The Territory A Novel - By Tricia Fields Page 0,44

the gun sight, but did not stop to focus.

“Shoot!” Kenny yelled.

She leaned into the shot, tensing her muscles to prepare for the kickback, and pulled the trigger without thinking. The shot landed dead center of the trash bag.

Kenny smiled and patted her on the back. “Nice work, sis. Very nice.”

She laughed out loud.

“How’d it feel?” he asked.

“My ears are still buzzing. The sound’s caught in my head like a bee.”

“And?”

“It felt good. I can do this.”

“Now empty the cartridge into the hillside and watch where the bullets hit. Go.”

Pegasus turned, shot until she fired one empty round. Her ears pounded. She had shot nine bullets but had little sense of where they landed in relation to her aim.

“Eject the magazine into the trunk and load up again,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “It is ninety degrees and I’m hungry. I need a supper break.”

“Damn it, this isn’t a joke! You think the people who stole Red’s guns won’t come back for you?” Kenny had the wide-eyed look that had made her nervous since they were kids. His hair was sweat-soaked, and he looked like he needed a shower. He seemed to realize he was coming on too strong and dropped his voice. “Life is seriously messed up out here. You need to move on if you aren’t willing to prepare.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of both hands and sighed. “I have thirty-six dollars in my purse. Where exactly do you think I’m headed?”

“Then you better get serious. No more screwing around.”

Pegasus looked up at her brother. She was five foot eight and he stood over a foot taller than her, thin, with a swagger she had always admired. She appreciated him checking on her and staying a few days, more than she could ever tell him. He refused to stay in the trailer, or tell her where he was staying, but that was fine. His presence was enough.

Ignoring his lecture, Pegasus quickly reloaded five bullets, spun, and faced the target again, discharging all five rounds. She finished, counted multiple holes within a one-foot radius of the center of the trash bag, and turned back to face Kenny with a look of triumph, her ears now completely numb, her hands tingling and sweaty.

Kenny smiled. “I’d say those son of a bitches ought to think twice before knocking on your door.”

* * *

Josie sat at Winning’s picnic table with a set of six photos, all taken from basically the same angle. She had started at Red’s house, holding each photo up to compare the picture to the scene in front of her, but the angle was too far to the left. Josie matched up the picnic table just outside Winning’s trailer, and found an exact match with her own digital camera. Red had sat at the table, probably nursing a beer, she imagined, and taken pictures of Winning through her curtainless windows.

Josie’s stomach growled and she realized she had skipped lunch again. She glanced at her watch. At four o’clock, with at least another two hours’ worth of work, there was no way she could pull off lasagna for Dillon by seven. She would settle for spaghetti as a backup and hope she made it to her house before he did. The image of her mother’s car, parked at Manny’s, crossed her mind. Josie just hoped she could hold her off one more day.

She retrieved her evidence kit and toolbox from her jeep, where they had already gotten almost too hot to handle. She was setting her equipment on the picnic table when Pegasus Winning pulled down the lane and parked beside Josie’s police vehicle. The rusty car door squealed as she slammed it shut and faced Josie. Winning was wearing a white V-neck T-shirt and cut-off jean shorts. Her hair was in a ponytail behind her back, and her face was sunburned and dirty, with streaks of sweat down her cheeks and neck.

As Winning approached her, Josie lifted the photos up but didn’t show them to her. “Were you aware Red had been taking pictures of you inside your trailer?”

Winning rolled her eyes. “Ask me if I’m surprised. The sick bastard.”

“Had you noticed anyone hanging around outside your trailer?”

She shrugged.

“Any trash in your yard, that kind of thing?”

Pegasus shook her head no.

Josie leaned back against the picnic table and crossed her arms. “Here’s the plan, then. Officer Marta Cruz will be here shortly. She’ll be taking pictures, both inside and out. She’ll help me tape up