"Real funny," I said. "No cake for them."
Mouse stood up. "Whoa, I want cake. The store was out of three and one candles."
"It's fine." The cake was huge. "Hey, anyone that wants cake is welcome. Come on." I waved a hand toward the cake. "Thank you, Martha, it's lovely." She was a wizard in the kitchen, though she seldom got to show off with our small on-site staff. She had decorated the top of the cake with bows and arrows.
As she rolled the cake away, a group of kids fell into line behind her.
I looked around the table. "Thank you, everyone. There's no one I would rather spent tonight with and for once, no murder." I knocked on the table, which was the closest wooden object, then sat down to dig into my salad.
Martha had set up a beautiful hamburger bar, but she knew I was avoiding empty, white calories, as Jess described them, so instead of a bun, she had put together a few bowls of salad with a meat patty on top. It was delicious, and I could convince myself that I was eating a hamburger if I squinted hard enough.
Brian walked over to our table.
I pointed to an empty chair. "Where've you been? Grab some cake and join us."
"Uh, in a bit. Jess, Di, I need to talk to both of you."
I got up and followed Brian across the room to a quiet corner, where we waited for Jess.
Once Jess arrived, Brian cleared his throat and leaned in. "I just got a call. Officers are coming out to start an investigation. They think that the deceased gentleman might not have died of completely natural causes."
Jess gritted her teeth. "Son of a biscuit. Seriously? Again?"
"Wait." I shook my head. "So they're thinking murder?"
"Maybe," said Brian. "I can't say much more right now."
"Are you leading the investigation again?" I asked.
"Not this time. I get to be a suspect like the rest of you guys. Di, when they arrive, I need you to let them in to see the video surveillance in your office. The officer coming helped review the footage in December. You'll get them logged in, then you will leave. Understand?"
I smirked at him. "Are you saying that I have to keep my Miss Marple act under wraps?"
"Please, don't embarrass me, Di."
"Would I do that?" I looked back longingly at my meal getting cold on the table. The meat had a dull film of congealed grease on the surface, and the lettuce was limp and soggy. It looked significantly less appetizing now. "Can I get back to my meal?"
"Yes. Don't tell anyone yet. I'll come get you in a bit."
I went back to the table, and heads swiveled around. I pulled out my chair and sat. "He wanted to wish me happy birthday and for me to save him a bit of cake then had a coaching question for Jess."
Jess sat down on her end of the table. "Yeppers, old Coach Jess to the rescue. Can someone pass me the salt?"
***
Within the hour, I had let the officers into my office to look over the security footage, which did not cover the housing units but did give enough of a view to see who walked through the parking lot to the housing units out of sight of the camera. I had also debated long and hard and ended up getting a small and reasonable slice of cake. Instead of wolfing it down, I was carefully taking small bites and trying to enjoy it one mouthful at a time. The light cake was like heaven in my mouth, while the sugar-and-vanilla frosting sent my heart soaring.
The kids staying at the center wandered over slowly, like deer from the thicket. They edged closer until they could work up the courage to ask their millions of questions.
I sat quietly next to Liam, scraping my fork across the bare plate, hoping to catch one more molecule of frosting that I'd previously missed. I wasn't surprised that the kids left me alone. My reputation couldn't compete with the coolness of Summer Games athletes like Tiger and Minx, Mary, who held some youth records, or the rest of the table, who had important jobs and accomplishments. The parents and judges had also joined the kids to glean some wisdom or ask questions.
I focused on Moo, scratching him all over to make up for a day of neglect.
Brian had taken Jess out of the room not too long ago, and I checked the large clock on the wall, waiting for her to return. The tournament staff had already left to go use one of our conference rooms to prepare for tomorrow. Soon people would want to go to bed. The police needed to hurry up.
As if on cue, Brian came into the room with the two officers I had met earlier in my office. Jess trailed behind them, dragging one foot after the other as though she were going to the guillotine. The first officer stepped forward while holding a scrap of paper.
