Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 Read Online Free PDF Page A

was a pain in the butt, bossing everyone around like he was in charge. It was so boring in there. How come you and Mary don't have to run the practice range?"
    I held back a sigh. "Because we aren't part of the OSA program. We're both employees of the center. Don't you worry, we do plenty of work around here."
    Minx, Mary, and Orion walked up, carrying trays of food, and joined us.
    "Minx, Mary, how did it go?" I gave a nod to Orion but focused on the girls.
    Minx sat down next to Loggin. "Okay. I could do better, but it's fine; indoors has never been my game. But Mary is tearing it up."
    Heads swiveled around to Mary, who shrugged. "I'm doing okay."
    Orion chuckled. "Don't listen to her. Kicking butt and taking names."
    She smiled at him, her cheeks a rosy pink. "Thanks. I made a few dumb mistakes, but this is about the best I can do. I wish I had been training longer, but..." She shrugged and dug into her meal.
    Minx rolled her eyes at Mary then snapped her fingers and pointed at me. "Oh, did everyone wish Di a happy birthday?"
    I slid a carrot stick through the hummus and crunched on it. Hummus was supposed to provide the brain with serotonin to improve brain function, and with the way my brain was performing so far today, I needed it. Eyes swiveled to me, and I gave them a tight smile.
    Minx winked. "She's fifty-four today."
    I tried to swallow my bite of carrot but choked instead. Liam pounded my back until I caught my breath. I wadded up a napkin and threw it at her, but Loggin snatched it out of the air.
    "How old are you?" Mouse asked.
    "Thirty-one," I said.
    "Oh, cool, you totally don't look that old."
    "Because thirty-one's not old." I tried to sound confident, but Mouse looked dubious. This day was not shaping up the way it should.
    Liam chuckled next to me.
    Pants and a group of kids were hesitantly edging toward our tables. I could feel their anxiousness to say something. I turned around in my seat to face them. "Hey, guys, what's up?"
    Pants rushed forward. "Hey, I called my mom, and she said that we can write you a check or something to pay for the Westmound pants you gave me." She was perched on her toes, and she leaned forward, the group behind her pressed close.
    I waved a hand. "No worries."
    The group surged in closer. "I told everyone that you gave me the nickname Pants and... um... we were thinking... maybe... uh..." She shifted on her feet. "They want nicknames," she blurted out.
    The kids around her nodded.
    Minx chuckled. She had given me my nickname, which I hated. "The torch has been passed, Princess."
    "Why don't you guys pick out your own nicknames?" I asked.
    Mouse shook her head. "It's way cooler if your pro name is given to you."
    "Oh," I looked back at the kids. They were a sea of eager faces, each trying to make eye contact as they smiled. "Um, I got nothing right now, but I'll see what I can do." For once, the fact that I was awful at names would work to my benefit. "Hey, if that kid with the plunger issue wants a nickname, I've been thinking of him as Buckle and his dad as Spotting Dad."
    "Awesome!" Pants shouted. "Buckle and Spot?"
    "Sure." I shrugged. Close enough.
    "Sweet! Let's go tell him." Pants practically ran over the girl behind her, and they raced between the tables, their boisterous voices echoing throughout the room.
    I watched them go in little, laughing groups. What a fun way to spend their weekend with their friends on a grand adventure.
    I turned back to the group. "Why do they need pro names? They're not pros."
    "Cause it's fun?" Mouse said. She was not that far removed in age from them.
    "All the archers they look up to have a pro name, even if they don't use it. Right, Bloody Mary?" Minx winked at Mary.
    "Yep. And if you try to avoid it, they'll give you one behind your back. Eh, Lumberjack?" Mary teased Liam.
    Liam rolled his eyes at Mary and kept eating his meatloaf sandwich. I needed to introduce him to the wonders of hummus.
    Jess walked up with a sandwich in her hand.