Sue (8 page)

From her position in the hallway,
Sue could hear muffled conversation, the levels rising and falling before
silence. The door opened and Melvin exited carrying a manila folder. “In here,”
he snapped at Sue, holding open the door to a small conference room.

Sue entered with Melvin right
behind her. He slapped the folder onto the table. “Read it.”

As he turned to leave the room, Sue
stopped him. The folder in front of her was thin. It couldn’t possibly hold
everything about her. “Where’s the rest?”

“What rest? That’s all there is.”
He reached for his pocket as he closed the door with more force than was
necessary.

Sue could just hear him pacing in
the hallway and the sound of his nebulizer as he took several hits.

Roxie stuck her head out the door
only to see Will standing in his own doorway. He shook his head and Roxie
disappeared back inside. Will quickly
followed
.

“What is going on?” Roxie
whispered, sneaking another peak at Melvin.

Will explained that Melvin wanted
Sue to read the information they had on her case.

“Is that wise?” Roxie was
concerned.

“I don’t know. But Melvin was
adamant and I decided to let him go ahead. We’ll see. It shouldn’t take her
long to read what we have.”

He was right. Fifteen minutes later
Sue stepped meekly from the conference room. “Is that really all there is?” She
addressed Melvin who had stopped pacing and watched her closely.

“As I said.”
He nodded.

“I believe I owe you an apology.”

“Accepted.”

“Can you please take me home?”

During the ride back to her house, the
couple was quiet. Sue had been amazed at the lack of information Will had
accumulated. All he had was information about the theft of the hair dye from
the dollar store, the break-in at a house, and an interview with Doris, the
homeowner. Another couple of pages covered the vandalized vending machines and
notes made after Will talked to the owner of the campground. There were a lot
of details about his search for her.
Lists of abandoned
buildings and their locations.
A written documentation
of his conversations with Candy, Dilly, and the officers at the scene of
Brenda’s murder.
And, of course, there was a thorough report of finding
Sue at the church and the stand-off with Zeke. Nothing in the file touched on
the sordid scenes Zeke had put her through, nothing about her memories of
childhood experiences, nothing that would lead anyone to believe Sue was
anything other than an unfortunate victim. As the adrenaline drained away, Sue
felt an urge to cry.

“Melvin,” she began as he escorted
her to her door once again.

“No, Sue. Just stop right there.
Everything is okay. There’s nothing to discuss.” His eyes were sad as they held
hers. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow for your first self-defense class.”

He waited until he heard the door
being locked from within before returning to his car.

Chapter 11

Sue chewed the side of her nail,
mixed feelings flooding through her. She had attended two classes on
self-defense and was starting to get the hang of the different moves a woman
could use to protect herself. She had to be careful since her feet were still
healing and the wound in her side remained tender. After explaining to the
instructor she’d been injured, he took it easy on her, taking her through the
maneuvers slowly.

“You can do the workouts as soon as
you feel up to it; but as long as you’re familiar with the moves, you should be
able to put them to use if necessary.”

“Thank you, Wayne.”
Sue smiled, genuinely pleased with the class.

Afterward, Melvin drove her to the
gun club where she was going to shoot a firearm for the very first time and her
nerves were vibrating.

Melvin glanced sideways at her and
noticed her reticence. “You’ll be fine, Sue. I think you’ll actually enjoy it.”

“What are you carrying on about?
I’m not nervous.” Sue shifted her eyes to Melvin.

“
Rightttt
,”
Melvin agreed and they both smiled, more at ease with each other since the
blowup they’d had. “Anyway, Sue. There’s really nothing to worry about. I’m a
member so you’ll go in as my guest. You’ll get to choose a weapon to try, be
issued a pair of earmuffs, and we’ll head to the back to shoot. If you don’t
like the gun you’re trying you simply go up front and check out a different
one.
Nothing to it.
Okay?”

“Okay. It’s just my dad always
taught me that guns were dangerous.”

“And he’s right.”

“What? I don’t understand. If
that’s what you think, why are we going?”

