01 Untouchable - Untouchable (28 page)

“
You weren’t kidding about
being tired,” he said with an easy smile.

I yawned and stretched, “What time is
it?

“
A little after two. Are you
ready to learn how to use one of these?”

I was back to nods only.

He slipped his thick shoulders into
some type of double harness and placed a handgun securely in each
holster. He placed one gun in his black case and added two boxes of
bullets, closed it and looked up at me. “Come on.” We went outside
to the garage down to the last double stall on the end. He unlocked
the handle and lifted the door.

“
We’re going on
those?”

He smiled, “No, we’re going
on
one
of
these—you’re riding, I’m driving.” He put a key into the ignition
of a large green four-wheeler and backed it out.

“
Why can’t I drive one?” I
asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

“
Do you know how?” he asked,
raising an eyebrow.

“
Not really, but I’m a fast
learner.”

“
No, not today. Besides, I
don’t want you to get crazy and get the notion to race me.” The
engine cranked with a steady, blub-blub-blub. He placed his black
case in a rack on the front and sat down on the beast.

“
No helmets?” I wondered out
loud.

“
We’re just going to the
back of my property. Climb on.”

I didn’t want him to know how excited I
was, but I couldn’t contain the large smile that emerged on my
face. I straddled the seat close behind him and he showed me the
pegs where my feet were supposed to rest. “How do I hang
on?”

He didn’t say anything but, even though
I was behind him, I could see the cheek go back as the smile formed
on his face. He reached for my hands, placing them around his
waist. “Just don’t touch my guns,” he laughed.

“
I’m not gonna touch your…”
and the beast lurched into gear, causing me to grab him
tighter.

He just kept laughing and we were off
across the lawn. I’d ridden jet-skis before, and the feeling was
similar, but I think it was even more enjoyable because I had a
good reason for wrapping my arms around that marvelous waist. We
took a trail through the woods and around a large lake to his
personal gun range on the other side. The ride ended far too
soon.

He wasn’t kidding when he told me this
was going to be a lesson. He was very thorough as a teacher,
stressing over and over the issues of safety. He made me unload,
check, reload, unload again, safety on, safety off, check the
chamber, where’s the target, where was I pointing the barrel when I
wasn’t pointing at the target, over and over again. I had a feeling
I’d be able to do this tonight in my sleep.

“
Have you ever actually
fired a gun?” He finally asked as he was demonstrating how to load
the shells properly into the clip.

“
Does a starter’s pistol
count?”

He looked at me oddly and then, “No.
And I don’t know if I want to know what you were doing with one of
those. This is a Glock-17 and it’s what I’m going to have you
shoot. You’re going to have to pay attention to every detail I tell
you because, if you don’t, you’re going to hurt your hand and
you’ll quit on me.”

“
I’ll do what you ask, and I
won’t quit on you.”

“
Okay, we’re just going with
the basics of shooting the gun.” He put a target on a pulley and
sent it out into the range about ten yards away. “Stand with your
legs about shoulder width apart, relax your knees slightly. Good.
Without putting your finger on the trigger, grip the gun in your
dominant hand and cup your weaker hand underneath and around your
stronger. Keep your elbows slightly bent, but your wrist should
feel locked in place. Use your weaker hand to come up and pull the
loading mechanism backward, while pushing the gun forward with your
stronger hand. You didn’t pull the chamber all the way back,
Leese.” Then he pressed his body to the back of mine, his strong
arms fitting perfectly over my own. He cupped my hand and chambered
the bullet. Then his arms relaxed and slid back to my mid-forearms.
“You’ll chamber the next clip, okay?”

I nodded, afraid to breathe.

“
Don’t hold your breath,
Baby. Take slow shallow breaths just before you fire. Remember how
I told you to sight the gun. Aim for the chest on the target and
use steady pressure to squeeze the trigger. Grip the gun firmly
because it’s gonna kick and you’ll see a shell fly out the top, but
that’s okay. The kick only scares people; it doesn’t really hurt
that bad. Okay, Baby, squeeze the trigger.”

My heart was running double-speed, but
I didn’t know if it was from the power of what I held in my hands
or the power of who was holding me in his hands. I took careful aim
and gently squeezed the trigger. The blast was deafening as I felt
the sensation of the gun thrusting its self back into my hand like
the sting of catching a baseball with no glove. The shell flew out
the top, but I never flinched. I wasn’t going to disappoint him; I
wasn’t going to quit until he told me I’d done it
correctly.

“
Good shot, Leese. You have
sixteen more rounds. I want you to fire until the gun is empty.
Count off your rounds in your head each time you squeeze the
trigger. Don’t forget your aim. Go!”

I squeezed the grip firmly and began
unloading the magazine into the target. I wanted to stop after
about three more rounds because I could feel my hand beginning to
tingle, but I refused to quit. After the last bullet was expended,
I pressed the clip release button and watched the empty clip fall
to the small table in front of me. I checked my weapon and laid it
down. I had those goofy little orange ear plugs in, but it didn’t
prevent the hard hum in my ears. “When will my ears stop ringing!”
I said a little too loudly.

He was reeling back in the target and
he smiled, “They’ll stop in a little while.” He gave a low whistle
as he inspected my accuracy. “I don’t think I did that well my
first time shooting,” he said approvingly. “Nice
pattern.”

They looked like holes in a piece of
paper to me, but if he was impressed, I was happy.

He put a new target onto the pulley and
sent it out further this time. “Okay, Baby, you’re doing this one
all on your own. I’m stepping back. Put in your new clip, chamber
your first round and see how well you can do.”