"Can Bill and Sam Morgan, Patricia Pedderson, Marie and Sally Johnston, David and Bob Ruban, Becky and Bertha Strates, CarolAnn and Megan Jones, Sabrina Gomez, and, lastly, Roger Billet, come with us? We need to speak with you."
As people stepped forward, I silently substituted the names that I had been calling them, Buckle Boy and Spotting Dad, Pants, a girl with a side pony and her mother Reverse Mullet, a boy in a visor and his dad who had been the ones kicked out of Coach Ron's program, the star student with red hair and her mother, Davey Jones and her mother from my target, Mouse, and lastly the judge who had gotten into numerous disagreements with Coach Ron.
The officer continued, "We will need to speak to the rest of you later. Please do not leave the training center without letting an officer know."
CHAPTER FIVE
Walking back to our apartment, as we called it for lack of a better term, I clung to Liam's arm. In theory, it was to prevent me slipping on the nonexistent ice. When we got to the door, Liam hesitated when I went in. We hadn't clearly established the plan, and perhaps he didn't want to assume.
I held the door open. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower then hang out until Mary makes me go to sleep."
Mary stuck her head out of her bedroom. "We have a very strict curfew." She closed the door behind her.
Liam smiled. "She's a real taskmaster, eh?"
"She's awesome. She keeps me in line. She told me that I could stay up a little bit later since I don't shoot until the afternoon." Mary's shower turned on. The faint noise could be heard in the center room we shared. "I won't be long, maybe thirty minutes?"
"I'll go pack up a few things that I'll need in Salt Lake and be back." He wrapped me in a hug. Moo wedged his nose then his whole body between us. "You did great today."
***
By the time I had showered, changed into some comfortable clothes, and hand-washed my stinky jerseys so they could drip-dry for tomorrow, I could hear voices outside my bedroom. Mary and I each had our own bedroom and attached but small bathroom in addition to the shared middle room with some chairs, television, and small kitchenette. The units rented out to visitors and for on-site athletes would have bunk beds for each bedroom.
I ran a brush through my hair and for the millionth time noticed that my hair was longer than I had ever had it, then opened the door. Leaning on the doorframe, I observed for a minute. Orion, Loggin, Liam, and Moo were squished onto our couch. Tiger, Minx, and Mary were arranged on the floor. There appeared to be at least two different conversations occurring, though the participants changed. Mary was bouncing between a conversation about the upcoming Vegas tournament and some about this tournament.
A knock on the door caught everyone's attention. I went to open it, and the talk died down to see who it was. I threw open the door, and Mouse zoomed past me.
"So this is where everyone is. Way to abandon me when I'm suspected of murder."
I rolled my eyes at her. "You practically live in our room."
Mouse and Minx were roommates. Minx was the middle of five girls in her family and didn't enjoy living alone in her room when Mouse was home during the week. A few times she had even slept on our couch. When Mouse arrived on the weekend, rather than the two of them keeping each other company, they tended to gravitate to our apartment. "And no one really suspects you of murder."
She moved to a wall next to the couch, while I sat down on the floor next to Liam's leg.
&
nbsp; "Do you want to hear my news or not?" Mouse crossed her arms and hitched her chin up.
A chorus of voices implored her to share.
"Fine, if you insist," she said with a grin. "Apparently, Coach Ron had a little help with his heart attack. Someone hit him with a Taser."
"What?" I interrupted her. "A Taser caused his heart attack? I'm not sure I believe that."
"Why else would they keep asking me if I had a Taser and then," she looked around the room, her voice dropping, "if I'd used it because I was scared and no one would blame me after the way he acted."
Mary looked up from her phone. "A Taser can cause a heart attack in rare situations. It says so right here."
I rolled my eyes. "And the Internet never, ever lies. I'll buy that it was a freak accident. So it probably wasn't a planned murder."
Minx lifted her hand, asking for attention. "Maybe it was an accident?"
"Like someone tripped and accidentally shot him with a Taser then left?" Tiger countered. "Pfft, unlikely."
"No." Minx put her hands on her hips. "Like they were scared so they used the Taser and ran?"
