“Sure, I hunt,” Gail said.
“That wasn’t what I asked. Only one kind of person would carry that ammo and that’s a hunter and I ain’t talking ‘bout no deer hunter. You look a little young for the business. I take it hunting runs in the family,” Earl said.
Gail shrugged. “Okay, yeah, hunting is a family business. You know other hunters?”
“I’ve known a few. Most of them are just passing through, but a few years back …” Earl stroked his beard and nodded to himself. “Yeah, you must be Drexler’s kid. You’ve got a family resemblance. He lived in the area for a while, ‘bout six years ago now. How’s your old man?”
“Dead, two years now,” Gail said.
Earl shook his head with genuine sympathy. “Sorry to hear that, girl. He was a good man and a good hunter from what I hear.” Earl turned to Jesse. “You hunt with her now?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I do. She has a problem and I’m helping her with it.”
Earl nodded and then grunted. “Must be a furry problem if you’re packing silver. Well, good luck with your hunt. If you need any special ammunition, let me know.”
“Now that you mention it,” Gail said. Her face warmed into a smile. “I could use a couple more boxes of forty-five ammo like this and say … two boxes of twelve gauge buck in silver.”
“Sure I can do that. It’ll take a day or so, I could make a box of each before moon rise if it’s urgent.”
Gail shook her head. “No, not pressing, but I will need to stock up after the next couple of nights. Never can tell what you’re going to need and I don’t want to get low.”
I had the form finished and passed it to Earl. Earl took a good look at it, then at Gail and me. With a smooth movement, he ripped the form in two. “If you two are going to be hunting, you don’t want that gun traced back to you, no siree. We’re going to have a break-in this weekend. I’ll make sure that particular serial number is among the items stolen.”
I grinned. “You have many break-ins, Earl?”
“Not many, insurance made me install cameras about six years ago after the last one. So this one will probably be stolen out of my car’s trunk.” He looked at Gail and her holstered Colt. “You know, I think it was another Colt Rail that went missing then. Your Dad really liked that gun.”
Gail nodded. “Yes sir, it was his favorite.”
“Nice to see it’s being used by someone who appreciates it.”
Earl reached onto a shelf behind him and grabbed a box of cartridges. He passed the box to me and nodded toward the door to the two-lane shooting range. “You go ahead and loosen up; there are ear covers back there. I’ll put this stuff in a bag and get you a price for the lot. Family discount, too.”
“Thanks, Earl.” I picked up the laser sights, confirmed the batteries were charged and handed one to Gail.
We went through the steel door to Earl’s firing range. I flicked on the lights. There were two lanes, each had a movable target holder that allowed shooting out to the range’s maximum of twenty yards. I set my new purchases on the bench rest in lane one and took two targets off the back wall. I hung both targets from the holders and used the controls to move them out to ten yards.
“You should sight in that laser. You can use as many of these hard balls as you need,” I said.
Gail nodded, “I thought I’d watch you first.”
“Why? So you can gloat or so you can see what you have to beat?”
Gail laughed. “It’s not a competition, Jesse.”
I grinned. She was lying and she knew I knew it. Gail had been incredibly competitive in high school and I doubted she had changed. “Okay, no competition, but take one magazine to sight in and then we’ll see about accuracy.”
“Sure, that sounds fair, I mean you do have a new gun and it wouldn’t be fair of me to compete until you get familiar with it.”
She turned to take a couple of ear protectors off a shelf on the back wall and I couldn’t help grinning. Damn, but I had missed her. I could never say Gail was predictable, but there were some things I could always expect of her, and boredom was not one of those things.
Gail turned while I was still grinning like a damn fool.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said, but I couldn’t get the grin off my face.
“Were you staring at my butt?”
“Always, but no, that wasn’t what I was grinning about. I was just thinking back about how much I’d missed you.”
She came close and handed me an ear protector. With her right hand, she patted me lightly on the cheek. “You’re sweet. I remember you fondly, too. Now get your gun sighted in, you’re going to need it.”
I chuckled and inserted my Peltor electronic plugs before covering my ears with the big shooting earmuffs. I loaded the Colt with eight rounds, checked to see that Gail had donned hearing protection and then I took a shooting stance. I fired off half the magazine in slow, deliberate shots and then stopped to look carefully at the target. Satisfied with the iron sights, I activated the laser and centered the green dot on the target. I put two rounds into the target and then adjusted the laser’s placement. I fired the last two rounds of the magazine to verify my adjustments.
We spent twenty minutes shooting, not competing, but when we finished Gail had more rounds in the ten spot than I did.
When we returned to the front, Earl had a bag ready. I paid for our purchases and then picked up the bag. I stopped and asked. “Earl, where
