Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 (12 page)

I grabbed my notebook with the list of things to cover: sponsorship is not free, it's about helping a company sell products, it requires additional time commitment so parents need to be on board, watch your conduct, have a truthful resume prepared.

I cleared my throat and waited until I had most eyes swiveled in my direction. There was no going back now.

"Hello, I'm Di. This is a short presentation on things to consider for youth seeking archery sponsorship, but it is applicable to adults in most cases."

I looked around the group, trying to make eye contact with a variety of people as I spoke. A few gentlemen sat in back, their arms crossed over their bellies. Reverse Mullet Mom had her phone pointed at me. Davey Jones, who had shot on my target yesterday, gave me a tiny smile when I caught her eyes. She was pale, with her shoulders rolled forward. Another father had pulled out his phone and appeared to be recording.

I fell back on my years of presenting at computer meetings. I tried to keep the information clean and tight. I ran through the goals of sponsorship and moved on to my second point on the list. I spoke with my hands and kept my shoulders back to give off an aura of confidence as I continued to the next bulleted point.

A few parents nodded or looked surprised then thoughtful when I pointed out the additional responsibilities on the archers and their parents. The next idea was on the need for appropriate tournament and online conduct when an archer represents a company. I was just wrapping up that point and about to address the final point on my list, a resume, when a teenage boy interrupted me.

"But lots of archers get away with bad behavior at tournaments and online all the time, and they're successful." He flicked his head to the side, shaking the bangs out of his eyes, then smirked at a friend next to him.

My mouth hung open for a few seconds, still mid-word.

Liam stood and addressed the room. "That's a great question, and if Di doesn't mind, I'd like to answer it." He looked at me and waited for my reply.

I smiled gratefully. "I think that is an excellent idea."

He turned to the boy, who looked a little less confident. "You are right. There are professional archers that act up at tournaments: throw their bows, cuss out officials, post tirades online, or just act like all-around jerks--but I don't assume they get away with it. Many contracts haven't been renewed for athletes that prove to be unreliable. Companies won't publicly say what is going on behind closed doors, but I can personally say that many private conversations go on after a public meltdown."

He turned back to me, nodded, and sat down.

"Thank you, Liam. As I was saying, you'll want to have a resume ready." I continued through the last point while checking the clock. It was taking slightly longer than anticipated. "Thank you, and to those competing, strong shots."

A few people applauded while the rest left, I assumed to practice or prepare for the afternoon line of shooting.

Reverse Mullet Mom bore down on me like a freight train, dragging Pants and a girl with a side pony tail behind her. "We really want to get over to the practice range."

I check the list. I had a meeting set with Patricia Pedderson with chaperone Sally Johnston, followed by Marie Johnston and mother Sally Johnston. "Then let's get started right now."

I gestured to the table we had been using for the earlier meetings. I sat down and waited for everyone to settle in. Liam dragged his chair back to the table while Reverse Mullet Mom found another chair.

I reached across the table for the two resumes on the table. "I'll start with Patricia, or would you prefer Pants? Why do you deserve to be sponsored?" I smiled at her.

She gave her answer, and Liam pointed out areas that she could include or expand on. I nodded knowingly, hoping that I gave the appearance of competence.

Once her time was up, I moved on to the next archer, the girl with the side ponytail. "Marie, why do you deserve to be sponsored?"

As she gave her answer, I realized she was the same girl that Coach Ron had filmed the day prior, and her mother was the one who had threatened to kill him. I was eager to ask all three of them about their experience with Coach Ron, but in the meantime I nodded while I thought.

Pants had a great motive. He had picked on her, and basically she was alone. Sally might be her chaperone, but the fact that Pants had referred to her as Mrs. Johnston meant they weren't family. Maybe Sally wouldn't have noticed if Pants wandered away and had a confrontation with Coach Ron.

But Side Pony Marie and Reverse Mullet Sally had the same motive: Coach Ron had videotaped Side Pony Marie and put it up online. Why had he done that? And Reverse Mullet Sally had threatened to kill him, plus she'd called him a name. It wasn't just a general name like "jerk"; it had an additional connotation to it, but what was it? Cheater? No, it was something sleazy. Perv! She'd called him a perv. Had she called him that because of the video, or was it how she had thought of him from before?

Liam gave a final comment then kicked me under the table.

"How are you both doing? I know that yesterday was a crazy day, lots of excitement." I softened my tone, hoping it sounded concerned and sympathetic.

Marie with the side pony shrugged. "Okay, I guess. The tournament was cool, but Mom screaming at Coach Ron was kinda upsetting."

"Sorry, sweetie." Her mom placed a hand on Marie's shoulder. "I know it embarrassed you, but he had to take the video down. It was inappropriate."

Pants leaned forward on her chair. "I had a great time. I got new pants and a new nickname. Everyone is totally jealous."

I smiled. I was so glad that I could have helped her when she needed it, especially given how appreciative she was. "Was he always like that?"

"He was a jerk to everyone, but he especially didn't like me. He really wanted me and a bunch of other compound shooters to join his YAP, but I went for a weekend seminar, and we didn't get along. He was touching me all the time, moving my head or arm or stuff. I hate being touched, even by my family. My mom says that I have a very definite personal space bubble." She giggled. "I kept telling him that I got it, but he grabbed my chin again to move it and I told him not to touch me. That I could do it just fine if he showed me. He totally flipped out. He didn't like my attitude or back talk and was yelling that a good coach has to touch his students and how dare I imply otherwise. Mrs. Strates, Becky's mom, she owns the store, she came in and got me and let me call my mom to pick me up early. They refunded my money as well."