Tiger blew out an exasperated breath. "Then why didn't they tell someone that they were attacked, eh?"
Everyone started talking at once, proposing and shooting down theories. There was a lot to consider. Could someone have known he had a weak heart and planned to kill him? Maybe they used the Taser to incapacitate him first and were planning on killing him, but he had a heart attack first. What if it was unintentional? Maybe he attacked someone, which was believable after seeing how he'd acted this morning, and they used the Taser to protect themselves then ran off. But why didn't they say they were attacked? Maybe they did tell someone, and that person kept their mouth shut. This was far more complicated than a straightforward murder.
The first step was to figure out the suspect list. "Hey, Mouse." I waved a hand to gain her attention over the din of the room. "The people they pulled aside to talk to, those are only people that came over to the apartments during the break?"
She nodded. "There were a few people that weren't named by the police. Maybe they're questioning the rest of them later."
Mary shook her head. "Duh, you guys all had a motive. You fought with Coach Ron today."
Minx looked around, confused. "No way, that was a lot of people. He couldn't have fought with all of them."
A round of laughter went up around the room. I scooted onto my knees. "You missed so much today. Coach Ron got into it with everyone."
I leaned back against Liam's leg while stories flew around about Coach Ron's antics. Mouse and Tiger did a dramatic reenactment of her telling Coach Ron to be quiet. The room was full of laughter and talking all around me. I watched Mouse carefully. She had been jumpy and timid during the last murder at the center. This time she was the life of the party. Did I really know much about her?
Another knock got me up to open the door.
Jess swooped in. "Seriously, you are all stuffed into this one room? I was looking for Mouse, but it seems like she's not as traumatized as I feared. And you guys have a tournament tomorrow, or did we forget? Come on, go back to your room, read a book, and go to bed. No dillydallying."
Orion leaned over to say something to Liam, who shook his head then remained seated. Everyone else got up and slowly exited with calls of "see you tomorrow."
Jess grabbed Mouse. "I'll walk back with you." She closed the door behind them.
Mary stood up. "I'm going to bed, too. Don't stay up too late."
I moved up onto the couch next to Liam. Moo was snoozing on Liam's other side.
Suddenly alone for the first time today, I felt a bit shy and awkward. "Um, thanks for coming today."
"Sure." He grabbed his jacket, which was wedged into the couch under Moo's hindquarters. "I'll let you go to bed here in a minute--an athlete needs their sleep--but first you have to open something." He pulled out a small box.
"But we said no gifts?"
He handed it to me. "It's not from me, it's from Moo. Have you tried to tell Moo no? Totally doesn't work."
I held the small, hinged box. Carefully I cracked it open and caught my breath. It was a delicate gold necklace with a charm hanging from it. I tipped my head slightly before gasping in recognition. "It's a finger tab. It's my finger tab."
I held it up to my eyes. It was a perfect gold replica of the finger tab I stubbornly refused to replace. Even the gentle curves of the spacer I had modified to fit between my index and middle finger were there. "This is exactly like mine."
I looked up and met his eyes.
He smiled and lifted the necklace out of the box. "Jess took pictures of it, and I gave them to the artist. Here, let me put it on you. I know that you don't want to replace your original tab, so I thought this way it'd always be with you."
"Aww, that's..." I was at a loss for words.
Liam undid the clasp on the necklace. I lifted my hair and craned my neck to the side so he could see to latch it.
One of his hands rested behind my neck after he put on the necklace. "I hope you like it."
"I love it." I stared into his eyes, butterflies dancing in my stomach and my neck tingling where his hand rested. I lifted my chin slightly in an invitation.
As he leaned in closer, I closed my eyes, my whole body eagerly waiting. Suddenly a burst of light broke behind my left eye, and a crash rocked my head.
"Argh!"
Dazed, I opened my right eye while I clutched my left. "What happened?"
"Moo. Dang it. He hit me when..." Liam grunted and pushed the heel of his hand into the area between his eyebrows. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Here, let me see. Are you bleeding? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
He lifted my hand off my face. "No blood--that's good. But you're crying. I'm so sorry."
