Death at the Summit Page 4

  I stumbled in shock. “Uh, I’m a woman, and I planned on buying my own equipment. Mary is a Korean female, and she picks out her own equipment.”

  “Oh, come on, sweetheart, Westmound will give you and that Asian chick stuff because you’re pretty and sex sells. And the Asian is practically white, so she doesn’t count. Maybe get some lower-cut shirts, though. You should talk to Kandi—she knows how to use her strengths to move product.”

  I unlocked the door and pushed it open. I didn’t trust my voice to talk without chewing him out. At my previous job, a tech company I ran, no one would have dared to speak to me that way. Clients and employees respected me and treated me as the equal I was, even when they disagreed. Mac was talking to me like a child, and it set everything in me to boiling.

  He passed me and slapped my butt. “If you get bored, feel free to come back. I can give you some private lessons.”

  He closed the door before I could explode.

  Moo let out a bark and leaped at the door but bounced back onto his butt. He settled for a long, low growl. I pulled him away and scratched behind his ears as we walked, but I didn’t correct him.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  We spent a few minutes outside, attending to dog business. The snow fell steadily, and the dry snowdrifts were building at a rapid pace. I kept Moo on his leash, and he raced back and forth as far as it would reach, hopping and bouncing, snapping at snowflakes as they fell.

  I tried to push away my frustrations with my conversation with Mac. There was a time when I wouldn’t have been affected by his remarks, but this time, they had gotten under my skin. Maybe I was still reeling from getting a divorce, or maybe it was the lack of confidence that comes with a heading in a new direction, but regardless, I needed to work harder on not letting the opinions of others affect me when I knew they were wrong.

  After going back into the center, I wiped the snow off us both and took Moo to say hi to Brian.

  “Hey Brian. You enjoying the summit?”

  “I can’t see much from here.” His shoulders sagged forward, and the corners of his mouth pulled down as he looked over his shoulder at the exhibits visible through the range windows.

  I checked around; the parking lot out front was still, and the buses that had brought everyone over in the morning were gone. “I bet it would be okay if you walked around for a bit. Just keep one eye on the door in case anyone shows up.” He was supposed to be security and check that everyone coming in had a proper name tag, but the range had enough windows that he could move around and still keep an eye on the door. Plus, what was the likelihood that someone would show up now?

  He sprang out of his chair. “Really? I could totally do that. If anyone asks, I can tell them that you said I could?” He waited to hear my reply.

  I chuckled since I knew that the anyone he was referring to was Jess. Range day was her event at the Westmount Summit, and she had put the fear of God into all of us at the idea of letting it be ruined.

  “Perfect. In fact, I’ll message her and tell her that I suggested your appearance on the floor was a good idea so people were aware there was security on site.”

  Brian turned and started jogging down the hallways before stopping. “You might want to mention the snow to her. I have been listening, and the interstate is already having a problem with accidents. Officers are helping stranded motorists. If this snow keeps up, you might consider getting the buses out early; otherwise, everyone might be stuck here overnight.”

  “Thanks, I’ll her know.” Right after I donned my fireproof panties. Jess was going to have a cow at the idea of her perfect day being ruined, but having all these people stuck here overnight would be even worse. I grabbed my phone and wrote out a quick message as I walked down the hallway to the range entrance.

  Making it across the range was a slow process, people wanted to meet Moo, and sometimes, they even said hi to me, as well. I was embarrassed to admit that I recognized few of the company names and none of the people. I would need to spend some time during my Christmas break studying so this didn’t happen again. If something was worth doing, it was worth overdoing and being completely obsessed about. I vowed that by the time I returned in the New Year, I would have memorized every company owned by Westmound.

  Mary sat at the Westmound table alone.

  “Where’d everyone go?”

  “Tiger, Mouse, and Indy went to the kitchen. The staff is baking Christmas cookies and asked if we could pass them out. Look what I found in the bathroom.” She held out a phone to me.

  “Do you know who it belongs to?” She shook her head. “Let’s just see what it says.” I unlocked the phone since there was no password required and instantly got an eyeful.

  “Are those breasts?” Mary leaned over close to the phone. “Yep, those are breasts, a hand squeezing one and a pink lollypop tattoo.”

  I clicked the phone to lock it again. We both looked at the MacSights booth and Kandi’s visible lollypop tattoo. “Kandi’s breasts, tattoo, and a man’s hand. I think we have seen enough. It must be Mac’s phone.” I put it facedown on the table and pushed it away with my fingertip. I couldn’t stand the thought of it being too close to me. “We’ll give it back when he wakes up.”

  I reached into my bag of supplies, pulled out hand sanitizer, then passed it to Mary with a shudder.

  Minx stomped back to our table, her eyes rimmed red and puffy, and flopped down into a chair.

  “Minx, what happen—” I started to ask.

  “Nothing, I don’t want to talk about it.” She slumped farther in her seat.

  “Indy and M.C. said—”

  “I do not want to talk, at all.” She sniffled hard.

  It looked like she was ready to cry again. I dug a tissue out of my bag of supplies and passed it to Mary to pass to Minx.

