A few minutes later, Tansey had mounted a target on a clip and sent it downrange. She opened the box of cartridges and unloaded the magazine for the weapon, explaining to Hax what she was doing. She had him reload it.
He worried that she was going to have him shoot without demonstrating how to do it. That could be pretty humiliating, since Jorge was still standing around watching with great interest. To Hax’s relief, she looked at him and said, “I’m going to shoot this mag myself for old times’ sake.”
Tansey stuffed some disposable earplugs in her ears and picked up a set of earmuffs and safety glasses from the counter, apparently there for people who didn’t have any. She handed the box with her ear protectors and glasses to Hax. He got them out and put them on. Jorge was still standing there. Hax noticed that he’d put on glasses and ear protectors as well.
After all that rigmarole, Hax had expected the actual shooting to be a bigger deal. Instead, Tansey stepped up to the front of the station, lifted the weapon and, sighting down the barrel, fired a round of six bullets in a matter of seconds.
“Holy crap Tansey,” Jorge said, pushing a button to retrieve the target. You really haven’t fired a weapon in eighteen years?”
Hax saw his mother wince. “Nineteen,” she said. He looked at the target.
All but one of the seven holes were in the bullseye circle.
“Well,” Jorge said, staring at the target, “that wouldn’t have won a tournament, but it sure wouldn’t be embarrassing. Especially for someone who hasn’t shot a weapon in nineteen years!”
“Yeah, mostly luck, probably,” Tansey said. She jerked a thumb at Hax, “It might not look it, but this boy’s pretty shy. Can you give me some space while I try to teach him the basics?”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Jorge said, stepping back and, with a glance back over his shoulder, he headed back out to the front of his store.
“That was pretty amazing Mom,” Hax said.
Tansey rolled her eyes. “It’s like riding a bicycle, you don’t forget.” She handed Hax the magazine. “Load that up.” While Hax loaded the magazine, she fastened up another target and sent it downrange.
Hax put the magazine in the gun, carefully keeping the barrel pointed down and into the range like his mother’d told him. He stepped to the front of the station, expecting some instruction in how he should stand. Instead, Tansey took the gun from him, “One more demonstration. This one has to do with how your particular form of coordination works. Put your ear protection back on.” Once he’d done that, she turned and looked downrange. Then, without lifting the barrel to sight over it, she fired six more times with the gun down close to waist level.
Hax squinted at the target. It looked like she’d only hit it once, though that hole was in the center of the bullseye. Tansey flipped the switch, and the target started back to them. As it approached, Hax realized the hole was a little bit larger than the holes she’d put in the first target. Suddenly it clicked, “Oh my god, Mom, did you put all six bullets through that one hole?!”
Tansey nodded. “The reason we’re so coordinated is because we have extremely good proprioception.”
“Proprio what?”
“Proprioception. It’s one of the senses beyond the standard five you learn about in school. It’s how you know where your limbs are in space. For instance, if I asked you to close your eyes and touch your finger to your nose, you’d be able to do it, right?”
Hax nodded, feeling puzzled. He thought he could do it, but had never considered the possibility before. He closed his eyes and touched his nose. It wasn’t difficult.
“And, if I asked you to close your eyes and reach out about eighteen inches in front of you and touch your fingers together, you’d be able to do that too?”
Hax did so, opening his eyes to find his index fingers precisely touching one another.
“Some other time you can try bringing them together at all different angles and even behind your head. Your friends will be able to do the same thing, but their fingers won’t be lined up quite as perfectly. Sometimes they’ll even miss.” She was looking Hax in the eye. Apparently deciding he understood, she continued, “The same thing happens with a gun. As soon as you shoot it a few times and see where the bullets go, you’ll know exactly where it’s pointing without having to look over the sights.”
Hax frowned, “Was there something about looking over the sights that confused you so that you didn’t do as well on the first target as you did on the second?”
