Free Death at the Trade Show: Target Practice Mysteries 3 by Nikki Haverstock Page B

see if I can dig up any more dirt for you two.” He trotted around us with a, “Hi, I’m Loggin. How can I help you, sir?”
    ***
    We were late for lunch as we left the second trade show hall and headed back to the booth. There were lines of people in the food court between the second and main halls. We had a busy morning after leaving Andersson Archery. We had spent more than an hour at the first optics company, Focal Optics. We got some catalogues, tried the products, and met some of the salespeople. After that we ran into Sarah from the OIT Show, and Mary told her we would do the article on how hunting shows are made and asked if she could set up a meeting for us.
    The rest of the morning had passed quickly as we took Moo for a walk outside then gave the second exhibit hall a once-over. It was mostly the newer and smaller companies. My arms were loaded down with catalogues that had been foisted on me by eager salespeople.
    Something caught my attention, and I stopped.
    “Di. Mary,” a male voice called, and I turned to spot Indy, a young adult I had met last month at the Summit.
    “Hey, Indy. Are you here with your dad?” Indy was Cold’s son, and I looked around to see if he was lurking somewhere.
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he took off with Kandi somewhere. Where are you guys going? I’ll go with you.” He sneered at Kandi’s name, and I couldn’t blame him. He then gave Mary and me a gangly hug and fell into step beside us.
    “We have a lunch meeting.” I felt bad for him. He had driven me nuts last month, but he was so much like a floppy-eared puppy, especially with his bangs sliding over his eyes as he walked. He was only a few years younger than Mary, but he felt much younger than that.
    “Cool. Hey, is Minx here?” He wedged between Mary and me, looking back and forth between us.
    “No,” I shook my head. “She’s moving to the center this week. What have you been up to?”
    “I’m gonna help Dad filming this season. He really needs me.” His face lit up. Cold might be a jerk to us, but it seemed like he was a good father. “But stupid Kandi has been getting in the way. She’s nothing but trouble.” He muttered under his breath as he tripped on the base of the doorway heading into the main exhibit hall.
    “Oh?”
    “Totally. This is our project, and she keeps wedging herself into it. She’s self-centered and just using Dad.”
    I shrugged; that definitely sounded like Kandi. “Sorry, buddy. What are you working on this weekend?”
    “We’re getting new product videos to put up on dad’s website, but Kandi has decided that she should do the interviewing. She talks too fast and talks over the people. She’s a hag. They go out drinking every night until late, so I’m stuck in the room alone. Luckily, she’s not in our room. We filmed the opening ceremony and concert for the OIT Association, so they provided the room.”
    Mary leaned in. “You have footage of the opening ceremony? Do you think you could get us a copy without your dad knowing?”
    “Totally. Yeah, I could do that for you guys.” He smiled widely.
    He was so eager to please. “Thanks, Indy. Why don’t we treat you to lunch tomorrow as a thank you?”
    He ducked his head and cast his eyes at the ground. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, cool.”
    We approached the Westmound booth, and I spotted Liam and Orion hanging around and waved. We walked over, and Indy practically fell over himself.
    “Hi, Orion. Hi, Liam. Hey, I’m really sorry that I had to pull my OSA application. Living at the Westmound Center would be the coolest, but Dad really needs me to help this season, and he’s really counting on me. But I hope to one day be able to apply, and I don’t want you to think I’m some buttmunch or something.” He spoke quickly, rushing to get it all out in one breath.
    Liam chuckled and clapped Indy on the shoulder. “No problem, man.”
    Indy burst into another monologue, this time asking about new products with questions he