I liked it much better when he was
standing right behind me with his arms wrapped around mine, but I
was determined to prove that I was a good student. And besides
that, every time he called me baby, I became more eager to please
him. It was just the deep velvety way it rolled up from his chest,
giving me goose-bumps with every utterance. I followed everything
he had shown me exactly and managed to pull the mechanism back far
enough this time to chamber my first round, I sighted carefully,
took slow shallow breaths and away went seventeen rounds into the
paper target.

Now, my hand was really vibrating and
stinging, my palm and area between my thumb and index finger were
red and sore. But, my teacher was pleased with my performance and,
to be honest, I was pleased that I accomplished what I determined
to do.

Then it was show-offs turn. His target
was further away and he used two Glock-31 pistols drawn from his
holsters at the same time, firing both guns simultaneously. He
obliterated the paper target.

After our lesson was finished, we
picked up all the items and climbed back on the
four-wheeler.

“
So,” I said, leaning
forward before he hit the key, “How long would it take for you to
teach me to be as good as you?”

He frowned for the first
time since we had begun our adventure. “You don’t want to become as
good as me.” Some of the light heartedness of our afternoon dimmed.
He cranked the four-wheeler and I slipped my hands around his
waist, securely
below
his guns. All too soon we were back at the house.

He was putting the four-wheeler away,
when I asked for another shooting lesson. His frown deepened, “I
just want you to be able to protect yourself if you have to, Leese.
I’m not trying to turn you into something bad.”

“
You aren’t turning me into
something bad,” I rebutted. “I just want to learn more—I want to be
able to fire two guns at once, like you do.”

“
You don’t have the arms for
that,” he snapped. “How did you think I got these
muscles?”

“
You work out,” I stated
plainly.

“
Yeah, I do. But most of my
workouts are from holding two Glocks perfectly steady while
shooting. You don’t need to learn more.”

“
Isn’t there a possibility
that something might go wrong and I’ll end up facing whoever the
other person is alone?”

“
The only way that will
happen will be if he takes me out of the way first.”

“
But it could happen, and
then I would need to know all the extra things you know, but didn’t
want to teach me. It would just be me with the knowledge to point
and shoot.” I wasn’t going to let this rest. I wanted to know
more.

“
Leese, almost everything I
know is about killing someone. I want you to know how to protect
yourself, not how to murder another person. It’s something you’ll
never need to use.” His volume was rising and I could tell he would
be angry with me in a matter of moments.

By this point we were standing next to
the Trans Am, and I let my fingers trail down the hood as I
continued. “Did you know that I can take this car and slide it into
a parallel parking space at about thirty miles-per-hour? It’s
something I’ll never need to do out in the real world, but I
learned how to do it, and do it well.”

“
What’s your point?” That
temper was starting to pulse up his neckline.

“
I’m never going to go out
and purposely look for someone to kill, just like I’m never going
to be looking for a parking space at thirty-miles-per-hour, but
having the knowledge isn’t bad. If this morning had been different
and you hadn’t taken that gun away from David, what would have
happened if I had to face him?”

“
He would have blown you
away before you even knew what was happening.” He sighed deeply,
pulling me to him in those steel bands that he uses as arms and
leaned his face next to my ear, “Everything in my
life—everything—is corrupt. I’ve only known one glimpse of
innocence and that glimpse is you. I don’t want to corrupt you.
That’s why I agreed to be a gentleman, and that’s why I haven’t
grabbed that impetuous mouth of yours with my own and taught it how
to respond to a man. I’ve never had to use as much strength in my
entire life as I have in these last nine days.”

“
You aren’t corrupting me,”
I whispered. “Everything happens for a reason. I just want to know
more, but if you feel that strongly about not showing me, then I’ll
stop asking.”

“
I don’t know, maybe you
might get some crazy idea like trying to go after your step-father
by yourself.”

I think my face was one of utter
revulsion, “I could never—I hate what he’s doing but—but he was
like my dad and he is Kimmy’s dad. I couldn’t take his
life!”

He finally smiled, “That’s my girl.
That’s what I needed to see and that’s what I needed to hear. I’ll
teach you some more tomorrow. We’ve got dinner reservations tonight
at Brennan’s.”

“
You realize my wardrobe
isn’t high fashion?” I said, reminding him that I only had a
limited amount of clothing.

“
The dress code isn’t
strict, and I think you’ll look perfect in whatever you put
on.”

We went in and got ready. I wore one of
the gauzy calf-length skirts with a white, mid-sleeve cotton top.
My bruise was still apparent, but it had lightened to the point
that I could tell it would be gone in just a few more days. I
pulled the top of my hair back into a pony-tail and left the rest
loose. He, once again, had that natural chic look, which made it
hard for me to think of him as Evan. I wondered when he would tell
me to stop calling him by his false name, but he hadn’t so
far.

When it was time to leave, I walked to
the Trans Am, but he headed to garage door number one, put in the
key and turned the handle to open the door. “I thought we’d take
something with a little more horsepower.”

The door went up, and, even though it
was under a car cover, I could tell it was a Corvette. When the
cover was removed, it was a gleaming silver Corvette Z06. I know my
eyes illuminated at that very moment and I said the first thing
that came to my brain, “Can I drive?”

“
No,” was the merciless
reply. “This has more horsepower than your Porsche and it goes from
zero to sixty a full four-tenths of a second faster than your
car.”

I think I was salivating. I looked at
him with a pleading glance. “Four weeks and five days of life left
and you’d deny me a chance to drive your car?”

“
That’s not fair,” he stated
flatly.

I tried that bat-your-eyes thing that
Jewels had shown me.

“
NO!” He marched to the
passenger’s door and held it open for me.