Jake (Demented Souls #16)

38

H eather had been nervous about the trip to the range, or maybe the term makeshift range was a better fit. But thankfully, neither Matt, nor Aaron had treated her like a brainless idiot, which she’d found happened way too often when she went with a guy to the range.

And while the range wasn’t a professional setup, she’d been impressed. They had benches at the long-range section for rifles and gong style targets at preset distances. For pistols, they had spinner targets at the preset ranges commonly used for the shorter ranges. Aaron had brought out a package of ringed paper targets and a roll of tape to attach them with.

After he’d gotten targets taped up, Aaron had made sure they all had everything they needed, including ear and eye protection, then they’d lined up and taken their shots.

Heather was focused on what she was doing, lining up the target and maintaining her aim while squeezing the trigger, then lining it back up and starting all over again. She tuned out what the guys were doing, only focusing on her own target, and trying to keep her grouping tight. When she finished her magazine, she relaxed her stance, rolling her shoulders and looking around to find Matt was just finishing his shots and Aaron had dropped the magazine out of his pistol and was in the process of reloading while he waited. She released her clip and set the pistol down on the table in front of her, where she’d set the box of shells Aaron had given her when they’d arrived. She didn’t know where they’d come from, but she’d replace them before she left.

When Matt finished, he popped his magazine free, set both pieces on the table in front of him then looked up at her.

“Are we ready to go check the targets?” Matt asked.

“I am.” She turned to Aaron on her other side. “You going too or going to hang back?”

“Let’s go.”

Aaron picked up a stack of targets and the roll of tape and they each went to the target they’d been using, and pulled down the paper targets. Heather was still looking at hers, all seven shots were in about a five-inch grouping, which she thought was pretty good, when both men brought theirs over to where she stood so they could compare. She looked over at Matt’s and saw that he had what looked like twice as many holes in his than she did, not surprising since she was using a smaller pistol that only held seven in the magazine while his was much bigger. His grouping wasn’t as tight, without measuring she’d guess maybe an eight-inch spread.

She didn’t say anything, just nodded, and turned to look at Aaron’s target. His had more holes than hers, but not as many as Matt, making her wonder what the guys were shooting, or at least how many rounds they each held. But his shots were all in a smaller circle than hers.

“You must practice a lot.” She nodded toward Aaron’s target.

“A bit. Not so much now as I once did.”

“Not enough time to shoot as much as you once did?” Matt asked.

Aaron shook his head. “Nah. Not required to spend as much time at the range. When I was in the Army one of the things I did for a while was range duty. Where I had to watch everyone, make sure they weren’t being stupid, and no one got hurt.”

Matt winced. “Bet that was fun. I’ve heard a lot of recruits these days have never even touched a gun, much less fired one.”

“That’s not the term I would have used, but I will say it’s not an experience I want to repeat.” He tilted his head toward the targets. “We want to put these up on the twenty-five yards targets or stay here on the fifteen?”

“I’m good either way,” Heather said, “so I’ll leave it up to you two.” She folded her target into quarters while she waited for them to decide.

“Actually, how about we move in a bit and go for the seven-yard ones. It will be good practice just in case you end up needing to aim for something closer,” Aaron said.

She turned and looked at him, narrowing her eyes as she waited to see if he would actually say what she knew was his motivation. He wanted to see how she handled something closer, because she might have to if someone came after her for the reward.

Could she shoot another human being? She’d thought that very question many times since Daddy taught her to shoot, and since she’d started carrying the pistol in the truck all the time. Mostly it was for emergencies, like an animal that needed to be put down in a hurry, but when she knew men were looking for her, she’d thought about it again.

If it was them or her, knowing what would likely happen to her if she were ‘property’ of the club Mitch had given her to, she could definitely shoot someone to keep that from happening.

To be sure she could manage to hit whoever came her way, she wanted as much practice as she could get.

They mounted the targets on the seven yard spinners, then went back to the tables where their weapons waited for them. Matt started reloading his magazine, and Heather started to do the same, but Aaron picked up his pistol, and turned to her.

“I noticed how your pistol kicks. I want you try this one,” Aaron said holding the pistol flat in one hand, the magazine in the other.