I gasped. "That's awful. I'd be so upset."

"I was. And embarrassed. Ever since then, if we're at the same tournament, he's been on my case for every little stupid thing."

"Come on, girls, let's get to the practice range." Reverse Mullet Mom, Sally Johnston, stood up and returned the chair she had been using to its table. "What do you say to Miss Di and Mister Liam?"

In unison the girls replied, "Thank you."

I stood up. "Sally, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Girls, go on, I'll be right behind you." After the girls left, she turned to me. "Yes?"

I was going out on a limb here, but maybe if I implied I already knew something, she would agree. "Something's bothering me. People have said some things about Coach Ron, and you called him a perv for filming your daughter." I said "things" slowly with lots of meaning.

She stepped in closer and lowered her voice. "I don't know anything for a fact, but I didn't like the way he looked at or touched his female students and there was something off about his relationship with Becky."

"Overly attached?"

"Something like that. There was something about their relationship that set off my mom alarm. That's part of the reason it freaked me out so much when he took videos of my daughter."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"What could I say? That he made me uncomfortable? That I got a bad vibe? He didn't technically
do
anything. You know how it is. Thanks for talking to the girls."

After she was gone, I sat next to Liam. "This is not good."

"What happened now?"

"Everything I'm hearing is leading me in the direction that Coach Ron was up to something funny with Becky and maybe some other female students."

Liam leaned back. "Really? I've never heard this."

"I don't have proof yet, but my gut instinct is that something is off. We only have two appointments left. Next is son David Ruben, he's over there in the visor, and Dad, Bob Ruben. The dad is the one that told Sally, the mother from the last meeting, that Coach Ron had filmed her daughter. Then Coach Ron kicked them out of his YAP."

"Are you guys ready for us?" Dad Bob and son David were hovering a few tables over. "I don't want to rush you but..."

"No rush. I was just telling Liam about that whole video fiasco yesterday with Coach Ron."

Bob shook his head as he sat down. "What a mess. I don't regret telling Sally, though. She doesn't allow her daughter on Facebook yet. I knew she'd have a fit that a video of Marie was up, especially with Coach Ron's comments."

"What were Coach Ron's comments?"

"First you need to know that some of the pro archers do this thing where they flip their arrows around before loading the bow. Nothing against the rules, but some people think it's showboating and unnecessary."

"By some people, do you mean Coach Ron?"

"Exactly. David was shooting next to Marie, and Marie was flipping her arrow around. Coach Ron recorded it and put it online with his critique. Something about this being the problem with archers today, wasting their time on show versus performance. He went on about how his students would never do this kinda thing."

"I don't get it. She spun an arrow? Why's that so bad?"

"That's the whole thing, it wasn't. Some people are too stuffy. These are kids. And making fun of kids online is wrong. I had gone outside to grab a cell signal and text my wife when some friends messaged me. I looked at the video and knew it was out of line. I came inside and told Sally. I didn't expect her to explode like that, but I can't blame her."

"And he kicked you guys out of the program?" That was their strongest motive.

"He said that, but we weren't really in the program to kick out. We both shoot at the range in the store, and no way would Bertha Strates ban us from the store just because of Coach Ron, no matter how much attention Coach Ron paid her daughter."

"Did you ever see anything weird happen between Coach Ron and Becky?"

"No, of course--" he started to say when his son cut him off.

"Yeah, he grabbed her butt once."

His father reared around to face him. "He
what
? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You and Mom were gone. It was last summer when I stayed with my buddies. I left something at the range and went back to get it a few hours later. I walked in on Coach Ron working with Becky, and he had his hands all over her."

"Do you mean like correcting her form?" I asked, hoping for Becky's sake that was all he meant.

"It didn't look like that to me. He yelled at me to leave and said if I told anyone he'd make sure I was banned from the range for lying."

His dad's jaw was hanging open. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I told you that Coach Ron was gross," David shot back.

"I just thought... You should have told me exactly... We'll talk about this at home."

I interrupted. "I think you need to tell the police about this. Let me go find them."

The dad nodded at me. His face was white. "Yes, thank you."

I felt sick as I stood up. I had an uneasy feeling that Coach Ron might have had something inappropriate going on with Becky. I stumbled into the hall and ran into Brian.

"I've got some bad news. In there." I turned and pointed to where David and Bob were sitting. "They told me that they saw Coach Ron touch one of his students, Becky, over the summer. They're waiting to talk to the police about it. Becky and her mom are here, too."

He rubbed his hand across his face. "Okay. The police are in the conference room over by Jess's office. I'll take them down there."

I waved at David and Bob to join us, then after they left I sat back down with Liam. "I feel just sick."

Liam put a hand on my back and rubbed it softly. "It's better that it came out now. If Becky Tasered him to protect herself, then I'm sure the police will take that into account."

"What?" Davey Jones, the young girl from my target, was staring at me with large eyes and a white face.

"Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't have heard that. Don't worry about it. It doesn't have anything to do with you." But what if it did? Davey's mom had said that Davey used to attend Coach Ron's program until the new school year started.

"What's going on? Are you okay, CarolAnn?" Davey Jones's mother took one look at Davey and sat her down then looked at us, waiting for an explanation.

I took a deep breath, trying to pick my words carefully. "It appears that Coach Ron might have been inappropriate with a female student."

Davey's mother, Megan, gasped and went white. Liam raced to her side and placed a hand under her elbow to steer her to a chair.