and if she wants you here, then you better sit back down. Don't mind me. I'm just grabbing some coffee."
He edged back to the couch but gave me a funny look. His eyebrows were raised, and he sucked air in through his teeth. "Liam said that Moo caused an accident, but I had no idea how bad it was."
My hand flew to my face, tenderly pressing on the skin. "Can you see the bump?"
"Uh..." He pursed his lips.
Mary's door burst open. "Is Di up? I heard--Leaping lizards, you've got a black eye!"
"Oh, no." I raced back into my bathroom to look in the mirror. My left eye was slightly swollen on the outside, and underneath was a growing purple ring. It was going to get significantly worse before it got better.
I went back to get the coffee that I had neglected to grab earlier. I went straight to the fridge, poured a mug of iced coffee and added a glorious slug of heavy whipping cream. We ate all our meals in the cafeteria but kept some snacks in our room for emergencies. I grabbed an emergency mini chocolate bar and tore into it.
Mary and Orion were chatting quietly on the couch. I took a long sip of coffee then licked my lips. I adored the creaminess of the heavy whipping cream with the roasted flavor of the coffee. I wasn't necessarily a fan of coffee so much as the ritual of cupping the mug in my hand and silently sipping as my mind woke up.
I took another sip. "You guys are heading over soon?"
"Let me grab my stuff and I'm ready to go." Mary ducked back into her room.
I put my mug in the sink and brushed my teeth then followed Mary and Orion out the door.
The morning air had a bite to it and cut into my thin athletic pants. I moved as quickly as possible while keeping my balance.
I entered through the glass doors then through the second set of doors that helped keep the cold outside the building and warmth inside. The range had some tournament staff milling about, putting clipboards with bright scorecards along the shooting line.
"I'll catch up," I said to Mary and Orion as I stopped at my office door.
I dropped my bag in my office, hung my jacket up and put on my shooting shoes. Digging into my desk, I pulled out a notebook and a few pens. If Mary was going to be busy shooting, then I was going to need to organize the suspect list on my own this time. I hummed my best impression of a song I'd heard on the radio, though I'm sure that no one else could figure out the tune. Even in my own ears, I could hear how my humming was flat.
I shut my office door, slid the keys into my pocket, and carried my pens and notebook down the hall. I smiled and nodded at everyone who passed, though most just stared in reply. My humming turned to whistling as I got to the entrance to the dining room. I'd drop off the notebook first then grab food, but first, I leaned up against the wall to observe Mary and Orion sitting across from Liam. I recognized him and Moo from behind.
I sent up a quick prayer of thanks to God for giving me a life that I didn't even know I wanted; a new job, home, and friends. A year ago, I had been crying my eyes out wondering if I could ever be happy again, and now I was.
With a skip, I bounded up to the table and dropped the notebook and pens in the empty seat next to Liam. I was ready to say good morning when he turned to me, and I caught a glimpse of his eyes.
"Oh, no! Are you okay?"
Moo got up, his tail wagging, and came over to say good morning to me.
In the space underneath Liam's eyes, near his nose, were dark-purple smears. "I'm fine, but you're getting a black eye."
Jess approached the table then stopped. "What happened?"
"Liam was putting my necklace on me, and Moo smacked him in the back of the head. We crashed into each other."
"Let me see the necklace." She dropped her things across the table from me and raced around to pick up the necklace. "It came out perfectly. Want me to grab you a plate of eggs?"
I leaned over the table so Mary could see the necklace and called over my shoulder to Jess as she left. "Yes, please, and some fruit and yogurt." We ate together most days and often grabbed food for each other.
We would discuss what work we had for the day and plan out when was best to meet. Tiger and Minx's main priority was training, while I had a full-time job to juggle around. Part of Jess's job was to coach, but she had other obligations as well. Throw into the mix the fact that Mary worked part time at the center and was taking a full load at the college in order to be eligible to compete as a collegiate athlete, and we had a daily struggle to figure out who was training when and with whom.
I pulled out the chair and sat down. Mary and Orion stared at me, waiting.
"What's going on? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Mary smiled. "I'm just waiting to hear you tell Liam your idea."
Liam looked at me with eyebrows raised. "Oh? What idea?"
I scrunched up my lips to glare at Mary, though I doubt I looked very menacing considering her giggles. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Liam to plead my case in hushed tones that wouldn't carry in the dining room.
"It's about Coach Ron. You know how Mary and I usually investigate?"
He nodded and stabbed at his waffles swimming in butter and syrup.
My stomach grumbled at the maple and fresh-waffle scents hitting my nose. Why couldn't athletes be powered by sugar and carbs? "Well, Mary and I obviously can't do that this time because she has to shoot, so... I don't want to do my Miss Marple act alone."
He nodded along for a few seconds then looked around, perhaps realizing that I had left my request in there. "Me? You want me to help? How?"
"See, I have this perfect plan. We need an excuse to talk to everyone and ask them about Coach Ron, the YAP programs in the area, and the tournament without them realizing what's going on. Then I had the best idea. You could offer to give them free feedback on their sponsorship pitch."
