Death in the Casino: Target Practice Mysteries 5 (6 page)

Loggin turned to me when I faltered and fell behind. "Today is the worst day. The show is set up all weekend, but everyone's eager to get to the booths first. If you want to explore, I'd recommend waiting a day. Can we swing by the Andersson booth? I want to make sure they don't need me."

I nodded and pulled Moo in close. We weaved through the crowd, dodging the bows that many people were carrying. It was an obstacle course of bow limbs, stabilizers, and sights sticking out in every direction. People turned and moved with no awareness of how their equipment swung into my path. I ducked as a carbon side rod almost took off my head.

The floor was concrete, and as we rounded a corner, I realized that it was actually the top floor of a large arena. We moved around a bar, and rows and rows of plastic, fold-down seats were visible. The far half of the seating was covered by advertising from various archery companies. The floor of the arena had green, fake plastic grass and targets along the far side.

I wandered over to the railing behind the top row of seats.

Mary fell in step next to me as Loggin walked over to the Andersson Archery booth. "Pretty cool, huh?" She gestured down to the shooting venue below.

"Who shoots down there?" I imagined being down there with crowds of people in the stands, watching my every move and shot. The thought made my stomach flip over.

"Who do you think? Who gets all the money and attention?"

"The pro compound men?" I guessed.

"You got it in one. It's pretty cool though. The whole crowd hangs on every shot."

"Di, get over here."

I turned around to see Loggin waving me over. I recognized a few men around him from the Westmound Summit. They were employees of Andersson Archery. Thankfully I had spent my Christmas break memorizing the employee lists from the various Westmound companies.

I greeted everyone that I recognized, then Loggin rattled off introductions to a handful of people, men and women that I hadn't met but were wearing Andersson Archery jerseys. I smiled and shook hands but failed to retain any of the names. They looked at me eagerly, waiting for me to say something.

I was befuddled by the attention and unclear on what was expected of me. I nervously twisted Moo's leash in my hand. "This is Moo. I'm wishing you all the best this weekend."

Everyone smiled. I was relieved that I had guessed at the right thing to say.

A few people greeted Moo, and a woman stepped forward to speak to me. Her first name was embroidered on her chest above a long list of sponsors. More likely it was her pro name, since Terrier was hardly a common name.

"You as well. I hear that you are shooting in the recurve division." She smoothly edged between me and the group, focusing my attention on her.

I was relieved to be able to focus on one person and could appreciate the deft move. "Yes, I am. I haven't been back shooting for too long. This tournament is something."

"First time?" She shifted her weight, blocking a man who had scooted forward to join us.

I hid a chuckle at the strategy. "Yes."

"If you need anything, let me know. And we should grab a drink while you're here. I would love to pick your brain."

"Oh, I..." I couldn't possibly imagine what she wanted to know or why she was so interested when the memory of Moose's conversation helped connect a few dots. I looked at Mary then Loggin for help.

Loggin struggled to hide a smile but stepped over. "We'll see what we can work out. Di has a lot of responsibilities this weekend."

Eyes swung over to him, and it was my turn to hide a smile. I didn't have much to do besides shoot for a few hours a day and solve a murder while assuring Loggin that no one was out to get him. Wait; there was one other thing that was a priority. I scanned the crowd, and my heart flipped when I saw Liam heading in our direction.

Customers in the booth pushed through the group I was standing with, and I took the opportunity to follow them toward Liam. We locked eyes. Even when people stepped between us, the second they passed, he was still looking right at me.

Moo tugged at the leash to get to Liam. I was just as eager, and we closed the distance. When I was finally in front of him, I was at a loss for words. "Hi."

"Want to grab some food?"

I leaned in closer and opened my mouth to enthusiastically endorse the idea when Mary's voice startled me from behind.

"Great idea. Loggin, we're grabbing lunch."

Loggin left the booth and bounded out. "Awesome. Where? Can we get burgers and shakes?"

"Perfect timing," said Minx as she walked over from the arena with Orion. "We've been looking for you guys. I'm dying for a mint chocolate shake."

Liam leaned down to whisper in my ear. "That was not exactly what I had planned." He wrapped an arm around my side and pulled me closer as the discussion around us worked out the details of the meal.

I tipped my head up so my words would carry only to him. "I know, me neither. But we have all weekend to sneak away. It's nice to have friends that want to hang out."

I looked around the group, the casual easiness, even as Orion's eyes slid over to Mary whenever she turned to a different person then darted away when she turned in his direction. Loggin maneuvered to be next to Minx as she waved Jess over. People passing by slowed and cast little glances out at our boisterous group.

Liam's fingers gave me a little squeeze then dropped from my side. "Let's go, people."

***

The entire group was scattered around Mary's and my room with their bags of food and shakes. We had ordered our food to go. It wasn't just a matter of requirement since I had Moo with us but also convenience and speed. The line for the restaurant, and every other one we passed, stretched beyond the velvety ropes and into the casino.

I sucked on the straw of my shake and promised myself that tomorrow I would have a healthy breakfast. My food sat heavy in my belly, and I doubted I could move for the next hour.

We sat in a rough circle on the floor. I was next to Liam, who was running interference with Moo. Moo had his eyes locked onto our food.

I leaned back against the edge of the bed. "Jess, how was your afternoon?"

She nodded and swallowed before answering. "Good. I caught up with some friends then met Ivana and the rest of her team from Bordistan. They're coming up to the center in about a week. It's going to be interesting." Her eyes cut over to Liam then back to me.

