This is the thirty-eighth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX, Part XX, Part XXI, Part XXII, Part XXIII, Part XXIV, Part XXV, Part XXVI, Part XXVII, Part XXVIII, Part XXIX, Part XXX, Part XXXI, Part XXXII, Part XXXIII, Part XXXIV, Part XXXV, Part XXXVI, and Part XXXVII before continuing.
I swear I hadn’t meant to listen in on Charlie’s call with her sister, but I couldn’t get to the bathroom without passing her bedroom door, which was thin. All I heard was something about Phil’s shotgun, but that was enough.
When Charlie came out of her room a minute later, she jumped back as soon as she saw me standing right outside her door like some sort of pervert.
“Sorry,” I said, holding my hands up, palms out. “I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but did you just say something about Uncle Phil’s shotgun?”
Charlie sighed. “Yeah, I just said that to make Audrey Rose feel better. When I told her Chad knows we’re onto him and that we have evidence against him, she kind of freaked.”
I hadn’t thought about that. Suddenly my mind was filled with images of Chad breaking down Uncle Phil’s door with an ax.
I really needed to stop watching Lifetime movies with Mom.
But now that the images were in my head, there was no getting them out.
I considered Charlie and she cocked her head at me. “What? What’s that look for?”
“Do you even know how to operate that shotgun?”
“How hard could it be?”
Exactly what you don’t want to hear when guns are involved.
“That’s it. You’re getting a shooting lesson.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
I saw her hesitate and look longingly at her bed. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she was thinking. It had been one of the longest days of my life and that bed looked so tempting…
I shook my head to dispel thoughts of Charlie’s bed and said, “I know you’re tired. So am I. But this can’t wait. Your sister has a point. We’ve backed Chad into a corner, and that makes him dangerous. I’m not leaving you alone with a weapon you don’t know how to use.”
Her head and shoulders sagged as she sighed, and I half expected her to stomp to the door like a toddler having a tantrum, but she made her way to the door with minimal whining.
Charlie left Cordy inside and grabbed some empty produce cans from Phil’s garbage can. I grabbed an old sawhorse from the barn, arranged the cans in a line on top of the sawhorse, then showed Charlie how to load the shotgun.
Once she had that down and we had established where the safety was and how to turn that on and off, I had her aim for the cans.
She was a natural.
“You sure you’ve never handled a gun before?”
“Does a BB gun count?”
I shrugged. “Kinda. This packs a much more powerful punch, both for you and the person you shoot, but in terms of aiming, it’s pretty much the same.”
“Now can you leave me alone for the night?”
I looked at her as I considered the request and realized how badly I didn’t want to.
She had the gun. She knew how to use it. Chances were she’d be fine.
But if she wasn’t…
“Phil’s just gonna be in the hospital the one night, right?”
She nodded. “I think I can make it one night alone.”
Normally, I’d agree with her. She was a grown woman after all. But these were not normal circumstances. Despite what the news wanted us to think about the cities being crime-infested wastelands, I knew the reality was very different, especially for someone like Charlie who could afford to live in a nice neighborhood where crime was low. And, as far as I knew, she hadn’t pissed off anyone like we’d pissed off Chad.
“Phil will kill me if anything happens to you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
“Why don’t I just stay one night. I’ll sleep on the couch. You won’t even know I’m there.”
She sighed and cocked her head to one side as she considered me. “I’m not gonna win this, am I?”
My jaw dropped. “I’m sorry. Did Charlie Turner just admit defeat?”
She rolled her eyes. “I suggest you take the win before I change my mind.”
It was really hard to avoid taking my victory and rubbing it in her face, but I didn’t want to risk her changing her mind. So I took the win.
This isn’t the end, but it’s the end of what I’m posting for this story. If you want to know how it ends, you’ll have to stay tuned for when I publish the full manuscript and buy a copy. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely promote it all over this website.