Page 74 of Pied Sniper

“The range has its own parking lot.”

“And we couldn’t find a place,” I pointed out. “Maybe they came here to practice?”

Solomon made a noise but I wasn’t sure if it were a grunt of annoyance or a huff of acknowledgment for the worrying possibility that the kidnappers practiced target shooting at his friend’s range. Rather than ask him to clarify, we headed inside and walked up to the reception desk.

“Is Clay Olson around? He’s expecting me,” said Solomon.

“I’ll get him for you,” said the woman behind the desk. She leaned into the doorway a few steps beyond her and called his name. A moment later, a stocky man with tattoos sleeving his arms all the way up stepped out. His face split into a broad smile as he saw Solomon and they did a manly hand clasp and shoulder bump.

“So this is the beautiful bride,” he said, reaching a hand over the desk to me. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” I said, finding his hand warm and dry and his personality immediately likable. “Why don’t you two come on in the back?” He waved to the end of the desk. Walking over, he unlatched a half-height door and we followed him into the office. As we moved I heard apop-pop-pop!

“Our sound-proofing isn’t quite perfect,” he said. “When I bought the place, it was pretty rundown. It cost me a lot to turn it into a nice gun range but there’s still some work to be done. Do you shoot?”

“I do,” I said, “but I’m not a regular for target practice.”

“I’ll give you a pass before you leave. There’s a ladies’ afternoon if you prefer to come by without any masculine posturing. We’re trying to become a female-friendly venue, not just appealing to the butch gun nuts.”

“I can hold my own,” I said.

“She’s a force to be reckoned with,” said Solomon. “If anyone tries to belittle her, you’ll enjoy the ensuing calamity.”

“My insurance doesn’t cover mass casualties,” said Clay with a grin. “So what can I do for you both? You said something about identifying a weapon.”

“Let me show you the video we have,” I said, pulling out my phone. I found the saved video file and I pulled the slider until moments before Tiffany began to freak out. I passed it to Clay and hitplay, waiting as he studied it.

When it finished, he glanced up at Solomon. “This is a short-range sight and it’s probably mounted on a handgun. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that,” he added.

“No, but is there anything particular about this sight that might identify the weapon?”

“They all look largely the same. If you had a bullet, that would be more helpful.”

“The police do but they haven’t shared that information with us.”

“This is about that missing woman, right?” he asked, looking from Solomon to me. “She looks kind of familiar but I can’t think why. I’ve got a fourteen-year-old kid so maybe she watches her stuff, I dunno. It’s all YouTok and TickTube and I don’t get any of it. Anyway, I heard some of the clients talking about the kidnapping. Look, the way I see it, the sight itself is relevant but in an odd kind of way. Why are they using a sight in good light? It’s not like they would struggle to identify the target from a few feet away.”

“The lights did go out,” I reminded him.

“Sure, but not until after they were already using the sight. See here—” He moved the slider back in time and played the video again, then paused it. “You can see the dot already, then the lights go out. If you’re going to scare someone, it looks a whole lot scarier when you see that red light in the dark. Then they know they’re marked.”

“You think they played this up for the camera?” asked Solomon.

Clay handed my phone back to me and shrugged. “Could be. Could be the shooter is a jumped-up punk who thinks the optics of a laser sight mounted on his gun make him look intimidating. We see that shit here all the time. Weedy, little nerds that act like tough guys just because they have a semi-automatic. They drool over a grenade launcher they really don’t need. All that stuff is available though for the right price.”

“From here?” I asked.

Clay held up his hands. “All strictly legit here and I don’t sell guns. I’m not offended, but sure, you can get just about anything if you’re willing to pay enough for it. That said, any gun shop sells handgun-mounted sights. It’s a common item and I couldn’t even begin to guess how many are in the state, let alone, the country. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”

“It’s what I expected,” said Solomon. “I was being optimistic that you might recognize something I didn’t.”

“I appreciate your faith in my skills.”

“You said you overheard some of your clients talking about the kidnap? Was that before or after it happened?” I asked.

“When did it happen?”

“Last night.”

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