Liam started coughing while Orion laughed loudly. Moo stood up and licked at Liam's face while he tried to catch his breath.
Orion snorted. "That's your investigation technique? Good luck. I bet Liam hates everything about that idea."
Liam caught his breath, mopped the dog spit off his face, then grabbed his water to chug.
I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "I know that Liam hates talking to... well, everyone, so I thought that I could conduct the interview and he could just point afterward to some areas to improve. And we will make it clear up front that there are no sponsorships available from Westmound or any of the companies it owns and that Liam won't ever be doing interviews, but still it would be a great chance for the kids to get feedback and for me to nose around."
Orion tapped a finger on his mouth. "Good point. Very clever. Just glad it's not me." He put his napkin down on his plate as Mary got up to go.
I grabbed and squeezed Mary's arm as she passed by. "Good luck, Mary. I'll stop by to check on you."
She gathered up a few things and grabbed her empty tray. "No worries, just get all the clues."
Liam avoided my eyes. "Di, I want to help, but I'm not sure if this is--"
Jess bustled around the table, precariously balancing too much on her tray. "Here." She placed a big glass of water and a small tumbler of orange juice in front of me then handed me a plate of eggs with some fruit and yogurt on the side. Normally, I would avoid having my yogurt touch my eggs, but since she saved me the trouble of getting the food myself, I wouldn't complain. "Why didn't you tell me that you both hit your heads? I would have come over and checked you out."
I took a drink of the cool water. "'Cause it wasn't that bad, and I just wanted to go to bed. Besides, you had a lot on your plate last night. How late were the police here
?"
She groaned and dropped her still-clean fork onto the plate without taking a bite. "Forever. I don't know why I bother to plan nice events. I should just start advertising everything with 'and there'll be a murder' at the end. Come to a coaching course, stay for the murder. Come to a brand summit, enjoy being a murder suspect. Come shoot a tournament, hope you don't die."
Her voice rose steadily, and I tried to make calming noises. "No one blames you. These things can happen anywhere."
She leaned over her plate of eggs. "It could happen anywhere? Are you kidding me? Where else would this happen?"
"Cabot Cove?"
"Nice reference, Jessica Fletcher. But seriously, I'm really freaked out. The parents aren't happy, the archers aren't happy. I've been pitching them a coaching weekend here at the center, and they seem less than enthused. Why do people keep dying and ruining my business plan?"
Liam let out a big sigh. "I've two things to cheer you up. One, the national team manager from Bordistan emailed me back and agreed with my suggestion to visit the center while in America. They're coming for the tournament in Vegas in a few weeks then staying until the tournament in Arizona. They were going to train in Arizona but I convinced them that here, with the on-site housing and food and the seventy-meter indoor range, was a much better option for their team. I'll forward over the email."
"That'd be great. The whole team?" Her energy level picked up a little, and her shoulders were less slumped.
"Yes, the whole team. Though there seemed to be some confusion about whether the females would come, but then I insisted."
Her eyes cut over to me briefly. "Ivana will be there?"
"I assume so." Liam gave no further information.
"That'll be nice. The video room will be done with the slow-motion cameras. What was the second thing?"
Liam blew out a long sigh then braced himself to say something he clearly didn't want to say. "Di had an idea of a way to make it up to the kids that were questioned by the police yesterday. A little something unique we could offer them to make up for the inconvenience." He stopped talking and waited.
"And...?" Jess leaned forward, waiting for him to continue.
Minx and Loggin flopped down in Orion and Mary's empty chairs, sliding trays with dirty plates onto the table.
Liam scrubbed his face. "We could offer up mock sponsorship interviews for the kids and give them feedback on how to improve their chances of eventually getting a sponsorship."
Jess's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? That'd be awesome, but I thought you didn't do sponsorship interviews."
He leaned back in his chair and scratched behind Moo's ears. "Mock interviews. Make sure that everyone understands that we won't be giving out any sponsorships, we're just giving feedback for the future. And I won't be conducting the interviews, Di will. I'll just provide the feedback."
I sat up in my chair. "I'll conduct the interviews? I don't know how to do that." This was not what I'd had in mind.
He turned to me with a crooked smile. "Well, Miss Marple, this was your idea."
Loggin chuckled. "It's easy: get their shooter resume, ask them about how they plan to promote your product, what tournaments they attend, and if they're willing to work in the booth. Maybe give them a little speech about 'this isn't free stuff, you have to work for it by helping to sell products.' And tell them that if they get sponsorship deals, then they better behave. I've had the job of pro-staff coordinator for less than a month, and already everyone's got me on speed dial to complain and report about every single thing that one of our archers does or says or posts."
I nodded along. That seemed simple enough.
Jess checked her watch. "Let me go tell everyone before they leave breakfast. Then I need to go coach. Minx, you should head over."
"Good luck, Princess." Minx ruffled my hair as she went by, while Loggin followed behind her.
"Liam, how long were you thinking per person? I'll pull together a schedule real quick for you."
I passed the notebook over to Jess with a pen, and she flipped open to a blank page and uncapped a thick-tip felt marker that I'd brought.
"How many kids are there?"
