Page 68 of Hidden Depths

She dropped her head.

“Sara, come on. Don’t keep doing this.”

“I know.”

He bent over with a grunt and swiped Dutch’s gun off the floor, then dropped the magazine before racking the slide to eject the bullet from the chamber.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“You ever fired a weapon?”

“No.”

“This goes against just about every regulation, so don’t tell anyone I gave this to you. But I want you to be properly armed.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? If there are regulations against it, then maybe we should follow those.”

“These are not ordinary circumstances, and we have limited resources. If I had a team down here, I’d have someone escort you to Peter, but I can’t wait for anyone else. You need to go now if you can. When you get to Peter, you can give the gun to him. He’ll know what to do with it.”

“What am I supposed to do with it while I have it? I told you I’ve never used one.”

He took the barrel in his hand and held the grip end out to her, but she hesitated.

“It’s not loaded,” he said. “But you still don’t aim it at anyone unless you intend to shoot them.”

She sucked in a breath, then took it. “What’s the point of aiming it if it has no bullets? Am I supposed to throw it if I feel threatened?”

“No. If you need to use it, you’ll load it first, then pull the trigger.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Let’s find out. First, grab the slide on top of the gun, and hold it firm.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. I need to make sure you can load it.” He waited until she did as he asked. “Good. Now, instead of trying to pull back on the slide, I want you to push forward with your other hand on the grip. Once that’s done, release the slide.”

She did.

“Perfect. That’s how you arm your weapon.”

“Where’s the safety?” she said, checking either side of the barrel.

“There isn’t one.”

“What? I thought all guns had them.”

“They don’t.”

“They should.”

“You want a safety?” He held up his index finger and wiggled it, “Your trigger finger is your safety. Don’t put it on the trigger until you’re ready to fire.”

“No pressure,” she mumbled.

“You’ll be fine. Now, I’ll show you how to hold it.”

He positioned her hands so both gripped the weapon, then rested her finger on the side of the frame. “This is where your finger stays until you’re ready to shoot.”

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