“Are you trying to sell me on another gun?”

He shrugged. “I just want to see how you handle it. You might find you like it better than yours. Or not. Either way it’s an experience. And you’ll have fun trying something new.”

She watched him for the space of two breaths, wondering if he was up to something or she was just suspicious today. Deciding she had nothing to lose she took the pistol, shifted her grip slightly, noticing how well it fit her hand. Better than she’d thought it would given that it was bigger than hers. When she was ready, she took the magazine from Aaron and shoved it into place, then racked the slide to chamber a round. After glancing at both Matt and Aaron to make sure neither had stepped out in front of the firing line, she took aim, flicked the safety off with her thumb and fired at the target.

She didn’t say anything as she retrained her sights on the target and fired again. And again. She repeated over and over until the pistol clicked when she squeezed the trigger. She hadn’t bothered to count her shots, because she didn’t know how many rounds were in it to begin with.

After thumbing the magazine release, she caught it as it fell, and laid both Aaron’s pistol and the magazine on the table. Then looked up to find him watching her, a ghost of a smile curling his lips.

“What?” she asked.

His gaze played down her face a moment before returning to hers. “You.”

“What about me?” She frowned.

“The way you smile, the way that crease forms between your brows as you concentrate, that look of determination you get when you set your mind to something. All of it.”

She blinked, not seeing what he was getting at, then shook her head dismissing it as she turned to look at the target a little over twenty feet away.

“I didn’t do too bad. Especially for an unfamiliar weapon.”

“Not bad?” Matt said from her other side. “I think you did damn good.”

She turned enough to see him, and found his pistol unloaded and laying on the table in front of him. He motioned down range, and together they walked out to the targets. She tilted her head as she tried to decide how she felt about this round. Aaron was right, it wasn’t bad for an unfamiliar weapon, but could she do better with her own? She wasn’t sure. And she did like that if she had to use it for self-defense, she would have more rounds.

She shook her head, pushing that thought out of her mind as she pulled down the target and replaced it with another. Lost in her own thoughts, she turned and went back to the shooting line, not paying attention to what the guys were doing or even if they were talking to each other. She folded the used target and set it on top of the first one on the bench to dispose of later. She didn’t want to leave trash out here for someone else to have to clean up later.

Still lost in her own thoughts, Heather went back to reloading her pistol, even if she wasn’t going to shoot it more, it needed to be reloaded.

“All right. You ready for the next round?” Aaron’s voice made her look up to find both men had returned, and she hadn’t even noticed. If they had been coming to take her back to Alabama, she’d have been in trouble. She needed to get her head out of her ass and pay attention to what was going on around her.

“Sure, what do you have in mind?” She lifted one brow, sure from the glint in his eye that he had something else he wanted her to do.

“Let’s do this, I want you to go for both accuracy and speed, but you’re not going to aim for just the one target. I want you to switch targets with every shot.” Aaron paused.

Heather scowled at him, then looked toward the targets then over at Matt, who watched them, but didn’t say anything.

“I can do that. Which pistol do you want me to use?”

“How about you start with yours, we mark those holes, then you do it again with mine?”

“Okay.” She finished loading her magazine, glanced at the guys to make sure they were behind the firing line, then loaded the magazine into the pistol and prepared to start shooting. “Do you care what order I do them in or just a different target each shot?”

“Any order you want, but remember you’re going for both accuracy and speed.”

She started on the left, drew a bead on that target fired, then twisted her body just enough to line up her sights with the center target, then the one on the right. Instead of going back to the one on the left, she went to the center next, then the one on the left. By the time she’d emptied her pistol the targets on either side had been hit twice, but the one in the center had three holes in the paper.

Heather looked from one target to another as they approached, thinking she’d done pretty well. There weren’t as many holes to judge the grouping as when she’d been aiming at a single target, but she’d been within three inches of center on every shot.

“How do you plan to mark them?” Matt asked as they approached.

“With this.” Aaron pulled a black marker from the back pocket of his jeans and drew a line through each hole on the paper, then went to the next target and did the same. When he was finished with the third target, they walked together back to the firing line. Heather still wasn’t sure why they were doing this, but she was enjoying herself, so she decided to just go with it and have fun.