Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 (10 page)

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 notes 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.

"I'll take care of these." He grabbed the plates from in front of me and piled them onto his tray. "Get yourself ready--it looks like the first meeting starts in less than ten minutes."

CHAPTER SIX

I got up and gave Moo a good scratching all over. He had been so patient yesterday while I watched Mary shoot in the morning and then when I shot. Normally we went on multiple walks every day and moved all over the center checking in on projects for different people, not to mention the time spent in the archery ranges and weight rooms.

Moo's tongue lolled out of his mouth as he closed his eyes and lifted his snout in ecstasy. I switched from scratching him to massaging his rump and hips. Suddenly he let out a low, long howl of pleasure. I kneeled down and hugged him around the neck, peppering his head and ears with kisses before wiping black and white dog hair off my lips.

There was a table with four chairs near the window. I could sit on the far side next to Liam and keep an eye on the wall clock. "Come on, handsome."

I grabbed the notebook, and Moo followed me to the table. I saved the chair next to the window for Liam, since he ran hot. Liam pulled the table behind me farther back, then Moo lay down behind the chairs. He rolled onto his back twisting one way then the other, his lips flapping onto the ground to expose his teeth. With a sudden sneeze, he tipped onto his side and closed his eyes. He was a good dog.

Liam slid into the chair and leaned against the window. "Aw, that feels nice. Why do they have to keep it so warm in here?" He pulled off a sweatshirt and hung it over the back of his chair. "Who's up first?"

I copied the notes from the back of my hand onto a clean sheet of paper before flipping back to the list. "How nice. Jess put the name of their parent next to the archer. Hmmm." I stared at the first names on the first time slot: Bill Morgan and father Sam. I probably should have paid more attention to people's real names rather than giving everyone a nickname in my head.

While it was true that I hadn't ever interviewed an archer for a sponsorship deal, I'd been responsible for most of the hiring at the company I used to own with my soon-to-be ex-husband. I had learned a lot in the process, and one discovery was that people would gladly talk about themselves if you gave them a reason and an opportunity.

"I think I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. I'll give the little speech then ask them why they should be sponsored and go from there. What do you think?"

"I think you're ready. You'll do great." He rubbed my back briefly, the warmth of his hand soaking through my jersey.

I leaned over to whisper to Liam. "I'm pretty sure that's them. That's the kid whose equipment Coach Ron jacked up during practice. Grabbed his plunger and twisted it, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Kinda hard to forget." Liam rolled his eyes at me.

The room had emptied out pretty well. Buckle Boy and Spotting Scope Dad were watching us. I called out, "Sam and Bill?"

They responded by leaping up and closing the distance.

They sat down and looked at me expectantly.

"First, I'll give some general pointers, then we can do a mock interview. Liam will throw in his two cents as he sees fit. Okay?"