Jake (Demented Souls #16)

39

J ake handed her his pistol. “Try again with this one.” He’d reloaded it while she’d taken the shots with her own pistol. Her pistol was nice, but he’d rest easier if she had more than just seven rounds. What if she needed more than that?

She shot well enough that with her pistol she could take out three or even four men if that was what she needed to do, but what if they sent eight or ten? Would she have time to take out that many, even if she had enough rounds?

He watched as Lynnie took aim and moved through the targets the same way she had with her pistol.

“How did that feel?” he asked once she’d emptied the weapon, removed the magazine, and set it on the bench.

“Good. Better than I thought it would.”

“In what way?”

She closed her eyes and scrubbed both hands down her face, as if she was trying to clear her mind.

“This is going to sound stupid.”

“Don’t worry about that. Everyone expresses things differently, tell me why it was better than you anticipated.”

“There wasn’t as much build up. You know with each shot there’s vibrations that echo up your arms and through you. After a while it builds up until you’re just done, you can’t take it anymore. I expected the build up from this one to be worse, because there are so many more rounds in it, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

Jake nodded, then tilted his head toward the targets. “Let’s go see how you did.”

As the three of them made their way downrange to the targets, he wondered what it would take to get her to switch pistols. Even if it was just to start carrying his until they got this threat taken care of.

“Wow,” Iceman said, his eyes going wide. “She did even better with your pistol than her own.”

Her cousin wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t noticed himself, and while she’d still been shooting.

They spent another hour or so practicing, burning through the two boxed of ammo he’d brought for each of the pistols, as well as what Iceman had brought for his. Lynnie had shot all three pistols, and had done well with them all.

“Now that you’ve handled and shot the different pistols, if all things were equal, there was no sentimentality about any of them. Which would you choose to keep?” Jake asked as he started the truck to head back to the ranch house.

“Matt’s is too big and too heavy. It doesn’t fit my hand well, so it’s out. I like my little pistol, but I’m thinking it may be because it’s so much like the one Dad gave it to me when I moved out. If I just look at how well they shoot, how they fit in my hand, all that, I’d have to say I liked yours.”

He fought the urge to pump his fist in the air like a teenager. This was only a small victory, he still needed to convince her to take it… and carry it. “If your dad gave you one, why did Matt have to give you this one?”

“I don’t carry it. I never have,” she lifted one shoulder and let it drop, “Its actually at Craig’s. I asked him to put it in his safe a while back and never thought about getting it back.”

“Have you ever carried?”

“As in a pistol? Not on a regular basis. I might wear my holster to go out shooting or to go into a situation I might need it for venomous snakes, but that’s all.” She shrugged, her shoulder bumping into his.

“Would you consider it?” he asked.

She was silent, as was Iceman on her other side. He glanced at her, trying to gauge her reaction, and found a crease between her brow, though she wasn’t frowning.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“A lot. I’m not sure if I can put it all into words.”

“Can you try? Please?” Jake didn’t look at the other man. He wanted to forget he was with them at the moment.

She was staring straight ahead as she opened her mouth, then closed it again. This time she did frown. Then tilted her head and looked at him. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.

“I don’t know. I have nothing against it, but I’m not sure I can wrap my head around me doing it. Can you give me a few minutes to think about it?”

“I can. I can also give you reasons why I’d ask you to, if you want to hear them.”

“Not right now,” she said with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t expecting this, and I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

“Okay,” Jake said with a nod. Then, determined to give her the time she’d asked for, he turned his attention to Iceman. “You starting to get hungry? They should have food ready about the time we get back.”

“I could eat, then I should start gathering stuff up so I can head out this afternoon.”

“You have much to gather?”

“Not really, but I do need to pack up my bedding. I left it open in the back of the truck to get some sunshine and air.”

Jake nodded, realizing that Iceman was coming up with things that would keep him busy and give Jake a chance to talk Heather into carrying a weapon. They would both feel better knowing she was armed, just in case. But Jake was going to give her the time she asked for. How long, he wasn’t sure, but he could wait until at least after lunch.