“Be right there!” She took another look at herself to see what she could salvage in less than three minutes. Quickly change her clothes. Run a brush through her hair. Lipstick.
When she got to the door, she was a bit winded. “Hi, sorry. I was in the back, cleaning out a few things. Please come in!”
She opened the door wide, as wide as her smile.
“No problem,” Pedone answered. “How are you doing?”
“Good. I’m good. Really.” And she meant it. Colleen felt as if her life was beginning to turn around. Yes, it would be a long haul, but she was moving in the right direction. Away from the madness.
“Where’s Jackson?” Pedone asked.
“He’s at a neighbor’s playing with her dog.” Colleen nodded in the direction of Ellie’s house.
“You mean Ellie Bowman?” Pedone asked quizzically.
“Yes. She’s letting Jackson play in the yard.” She hesitated. “I know it’s none of my business, but do you know why she never comes out of the house?”
“Haven’t a clue,” Pedone replied. “We like ’em quiet.” He smiled.
“I was surprised she invited Jackson to play in the yard. That’s a first. I’ve invited her over for tea, but she’s always declined. I thought maybe she was agoraphobic.” She shrugged. “But she seems very nice.”
“Like I said, we like ’em quiet. And if you say she’s nice, that’s even better. One person we don’t have to keep a constant eye on.” Pedone put the package on the dining-room table. “Speaking about people we’re keeping an eye on, there’s Mitchel Haywood.”
“Oh?” Ellie asked. “Any particular reason?”
“We found out that his brother, Gregory, has a gun permit. I don’t mean to alarm you, but thought you should know.”
“Can’t you do something about that?” Colleen was getting nervous.
“Unfortunately, no. Second Amendment and all.”
“But what about Mitchel? He was arrested. Is he allowed to be near a gun?”
“Yes, he was arrested, but he hasn’t had his trial yet, so he’s not been convicted of anything as of now.” Pedone wished he could have given her better news.
“So, when he gets convicted, can he still live in a house with a gun?” Colleen tried to remain calm.
“It will depend on whether he’s found guilty of a domestic-violence felony.”
“Why wouldn’t he be?”
“They could find him guilty of a domestic-violence misdemeanor, which would not necessarily require that there be no gun where he lived.”
Colleen was starting to shake. Pedone took her by the shoulder and moved her toward a chair.
“Listen, we’re a small town. We don’t like bad people ruining it for everyone. If he gets convicted of a felony, then his brother has to keep the gun locked up so that Mitchel cannot have access to it. Mitchel’s relationship to the gun would then be called constructive possession.”
“How can we force his brother to make sure it’s in a safe?”
“Another answer that starts with ‘unfortunately,’ but we can’t.” Pedone sat down in front of her. “Let’s focus on what we can do, OK? I brought you a new toy.” Pedone opened the bag and pulled out the box with the Taser and unwrapped the weapon.
“We should probably do this outside.” He smiled at her. “Give me a sec. I need to get something else out of the car.”
Pedone returned with a torso that looked like a car-crash dummy.
“What is that?” Colleen asked.
“In order to show you the proper way to use this, we need a proper human-type figure.”
“Do you always have one of these guys in your car?”
“Not usually.” Bob smiled at her. “Let’s do it.”
Colleen got up and motioned toward the back door. “I don’t think anyone will be able to see us if we stay close to the house.”
Pedone pulled a chair over to the side of the house, about fifteen feet from where they stood, and set the dummy in the chair.
“If you ever have to use it, it will mostly likely happen when you are least expecting it. The most important thing to remember is to aim at the stomach if he’s facing you. Or at the middle of the back if he’s facing away from you. That will send impulses to the central nervous system and knock him down.” Pedone got behind Colleen and placed the Taser in her hands. He unlocked the safety catch. “Now squeeze.” The wire tentacles of the gun flew out so fast she almost fell over with surprise. “Holy smoke!” Colleen was struck by the force and distance the probes flew. “Let’s do it again!”
Pedone smiled. “OK. Now let me show you a little finesse. If you are thinking straight during the altercation, turn your wrist and thus the gun slightly to the left or right. This way, you’ll have a wider spread of the pins, which will affect a larger part of the body.” He took the gun from her and showed her.
He pulled a spare cartridge from his back pocket, reloaded the gun, and then he handed it back to her. “Now you try it.”
Colleen followed his instructions to the T. “You’re a pretty good shot!” he remarked.
Colleen laughed. “During the summer, I would work at the county fair, at the shooting range. Not real guns. The ones where you shoot at moving ducks and try to win a prize.”
Pedone found her quite amusing. “I thought you didn’t know how to shoot.”
“Like I said, not real guns.” She smiled up at him. “Jackson will be getting home soon, so we should probably put this away.” Then she remembered the big trash bags. She grimaced.
“What is it?” Pedone asked.
“Oh, I threw Mitchel’s disgusting dirty laundry into trash bags, and I need to get them out of the house before Jackson gets home.”
“Why don’t you give them to me, and I’ll take them over to his brother’s.”
“Really? I can’t let you do that.” Colleen was floored at the generous offer.
“Doing my civic duty, ma’am.” Pedone nodded.
“Are you sure? I don’t
