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

will attend."
    Liam stood up. "I'm going to grab something from my room. I'm going to flip the door lock so I can get back in."
    I nodded in understanding. He grabbed Moo as I turned back to Jess.
    Orion extended a hand to Jess. "Can I see that?"
    Jess passed it over and continued, "It isn't different from the issues I face as a female coach. People say all the best coaches are male, so they hire more male coaches. But I'll show them. I'm elbowing my way in there."
    Orion flipped through the pamphlet, a grim look on his face. "I'm not pleased with Andersson, MacSights, Westmound-Andersson, and a few others of our companies being named as companies that do not support women. That's patently untrue. We have competitive contingency plans and often promote our female shooters on social media, advertising, and in print. The theme of this year's Westmound Summit was diversity, and I did a whole speech on reaching out to and expanding our female demographic."
    The door to our room opened then bounced on the door lock behind me, meaning Liam had returned. I wanted to turn but wanted to make a point I had been contemplating since I got the pamphlet. "But is that enough? Sure, we are talking about diversity and the value of our female clients, but are we putting our money where our mouth is? Our payouts are competitive with the industry, but if the whole industry is short changing women then I'm not sure we deserve a pat on the back. What, Mary? Why are you making that face?"
    I turned around as Moo nudged my shoulder and realized that Liam and his mother, owner of Westmound-Andersson Industries, was standing next to him, thoughtfully considering what I had said.
    She tipped her head back a little. "You think we treat our female customers unfairly?"
    I wanted the ground to open up underneath me. A sinking feeling in my chest made the food in my belly feel like lead. I never would have said anything if I had known she was there. She was not only my boss if you went high enough up the corporate structure, but she was also a role model, a career inspiration and Liam's mother. "I... I just meant..." I swallowed hard. "I was just playing devil's advocate. I certainly know that I have always been treated fairly..." I was so about to be fired.
    Jess stared at me with wide eyes, the whites visible all the way around her irises. No one else in the room stirred as Elizabeth carefully stepped through the group and sat in a chair in the corner.
    Her face was completely blank as she turned her eyes back to me. I imagined that I was a gazelle trapped in front of a lion as she spoke. "No, I would like to hear more."
    I felt lightheaded as adrenaline pumped through me. I felt like I was five all over again, caught red-handed by my mom with a hand in the cookie jar. "I mean, it says in the pamphlet that various Westmound companies donated to increase the men's payout to one hundred thousand. Doesn't that mean that we are contributing to the pay inequality?"
    Mary shook her head at me to stop.
    Elizabeth tipped her head to the side slightly. "None of that money came from us directly. We allow the individual companies to choose how to spend their marketing dollars."
    I was warming up to the discussion and threw caution to the wind. "But isn't there something Westmound-Andersson can do? In people's minds, the companies are all lumped together. If Andersson Archery does something like give a bunch of extra money to men only, then it reflects on all the companies. I hear it all the time. People use Westmound to refer to all the individual companies along with the part you, Orion and Liam work at."
    Her face was still blank. The fact that she wasn't getting angry didn't negate the fact that I was in dangerous territory.
    "But really, I'm no expert. We have similar problems in the tech industry."
    She slowly replied, "You seem to have done rather well in that industry."
    I blushed. "That's true. I had a lot of advantages, but I tried to make sure that my