It's About the Hit: A Cheer Moms Mystery - Book 5 (Cheer Moms Mysteries)


 
 
 
 IT’S ABOUT THE HIT
 A CHEER MOMS MYSTERY - BOOK 5
 
 
 
 
 L.C. TURNER
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONTENTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A Message from L.C. Turner
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thanks for Reading
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Friends and Foes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 About the Author
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Also by L.C. Turner
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A MESSAGE FROM L.C. TURNER
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hello, and thank you for deciding to read my book!
 
 
 
 Welcome to the world of competitive cheerleading! If you don’t know anything about it and are curious, try a Google search and be prepared to be amazed. These athletes are a far cry from the usual high school cheerleader.
 
 
 
 My daughter has been involved in competitive cheer since she was little and, as with all organized sports, some parents can get a little… over the top. One day, killing time while my daughter practiced, I started thinking about a cozy mystery set in the world of cheer. Since I’m a writer, it’s sometimes an occupational hazard to see murder and mayhem everywhere. Anyway, that’s how this series was born. I do hope you enjoy it!
 
 
 
 Want to connect with me?
 
 
 
 
 Join my exclusive Facebook reader group
 
 
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 Happy Reading,
 
 
 
 Laina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T
 he parents’ viewing room at the gym of my daughter’s cheerleading team, The Aces of Cherry City, was full of activity as I waited for the start of practice. We were at the last practice before competing for the weekend, which would not only be the last cheer competition of the year, but the championship competition that would determine who won the entire season. The Aces of Cherry City were in first place coming into the weekend, but it didn’t matter how well they had done all season. What mattered was how well they did at this final competition because previous scores did not count and all teams would start from zero, essentially giving everyone a fair shot at the championship.
 “Abby, can you believe the season is almost over?” Stephanie, one of the other cheer moms and my friend, said. We were all sitting together as we typically did while watching our girls—me, Stephanie, Jenny, and Diane. Prior to the season, I had been friendly with the cheer moms but not friends, if you get what I’m saying. But some crazy events that we had experienced together over these last few months had brought a new depth to our relationship. We’d been through murders, a missing teen, a judging scandal… you name it, we had seen it. So where I previously sat begrudgingly watching my daughter practice for three hours, I now welcomed the chance to socialize with the other cheer moms.
 “I know. It’s one of those things that seems like it’s lasting forever when you are doing it. But then when it’s over, it seems like it went fast,” I said. The other women nodded their heads in agreement.
 “Yes!” Jenny pumped her fist in the air as we watched her daughter land her tumbling pass. “She’s been struggling all season to do that move and has been taking extra tumbling lessons. I am so happy to see they are finally paying off.”
 “She looked amazing out there. You would never know that she’d been struggling,” I said.
 “All our girls make this look really easy, which, if you ask me, is why cheerleading doesn’t get nearly the respect it deserves,” Diane said with just a hint of bitterness to her tone.
 I totally understood her sentiment. Most people thought cheerleading was just jumping around on a football field, yelling a variation of ‘go, team, go’ and shaking some pom-poms. Some cheerleading was just that, and those cheerleaders also deserved credit for what they did, but the world of competitive cheer was much different.
 The grueling practices, the girls flipping their bodies every which way on their tumbling passes, and the insane stunts made me happy Abby was a base and not the flyer. I didn’t think I could stand to see her body flying through the air, hoping to get caught on the way down. Not that she was without injury. She had had two concussions and even had a few teeth knocked loose after getting kicked in the face when someone came down from a stunt. Competitive cheerleading was not a sport to be treated lightly. I had always known that, but this season, as I’d become more involved, I realized even more how rough it was. These girls were fierce athletes