Death in the Casino: Target Practice Mysteries 5

by Nikki Haverstock

  He shook his head slowly, his brows furrowed. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

  "Mary, can you get that page for me?"

  Mary dug out the page from her notebook and handed it to me, and I passed it to Liam. "See, this is the money donated by companies to raise the shoot-off payout. Didn't you know about it?" Goosebumps ran down my arms. Something was off.

  He looked over the page then tilted it to Orion to see. Orion looked at it and shrugged his shoulders, then Liam handed it back. "Maybe that is a list of what they hoped we would donate, but that's not what happened."

  "Where did you get that?" a voice behind me said.

  I turned and saw Becca holding her e-cig. She let the door close behind her.

  I was caught off guard. "I... I... found it on the ground."

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I should have shredded the trash myself. Don't tell Bobby you saw it, but I suppose you could have gotten that info from asking around." She didn't seem upset, instead taking a drag off her fake cigarette.

  "These are the amounts that the companies donated for the shoot-off payout?"

  She nodded and took another puff.

  Liam looked between us. "No, it isn't. We didn't donate that much."

  Becca gave him a funny look. "Yes, you did. I saw the check."

  "I wrote the check. It was for three thousand."

  She fidgeted with her pen; a thin layer of professionalism was trying to cover her growing frustration. "The first check was for three thousand. Then a few days later, another check came."

  "We only sent one check. Right, Orion?"

  Orion nodded.

  Becca seemed to be losing some of her confidence. "But I saw the check. I saw all the checks. I stamped the back so Bobby could deposit them."

  "Does he normally deposit the checks?" I pushed her. This was the weak link to the mystery, though I had no clue what any of this meant.

  Becca stared off into the distance. "No, they came on Thursday. That's my salsa night, and I leave early. In fact, a lot of checks came on Thursdays." Her hand shook slightly as she took a puff. "Why would Bobby lie about getting the money? Was he stealing money?" She turned to me with wide eyes.

  "I don't know, but something's way off." I tried to figure out what it meant.

  Mary threw her backpack over a shoulder. "There's no shoot-off money. Come on, we need to tell someone. Becca, stay with us."

  We strode into the hallway and ran into Minx, who was crying as she raced over. "What are you guys doing?"

  Mary hooked an arm through hers. "We think we solved the mystery. Bobby had some scam to keep the shoot-off from happening."

  Minx stopped. "But nothing has been decided yet. There could still be a shoot-off."

  "No, Lucky's gone. Fox and Roo pulled out so even if Unc shoots clean right now, there'll be no shoot-off. The rules require a minimum of two archers with a score of nine hundred to have a shoot-off."

  "Loggin's shooting. He took off with Unc after we fought."

  My jaw dropped. "He what?"

  Minx started crying. "He came to get me and asked me on a date instead of shooting, and I said I didn't think of him that way. Then Unc started yelling at him that he had to shoot, otherwise Unc couldn't win the shoot-off unless Loggin shot and shot clean. Then I yelled at Loggin not to do it, and he said I couldn't..." She hiccupped and sobbed.

  If Loggin was going to shoot, then he was at risk. "I can't get into your mess of a love life right now, Minx. Loggin is in danger. Where did he go? We have to warn him!"

  Minx went pale. "I don't know. Bobby told Unc and Loggin that he had a room for them to wait in."

  "Where?"

  Minx shrugged. "I... I don't know. They went off that way."

  Becca started. "I know. There's a room down by the arena." She started jogging down the hall, and I fell in close behind her. She barked ahead, "Move out of the way, people. Move it!"

  The crowd surged out of her way then closed in behind us. I grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her close to me, but the rest of the group was cut off.

  Becca cut through a door and down a staircase I hadn't seen. "Bobby had said we should have all the archers that shoot clean the first two days make a big entrance on day three. But he canceled this morning when he heard that there was no shoot-off. This way."

  The hallway we ran down was dank and cold with its cement floor and cinderblock walls.

  Becca screeched to a stop in front of a nondescript door. She grabbed the handle and tried to turn the knob. "Locked."

  I banged on the door. "Loggin! Open the door. Loggin!" My palms were slick. I left wet handprints on the door.

  Becca shoved me out of the way. "I have a key." She unlocked the door and kicked it open. The door crashed into the wall with the force.

  Hot, wet air rolled out of the room, a gas heater going full blast in the far corner. Unc and Loggin were collapsed on the floor, their bows and arrows spread across the floor.

  I screamed. "Help! Help! Security!"

  Mary pointed. "We have to get them out. Hold your breath."

  Becca was yelling for help as she ran down the hallway.

  Mary and I held our breath as we raced in and grabbed Loggin by the feet and dragged him into the hallway.

  I was getting lightheaded from the effort to get him clear of the doorway when men shoved us out of the way and went into the room. Liam caught me under the arms and pulled me away. "It's okay. Loggin and Unc are okay." He lifted me under the legs and carried me out into the arena. "I've got you."

  ***

  Liam and I were gathered around Loggin's hospital bed later that night. I felt a bit nauseated from the carbon monoxide in the room. The gas heater would have easily killed Unc and Loggin if they had been left in there much longer. Orion had carried Mary out right after Liam got me out. Liam and Orion insisted that Mary and I get checked out at the hospital, and once we were cleared, Liam and I had found Loggin while Orion and Mary checked on Unc. Moo was with Jess and Minx back at the casino.

  Loggin shifted in his bed and adjusted the back up higher. "I don't understand why Big Bobby tried to kill me."

  I shook my head. "Money. He had announced there was a hundred-thousand-dollar pay out six months ago and figured he could get sponsors to cover it. They didn't."

