Chapter 36
Alex
When I return to San Marquez, the first thing I do is stop at a gun range on main street. The man who sold me the gun is right. I need to practice using the gun so I can use it effectively. It’s a matter of life and death.
I walk into the lobby and ask the man behind the counter if they have personal instructors. “We used to, but not anymore. There wasn’t much demand for instructors,” he says. “Sorry.”
“That’s fine,” I say. I guess I’ll have to teach myself. “Can I rent a lane for an hour?”
“Yes, of course,” he says.
After I pay for the lane, the clerk walks me through a door that leads to the shooting alley. It’s a small shooting range with six alleys in total. A middle-aged man occupies the lane at the far end of the room.
The clerk assigns me an alley in the middle of the room and gives me a quick rundown of the rules. Basically, don’t do anything stupid that will hurt me or others around me.
“Any other questions?” he asks me.
“I think I’m good for now. Thank you.”
“Okay, give me a holler if you need anything,” he says before leaving.
I have no idea what I’m doing, so I do what I always do when I want to learn something new. I take out my phone and bring up YouTube. There are a few other texts from Isabella, but I swipe them away without reading them. I feel bad ignoring her, but I’m sure she’ll ask me why I didn’t attend class this morning. I can’t tell her what I’m doing, and I can’t lie to her, not after everything we’ve been through.
I open up YouTube and search for Glock 19 tutorials. Embarrassed, I conceal my phone so the man using the last firing lane won’t see me watching instructional videos.
This is ridiculous, I tell myself as I struggle to load the weapon. Fifteen minutes and a few videos later, the gun is finally loaded and ready to be fired. I even make sure to remove the safety lock.
“Okay,” I exhale. I put the earmuffs on and aim at the paper target at the end of the alley. The drawing on the paper is an outline of a person with various circles around his chest.
I stretch my arm out, keeping it as steady as I can, and close one eye to aim. I take a deep breath and pull the trigger. A blast fills the air, and the gun recoils in my arm, sending a shockwave up my wrist. Startled, I put the gun on the counter and take a step back.
Even with the earmuffs, the blast leaves a ringing in my ears. My heart is racing.
I shake my hands in the air in front of me to rid some of the numbness caused by the shockwave. Instinctively, I look to see if the guy at the end of the alley is looking at me. Nope. He is doing his own thing, unaware of my presence.
“Nice shot,” a familiar voice behind me says. It’s not until I turn around that I realize who it is. He smiles and says, “I thought that was your car parked outside. You’re not planning on shooting my brother, are you?”
“No,” I say, removing the earmuffs.
Santiago and a young woman stand a few feet away. Her arms are wrapped around his waist. “Then who?”
“Nobody,” I say, “It’s just for…protection.”
He gives me a look that I often see on Alonzo’s face. He’s studying me.
“In that case, I can give you some pointers,” he says. “Melanie, do you mind?”
The girl removes her arm from around him, and Santiago steps forward. He points at the paper target at the end of the alley. My eyes turn to where he’s pointing, and for the first time, I realize I almost hit the smallest, innermost circle.
“Are you left-handed or right-handed?” Santiago asks.
“Right-handed.”
“Okay, well, you were holding the grip with your left hand. Hold it with your right hand and use your left to manage the recoil.”
I blink at him. Is Alonzo’s brother really teaching me how to shoot a gun?
“Go on,” he says. “Give it a try.”
I put the earmuffs back on and hold the gun the way he tells me. I aim at the target and shoot. My shot is worse than before, but the recoil isn’t as bad as the first time.
I sigh.
“That’s fine,” Santiago says. “Your first shot was probably a lucky shot. Practice the way I told you. The more you shoot, the better you’ll get.”
“Thanks,” I say. I don’t have time to practice the ‘proper’ way, so I’ll have to shoot Jacob whichever way feels more natural in the moment.
“No problem,” he says. “I’m sure Alonzo can teach you more if you ask him.”
Not after our exchange yesterday .
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say.
Santiago watches me fire a few more shots. They're not any better than my first shot, but at least they’re not worse than my second.
“Santiago, honey, can we go someplace else? I’m bored and hungry,” Melanie says.
