Page 51 of Jake

“Thank you.” She gave him a pleased smile before turning to Iceman. “See, I don’t need a babysitter all the time. You’re the only one who seems to think I’m too stupid to shower on my own.”

“I never said that.”

She glared back at him.

Jake fought the urge to roll his eyes at the way they bickered like siblings. “Can I trust the two of you not to kill each other while I get some coffee, then we can see what we want to do with the rest of the day.”

“I’m good as long as someone’s not treating me like a child.” Heather turned her back to Iceman and smiled up at Jake.

“We’re good. Go get your coffee,” Iceman said.

Jake looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, as if he was unsure he could trust the two of them alone. Then, shaking his head and once he was sure they couldn’t see him do it, rolled his eyes, as he went to get coffee. If he was going to have to deal with this kind of bickering, he was going to need the caffeine.

Twenty minutes later, both Iceman and Lynnie were calmer and no longer making threats. Though Jake wasn’t sure if it was because of anything he’d done or that they’d both eaten and gotten a little caffeine into their systems. For all he knew it was a combination of both. Not that it mattered. What mattered was they were no longer acting like they were ready to tear each other’s heads off.

“So what do we want to do today?” he asked, not for the first time.

“I know I’m hiding, but whatever we decide on, I’d prefer not to leave the ranch,” Lynnie said, letting her head hang for a moment. “Give me a day or three to come to terms with a reward on my head, then I’ll be ready to face the world again, but I’m just not there yet.”

“Hiding for a few days isn’t a bad thing.” Iceman reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “It gives you time to prepare, to be ready in case there is trouble.” He turned his attention to Jake. “I don’t care what we do, but I’ve got to leave this afternoon. I’ve taken as much time off work as I can for a while, barring an emergency.”

“No problem.” He thought for a moment. He didn’t like how defeated Lynnie looked when she said she was hiding. How could he help her feel more in control, or at least prepared in case one of the Sons, or someone looking to cash in on that reward, came after her?

“How big’s that pistol of yours?” He briefly tightened the arm he’d hooked over her shoulder so she would know he was talking to her.

Lynnie frowned. “It’s a .45. Why?”

“Cause I know what we’re going to do today.” He turned his attention to Iceman. “You have a weapon? And how much ammo do you have with you?”

“I do, but I’ve only got a box of 9mm rounds with me.”

“I’m sure I can find some if we want more. Let’s go get some practice in.”

“We can do that here?” Lynnie sounded a little hesitant, as if she wanted to go but didn’t want to get her hopes up.

“We can. We have a range set up a few miles in. Let me go talk to Lurch, rustle us up some ammo and figure out what vehicle we’ll take. You two need to go get your weapons, if you’re not already carrying them, plus any ammo or gear you’ll want.” He knew Lynnie wasn’t. She kept hers next to the bed or had since she’d parked the trailer. What he didn’t know was whether or not Iceman was carrying, or just had it in his vehicle. Not that it mattered. He checked his watch. “Give me 20 minutes and we’ll meet back up here.” He waited to get nods from them both before swinging his legs over the bench seat and taking off to get shit done.

38

Heatherhadbeennervousabout the trip to the range, or maybe the term makeshift range was a better fit. But thankfully, neither Matt, nor Aaron had treated her like a brainless idiot, which she’d found happened way too often when she went with a guy to the range.

And while the range wasn’t a professional setup, she’d been impressed. They had benches at the long-range section for rifles and gong style targets at preset distances. For pistols, they had spinner targets at the preset ranges commonly used for the shorter ranges. Aaron had brought out a package of ringed paper targets and a roll of tape to attach them with.

After he’d gotten targets taped up, Aaron had made sure they all had everything they needed, including ear and eye protection, then they’d lined up and taken their shots.

Heather was focused on what she was doing, lining up the target and maintaining her aim while squeezing the trigger, then lining it back up and starting all over again. She tuned out what the guys were doing, only focusing on her own target, and trying to keep her grouping tight. When she finished her magazine, she relaxed her stance, rolling her shoulders and looking around to find Matt was just finishing his shots and Aaron had dropped the magazine out of his pistol and was in the process of reloading while he waited. She released her clip and set the pistol down on the table in front of her, where she’d set the box of shells Aaron had given her when they’d arrived. She didn’t know where they’d come from, but she’d replace them before she left.

When Matt finished, he popped his magazine free, set both pieces on the table in front of him then looked up at her.

“Are we ready to go check the targets?” Matt asked.

“I am.” She turned to Aaron on her other side. “You going too or going to hang back?”

“Let’s go.”

Aaron picked up a stack of targets and the roll of tape and they each went to the target they’d been using, and pulled down the paper targets. Heather was still looking at hers, all seven shots were in about a five-inch grouping, which she thought was pretty good, when both men brought theirs over to where she stood so they could compare. She looked over at Matt’s and saw that he had what looked like twice as many holes in his than she did, not surprising since she was using a smaller pistol that only held seven in the magazine while his was much bigger. His grouping wasn’t as tight, without measuring she’d guess maybe an eight-inch spread.

She didn’t say anything, just nodded, and turned to look at Aaron’s target. His had more holes than hers, but not as many as Matt, making her wonder what the guys were shooting, or at least how many rounds they each held. But his shots were all in a smaller circle than hers.

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