"No, no, I'm fine. Just surprised."
"Is everything okay out there?" Mary called from her room.
"Moo bonked our heads together," I called back. "Here, let me see your forehead."
Liam lowered his hand to reveal a goose egg between his eyebrows. "I'm not bleeding, am I?"
"No, but, um... that's one heck of a lump." I cringed.
Mary came racing into the room in her flannel pajamas with little bows and arrows on them, and thick, fluffy socks. She looked at each of us and shook her head. "I was only out of the room for a few minutes. You two are a mess."
She stomped over to our tiny fridge and pulled out two ice packs then wrapped each in a thin tea towel from the stack on the counter. We had been icing our shoulders after heavy practices and kept all the supplies on hand. She marched over and handed one to each of us. "Put these on your bumps. Fifteen minutes max, then leave them off for at least fifteen minutes."
Liam stood up, holding his icepack in one hand. "I think I've overstayed my welcome. I'll see you guys tomorrow." When he got to the doorway, he slapped his thigh, and Moo joined him. "Bye."
After the door clicked shut, Mary sat down next to me. "What happened?"
I pressed the icepack to the outside of my eye socket and winced. "I think he was going to kiss me, then Moo smacked the back of Liam's head, and we crashed together. What if he never tries to kiss me again?" I started sniffling.
Mary grabbed my arm and helped me up then dragged me to my room. "Shhh, it'll be okay. He's crazy about you. Come on, you've had a big day. Tomorrow you have to compete, and afterwards we'll solve the mystery." She grabbed my Great Dane pajamas and handed them to me.
"Afterwards? We can't wait that long. Everyone will be leaving." I went into my bathroom to change and take care of my nighttime rituals after passing her the ice pack.
She shouted into the bathroom door. "Well, I have to focus in the morning. This is one of the two events that the collegiate division uses to determine the national champion and the team that will compete internationally this summer. And you can't investigate and compete at the same time. Archery's too important to half-heart it."
My h
ead was aching. The adrenaline of the injury was wearing off. I had used up a month's supply of adrenaline by noon, and now there was nothing left. "You're right. What if I gather up some information while you shoot, and we can chat at lunch?" I opened up the bathroom door and started brushing my teeth.
Mary tapped her finger on her chin. "Sure, as long as you're not alone. What if there's a crazed madman out there zapping people left and right?"
I rinsed my teeth and took back the ice pack. "I'll see if Liam will help me. Unless you want me to sit with you when you shoot?"
She shook her head. "Orion already offered, but I don't think Liam's going to want to help you investigate even if he's sweet on you. Here, I'll tuck you in."
I crawled into bed. "I'm not even sure how to approach people." I stifled a yawn. Normally I read a little before bed, but I could already feel the shroud of sleep sneaking up on me. "Could you turn off the light? I think I'll try to fall asleep right now." I plugged in my phone by my bed and snuggled deep into my nest of blankets.
"Sure thing, Princess." She flipped off the light and closed the door.
I yawned again in the dark. If only there was a way to get everyone to tell me everything without me having to ask questions. A thought occurred to me, and maybe it was just one of those ideas that seemed brilliant when you were half asleep, but if I was correct, this would be the perfect way to get everyone to talk, and Liam was the key.
***
Waking up in the morning, I scrubbed my face then flinched when I hit my left eye. The bump had gone down a bit, but the skin was still tender. My neck was sweaty where the ice pack, now a lukewarm pack, was stuck to my skin. It parted from my skin with a low sucking sound. It felt like the world's biggest Band-Aid. I got up and looked for Moo before I remembered that he wasn't here. I shuffled to the fridge to pour myself a cup of iced coffee. It helped kick-start my body. I wanted to at least be up and awake when Mary left as a sign of moral support.
I staggered through my morning routine without really seeing myself. I'd done it so many times before that I could do it with my eyes closed. I slipped on a clean jersey and grabbed my shooting shoes and bag.
Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 Page 6