“Guns are dangerous in the wrong
hands and for sure in untrained hands. That’s why you’ll practice, practice,
and practice some more. That way if you ever have to shoot at some…thing you’ll
be more likely to make the shot count.”

“That makes sense. Okay, let’s do
it.”

The indoor shooting range was on
the edge of town. Sue stared at a small fish and tackle store they passed on
the way. Her cheeks burned at the memory of Zeke busting her for following him
one night. He’d stopped outside the shop, gone in the front and then out the
back door, and stood behind her car as she made a fool of herself ogling the
front of the store. Even after all this time, her sense of humiliation for that
little stunt remained strong. Thankfully, the feeling faded by the time Melvin
parked in the gravel lot of Shooters Gun Shop.

“Melvin, how they
hangin
’?”
The greeting came from a large bald
man with arms bigger around than most people’s thighs. His thin lips spread in
a toothy grin and a huge diamond stud glittered in one earlobe.

“Little to the right, Burns,”
Melvin said before remembering he was with Sue. “Sorry,” he said in an aside to
her.

“It’s okay.”
Zeke had talked so
much worse.

“So what can I do for you today?”
Burns asked and Sue caught a glimpse of a tongue ring.

“My friend wants to learn to shoot.
Sue, this Jason Burns, owner of this dump.”
Melvin
smiled.

“Dump?
I’ll have you know this is a classy joint.” He stuck out a beefy paw and
engulfed Sue’s small hand in his.
“Glad to meet you, Sue.”
He studied her a minute. “You bring a gun or do you need to rent?”

“Rent.”
Sue reclaimed her hand.

“First time?”
Burns asked.

Confused, Sue looked from Burns to
Melvin. Did he know who she was? Was he trying to be funny?

Melvin whispered, “Shooting.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve never shot a gun in
my life.” Sue was thankful Melvin had saved her from embarrassing herself in
front of this giant and his customers.

“Right, then.
Let’s take a look at the guns.” He led the way to a glass-covered case. He
slipped a key from the ring on his belt into a lock on the cabinet, pulled open
the back sliding door, reached in and picked up a small gun. “This .38 special
is one of our small caliber pistols
.
It’s the main choice of the ladies. It
has hardly any kick and is simple to load and shoot.” He looked at Sue and she
turned her eyes to Melvin.

“I think that would be excellent to
start out with. We can come back after a few rounds and get something bigger if
you want,” Melvin said.

“Fine.”
Sue was unmoved. This wasn’t the gun she envisioned aiming at Zeke’s head while
he begged for mercy. She wanted something that would blow him to kingdom come.
But she knew she had to start somewhere and she didn’t want to reveal her true
motives. “Let’s give it a try.” She smiled slightly.

“Okay,” Burns said. “Fill out this
form and I’ll get your gear together. What about you, Melvin? Got your own?”

“Right here.”
Melvin patted a small case he’d brought inside. He moved to a sheet and signed
in as Sue did her paperwork.

Finally, Melvin led Sue through a
set of doors. They were sporting earmuffs, and carrying guns and ammo. Three of
the eight booths were occupied. Melvin moved to the next to last station and gestured
to Sue to set her things on the counter. Burns had shown her how to load the
gun and put the safety on. Now Melvin hollered that they should do these steps.
He stood beside her, removed a nice-looking weapon and box of ammo from his
case. As he began to expertly load, Sue fumbled with her own gun. Melvin
reached to help but she slapped his hand away. She wanted to do this herself.

At last, Sue slipped on the safety and turned to face Melvin
with a proud expression. He gave her a thumbs-up. Speaking near her muffs,
Melvin said he’d go first. “Watch closely. I’m shooting at the target directly
in front of our station. Ready?” At Sue’s nod, Melvin flipped off the safety,
adjusted his stance so that he was facing the target. Supporting his shooting
arm at the wrist, he stood with the opposite leg slightly back, shoulder-width
apart. Keeping his hips aimed at a 45-degree angle toward the target with both
elbows bent, Melvin took several deep breaths. Then, he fired eight quick
rounds. Sue followed his moves so she could imitate the stance when it was her
turn.

