“You’re being extreme,” Harold shot back.“Besides, none of this matters, because backing out isn’t an option.These aren’t the type of people you can back out on, or did you miss the first warning they sent?”
Darwin glanced at Asher to see the other man lift a brow, clearly picking up on the same thing he was.
Were they talking about Arthur’s murder?
“Perhaps all of this is simply some kind of misunderstanding.I could talk to them for you,” Upton suggested.
“Are you on drugs?”Silas said, his eyes practically bugging out of his head.“These aren’t the kind of people youtalkto.If they want to have a conversation with you, they’ll let you know.”
Upton frowned.“If they’re as dangerous as you seem to think, maybe we should contact the police then.”
Silas snorted.“Trust me, they aren’t worried about the police.That’sifwe could even get anyone to listen to us.”
Upton opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by Ramiro coming over to tell them they were up next.The man then looked at Darwin, Asher, and Eli.
“There are a few more slots open on this round if you want to join the group.”
Darwin nodded and stood, Asher and Eli doing the same.Silas, Harold, and Upton were already heading across the gravel-covered waiting area, mounting the stairs to the shooting line.
“I don’t know how Upton fits into all this, but it’s safe to say Silas and Harold know who killed Arthur Davis,” Asher said as they followed the other men.
“Unfortunately, while we might think it was incriminating as hell,” Darwin agreed, “everything we heard could be explained away as something innocent.We don’t have anything concrete to tell the cops.”
“I’ve noticed you’ve avoided going there, but do you think Jameson and Rhett are involved in the murder, too?”Asher asked as they stepped up on the dais behind the firing line.
“I have no idea,” Darwin admitted.“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know the first thing about business, but everything seems to point toward a deal gone wrong.“
“Well, I do know a thing or two about business,” Asher muttered.“And while I’m prone to agree with your assessment, I have no interest in getting too nosy about it.Not if it ends with me lying in the grape fields like Arthur.”
Darwin nodded in agreement as two of the shooting instructors approached, handing out earmuffs and lining each person up behind a handgun that had already been placed on the table, barrel pointing downrange.
“Today, you’re going to be shooting the SIG Sauer P226 9mm pistol,” Ramiro said.“This is a full-sized, all-metal frame, with a 15-round magazine and a double-action/single-action trigger.This means that to fire the first shot, it will take a long, firm pull because you’re both cocking the hammer and then firing the weapon.After that, the subsequent shots will only require a light pull on the trigger since the hammer is already cocked.”
Sweet, Darwin thought.He’d be shooting the same weapon he’d used during his first few years in the SEALs before the Navy had made a change to the Glock.Man, he’d loved his SIG.
Even though he was intimately familiar with the weapon, he still paid attention to the safety briefing as Romero demonstrated how to load and fire the weapon, not wanting to bethat guy.The one who thought they already knew everything.
“We have targets set at close, medium, and long range–at seven, fifteen, and twenty-five yards,” Ramiro added.“I’d suggest getting comfortable at the closest target before bothering to engage the others.Accurately hitting anything at the farther distances requires training and technique.I can guarantee it’s not as easy as it looks in the movies.”
Darwin hung back, interested to see how Silas and Harold handled a weapon.Not surprisingly, neither man was comfortable with the handguns, forcing the instructors to step forward and give them a few more tips.
Asher and Eli were a little better, though both of them nearly jumped out of their skins the first time the SIG went off in their hand.It was a natural reaction the first time someone shot a weapon.As was the fact that neither of their bullets hit the target.
Expecting Upton to drop his weapon the first time it went off in his hand, Darwin was shocked when the man not only fired the SIG calmly, but also competently.Upton was definitely hitting what he aimed for.At least, in this one matter, Darwin had been wrong about the man.
“Are you planning to shoot?”Romero prompted, pulling Darwin’s attention back toward the weapon on the countertop in front of him.
Nodding, Darwin picked up his weapon, loading the magazine and pulling back the slide to chamber the first round, the motion feeling as natural as breathing.Then he brought the SIG up quickly and put three rounds through the center of the closest target, shifted to put five more through the center of the mid-range silhouette, and then emptied the rest of the magazine into a spot on the twenty-five-yard target about the size of a soup can.
The moment the slide locked back, Darwin released the magazine and let it fall to the table.The second magazine was in his hand and loaded before the first one finished bouncing.He released the slide and put all fifteen rounds through the mid-and long-range targets, then repeated the process with a third magazine.When he was done, he dropped the last magazine to the table and cleared the weapon.
It wasn’t until he placed the gun on the table and stepped back that he realized no one else was firing anymore.Turning, he saw Asher and Eli staring downrange at the targets in disbelief.
“Are you a cop or something?”Harold asked, regarding Darwin suspiciously.
Behind him Silas and Upton were both locked on him as well.
“No, I’m not a cop,” Darwin said.
