Page 80 of Redemption

He laughed, and she joined in.

Ryder set up his rifle on a tripod, adding on the scope and silencer then dropped to his stomach to sight in on the targets he’d set up across the field. After everything was ready, he rolled over and stayed on his back, taking a moment to watch her appreciate his rifle. Then he folded up and sat next to her. “Ready?”

He walked through the steps, showing her what she already seemed to know, letting her find her comfort zone and appreciate what she was working with. Ryder watched as she concentrated on her target, eye against on the scope, finger caressing the trigger. “You see that; you feel that?”

“I do,” she whispered.

“And you know that for some of these shots, we have to take in wind speed and other variables, but we won’t get into that right now.”

“Okay.”

“And the smallest of movements can throw off your shot.”

She looked away from the scope and nodded. “I’ve heard.”

Ryder reached over into his bag and grabbed a set of binoculars, dropping down onto his stomach next to her. Victoria went back to looking at her scope, and he pressed the binoculars to his eyes, searching the various targets he’d set up. “You shoot between heartbeats. So still, you control your breaths.” He slowed down his words and did what he was describing. “When it comes time, you take the shot between heartbeats.”

He took a breath. Never did he want Victoria to experience the evils he knew existed, yet she also had a career in law enforcement. She was trained in her own area of expertise just like he was a trained protector.

“We don’t have to worry about that, but it’s still very cool to be able to focus that intently, to lie someplace for hours, sometimes for days, in nature, in the elements, and you only exist in one place.”

Ryder dropped his binoculars to the grass and turned his head to stare at Victoria. She was someone he could spend hours thinking about. And that was an interesting revelation.

The corner of her eye crinkled as she focused in on the scope, and he watched her hold her breath. She pulled the trigger, and the rifle kicked back. Even with the silencer on, it sounded with the familiar noise, and Victoria drew back all smiles, taking a deep breath. “What a rush!”

Ryder picked up his binoculars and checked the target. “Bull’s eye, love.”

“I know.” She beamed and grabbed his binoculars as she moved to her knees. With them held to her face, she saw the proof again. The target he’d placed out there shattered.

Ryder put his fist up and she bumped it. “You have a helluva teacher.”

“I am awesome,” she drawled.

“Won’t get a disagreement from me.” He took the binoculars from her and leaned over. “Grab your casing.” He picked up the shell the bolt-action rifle had tossed and pressed it into her hand. “Pull this back and over. And… we’re ready to go again.”

She dropped down to her back in the grass and held up the empty shell overhead. “I’m going to keep this. Make it into a good luck charm or something.”

How many times had he seen empty shells and never once thought that they could be a good luck charm? Then there was Victoria, taking everyday things and twisting them. He needed that in his life. She rolled over on her stomach and moved back to the scope.

“You ready for the next one?”

“No, not really.” She shook her head. “I don’t actually need two good luck charms. I got my rush, my good luck charm.” She looked away from the scope and raised her eyebrows then tilted her head back toward the scope. “Got to see what it looked like when it explodes, which was pretty cool.”

“What, so one and done?” He let his fingers drift along her back as she looked at the scope and over at him.

Victoria shifted and pulled away from the gun. “Oh, I’m sorry. If it totally ruined your plans, I’ll shoot as much as you want me to.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not why I said that.”

“But if you had the expectation that I was going to do a bunch of shooting to feel better… I feel better right now with you because you were right. Pulling that trigger and watching the target explode? That was awesome, and I got a keepsake out of it. It only took once, if that makes sense.” Her face scrunched. “Does that make sense?”

Ryder let his fingers walk up her spine. He scooted closer to her so that they were hip-to-hip, grass crunching between them, and his arm draped over her back. “Love, my job is successful only if I takeoneshot.”

“Oh, right.”

“I get it.”

He watched how she registered his dark reality, wondering if it would ruin fun in the sun, but she was in a branch of law enforcement. He had to assume she understood his role in the grand scheme of things. Or he hoped. Still, she didn’t say much past the “oh.”

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