“No. You know that one shot that was outside the bullseye?” At Hax’s nod, she continued, “That was the first one. Before I got used to where the bullets were going to go again. I scattered the rest of them around the bullseye on purpose so it wouldn’t freak Jorge out, but I guess it still kinda did. Back in the day, I used to lose some tournaments on purpose for the same reason.” She shrugged, “I never shot as well as I could have or it would have made people… uncomfortable.” She popped the magazine out and handed it to Hax, “Load up.”
Hax loaded the magazine and put it back in the gun. He racked the slide.
“Okay, let’s have you use the sights the first time.” She showed him how to hold the weapon and explained how to get a good sight picture. He lined up the sights with the target and she said, “Go ahead and fire one.”
Hax squeezed the trigger, but it didn’t go. “Oops, I forgot the safety.” He pulled the gun back to him, looking for the safety.
Tansey said, “Stop. Let me have that.” Taking the gun, she pulled out the magazine and racked the slide to empty the chamber. “Okay,” she said, pointing. “Here’s the safety.” She demonstrated flicking it on and off. “Now, point the gun downrange, flip the safety with a finger and pull the trigger. You want that to be second nature, so you aren’t trying to look for the safety in an emergency situation.”
Pointing the gun into the firing lane, Hax flipped the safety a couple of times while looking at it, then lifted it to point at the target. He flipped the safety off and pulled the trigger with a satisfying click. Flicking the safety on, he racked the slide, then practiced one more time, flicking it off and pulling the trigger.
“Okay, let’s have you try it with some ammo.”
Hax put the safety back on, put the magazine back in the gun and racked the slide. Pointing it down range, he flicked the safety off, lined up the sights and squeezed the trigger. The kick surprised him, the gun bucking harder in his hand then he’d expected. He put the safety back on.
Tansey said, “Not bad, a little high and to the right. Try two more.”
Hax looked at the target, disappointed to see his shot was out in the third ring. Lifting the weapon, he flicked the safety off, lined up a little more carefully, and fired two more. One was in the second ring and the other one was in the bullseye.
“Getting better. Try two more.”
The last two pair of bullets from the magazine were all in the bullseye, though scattered about, unlike his mother’s. He put the safety back on.
Tansey slapped him on the shoulder, “Nicely done.”
Hax felt disappointed. Somehow he’d expected to shoot as well as his mom.
His mother glanced at him, “From the look on your face I think you might have unrealistic expectations. That was awesome shooting for your first magazine . A lot of good marksmen couldn’t have done as well. Load up another mag.”
When Hax had loaded it, she’d put up another target. She said, “Hold the gun out, but don’t try to sight down the barrel this time. Just look at the center of the bullseye, point the gun at it and pull the trigger. Give it a two count between each shot.”
Hax did. When the target came back all seven holes were clustered close to the center of the bullseye. It didn’t look like a single hole like his mother’s, but it was tight.
“Okay, almost done,” Tansey said. This time she sent the target down further away. “At this distance, you won’t do quite as well. Also, the bullet’s falling as it travels the longer dis
tance, so you’ll miss low until you get used to it.”
She had him fire one to learn how the bullet dropped, then fire the other six. The first one was low, but the rest were in the bullseye. They were a little more scattered than the last magazine he’d shot at the shorter distance.
“Okay,” Tansey said, “let’s head for home.”
Hax frowned in disappointment, “Aren’t we going to shoot up the rest of that ammo?”
She snorted, “You’re plenty good enough to defend yourself. Ammunition’s expensive. If you want to have some left over to put in that gun, we need to quit now.”
As they walked home, his mother turned to him and said, “D’you remember your promise?”
Hax nodded, “Always ask myself if you’d approve of what I’m doing with a gun.”
“Damn right,” Tansey said. “Always wonder that.”
***
Hax heard a gentle knock on his bedroom door. “Yeah?”
The knob turned and the door opened a crack, something that always irritated him. He’d rather shout through the door than have someone enter his private sanctum. Roni’s voice came quietly through the crack, “Can I come in?”
“Okay,” Hax said, trying not to sound exasperated, but wondering why she needed to talk face to face.
Roni pushed the door open farther, slipped through, closed it and sat down on his bed. “How well do you know Hallie?”
