Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,17
told me I could go up. The sun’s down. I thought it would be safe to come above ground.” She inhaled deeply when they reached the kitchen. “I couldn’t tell for certain upstairs because it smells like a gun warehouse up there, but you’re wearing a weapon with bullets.”
“I am, and Collosa told us how uncomfortable it made you last night. I’m sorry for that, but you’re going to have to learn to be okay with it.” He shook his head. “You’re going to know proprietary things about Drake Security, and about the status of ongoing ops. If someone targets you, you’ll need to be able to defend yourself. You’ll be living with the three of us, and we’ll protect you, but I assume you’ll go out without us at least occasionally.”
She stared at him without responding, and he gave a frustrated sigh before he pulled his H&K from the holster, dropped the mag, cleared the chamber, set the weapon down, and settled the bullet from the chamber on the table in front of her. “Operating on the premise you fear them because you don’t understand them, let’s go through the mechanics.”
He showed her the primer on the back of the bullet, explained how the hammer in the gun strikes it, igniting the tiny bit of explosives in the primer, which ignites the gunpower mixture behind the bullet, which propels the bullet through the barrel and towards the target. He broke the gun down, showed her the barrel, the hammer, the trigger mechanism by themselves. Isolated. He insisted she hold the pieces, since they didn’t seem to scare her as much once the pieces no longer looked like a gun.
Finally, he talked her through putting it back together, so she ended up holding the gun once it was reassembled. He showed her how to safely hold it without touching the trigger, and he ended with why it’s so important you never point a gun — even if you’re certain it’s unloaded — at someone unless you intend to shoot them. And how you never put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to engage it.
Basic gun safety. It had to be done sooner or later, and he’d chosen sooner.
Fabio came upstairs towards the end, but he sat quietly and didn’t interrupt.
When Collosa came down, he brought an AR and put it in the corner. Eunice was smart enough to understand he was letting her see it without inviting her to touch it yet. Baby steps.
Collosa took his seat across from her. “I talked to Aaron about your reticence around weapons. He’ll give you a few days before he wants you in the range, but he’ll want you certified within the month, so the sooner we start, the better.”
“Certified?”
Collosa had been warned about her anxiety, but he honestly hadn’t expected it at this level from a vampire. He touched her arm and then rested his hand on it. She met his gaze, took a breath, and settled.
“You’ll need to pass two tests. The first is a Drake Security test, and when you can pass it, you’ll be assigned a weapon. As soon as possible after this, you’ll apply to the State of Tennessee for your concealed carry permit, which will involve a written test and a much easier range test than the Drake one. Once you have the permit, company policy says you have your weapon on you back and forth to work, and while at work. Common sense says you should also have it on you anytime you leave the house, and handy while at home. You’ll be living with us, where we have lots of guns handy, but you’ll still need it on you when away from home.”
He caressed her arm again, let her digest that before he continued. Her stress levels had predictably gone back up, but he couldn’t sugar coat it. He could, however, help her deal with the information now that she had it.
“We’ll go slow. You’ve held a handgun now. Put one together, even. The world didn’t end and no one is dead. We’ll teach you the safety protocols to keep you and those around you safe. It’s going to be okay.”
He looked to Fabio a few seconds, and breathed in. Fabio gave him a cocky smile, and that told him all he needed to know. He met Kelsey’s gaze. “You seem well fed. Anything we need to be aware of?”