  A man without a name tag approached the table. He was the epitome of the good looking boy next door if the boy next door had zero body fat. The only thing that ruined his good looks was the scowl hardening his face.

  “Where’s the person in charge?” he snapped.

  Minx and Mary both hooked a thumb at me.

  I sighed. “How can I help you?”

  “No, I need the person really in charge.” He looked around for someone more important.

  Minx burst out of her seat. “Don’t you talk to her like that. That’s Di and she is in charge.” I was startled by Minx’s slightly misplaced support. Jess had put me in charge while everyone else was in meetings and enjoying range day, but my power was minimal.

  He continued to look around, the scowl still in place. “That’s not what I meant. I need someone from Westmound. Is Elizabeth around?”

  Minx slapped her hand on the table. “So typical—you think cause you’re some hot shot archer that you can treat everyone else like crap, and that’s not right.” On the last word, her voice cracked. Whatever had upset her probably had little to do with the guy in front of us. A tear spilled from her eyes, and with a gasp, she ran from the table and headed out of the back bathrooms through the nearby door.

  The guy scrubbed his face with his hand, and the scowl disappeared as he watched her race away. “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough week. Is she gonna be okay?”

  “Ya, she is having a tough day, as well.”

  “Really, I’m serious. I’m sorry.” He looked contrite, like a little boy if little boys were about six and a half feet tall.

  I stood up and extended my hand. “Let’s just start over. I’m Di, and this is Mary.”

  He shook my hand then reached for Mary. “I’m Loggin. Nice to meet you, Di. Mary, have we met before? Maybe at a 3D tournament?”

  Mary shook her head. “No, I shoot recurve. But I think we could have met at Vegas?”

  “Yes, it was the Vegas tournament, maybe three years ago.”

  “Tell Di that I’m normally a very likable guy.” He turned to me with a crooked smile.

  Mary turned to me. “Loggin is normally a very nice guy.”
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  I chuckled. “Now, what can I do to help you?”

  A pained look crossed his face, and the smile fell away. “I still need to talk to Elizabeth, unless you can correct a missed sponsorship payment?”

  Orion came hustling up to the table “Is there a problem here?” He looked between Loggin and us, casually moving between us.

  Loggin stepped back from the talk and turned to Orion. “I really need to talk to someone right away.”

  Orion shook Loggin’s hand and asked me over his shoulder, “Di, can you use your tablet to add Loggin to my meeting schedule? There’s an opening this afternoon.” He turned back to Loggin. “I have a few minutes right now. Why don’t I walk you over the dining area, and we can talk on the way.”

  Right after Orion and Loggin left, Liam came jogging up. “I heard there was a problem. Are you okay, Di?”

  I waved him off with a big smile. “Don’t worry; Orion took care of it. He’s been great today.”

  Liam stared at me for a few seconds. “Yeah,” he said then left.

  I turned to Mary, throwing my hand up in the air in frustration. “Why is everyone acting so weird today?”

  ***

  The rest of the day raced on. We directed people to the bathrooms, started a list of missing items including some t-shirts and a large knife, and sent Indy, Mouse and Tiger around to pass out a metric ton of Christmas cookies. Indy followed Mouse from booth to booth defeating the purpose of giving them both a tray of cookies. Tiger only visited the booths where woman were and stayed too long at each booth. Minx hid in the bathroom for quite a while. When she returned she slid behind our table and sulked.

  The snow continued to fall and the decision was made to call the buses back early for fear that everyone would be stranded over night at the center. Moo had been antsy for the past hour; he was used to a busy day of following me around the center. I tried to entertain him with a rousing game of tug-of-war but he didn’t even attempt to win.

  M.C. came over to the table from the MacSight booth where Kandi was hovering. “We need to get packed up. Where’s my dad?”

  I had forgotten about him. “I’ll grab him.”

  I snagged Moo, and we jogged to the doorway. I held the leash loosely and once we were in the hallway, he started pulling hard on the leash. “Hey, Moo, ease up a little.”

  He barked and sniffed the air. The little hairs on his scruff raised and I was uneasy. Mac had been taking a nap for an awfully long time.

  We rounded the corner. Moo strained hard to reach the closed door, sniffing all along the perimeter of the door before he started pawing at it, scratching off flakes of paint.

  Tentatively, I turned the handle and wedged myself between Moo and the door. I was overwhelmed with the metallic smell of blood. It reminded me of every nosebleed and bit cheek I’d had ever had. I slammed the door shut. My heart pounded in my chest. My stomach clenched and twisted.

  “Not again.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I didn’t know what to do. What if Mac was just hurt and I needed to get in there and help him? I reached for the door but couldn’t bring myself to touch the handle. Moo whined and wedged his nose into the crack at the bottom of the door. I messaged Mary to grab Brian and come to the bathrooms and not to say anything to anyone. She typed back a simple K immediately.

  I checked that the bathrooms were empty, then Moo and I moved to the long hallways to wait. I tried to convince myself that I was overreacting, that everything was okay, and we would have a good laugh over the whole thing. Jess would tell me that I was trying to ruin her event but would say it with good humor, Mary would tell me that it could happen to anyone, and Liam would shake his head at my reaction.