“That’s none of your business,” Hax responded before he gave any thought to the fact he had nothing to hide.
“Well enough to ask her for a favor?”
Hax shrugged, thinking that Hallie did owe him a favor, and for that matter, she owed Roni a favor too. But he thought Hallie was having such a rough time with Vito that he didn’t want to impose on her.
“Her dad’s a locksmith, right?”
Hax nodded. Roni knows that, he thought, why’s she asking?
“You think she’d be able to make me some keys like these?” Roni said, unfolding some sheets of paper with smudgy images of keys on them.
Hax frowned, “Where’d you get those?”
“I snuck into the Castanos’ headquarters and borrowed the dad’s key ring long enough to rub these with a pencil. They open…”
Wide-eyed, Hax interrupted, “You snuck into Castanos’ headquarters?!” He suddenly felt terrible about how he’d been irritated when she’d come into his room. He knew what she was trying to do, he should be going all out to help.
Roni nodded.
“Mom and dad are gonna shit!”
Roni’s shoulders sagged, “I know. But I realized that so far I only had the videos of Nick and Mario extorting people. With Mario dead, if the FBI came in they’d only have the evidence to arrest Nick. That’s no…”
Hax interrupted. “Mario’s dead?!” he asked, wide-eyed.
Roni nodded, “And if they only arrest Nick, that’d hardly do us any good.” She shrugged, “Or anyone else for that matter. We need evidence against…”
Hax interrupted again, “What happened to Mario?”
Roni stared at him for a moment. “That’s none of your business,” she said, echoing his earlier response to her question about Hallie. “We need evidence…”
“You killed him?!”
Roni’s eyes narrowed. After a moment, she said, “He shot a cashier. And it looked like he might…”
Hax interrupted again, sagging back in his chair, his eyes gazing wonderingly at his sister, “Holy crap!”
Patiently, Roni tried to get the conversation back on track, “We need better evidence. With those keys, I’m sure I can get it.”
Hax’s eyes wandered away, “Holy shit Roni!”
“Yeah, I know, ‘Holy shit.’” Roni said, sounding a little frustrated. “Can you see if Hallie can make me some keys?”
Hax’s eyes turned back to the images of the keys. “You took Joe Castano’s key ring?!”
Roni shrugged, “Older man. Looks like Nick.” She quirked her lip, “Scares hell out of everyone around him. Maybe he’s Nick’s uncle?”
“Hax shook his head, “Joe Castano doesn’t have a brother. You’ve got serious…” he trailed off.
“Serious what?”
Hax felt himself blushing, “I was gonna say, ‘balls,’ but I guess that’s not right. Serious ovaries?”
Roni snorted. Then, impatiently, “Back to my original question…”
“Yeah, yeah sure. I’ll ask her. Soon’s we get back to school.”
Roni shook her head, “No. What if they change the locks? I want to get this done now.”
Hax shrugged, “Okay,” he turned to his computer, “I’ll try emailing her. Hopefully her address is available through the school’s social network.”
“Don’t email the actual request to her. Just ask her to meet. We don’t want any record of this.”
Hax turned back to her, “Come on. Why would anybody look at…”
This time Roni interrupted Hax, “I don’t know. But if they did, everyone in our family could die because of it.” She stared fiercely into his eyes, “Don’t make light of this.”
“Okay,” Hax said, trying not to let his exasperation show.
Roni grinned at him, “Besides, wouldn’t you like an excuse to meet with Hallie over the holiday?”
***
Hallie stepped into the Ben & Jerry’s. She glanced around and saw Hax rising from one of the tables. She wondered if this qualified as a date, meeting in an ice cream shop in the middle of the afternoon.
Hax met her just inside the door and walked with her over to the counter to look at the ice cream. “I’m buying,” he said. “What would you like?”
Maybe it is a date, she thought. “Thanks. Go ahead and order while I’m thinking about it.”
Hax ordered a cup with two scoops of ice cream, so Hallie ordered the same. Once he’d paid, they walked back over to the corner he’d been sitting in.
