Death at the Trade Show: Target Practice Mysteries 3

by Nikki Haverstock

  Liam started walking again. “Is this how you investigate a murder? You walk around, and people give you all the information you want?”

  “It’s smart luck. A lot of time, the best clues come from people that don’t realize they’re clues. Like Kandi telling us that Cash and Hannah were in debt because of the show. Hey, Becky’s working the front desk. You stay here. I’m gonna see if she has anything useful.”

  “Sure thing, but have you seen the time?” He held out his wrist.

  I grabbed his wrist in my hand, his warm skin soft under my fingers. After a few distracted seconds, I noticed the time. It was late. “Geez, so much for an early night and catching up on sleep. I’ll be quick.”

  I bounced over to Becky with the biggest, friendliest smile. “How are you doing tonight, Becky?”

  She looked up from her computer. “Hi. Doing much better. Things are pretty much back to normal.”

  “I saw that the police tape was down. Is everything done?”

  “So they say. They packed everything up earlier and said we were free to repaint.”

  I leaned in closer. “Repaint what?”

  “On the top floor, there were some scratches on the wall. I think that’s where… Uh, did you need anything?”

  “Oh, no.” I stepped back and moved back to Liam. “Just wanted to say hi before we head to bed. Night.”

  I sped back to Liam. I wondered if Watson had a sidekick that helped him when Sherlock was busy watching fish shows. If he didn’t, then he should, because Liam would make a great sidekick with his quiet manner and wicked smile. “We have a clue to investigate. To the top floor.”

  We raced to the elevator. Liam pressed the button. “Then we can call it a night?”

  “Absolutely. I’m about to tip over, but it was fun to walk Moo around some. And I’ve barely seen you since we got here.”

  “I know, but this show is always crazy. Orion and I juggled some meetings. We are hoping that tomorrow afternoon we can walk around with you and Mary.”

  “Really? That would be so fun.” We smiled at each other as the elevator stopped at the top floor.

  “You might change your mind about that. Usually we get stopped by a ton of people that want to talk business, but at least you can learn a lot. And hanging with you guys is way more fun than sitting in meetings for the entire show. What did you want to see up here?”

  I turned down the hallway the opposite way from our suite and walked toward the far corner directly above where we’d found the body several nights earlier. “It’s over here. Becky said the police are gone and they could repaint. They must have figured out where Cash was dropped from.”

  We followed the hallway around, the half wall completely blocking my view of anything except the roof of the hotel. “Can you see over the wall?”

  “A little. How could Hannah have gotten Cash over this?”

  “That’s our question. We figure that she had help, if she did it.” I stopped in front of the corner, facing the half wall that Cash would need to be lifted over. To the right of the corner was smooth wall. I moved around to the left and found scratches. “Look.”

  There was a long scratch in the pale-green paint parallel to the ground, exposing the white drywall underneath. I laid my arm alongside to measure and then ran from the tip of my fingers to my elbow. Using my arm again, I measured the height of the marks to be as far off the ground as they were long. Roughly in the middle, a second, fainter scratch ran perpendicular up the wall. It was not as deep as the lower scratch and slowly got shallower until it stopped. I snapped a picture with my phone. The paint on an area to the left was lighter and discolored. I looked around and saw nothing else.

  “What are you looking for?” Liam whispered as he watched me inspect everything.

  “What if Hannah did it alone and had something to help her lift Cash over the edge? These marks could show what she used to move him then push him over the wall. These marks”—I pointed at the parallel marks—“could be getting the body up next to the wall. These other ones could be raising the body.”

  “Or luggage or a drunk guy falling.”

  “Oh, don’t be a stick in the mud,” I teased him. He responded with a smile. “None of this is proof, and you’re right, it could be nothing. Or”—I turned to him and raised my eyebrows—“it could be proof of murder.” I ran my hand over the scratches again. Moo shoved his nose into my hand, and I rubbed his neck. “But what would make them? Something that rolled and lifted?”

  “Scissor lift?”

