‘Once or twice,’ said Ryan as he loaded the new clip with blind precision and fired off all shots quicker than Jaz could say ‘wow’.
Taylor’s eyes just about fell from his head as the target zoomed closer for inspection. Not only had Ryan hit the target’s head, but the shots were all that close they’d blown out a circle the size of a penny.
‘Holy shit. The man knows his stuff,’ said Taylor, still amazed.
Then that was the end of Anna and Jaz’s existence. Finally Taylor had someone who he could actually share gun talk with, besides Derik, and someone who he could compete with. They talked guns, ammo and everything in between, while Anna and Jaz found their own booth.
Fifteen minutes later while Anna was having another shot, Taylor tapped her on the shoulder. Jaz shifted her earmuffs from her ears.
‘You were right, he’s okay.’
Jaz looked at him, dumbfounded. ‘What, you’re best buddies now? God, I will never understand boys!’
‘Well we are from Mars, isn’t that what Anna reckons? Speaking of Anna, I think she needs my expertise.’
Taylor gave Jaz a wink and stepped around her to get to Anna who was trying to get her stance right.
Jaz felt eyes upon her and glanced at Ryan. He looked like a bad-ass with a gun in his hands, enthralling to boot. It looked so natural, like it was a part of him. His movements with the gun were like that of a normal person with their mobile phone. She walked slowly towards him and took the gun he held out for her. She knew he wanted to see what she could do.
He hadn’t even unloaded it, so with swift fingers she emptied the gun and slipped in the new clip. She was feeling a tad bit nervous with him behind her. The pressure to do well was forefront on her mind. Please don’t miss, please don’t miss. Jaz breathed in and as she let out a slow even breath, she fired all the rounds.
After the last bullet was spent, she turned around to face Ryan, emptied the gun before putting it down on the table and took off her earmuffs. The target rattled behind her as it grew near but she didn’t turn around. Instead, she watched Ryan’s eyes. Saw him glance to the target and then smile in approval. Had she just passed another test?
‘Well?’
Ryan removed his own earmuffs. ‘You’ve exceeded my expectations, yet again.’
She couldn’t wipe off the stupid grin she knew was on her face. They stood staring at each other for a long moment before Ryan cleared his throat and said, ‘Taylor, on the other hand, is better than half our operatives.’
‘Yeah, that wouldn’t surprise me. He loves this place and comes all the time to practise.’
‘Hmm, it shows.’
‘Are you thinking of recruiting him too?’ Jaz asked jokingly.
‘It’s a thought, but we don’t do recruits that often as we can’t cope with too many. We like to give you all one-on-one training with a qualified agent. But if you say no, then he’s more than a possibility.’
Jaz was taken aback; she didn’t know what she thought about that. She was just joking, but Ryan was deadpan serious. Taylor as an agent? Especially if she said no — what the Hell! Jaz realised that if Taylor signed up, she’d be next. She couldn’t let him do it alone. He could be hurt or killed like Chris. She didn’t know if she liked that idea.
Ryan interrupted her thoughts with a question.
‘Pardon?’
‘I asked if you’d been here with your mum at all.’
‘At the range?’ Jaz asked and Ryan nodded. ‘Ha, no. My mum doesn’t get out much. She likes to stick to her little suburb and her job.’
‘So…um…what was your mum’s name, Natalie, was it?’ he asked awkwardly.
‘No, it’s Natasha. Well she goes by Tasha but I’ve heard Pax call her Nat a few times. I think it’s a pet name.’
Ryan nodded slowly but that weird feeling came over her again. It was like Ryan had left the room, yet his body remained.
‘You right?’
‘Yeah, sorry. It’s just, I have a bit of a problem and I was thinking maybe you can help me. But on the other hand I really don’t want to involve you.’ Ryan dropped his voice to a whisper.
‘Ask me, Ryan. I don’t mind.’ Jaz cupped her mouth in a stage whisper. ‘You want me to stake out at the club again?’
‘No, it’s a bit harder than that.’ He put the gun down and eased her closer so he could speak into her ear. ‘I need some information picked up tonight at ten but I will be at the club on a shift, and you know how important it is for me to keep an eye out there.’
She nodded. ‘How come you have to pick it up?’