"Interesting how?"

"There's something weird going on with their national team. I couldn't get a handle on it exactly. Just little snippy comments, the way people looked at each other or phrased things. Though maybe it was just a cultural thing or language barriers."

Mary flipped over her bag and dumped a few errant fries out. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was drama. There's always issues with national teams because funding is involved. Even our national team's a mess."

I pushed my food away before I made myself sick. "Really? How so?"

"You know how they have their own training center in Southern California? The national organizations tend to pressure the tournament organizers to schedule their tournaments around when it is convenient for those athletes to compete as opposed to the rest of the nation. I mean, they already have all their expenses paid for. Isn't that enough?"

Jess laughed. "Mary, you have the same thing."

"I know, but I don't pressure anyone to change things to be convenient to me."

I pondered something. "Why didn't you apply to go to the national training center before Westmound was completed?"

"The national coach and I don't see eye to eye." She bit off the words before grabbing her empty food bag and crushing it in her fists with more force than necessary.

I would need to ask her more about that in private, but for now I would change the topic. I pulled the pamphlet out of my pocket and tossed it over to Jess. "Have you seen this?"

She unfolded the paper and looked it over. "I hadn't seen this specifically, but I know what it's about. This comes up every year. It ends up being a circular argument. Women want more money, people say to get more entries, women say that the money is so low now that many archers can't afford to travel even if they win, and if they increase the payout, more women will attend."

Liam stood up. "I'm going to grab something from my room. I'm going to flip the door lock so I can get back in."

I nodded in understanding. He grabbed Moo as I turned back to Jess.

Orion extended a hand to Jess. "Can I see that?"

Jess passed it over and continued, "It isn't different from the issues I face as a female coach. People say all the best coaches are male, so they hire more male coaches. But I'll show them. I'm elbowing my way in there."

Orion flipped through the pamphlet, a grim look on his face. "I'm not pleased with Andersson, MacSights, Westmound-Andersson, and a few others of our companies being named as companies that do not support women. That's patently untrue. We have competitive contingency plans and often promote our female shooters on social media, advertising, and in print. The theme of this year's Westmound Summit was diversity, and I did a whole speech on reaching out to and expanding our female demographic."

The door to our room opened then bounced on the door lock behind me, meaning Liam had returned. I wanted to turn but wanted to make a point I had been contemplating since I got the pamphlet. "But is that enough? Sure, we are talking about diversity and the value of our female clients, but are we putting our money where our mouth is? Our payouts are competitive with the industry, but if the whole industry is short changing women then I'm not sure we deserve a pat on the back. What, Mary? Why are you making that face?"

I turned around as Moo nudged my shoulder and realized that Liam and his mother, owner of Westmound-Andersson Industries, was standing next to him, thoughtfully considering what I had said.

She tipped her head back a little. "You think we treat our female customers unfairly?"

I wanted the ground to open up underneath me. A sinking feeling in my chest made the food in my belly feel like lead. I never would have said anything if I had known she was there. She was not only my boss if you went high enough up the corporate structure, but she was also a role model, a career inspiration and Liam's mother. "I... I just meant..." I swallowed hard. "I was just playing devil's advocate. I certainly know that I have always been treated fairly..." I was so about to be fired.

Jess stared at me with wide eyes, the whites visible all the way around her irises. No one else in the room stirred as Elizabeth carefully stepped through the group and sat in a chair in the corner.

Her face was completely blank as she turned her eyes back to me. I imagined that I was a gazelle trapped in front of a lion as she spoke. "No, I would like to hear more."

I felt lightheaded as adrenaline pumped through me. I felt like I was five all over again, caught red-handed by my mom with a hand in the cookie jar. "I mean, it says in the pamphlet that various Westmound companies donated to increase the men's payout to one hundred thousand. Doesn't that mean that we are contributing to the pay inequality?"

Mary shook her head at me to stop.

Elizabeth tipped her head to the side slightly. "None of that money came from us directly. We allow the individual companies to choose how to spend their marketing dollars."

I was warming up to the discussion and threw caution to the wind. "But isn't there something Westmound-Andersson can do? In people's minds, the companies are all lumped together. If Andersson Archery does something like give a bunch of extra money to men only, then it reflects on all the companies. I hear it all the time. People use Westmound to refer to all the individual companies along with the part you, Orion and Liam work at."

Her face was still blank. The fact that she wasn't getting angry didn't negate the fact that I was in dangerous territory.

"But really, I'm no expert. We have similar problems in the tech industry."

She slowly replied, "You seem to have done rather well in that industry."

I blushed. "That's true. I had a lot of advantages, but I tried to make sure that my company wasn't part of the problem either." I realized that my comment could be taken as saying Westmound was part of the problem. "Not that I'm saying--"

She cut me off as she stood. "Of course not. We will discuss this later. Orion, we need to meet with you."

She left before I could say anything more. Liam handed me Moo's leash and gave me a tight smile.

The second he left, Mary burst out, "Why? Why would you say that? What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't know she was there, and once I started..." I buried my face in my hands and wished I could roll back time.

Jess got up and patted my back as she headed to the door that connected our rooms. "It'll be fine, though I think you might want to hold off on asking for a promotion, like, forever. I'm going to get ready for the opening ceremony."

I got up and flopped on the bed, throwing an arm over my face. Moo crawled up next to me and rested his head across my chest. "I'm going to lie here until everything is better."