"Uh..." She tapped the end of the pen against her teeth. "Five? Six? I think."
Liam turned toward the clock on the wall. "Di needs to warm up before lunch, so this can't run over. Can you tell them fifteen-minute time slots but schedule them in twenty-minute slots so we can chat between them? We can start at the top of the hour. Please, make sure they know this is just a practice run."
Jess jotted down a few notes in the corner of the notebook. "Got it. I'll be back in a few minutes." She bounded away.
"You decided to help me investigate?" I slapped my thigh, and Moo came around Liam to wedge between us. I leaned over to kiss the top of his fuzzy head.
"Jess looked bummed out, plus it might be fun to see you do your Miss Marple impression. Did Miss Marple have a sidekick?"
I scrunched up my face, trying to remember the last time I read a book featuring one of Agatha Christie's famous amateur sleuths. "I don't think so." I grabbed the remainder of my orange juice and sucked it down.
"There wasn't a horny old man down the street?"
I snorted the orange juice out my nose in shock. I grabbed a napkin and coughed heavily into it. Liam was full of surprises. When I caught my breath, I looked at him.
"Sorry about that. You okay?" He thumped my back.
"Ya, ya, I'm fine. Geez, don't surprise me like that." I cleared my throat again and took a sip of water.
He had an innocent expression on his face. "Just asking about Miss Marple."
I studied his face, then he gave me a wicked smile that made my stomach flip. I reached up and felt the necklace he had given me, running my fingers over the pendant that proved he was paying close attention to what I cared about. "If you are looking for that kinda thing, then we could check out Miss Fisher." I dropped the name of a racier detective show I had recently discovered.
"Sounds interesting." The purple smudges had grown into two black eyes, but still he was the handsomest man I'd ever known.
Across the dining room, the volume levels were steadily rising. Kids and parents looked excited, and they were casting glances in our direction. My elation at flirting with Liam turned to wet panic at the fact that I was supposed to conduct the mock interviews. "What do I say to these kids?"
"When Orion got you the paperwork for the Westmound sponsorship, didn't he go over expectations?"
"A little bit. We'll be promoting the brand through the blog I set up, plus professional conduct at tournaments. I'm expected to be familiar with not only the products that I use but other products so I can answer questions. I'm expected to help out at the product booths if they need me to at tournaments. Plus anything else they need. Orion mentioned in passing that the expectations for me would be different since I work here and am not a pro or high-level shooter like most of their contracts."
Liam nodded along. "You have the general idea. Sponsorship deals aren't about giving away free stuff, like Loggin said. The archer's job is to help sell the company's products. So maybe start with that, explaining the time and energy they will need to expend in exchange for being sponsored, adding that it isn't the right choice for everyone. Then talk about picking a company whose product they believe in and not just taking any free product. Does that make sense?"
"Definitely. Sponsorship has come up a lot recently with the on-site athletes and Mary. I mostly listen, but I think I've picked up enough to pass it on. So I'll give that speech. Then what?"
"Since they're kids, you might mention that even though their parents are there, it's best if they speak instead of their parents speaking for them, or worse, over top of them. Mention to the parents that the kids will need to help out at booths before or after their shooting time. Oh, and don't forget to mention their conduct at tournaments and on social media. No lying."
I swiped a spare pen off the table and jotted n
otes on the back of my hand; not free stuff, parents, conduct, and lying. "I assume lying is bad. Is that what you mean?"
Liam nodded. "Lying is bad, but specifically on their shooter resume. If I find anything is untrue, that is pretty much an automatic no. After you go through all that, look over their resume if they have one. And ask basic questions about how long they've shot, notable wins, et cetera. If they don't have a resume, then ask them to go over what they would include. Then I'll give some feedback."
I blew out a breath while looking at the note on my hand. This was way more complicated than I had expected. "Why don't you give the speech and ask the questions, then I'll sneak in a few questions at the end about Coach Ron?"
He chuckled at me. "No, you're the one that's going to do all the talking, because this was your idea, and I don't like talking."
"I think you're making up excuses. You've never been quiet around me."
He smiled at me. "You are different."
Jess marched over to our table, having picked up Mouse somewhere along the way. "We got everyone signed up." She flopped the notebook down on the table. There were names and times written down the left side of the paper. "Mouse is going to help a few of the kids go print out their shooter resumes. All the kids signed up, and the kids that didn't get questioned by the police are totally bummed. Maybe in the future we could offer this at a weekend camp?" Her eyebrows shot up as she turned to Liam.
"Actually." He dropped his hand onto my shoulder. "Di's going to conduct the interviews. She can help out at future camps."
I pursed my lips and glared at him while he laughed.
Jess's head swung in my direction. "That's great. Look at you, getting all this free training. Westmound will steal you away from us in no time to work at Salt Lake. I've gotta jet before the tournament starts. Thanks so much for doing this. I think this might be enough to save the day."
She walked away with a bounce in her step.
Liam shook his head. "I'm guessing she doesn't know that you are using this as a cover to investigate?"
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Let's drop off the plates and get settled into a place where I can see the clock." I stood up and reached for the notebook.
Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 Page 7