As Melvin fired, Sue clamped her
hands over her earmuffs, holding them tighter. She couldn’t believe how loud
the shots were. When he finished, he pressed a button on the side panel and his
target zoomed toward them on a line. Melvin pulled it off and surveyed it a
minute before turning it towards Sue.

“See? I put three in the center
ring, and the other two in the outer ring. Not bad since I haven’t shot for
about a month.”

Sue was impressed. “Good job.”

“Okay, now your gun only holds five
shots. Start with one shot to get the feel of the recoil. After that, if you
think you’re ready, shoot the other four.”

Sue copied the way Melvin stood.
She glanced at him and he nodded his approval. Breathing slowly, Sue aimed the
gun and pulled the trigger. Her hands shot upward two or three inches. “Oh,”
she cried out before she could stop herself.

“You okay?”

“Yes, it just surprised me. Let me
shoot another.”

She aimed again, this time holding
the gun steady. Next, she shot the remaining three rounds without pause and
then put on the safety. Pressing the button as she had seen Melvin do, Sue
brought her target forward. “I missed,” she said, devastated.

“Not so,” Melvin said, pointing at
a small oval missing from the edge of the paper. “Not bad if you were meaning
to shoot the building next door instead of the target.” He tried for a serious
face but lost it as Sue gave his ankle a playful kick. “No fair,” he laughed.
“No one said you could use your feet as a weapon.”

“
Geez
!
How about you shut up and we try again?” Sue
suggested, already loading her gun for a second try.

Before they quit for the day Sue
could hit the outer ring with nearly every shot. Melvin said that was excellent
for a beginner and Sue beamed.

He took her elbow. “Let’s step out
of the range to clean our weapons.”

Once they took off their muffs, Sue
found her ears were still ringing. She stuck a finger in one and wobbled it
around.

“Got a bell in there?” Burns
smiled.

“Several by the sound of it,” Sue
responded. “How long will this last?”

“Not long, usually no more than a
day or two.” At Sue’s astonished look he laughed.
“Kidding.
It’ll fade quickly. What’d you think of the .38? Is it the gun of your choice?”

“I don’t think I can make a
decision after one afternoon, especially since I didn’t try any others. In the
long run I’ll probably want something with a little more
umph
but I’ll practice at least once more with this gun.”

“More
umph
,
hunh
?
If you say so.
Anyway, let me show you how to clean the gun
and then you can sign it back in.”

When Melvin pulled up in front of
Sue’s house she felt very proud of herself. She was making leaps and bounds in
learning to defend
herself
. She would never be a
victim again.

“You know what?” She looked
over at Melvin.

“What?”

”I think we should join a gym.
Get in shape. What do you think?”

Melvin gave her a long look.
“I think it’s a good idea. I know I could use the exercise.”

“Great. Then let’s pick one out and
sign up.”

“You want to choose or do you
want me to?” Melvin asked.

“Umm.
I’m not sure. Have you ever gone to one?”

“Sure. I used to go to Jake’s
when I still boxed. But it’s mainly a guy’s type of gym.”

“Well. Why don’t you pick one?
I don’t really have a good feel for this at all. Just be sure it doesn’t cost an
arm and a leg.”

“Works for me.”
Melvin smiled as Sue climbed out. He watched her until she was inside before
driving away.

In the middle of the night, Sue
awoke to pain surging through her wrists. Shooting was harder on the body than
she had first realized. Downing a couple Tylenol, Sue fell back into bed and
eventually slept.

Chapter 12

“I have a job interview,” Sue
boasted excitedly when she got Melvin on the phone. “It’s tomorrow morning. Are
you available to drive me?”

“What time?”

Sue could hear the hesitation in
his voice. “
Ten o’clock
.”

“Oh, Sue, I have class.”

“Hey, no problem.
I’ll just drive myself.”

Melvin took a moment to answer,
“No, I’ll cut class.”

“You will do no such thing, Melvin.
Your education is important.” She heard herself and said, “Oh no, I’m turning
into my parents. Next I’ll be reminding you to wash behind your ears.” She
chuckled. “But seriously, I can do this. It’ll be bright daylight and it’s only
a few miles. I’ll be fine.”