Death in the Casino: Target Practice Mysteries 5 by Nikki Haverstock Read Free Book Online Page A

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