  “Are those the things at construction sites?” He nodded. “I guess so, but where would you get one?” I thought a bit longer but nothing came to mind. “Okay, you win. Bed time?”

  We headed down the hallway while I stifled a yawn. I loved having Liam all to myself, though technically it was the three of us: Moo, Liam, and me. I hated to go to bed, but I was running on empty. Liam opened the door to the suite slowly and closed it quietly behind us. The lights were out except a table lamp and the TV. Mary and Orion were on the couch, which they had pulled around up close to the TV. They swiveled their heads to look at us over the top of the couch. Mary held an index finger to her pursed lips and pointed at Elizabeth’s closed door.

  When I was closer, she whispered, “Elizabeth went to bed a while ago.”

  She got up, and Liam and Orion carefully moved the couch back to its proper spot, and we all went to bed. I was asleep before Mary turned out her light.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A shove to the center of my back woke me up a split second before the blanket slipped off and the bed disappeared beneath me. I broke the fall onto the hotel room floor with my face. A second later, there was a thump from the other side of the room that vibrated the floor, then a groan. I was still trying to figure out what had happened when there was a single knock and the bedroom door creaked open.

  “Is everything okay?” Liam asked in a whisper.

  I sat up and ran a hand over the bedside table, knocking my phone onto the ground and a glass of water onto myself before turning on the lamp. In the doorway stood Liam, with Orion slightly behind him. They both were in baggy, lightweight gym shorts that hung past their knees and no shirts. Wow.

  Mary squealed and snatched a pillow off the bed to cover herself. Moo was stretched out across the middle of the bed. His back paws hung over on my side, and his front paws were in front of Mary as she faced the door of the bedroom.

  Liam chuckled, the tension draining from his face. “Did Moo shove you out of bed?”

  “I think so.” A gun was in his right hand, dangling by his side. “Did you seriously bring a gun? What did you think happened?”

  “You never know.”

  Orion leaned around Liam. “If you guys are okay, I’m going back to bed.”

  Mary nodded, and I answered, “I think we’re fine. Liam, have you had that gun all week?”

  He looked at me. “Never ask what a man has in his pants.”

  My cheeks burned red. He chuckled and closed the door. A few seconds later, I heard another door softly close.

  Mary scrambled up off the floor. “Holy cow, what a way to wake up.”

  I figured she meant falling out of bed, but the way she was staring at the door made me wonder. Moo woke up and looked around. When he spotted me on the floor, he hopped off the bed and shoved his nose into my eye. I grabbed my phone off the floor and checked the time. “We’ve only been asleep for a few hours.”

  “I am totally awake now.” She got up and went into the bathroom while I petted Moo.

  He pawed at me and whined. When Mary returned from the bathroom, I told her, “I think Moo needs to go outside.” I had on the adorable Great Dane PJs that Mary had given me for Christmas, while she had on the set that I gave her covered in bows and arrows. I debated putting on real clothing, but exhaustion won, and I pulled on shoes and a jacket. “I’ll be back.”

  “No, you’re not going alone.” Mary grabbed her jacket and shoes.

&
nbsp; I hesitated. “Are you sure?”

  She grabbed a key off the table. “We’re a team, and it’s the middle of the night. Plus, you can tell me why you and Liam were gone so long.”

  We snuck out of the suite, carefully closing the door behind us. We went downstairs, past the closed bar, and let Moo outside while I caught her up. When we got upstairs, we made a quick trip over to the scratches for her to see them herself and take a few pictures. We snuck back into the suite, finishing Moo’s bathroom run in record time. Moo jumped back onto the bed, and we ditched our jackets and shoes. Crawling into bed, we flipped off the lights. The adrenaline was gone, and though I was exhausted, I couldn’t get comfortable.

  I flipped the pillow again and rolled onto my side.

  “Di?”

  “Sorry, am I keeping you awake?”

  “No, I want to tell you something.”

  I flipped back toward her side of the bed. “Sure.”

  Out of the darkness, Mary said, “I think I’m going to marry Orion.”

  “Excuse me?” I sat straight up and turned on the lamp.

  “Marry Orion.” She blinked at the light.

