Tyrone and Nadine had spent the morning watching contestants in the
various events, concentrating on checking out the MTA seniors. Nobody
was coming close to Gorski's unbelievable record, but there were some
pretty good hang times.
They decided to practice after lunch, and went to the field set up for
that, a little farther up the hill.
Tyrone looked at the sunny meadow with others practicing, then at
Nadine. She wasn't a looker like Bella, but in this light, here in
this green field, she was a lot more attractive in ways that Bella was
not. She was a person, somebody who liked being with him, somebody who
he liked being with for reasons that went past a pretty face.
'What are you grinning at, fool? Your chances of beating me
tomorrow?'
Tyrone shook his head.
'Nothing,' he said.
'Well, come on, let me give you another lesson in how to throw.'
'Your ass.'
'Yeah, you are my ass, aren't you?'
They both grinned. At that moment, Tyrone didn't see how life could
get much better than this. Well. Maybe after he won the championship
it could.
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
'Have you ever fired a handgun. Dr. Morrison?'
They were on one of several shooting ranges at the militia compound.
Though it was late, nearly nine, it was still light enough to see the
targets, squared-off human torso silhouettes made of cardboard, mounted
on wooden stands. There were a dozen of these at various distances
from where they stood behind a chalk line drawn on the dirt, next to a
beat-up table made of weathered two-by-fours and plywood.
Morrison shook his head.
'No. Rifles and shotguns when I was a boy, not pistols. My parents
didn't believe in them.'
Ventura said, 'The principle is the same. You use a sighting device to
line the weapon up on the target, press the trigger, the gun goes bang.
The main differences are that a shorter barrel is harder to aim well,
and most hand 5
guns have considerably less punch than a rifle or a shotgun.
You trade stopping power for portability and being able to conceal the
weapon.'
Ventura pointed to the tabletop, where several pistols lay.
'What we are going to do is let you try several of these, to see which
one you can shoot the best. There isn't time for you to gain real
expertise, and this is for a last-ditch, enemy-in-your-face situation.
If you have to resort to it, then my people and I will likely be dead,
and frankly, your chances of surviving will be slim and none.
But they probably won't expect you to be armed at all, so you might
surprise them.'
Morrison nodded again, feeling a cold rush in his lower belly. He
hadn't thought this far ahead. The idea of being kidnapped or killed