  Liam sat on a small couch under a window. "I double-checked with some friends at other companies and compared it with the numbers Big Bobby had reported to the office. He only raised an extra eight thousand dollars."

  I nodded along. "I talked to Jess, and she shared some dirt with me. The casino had figured that someone was trying to rig how many guys made it into the shoot-off. Big Bobby had taken the extra money and placed a bet that five or fewer guys would make it into the shoot-off. It paid ten to one, so that would have covered the seventy-five thousand he was raising above the standard twenty-five thousand payout every other year. That's why your friends' drinks were doped, the van almost ran you over, the fire alarm went off--all that was to rattle you guys so you'd drop points and the shoot-off would have so few men that he won the bet." Mary and I had run my cell phone batteries almost dead gathering facts and confirming suspicions all afternoon while we waited in the hospital.

  Loggin scrubbed his face. "But Mike Champ was killed, and so was Lucky."

  "We think Mike Champ was an accident, that Big Bobby had only meant to scare them, but Mike got one of the doped drinks and fell in front of the van. Lucky is a different story. After the casino pulled all the gambling, Big Bobby got desperate. There was no way to get the money he needed, so he had to make sure that the shoot-off was canceled completely by making sure that no more than one person shot clean. If that happened, he didn't have to pay out the hundred thousand that he didn't have. He loosened the hubs on the chariots, hoping that you guys got either hurt or scared enough not to shoot clean. Then he tried to get the committee to call off the tournament. But you and Unc insisted on shooting, even though you promised us you wou
ldn't." I glared at him, mad all over again that he had broken his word.

  Loggin stared ahead at the opposite wall.

  Liam caught my eyes and shook his head.

  I continued, "So Big Bobby put you in the room to wait and cranked up the gas heater that had a huge warning sign on the side not to use it in enclosed spaces. It filled the room with carbon monoxide." I threw myself onto him and hugged him tight. "You big idiot, you could have died."

  He patted my back. "Aw, Di. I had you and Mary to protect me. You were my Angels."

  I stood up and wiped away a tear. "We're a family, all of us."

  Liam got up and put an arm around my shoulder. "Try to stay out of danger in the future, Loggin. You'd be tough to replace."

  Loggin blushed. He looked exhausted and pale. "One last thing. Why didn't Big Bobby just say that he didn't have the money?"

  Mary spoke from the doorway. "He couldn't. He had everything riding on this tournament."

  I turned to look at her and Orion as they joined us. "What?"

  Mary patted Loggin's hand. "Unc spilled the beans that Big Bobby had everything hinged on this tournament. The board had tried to replace him two years ago, but Big Bobby convinced them that he should stay because he had big plans for this year. They agreed based on him being able to pull it off. If he had said that he hadn't gotten the money after all, they were going to fire him."

  "So he killed two people and almost killed two more for a job?" Loggin laid his head back on his pillow.

  Mary shook her head. "It was his whole world. All of his pride, meaning, and social circle were connected to the job that he'd had for decades. I don't think he planned on killing anyone, but after Mike Champ died, there was no turning back. How are you feeling, Loggin?"

  Liam grabbed my arm and pulled me to the door. "Hey, Loggin, sleep well. Mary, Orion, we'll wait for you in the hall."

  The hallway was empty. We walked to the elevators, where two chairs were arranged.

  Liam sat next to me and held my hand. "You said that next time you would find me instead of running away."

  "I know. I'm sorry."

  He squeezed my hand, not realizing how hard he was already holding it.

  "Can I ask for a favor?" I didn't want to have this conversation, but I needed to ask.

  "Sure."

  "Can we not tell anyone about... um?"

  "Us? Why?"

  "I don't like the idea of everyone watching."

  "Are you dating anyone else?"

  I shook my head. "No."

  "Do you want to?"

  "Definitely not."

  A small smile played across his face, and he gave me a quick kiss as footsteps came down the hall. "Good enough for now."

  I hope you enjoyed my fifth book. I would love to interact with you more. If you would like to learn more about me, join my mailing list, find my other books or discover my social media accounts, please check out my website.

  http://nikkihaverstock.com/

  Join my mailing list here (or enter http://eepurl.com/bv7Nj5 into your web browser) to learn about new releases

  To buy my other books, visit my series page on my website here or visit my website http://nikkihaverstock.com/ and click on Target Practice Mysteries link under the banner.

  The first book in a new mystery series will be released Summer 2016, Reality TV Cozy Mysteries 1. Blurb below.

  Anything can happen on a reality show though finding a body on set--and live on air--is new.

  Melissa McCallister is young, rich, and beautiful but frustrated. She wants nothing more than to be a famous literary author like her mother. When the opportunity to be on a new reality TV show comes her way, she grabs the chance hoping to find some inspiration. When a castmate is murdered during a live broadcast and her blood is literally on Melissa's hands, the young writer gets more than she bargained for--reality TV is way stranger than fiction. Can Melissa prove that she's innocent?

  Ryan Sethi prefers to produce TV commercials. They're boring and safe but he can't pass up the opportunity to produce a show about Socialites in Fishcreek Falls, an exclusive ski town high in the Rocky Mountains. But can he keep the show, cast, crew and especially Melissa safe while a killer is on the loose? Or will a reality TV show gone bad ruin both of their lives?

  Nikki Haverstock lives with her husband and dogs on a cattle ranch high in the Rocky Mountains.

  Before escaping the city, Nikki taught collegiate archery for ten years. She has competed on and off for fifteen years in the USA Archery women's recurve division.

  Nikki has more college degrees than she has sense, and hopefully one day, she will put one to work.

  © 2015 by Ranch Dog Entertainment, LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.