Death on the Range: Target Practice Mysteries 1 Read Free

month about this job, I was all, ‘Wah wah, it’s too much work, and I can’t possibly move, get a new job, and get divorced at the same time.’ And do you remember what you said?”
    Jess mumbled from behind her arm, so I leaned over the desk, lifted her arm off her face briefly, then raised my voice. “I can’t hear you.”
    She threw her arm off her face to reveal a smirk. “I said that you were awesome, strong, blah blah blah and could do anything. I’d be here to help.”
    “Yes, that blah blah blah got me through some hard times. If I can pick up my crumbling life mid-divorce, then you can manage your ‘too much money and opportunities’ problem.”
    “Have you been talking to someone?”
    I knew she was asking about the divorce. “No, I decided to handle it differently. I’m going to ignore it and pretend it isn’t happening. That’s why I’m paying a lawyer; it’s her job to worry about things.”
    A tiny frown formed on Jess’s face as she softened her voice. “Oh, Di, I really think—”
    “I’m a WASP; it’s the way of my people to bottle things up.” Jess stared at me while I fought against the urge to fill the air with explanations. The moment stretched out painfully until I felt like it would snap back at me. I attempted to break the moment by changing topics. “What the heck am I supposed to do here?”
    Jess straightened in her seat with a startled exclamation. “I almost forgot. Next Monday you will join the department head meeting. Everyone is excited to meet you. They are off putting together projects to use you. That’s why I had to rush over and remind you of your allegiance to me.”
    She gave me a dramatic wink before continuing.
    “Here is your basic meeting schedule. The first is with the outside tech company we are using; they should be able to get you whatever it is you need. The rest of the meetings are with various center employees so they can let you know what their department needs. You are going to have a lot of down time, so feel free to spend the rest moving into employee housing, buying what you need, and if there is any time left over, you can start learning about the sports represented here. The bottom of the schedule has a half dozen links. That will keep you busy until we start coach training at the end of the week.”
    I looked at the sheet. Everything seemed pretty clear cut.
    Jess started to rise, but I had one more question. “What about Moo?”
    At the mention of his name, he looked up at me and yawned. His mouth was wide enough to eat a whole loaf of bread in one bite, and his tongue flopped out. I patted my thigh, and he crawled out of the chair and walked over to me. He stood next to my chair and abruptly shifted all of his weight to my side, causing the chair to slam into the desk. I braced my feet on the ground and gave his rump a good scratch. “Do I need to let him out or anything?”
    Jess looked at the now vacated chair with its drool spots and copious dog hair and lifted her upper lip in disgust. “Nah, just don’t lock him in here, and he’ll be fine. He has a doggy door to an enclosed run on the far side of the building. He’s our easiest employee.”
    She gave me one last hug and left me to get settled into my first new job in eight years.

CHAPTER TWO
    The week flew by as I settled into a new pattern and life. Mary had been thrilled to escort me to the nearest mall to pick up athletic clothes that met the dress code of the center and Wyoming winter jackets and shoes. A quick trip to the pet store while in town had ended in a dog bed, snacks, a water bowl, and a few toys. Moo didn’t belong to me, but he seemed to think it was his duty to spread dog hair over every inch of my office. The chair he had claimed as his own was discolored from his drool and starting to creak when he crawled into it. I encouraged him to stay off it before it collapsed and instead use his new dog bed (in the shape of a heart, because it came with an adorable