  “I heard that part. Don’t you think this is a bit of a jump? You haven’t even been on a date. And he’s like ten years older than you.”

  “I was mostly being dramatic to get your attention, but kinda not. My mom knew when she met my dad that she would marry him. I’m not totally convinced yet, but I think it’s worth exploring. Both of our grandfathers are pastors, and we love archery. Did you know that he set up our bows for us, and they’re perfect? A decade age difference isn’t that much. You and I are best friends, and we’re almost ten years apart.”

  I was at a loss for words. She barely knew him. He was so much older. They lived hours apart. Being able to set up a bow wasn’t normally on the list of marriage qualities. Then I stopped. Who was I to judge? She wasn’t asking my permission, and why did I think she was? “Okay.”

  “Okay?” She arched an eyebrow at me.

  “Tell me more.”

  “You’re not going to convince me I’m wrong?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Uh, no, I don’t, but… this is my plan. What I know so far about him is perfect. We’re both Christian, which is important. He values family. We work in the same industry and love the same lifestyle. We laugh at the same things. So far, so good.”

  “That seems realistic so far. So you’re not thinking that you’ll get married tomorrow?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not how things work.” She rolled her eyes at me like I was the one jumping the gun. “I haven’t dated a lot. I’ve never had a real boyfriend. But Orion’s… really special. Even if we aren’t talking, just being around him makes me happy.”

  I thought about Liam, how I felt just seeing him across the room. “I know just what you mean. Any more bombshells you wanna drop tonight?”

  She chuckled. “No, I wanted to tell someone.”

  “I’m glad you told me.” I turned off the lamp and settled onto my pillow.

  “Don’t tell anyone. I know it sounds crazy… what I said.”

  “Who would I tell?” I pulled the sheets up over my shoulders and settled in.

  “Liam. You can’t tell Liam or anyone. I mean it.”

  “Don’t worry.” I yawned widely in the dark. “I won’t. Besides, Liam and I have a whole mess of things we need to iron out before we go meddling in other people’s relationships.”

  ***

  The next morning, I raced around the room, trying to get ready. When there was a knock on the door, I called out, “Come in.”

  Liam opened the door. “Breakfast’s here. Whoa.”

  Mary had pants on but was face down on the bed with her PJ top still on, her feet hanging off the end of the bed. I had managed to put on a shirt but had forgotten to change out of my PJ bottoms before putting on my boots. “We have a problem. I can’t get Moo out of bed.”

  When I had tried to convince him, Moo had whined and moaned. We tried shoving him, but he went totally limp. Turns out that if a Great Dane doesn’t want to move off the middle of a rather soft king-size bed, you need more than two strong women to force him.

  “Maybe the three of you should sleep in.”

  I sat down and pulled off my boots. “No, no, we’ll be fine. Just moving a little slow.”

  “Do you realize that you have makeup on only half your face?”

  I felt my face. I had been putting on eye makeup when I realized I was still wearing pajama bottoms, so I went to get my pants and Mary and I bumped into each other. She had landed on the bed and was still there. I guess I never got back to my makeup.

  “I…I… I’m so tired.” I felt a million years old.

  “Go to bed. Sleep in. When you guys are ready, take the bus over or call Jack and have him pick you up.”

  I got up and shut the blinds. “Are you sure?” I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over my shoulder.

  Liam laughed, called to Moo, and closed the door behind them.

  ***

  When I woke up later, I felt human again. Moo was moving around on the bed, jostling me awake.

  Mary yawned, her arms peeking over the top of Moo’s back, then she sat up. “Jeez o pete, we’re late. We’re so, so, so late.”

  “It’s okay. Liam said to sleep in.” I stretched at the edge of the bed.

  “But Orion said they’re going to make time to hang out with us today. I don’t want to miss that.”

  We bustled around the room, throwing on clothing, grabbing our stuff, and I finished the makeup I had started earlier. We burst out the door. I headed for the elevator, but Mary tugged me the opposite way. “Let’s check out the scratches again. It’ll only take a second.”