Santiago rolls his eyes. “Yeah, we better go. Catch you later, Alex.” They leave with locked arms, but something tells me she means nothing to Santiago. He’s just like Alonzo, hopping from one girl to another .
I fire a few more shots at the target and stop before my hour is up. I burned through most of the ammo like the old man said I would, but that’s fine. I still have a box of ammo left, and I only really need one bullet to kill Jacob. Two at most.
I pack my things and leave the range.
That’s it.
Jacob is going to die tonight.
???
I pull into The Den’s parking lot two hours before the start of my shift. The club is mostly empty around this time, which increases my chances of walking out of here alive.
Still, Sammy is probably standing outside Jacob’s office like always. I’ll have to run out of Jacob’s office as soon as I shoot him dead…I may even have to shoot Sammy as well, which I don’t want to do, but I will if I have to.
I hide my gun in my purse and walk to the club’s entrance. Two reapers stand guarding the door. They stare at me from head to toe and step aside. Everybody who walks into the club is checked for weapons, except the dancers. Jacob underestimates women. That will be his downfall.
As I expected, the club is mostly empty. A few reapers sit at the bar, where Alice serves them beer. There can’t be more than six or seven reapers in total in the club.
“Alex! You’re here early!” Alice says when she sees me.
“Jacob wants to see me before my shift,” I lie. “Is he in his office?”
“Yeah, he’s been locked in there for a while.”
“Cool. I guess I’ll go talk to him.”
“Do you want me to serve you a beer?”
“Maybe after I see Jacob,” I say.
“I’ll have your glass ready,” she says, turning to top off someone’s glass.
Sure enough, Sammy stands tall at the back of the club, between Jacob’s office and the dancer’s room. His eyes follow me across the club until I’m standing in front of him. Deja vu .
“Is Jacob available?” I ask Sammy.
“You’re here early,” he says.
“Is Jacob available?” I ask again, squeezing my purse tightly against my chest.
Sammy looks at me with a stern face. “Wait here,” he says.
He knocks at Jacob’s door and steps inside, closing the door behind him. A few seconds later, he comes back out and lets me in. Jacob looks up at me from behind his desk.
“Come right in, sweetheart,” Jacob says.
I step inside and close the door. Every step I take feels heavier than the last.
“Your shift doesn’t start for another two hours,” Jacob looks at his watch. “You couldn’t wait to see me, huh?”
“I wanted to ask you about my mom,” I say, buying time so I can figure out how I’m going to kill him and get out of here alive.
Jacob rolls his eyes. “That same old story.”
“I want to see her this weekend.”
Jacob throws his hands in the air. “We already had this conversation. You’ll get what you want after I get what I want.”
He pushes his chair from under his desk and opens his legs, grabbing his crotch area.
“Go on,” he says. “You know what I want. Get on your knees.”
I walk around his desk and look down at him. This is it. I’m so close to him that I can’t miss.
“What’s with the face? At least pretend you’re into it,” Jacob scoffs. “Get on your knees and—”
Before he can finish his sentence, I reach into my purse, pull out the gun, and point it at him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asks. He puts his hands up to shield his terrified face. “Put that fucking thing away before you get hurt.”
“You’re a sick fuck. I let so many things slide by, but then you went after my mom,” I say. My heart races in my chest. “That was your biggest mistake. I should have told the cops everything I know about your operation when I had the chance.”
Anger replaces the fear in Jacob’s eyes. “You were the fucking rat? Wow, that fucking beaner. No wonder he was stalling.”
I don’t know what Jacob is talking about, but I don’t care. I’ve said everything I needed to say to him. Taking a deep breath, I aim the gun at the gaps between his fingers.
“Hold on! I’ll let your mom go. Just put the fucking gun down!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Sammy!” Jacob yells as he reaches for the gun.
I pull the trigger. The blast rings in my ears as Jacob collapses back in his chair.
A split second later, the door slams open, and Sammy runs toward me. I turn and shoot him, but even two bullets can’t bring him down. He opens his arms and tackles me to the ground.
The whole world spins around me.
The next thing I know, Sammy is pinning me down on the floor. His bloody chest trickles blood onto my shirt.
With a grunt, Jacob rises from his chair with a hand over his bloody shoulder.
“You really fucked up big time, Alex!”