“None. It’s all under control.” Josh had rigged it so a bunch of small explosions would go off, making a lot of noise for effect, but controlling what and how high things went up.
Crossing his arms, Ryan said, “How does a software guy know how to blow up cars?”
“YouTube. Are we all set?”
Abe, the fire chief, placed the bag with the worries on the front seat and then gave him the thumbs-up. Josh handed Haley back to Meg. “There’s going to be a really big bang, Haley, and then some fire, but nothing to be scared of. Okay?”
“Momma said it’s gonna go BOOM!” She flung both hands up in the air to demonstrate.
“That’s right.” Satisfied he wouldn’t scare the crap out of his kid, he accepted the rifle Zeke held out.
Josh turned to the crowd, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled for everyone’s attention. “Ready to blow this rig?” After the cheers settled down, he said, “So, we’ll all use this rifle. You’ll get three shots. Hit the target dead on, and then she’ll blow.”
Brewster called out, “What’s the prize if we hit the target?”
“Bragging rights and a damn good show.”
The men smiled and nodded. The women rolled their eyes.
Meg’s grandma spoke up. “That’s a tough shot. We should use my Remington to give people a better chance. Got a problem with that, Granger?”
He’d calibrated Zeke’s scope. It was as close to perfect as it could be. But maybe he’d score some points with Meg’s grandma and let her have her way. “Sure. Why not? But do you mind if I take a practice shot to test it out?”
“Go ahead.” She handed over her gun. “Let’s see you take off the side mirror first.”
Josh moved up to the bales of hay that surrounded the car and assumed a position slightly behind the vehicle to give him an angle. Taking aim, he held his breath, then slowly squeezed the trigger. The mirror dropped straight to the ground. He’d taken out the small support that held it to the car. “Looks true.”
Grandma let out an unimpressed grunt.
Josh handed the gun to Toby first. “You any better at this than darts?”
“Yep.” He turned to Meg. “So if I make this—”
Josh laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Not happening. Got it?”
Toby smiled. “Loud and clear.” He made a show of rolling his shoulders and moving his feet into position, finally taking a shot. He came close, but missed all three times.
After the next few shooters were unsuccessful, Meg’s grandma jumped the line and declared it was her turn. When no one argued, she hobbled over and accepted the gun from Josh. “Because I’m interested in knowing just how good you think you are, Granger, let’s have us some fun before we blow the car up. What do you say?”
The gleam in the woman’s eyes and the soft chuckles from everyone should probably have warned him off. “I’m game. What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s see how you do with something that’s not standing still. See those two big pinecones hanging side by side on the tallest tree at the top of the ridge there? I’ll go first. The one on the left.” She leaned her cane against the hay in front of her and aimed the rifle. After taking a moment to gauge the sway in the light wind, she popped off a shot. The pinecone burst into pieces, then drifted to the ground.
“Nice shot, Mrs. Anderson.”
He accepted the gun and calculated the range of movement, then took out his pinecone.
She slowly nodded. “Not bad. Okay, how about we add a little pressure. There’s an old, run-down shed a ways over there. Through the trees. There’s one window left with four panes. See it?”
He searched the stand of trees, finally glimpsing sunlight reflecting off the glass. It wasn’t far away. But getting a straight line of sight would be the challenge. “I see it.” Although he wasn’t sure how she was seeing it through her wire-rimmed glasses.
In a raised voice, she said, “I told Meggy earlier I didn’t like the idea of you taking Haley away in that truck of yours. I’m not convinced you’d bring her back.”
That wasn’t going to help his credibility, dammit.
Grandma continued, “Shoot out a pane and you can take Haley to the ranch. Miss, or don’t take the challenge, and she stays here with me. All safe and sound.”
All eyes turned to him.
The chances of making that shot were less than 50 percent, even for him. The interest brewing in the people’s eyes was evident as they all stared at him. Waiting.
Meg called out, “Grandma, stop!”