The Territory (Josie Gray Mysteries #1)(35)

Pegasus faced the hill, sweat rolling down her neck and between her shoulder blades. It was almost six o’clock and she was irritated, hungry, and her hands were developing blisters from the awkward way she was forced to hold a pistol built for a man. Her fingers weren’t strong enough to pull the carbine back and flip the locking mechanism in place in the smooth motion Kenny had demonstrated a dozen times. She could get it, but she had to hold the gun lopsided, the barrel facing up and out. If speed were an issue, she would be dead before she ever advanced a bullet into the chamber.

“You know how to load and unload the bullets. You’ll never get speed with either of these guns, but they’re the best I’ve got for you. Turn around so I can mix them up again,” he said.

Pegasus turned her back to the tailgate of Kenny’s pickup and faced the hill as he mixed two calibers of bullets and set out both magazines and pistols. They were on a patch of federal land miles from town, where he poached for deer. He had made a crude frame out of two-by-fours he had pulled from a trash pile behind Red’s place. He duct-taped a large trash bag in the middle of the frame for her to shoot at. Masking tape outlined the shape of a man’s head and chest.

After he shuffled the pieces, Kenny said, “Show me a quick load and shoot. No aiming.”

Pegasus turned back to the tailgate and surveyed the guns and bullets.

“You’re in the trailer, by yourself. You see a light outside the door, hear several men’s voices. Talk me through what you do. Go.”

She took a deep breath and surveyed the guns. “I’ll use the Smith and Wesson pistol. The magazine holds ten bullets instead of six. Good if there are several people outside.” She picked up the correct magazine and loaded ten .45-caliber bullets, shoving them into the spring-loaded chamber with quite a bit of effort. She popped the magazine up into the butt of the gun. “I heard the bullet advance. I’m putting my finger just above the trigger and turning to focus on the chest area of the man in front.”

Pegasus pivoted, planted her feet, and brought both hands up in a smooth level motion, aimed at the target, looked over the gun sight, but did not stop to focus.

“Shoot!” Kenny yelled.

She leaned into the shot, tensing her muscles to prepare for the kickback, and pulled the trigger without thinking. The shot landed dead center of the trash bag.

Kenny smiled and patted her on the back. “Nice work, sis. Very nice.”

She laughed out loud.

“How’d it feel?” he asked.

“My ears are still buzzing. The sound’s caught in my head like a bee.”

“And?”

“It felt good. I can do this.”

“Now empty the cartridge into the hillside and watch where the bullets hit. Go.”

Pegasus turned, shot until she fired one empty round. Her ears pounded. She had shot nine bullets but had little sense of where they landed in relation to her aim.

“Eject the magazine into the trunk and load up again,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “It is ninety degrees and I’m hungry. I need a supper break.”

“Damn it, this isn’t a joke! You think the people who stole Red’s guns won’t come back for you?” Kenny had the wide-eyed look that had made her nervous since they were kids. His hair was sweat-soaked, and he looked like he needed a shower. He seemed to realize he was coming on too strong and dropped his voice. “Life is seriously messed up out here. You need to move on if you aren’t willing to prepare.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of both hands and sighed. “I have thirty-six dollars in my purse. Where exactly do you think I’m headed?”

“Then you better get serious. No more screwing around.”

Pegasus looked up at her brother. She was five foot eight and he stood over a foot taller than her, thin, with a swagger she had always admired. She appreciated him checking on her and staying a few days, more than she could ever tell him. He refused to stay in the trailer, or tell her where he was staying, but that was fine. His presence was enough.

Ignoring his lecture, Pegasus quickly reloaded five bullets, spun, and faced the target again, discharging all five rounds. She finished, counted multiple holes within a one-foot radius of the center of the trash bag, and turned back to face Kenny with a look of triumph, her ears now completely numb, her hands tingling and sweaty.

Kenny smiled. “I’d say those son of a bitches ought to think twice before knocking on your door.”

*

Josie sat at Winning’s picnic table with a set of six photos, all taken from basically the same angle. She had started at Red’s house, holding each photo up to compare the picture to the scene in front of her, but the angle was too far to the left. Josie matched up the picnic table just outside Winning’s trailer, and found an exact match with her own digital camera. Red had sat at the table, probably nursing a beer, she imagined, and taken pictures of Winning through her curtainless windows.

Josie’s stomach growled and she realized she had skipped lunch again. She glanced at her watch. At four o’clock, with at least another two hours’ worth of work, there was no way she could pull off lasagna for Dillon by seven. She would settle for spaghetti as a backup and hope she made it to her house before he did. The image of her mother’s car, parked at Manny’s, crossed her mind. Josie just hoped she could hold her off one more day.