  Brian came trotting down the hallway with Mary in tow. “What’s up?”

  I should have thought of what to say. I wanted to blurt out that I smelled blood and Mac was dead, but if I was wrong I would be an idiot since I hadn’t turned on the light to even look. I should have just looked myself. I pointed at the door and didn’t say anything. He could figure it out on his own.

  He opened the door and flipped on the light. I could hear him gasp and race into the room.

  Mary took step to follow him, and I grabbed her arm and shook my head. From where we stood, I couldn’t see the interior of the room and thought it should stay that way.

  Brian came back. “Did you touch anything?”

  I shook my head. “I opened the door just an inch and could smell the blood. I didn’t turn on the light. Is he…?”

  He nodded his head, looking more serious than I had seen him since the last murder. “I should have known this wouldn’t be an easy assignment. You installed video surveillance right? I need to see it right now. I already requested more officers, but the department is pretty spread thin with this weather.”

  “What’s wrong with Mac?” Mary asked. I had forgotten about her. Her eyes were wide, and she shifted her weight between her feet uneasily.

  “He was murdered,” Brian said bluntly but gently. He watched her face and stood by until she nodded, then he talked into the unit on his shoulder.

  I pulled Mary aside. “Are you okay? I know it can be a shock.”

  She shook her head.

  Orion came down the hallway. “Is everything okay? Can I help?”

  “Yes, you can.” Brian stepped forward. “No one can leave yet. Can you do that?”

  Orion nodded. “Sure thing.” He jogged off and passed Liam in the hallway.

  Liam came up, placed a hand on my shoulder, and leaned over to whisper, “What’s wrong?”

  I turned to him with a frown. “Mac was killed. Orion is making sure no one leaves.”

  Everything I said today seemed to annoy Liam. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he removed his hand from my shoulder.

  Brian interrupted us before I could ask what was wrong. “Di, can you lock up this area and show me the surveillance footage? No officer can come out here yet because there’s a huge accident on the interstate. I need to start the investigation.”

  Brian sent Liam out somewhere while Mary and I followed him to the office, locking the doors as we left. In my office, I pulled up the footage of the hallway. Mary and Brian hovered behind me as we watched the sped up footage of me coming down the hallway and opening the bathroom, then we checked that everyone who went down the hallway returned. When we got to the footage of Moo and me escorting Mac down the hallway, I played the footage at normal speed.

  “Brian, are we looking for anything in particular?”

  “Let’s see it once, and then I will tell you.”

  It turned out that while the door to the room wasn’t visible, Moo was. I could see Moo’s tail wagging through the thirty seconds it took me to open the door for Mac and return into view.

  We raced through the rest of the footage. Brian carefully noted the timecode when someone disappeared from view into the short hallway and returned. When Moo and I appeared on camera to check on Mac, I was surprised to see that I only spent a few seconds out of sight at the doorway before reappearing on camera. I thought I had stood at the doorway forever, trying to work up the guts to turn on the light and see why I smelled so much blood. A pang of guilt ran through me——Mac had suffered some tragedy, and I was too chicken to even look. Maybe one dead body in a lifetime was all I could handle.

  “Should I have gone into the room? Is there something I could have done to help him?” I wanted Brian to tell me that I had done the right thing.

  “No, you should not have gone in there. You made the right choice.”

  “What happened to him?” Mary asked.

  “You don’t need to know that. I know that last time you two did an impression of Miss Marple and Columbo but this time—”

  I cut him off. “Wait, which one am I? The old lady or the one with a bad eye?”

  Brian didn’t laugh. “I’m serious. You cannot look at video surveillance again, and you cannot go back the crime scene. Tell me that you understand.”<
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  Mary and I exchanged a glance.

  “If you find anything, you need to give it to me right away. And lastly, I cannot see you investigating. Got it? If I see you investigating, I will stop you. I don’t want to see you talking to suspects. I don’t want to see you gathering evidence. I don’t want to see any of that. I’m not just saying this as a cop but as your friend. Please.”

  “Of course, we’ve got it. We’re not suspects, are we?”

  “Not really. Neither of you were in there long enough, but in the meantime, don’t go anywhere.”

  I turned to my left to look at Moo. I had gotten used to his constant presence. “Good to know we aren’t suspects.”

  “I need to go grab everyone on the list, release the rest, and start this investigation.” Brian left the room.

  Mary flopped into a chair after snatching a pen and pad of paper off my desk.

  Moo walked up behind Mary and looked over her shoulder at the notepad. When the pen slipped out of her grasp, he ducked down to pick it up, chewing on the end. He rested his head on her shoulder, pulling her off to the right. She straightened up, snatched the pen out of his mouth, and started writing a list of names while Moo watched.

  “Here’s our suspects. Are you ready to investigate?”

  Startled, I looked at her. “What? Weren’t you listening? Brian doesn’t want us to investigate.”

  Mary rolled her eyes at me. “How can someone so smart be so dense? He didn’t said say not to investigate. He said he didn’t want to see us investigating.”

  “Is that why he kept saying see, see, see? I guess finding another body has really thrown me for a loop.”

  Mary put her feet on my desk. “It’s a good thing you have me around to keep you in line.”