  I checked my watch again and silently thanked Liam for feeding Moo and taking him out before they all left. Liam had left me a note, which was helpful because Moo did his darnedest to convince me that he needed breakfast when we woke up. The buses ran for another twenty-five minutes.

  The scratches were gone, and in their place was a Wet Paint sign.

  “Good thing we stopped by last night,” I said when Mary’s face fell.

  The door behind us clicked open, and I turned to see that tall gal from Lex’s booth and the night we’d found Cash’s body. “Excuse us.” I grabbed Mary’s arm to go.

  “No, wait. Can I pet your dog?”

  I stopped and hesitated. “We really need to run. We have to catch a bus.”

  She pulled the door shut behind her. “To the OIT Show, right? Me, too.” She fell into step next to me and smiled. “My name’s Andrea, but you can call me Dre. I’ve seen you guys around and have been dying to say hi and meet your dog. I love dogs.”

  We introduced ourselves as we walked to the elevator. She knelt next to Moo, and he leaned on her with his eyes closed as she petted him. “Aren’t you just the handsomest dog ever? What’s his name?”

  “Moo,” Mary said.

  “Moo! How hilarious.” When the elevator dinged, she stood up and wiped her hand off on her pants while Mary and I exchanged a look.

  “So is that your hotel room?” Mary smiled at Dre.

  “No, the room belongs to my boss, Lex Luthorssen of Lex’s Hunting Solutions. He went in earlier today and needed me to grab some extra receipt books from his room.” She leaned over to scratch Moo’s head.

  I made eye contact with Mary, and we nodded at each other. Lex’s room was directly over the murder site. How perfect was this?

  Dre walked next to me as we exited the elevator. “You guys were there where they found the body? How awful was that?”

  I shook my head as we stepped through the lobby to the entrance where we could see the bus pickup. “Just awful. Thankfully, Lex was there to comfort Hannah.”

  “Hannah.” Dre’s eyes narrowed as she spit out the word. She looked at us then down at the ground. “I’m sorry. She’s a widow and all, but…” She raised her left
hand to tuck some hair behind her ear, and a huge diamond ring caught the light.

  “Wow, that’s a gorgeous ring.” I caught her hand to see it closer. “Oh, sorry.” I let go.

  “No, no, please. This is the first time I get to show it off.” She held her hand out, and we oohed and aahed.

  The bus pulled up, and we rushed out through the cold to hop aboard. Dre sat across the aisle from us and petted Moo as he stood between us.

  She was looking at me, and it felt awkward just sitting there, so I asked her a more about the ring. “First day to show it off, eh? Does that mean you got engaged last night?”

  She was eager to talk. “A few nights ago, but we were going to keep it quiet…” She trailed off and looked off into the distance before looking back at us. “Oh, who cares, everyone’s going to know. Lex and I are engaged!” She squealed loudly.

  “Lex?” I squeaked. “I saw him with—”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Hannah, right? That’s why I’m wearing the ring today.” She crossed her arms.

  Mary shook her head. “I’m so confused.”

  Dre fixed the ring on her finger. “We’ve been dating for a while but were keeping it secret because we work together. But the night before the show started, Lex asked me to marry him. We decided to wait until we got home and could tell the company first.”

  The bus bumped along, empty except for the three of us and Moo, who laid down on the seat a row ahead of us. “Makes sense.”

  “Totally. But Hannah has been all over Lex, even before Cash died. Yesterday she had this big meltdown in our booth, and Lex, being a gentleman and a bit naïve, offered to take her back to the hotel while I closed up. When I get back, I go to his room, and she’s crying on his shoulder with several of her buttons undone. I tell her to get away from my fiancé. Lex tells me to calm down, nothing was happening, but let me tell you what, Hannah changed after that. Those fake tears dried right up. And I got that room key away from her before she could blink.”

  I raised my hand. “Hannah had a key to Lex’s room?”

  Dre nodded. “Cash bought some stuff from Lex as part of the sponsorship deal, so Lex gave them the extra room key to go pick it up, but then Cash disappeared. Later—well you were there—we found him dead.”