Page 41 of Deadly Secrets
She was blaming herself for The Reverend’s sick actions. “Brooke, you were ten and he was wearing a mask.”
“I know.” Her eyes closed for a moment. “But I still feel guilty. I should have done something. Pulled his mask off. Hit him over the head. Anything! I wish I could remember more about that night.”
What if she had seen the killer and he knew it? But if this bastard knew she could finger him, why wait twenty years to go after her?
The answers would come, Roman was sure of it. For now, he needed to stop Brooke’s guilt train and get her back on solid footing. “Stop beating yourself up. We don’t know for sure that the guy who broke into your car last night is, in fact, The Reverend. You said it yesterday, the sigils on the deceased don’t match, the victims are different, and there may be more than one killer this time around.”
“That little stunt last night? He’s the same guy. I can feel it. He knows I’m working with you, and he’s scared. He knows we’re going to nail his ass.” A tiny expression of hope spread across her face. “And if he’s scared, he’s going to make a mistake.”
Control. He could see that mixed with the hope on her face. The two ingredients Roman knew everyone needed in order to feel safe.
He was going to give her another. The quickest way to gain self-confidence was to do exactly what you were afraid to. “I’ll have Shane get to work on cleaning up that video. Grab the gun I gave you. It’s time for a shooting lesson.”
An hour later, he had her at the range, gun in hand and ear protection ready.
Since Brooke’s hands were smaller than his, he’d picked the Glock 19 on purpose. It was the most compact of his collection. A properly fitting handgun had less recoil in general and was more enjoyable to shoot. A shooter’s overall enjoyment increased proficiency.
Even when practicing wasn’t necessarily for fun.
“I don’t have a license,” she said.
“Nadia is working on a concealed carry license for you as we speak.”
“You think of everything, don’t you?”
He motioned at the Glock. “If you want one of these for home defense, you probably want a larger framed handgun, as long as it still fits your hand, but for concealed carry, this one is accurate and reliable.”
“Good to know.”
“If you don’t like this one, I’ll find you some others to try.”
“I’m sure this will be fine.”
“You’re trusting your life to it. You want to be sure you have one that you like.”
“You, I trust with my life. This gun? No way. But I get the gist. Show me what I need to know to shoot it.”
They ran through the basics of stripping the gun and rebuilding it, then the basics of stance and holding the weapon to fire.
“Don’t lock your elbows.” He stood behind her, his arms around hers as she aimed at the target. It felt good to be so close. Too good. His cock was going crazy. In his book, there was nothing better than a sexy woman with a gun, trusting him to show her how things worked.
“If you lock your elbows, the recoil will go straight to your shoulders and take you longer to recover. Your elbows are your shock absorbers.”
She leaned back into him, her hair tickling his chin like it had earlier in the kitchen. Using his chest to shift her weight slightly forward once more, he reminded her about her stance. “Keep your weight forward. You control the gun, Brooke. Don’t let it control you.”
“Right. If I lean back, I lose stability.”
God, he wanted to nuzzle her ear. She was too much of a distraction.
He silently inhaled, letting her scent invade his lungs. Settling his hands softly on her hips, he wondered how he was going to keep his attraction to her under control. Mixing business with pleasure had never been an issue for him before. As leader of the DTT, there were clear-cut lines that he never crossed. Had never wanted to.
Now he did.
Not a surprise. He’d wanted her all along. He just hadn’t thought it through, nor had he suspected she’d end up being the target of the serial killer he was after.
“Knees soft,” he said in her ear. “Take a deep breath and clear your lungs. When you’re ready, take another and let it out halfway. Squeeze the trigger slowly and steadily. Don’t jerk it.”
She nodded and he stepped back. “Ear protection on, and then give it a try.”