“How are things going?” Hax said, putting a spoonful of Chunky Monkey in his mouth.
Hallie shrugged noncommittally.
“You look like you’ve gained a little weight back.”
Hallie nodded, “Yeah… Haven’t seen Vito since the Christmas break started. Really not looking forward to school starting back up though.”
Hax looked stricken, “I’m… I’m so sorry.”
Hallie glanced around, “I’m also hoping no one here knows Vito. He could be a real jerk if he hears you and me were together.”
Hax stared down at his ice cream as if he didn’t know what to say. After a minute, he spooned up some Mint Chocolate Chunk. Hallie studied him, then spooned up some ice cream of her own. She’d kind of hoped that he had something planned. Maybe something romantic even, though she knew she’d be on edge if they went to a movie or something together. The whole time she’d be worrying that Vito would show up in the same place. Suddenly she felt like a jerk for bringing up Vito. If Hax had been thinking of something romantic, she’d probably ruined it. She said, “But hey, thanks for inviting me out. Ice cream and somebody to talk to besides Vito are making my day.”
Hax had looked up, but now he blushed and looked back down at his ice cream.
Hallie frowned, “What’s the matter?”
“Um… I need a favor.”
Hallie felt a crushing disappointment. But then she remembered that Hax had really gone out on a limb for her, writing that program. Trying to put a cheerful lilt in her voice, she said, “Sure, I owe you. But what can I do for you that you can’t do for yourself?”
“Um, your dad’s a locksmith, right?” Hax began, stating something he certainly already knew. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. Glancing around the restaurant, he unfolded it partially so that only she’d be able to see it. She saw what looked like a pencil rubbing of a key. He continued, “Do you know enough about it to make me a key like this one?”
Hallie chewed her lip, getting a bad feeling about the whole thing. “I think that’s illega
l…” she began.
“Not if it’s my key, right?”
She studied his face. He wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Sure. But bring me the key. It’s easy to copy a key. We’ve got a machine that does it.” She glanced down at the paper, then back up at him. He hadn’t said anything. “I don’t know how to make one from a drawing. I could try, but it might not work.”
“Um, it’d be really great if you tried. I, uh, can’t get the key itself.” He still hadn’t looked up at her.
“You’re really worrying me.”
A range of emotions seemed to run across his face. Then Hax squared his shoulders, gave her a weak smile, and put the paper back in his pocket, “Forget I asked. Let’s eat our ice cream and pretend I never said anything.” He filled his spoon and put it in his mouth.
Feeling relieved, but a little guilty, Hallie put a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth too. Then she thought, Hax broke all kinds of rules for me when he wrote that program. She reached out and touched his hand. He looked up in surprise. She opened her hand, “Give me your tracing. I’ll give it a try.”
Relief flashed across his face, but then he closed back up. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
She shrugged, “What key? I didn’t make any key.”
Now he looked a little nervous, “Can you make five keys?” he said pulling out a sheaf of papers.
Hallie snorted as she took his papers, “You ask a lot Mr. Buchry. But for you, sure.” She tucked the papers in her pocket.
Looking uncomfortable again, Hax said, “You probably shouldn’t tell anybody about this. Um… not even your dad.”
Hallie snorted, “Yeah, that’d be pointless. He wouldn’t help me make counterfeit keys. He’d yell at me for thinking about it.”
“I don’t want to get you into trouble…”
She patted his hand, “Don’t worry about it. I mess around in Dad’s shop all the time. He’ll think it’s cool that I’m doing something out there.”
As they finished their ice cream, they talked about some school gossip. They kept talking for quite a while after they’d finished the ice cream, but eventually Hallie realized she’d better get going. After they stood up, they looked at one another uncomfortably for a moment. She grabbed his sleeve and tugged him down, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re a good friend…” she said and hurried out the door. Glancing back, she saw him still standing there, slightly bent, his hand on his cheek where she’d kissed him.
The Girl They Couldn’t See (Blind Spot #1) (Blind Spot Series) Page 20