Stephenie Meyer - The Chemist

“I don’t know if I could actually shoot a person.”

It was Kevin’s turn to look disbelieving. “You’d better figure that out. Because if you don’t shoot, the person coming sure as hell won’t hesitate to take advantage.”

Daniel seemed about to argue, but Kevin waved the mini-conflict away. “Look, let’s just see if you can remember how to shoot a gun.”

After Kevin reviewed the basics, it was evident that Daniel did remember plenty. He took to the rifle with much more instinctive ease than Alex had ever felt with firearms. He was clearly a natural, while she never had been.

After enough rounds were fired for her to get over the fear of all the noise, she lifted the SIG Sauer.

“Hey, do you mind if I try this out on the closer targets?”

“Sure,” Kevin said, not looking up from his brother’s sight line. “Join the party.”

The SIG was heavier than her PPK and had a more substantial kick, but in a way that felt good. Powerful. It took her a few rounds to get used to the sight, but then she was about as accurate with it as she was with her own gun. She thought that with time, she would get better. Maybe she’d be able to get in some consistent practice while she was here. It wasn’t the kind of thing she usually got to indulge in.

When Kevin put an end to the shooting instruction, the sun was almost all the way down. It colored all the yellow grass deep red, as if it were actually touching down on the horizon and setting all the dried brush ablaze.

Reluctantly, she put the SIG away with the other guns. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know the code. She might do some stocking up when Kevin’s party was over.

“Well, Danny, it’s good to see you’ve still got it… and that my talent isn’t just a fluke. Mom and Dad passed us some solid genes,” Kevin said when they were heading back to the house.

“For target practice. I still don’t think I could do what you do.”

Kevin snorted. “Things change when someone is trying to kill you.”

Daniel looked out his side window, clearly unconvinced.

“Okay.” Kevin sighed. “Think of it this way. Imagine someone you want to protect – Mom, for example – is standing behind you. Some new recruits need to visualize in order to get themselves in the right frame of mind.”

“That doesn’t really fit with shooting from a sniper’s perch,” Daniel pointed out.

“Then picture Mom getting stuffed into the trunk of a car by the guy in your crosshairs. Use your imagination.”

Daniel was done. “Fine, fine.”

She could tell he still wasn’t persuaded, but she had to agree with Kevin on this one topic. When someone came for you, your survival instincts kicked in. In a him-or-you situation, you always chose yourself. Daniel wouldn’t know how that felt until the hunters caught up with him. She hoped he’d never have to learn the feeling.

Well, Kevin would do what he could, and so would she. Maybe together they could make the world a safer place for Daniel Beach.

Back at the ranch, the tour continued. Kevin took them to a sleek modern outbuilding, invisible from the front of the house and full of dogs.

Each animal had a climate-controlled stall and access to its own private outdoor run. Kevin explained the exercise schedule to Daniel, which dogs were already spoken for and which were ready to be listed, training him for his future life at the ranch, she assumed. Daniel seemed to love it, petting all the dogs and learning their names. The dogs adored the attention – and asked for it; she wished she could turn down the volume of the barks and whines. The dogs who ran loose were apparently graduates of the program; these followed Kevin on the rounds.

Alex suspected Kevin had let her tag along just to make her uncomfortable. The horse-size spotted one – a Great Dane, she learned – was constantly on her heels, and she was sure the dog hadn’t decided to do that on his own. Kevin must have given some unseen command. She could feel the giant’s breath on the nape of her neck, and guessed there were probably flecks of saliva on the back of her shirt. The hound dog was tailing her, too, but she thought he might have chosen the assignment for himself. He was still milking those sad eyes every time Alex glanced at him. The other graduates circled Daniel and Kevin, except for Einstein, who stuck close to Kevin only and seemed to take troop inspections very seriously.

They passed stalls with German shepherds, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and several other working-group dogs she didn’t know names for. Alex kept to the middle of the long pathway between kennels and didn’t touch anything. Always best to minimize the number of fingerprints for wiping down later.

There were two small hound puppies sharing a stall, and Kevin mentioned to Daniel that they were Lola’s offspring, gesturing to the bloodhound tailing Alex.

“Oh, Lola, huh? Sorry,” Alex murmured, too low for the men to hear. “I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Lola appeared to know she was being addressed. She stared up at Alex hopefully, and her tail pounded against Alex’s leg. Alex leaned down quickly to pat her on the head.

Kevin made a disgusted sound and she straightened up to see him staring at her.

“Lola likes everyone, ” Kevin said to Daniel. “Great nose, poor taste. I’m trying to breed out the lack of discrimination while keeping the olfactory genius.”

Daniel shook his head. “Enough already.”

“I’m not kidding. I expect better instincts from these animals.”

Alex squatted to scrub her fingers along Lola’s sides like she’d seen Daniel do, knowing it would drive Kevin crazy. Lola immediately rolled over, offering her belly. Abruptly, the giant dog lay down on Alex’s other side, and she was nearly positive he was also looking hopeful. She carefully patted his shoulder with one hand, and he didn’t bite it off. His tail beat the ground twice. She took that as encouragement and scratched behind his ears.

“C’mon, Khan, not you, too!”

Both Alex and the Great Dane ignored him. She twisted down so that she was sitting cross-legged with both dogs in view and her back to the brothers. If she was going to be surrounded by furry killing machines, she might as well have a few of them on her side.

Lola licked the back of her hand. It was disgusting, but also kind of sweet.

“Looks like Alex has a fan,” Daniel said.

“Whatever. Over here is where we keep the chow. Arnie picks it up every other week in Lawton. We’ve got most of what we need for…”

The rest of what Kevin said was lost in the yips and grumbles of the dogs left behind.

She stroked the dogs for a few minutes more, not sure how they would take it when she quit. Finally, she rose cautiously to her feet. Both Lola and Khan were quickly on all fours and seemed totally happy to follow her as she walked back to the house. They escorted her right to the door and then made themselves comfortable on the porch.

“Good girl, good boy,” she said as she went inside.

Kevin had probably meant to intimidate her, but she liked the way it felt as if the dogs were actually looking out for her, rather than keeping an eye on her. She supposed it was what they were trained for. It was a comfortable feeling. If she had a different lifestyle, it might be nice to add a dog. Except she didn’t know where she would get a dog-size gas mask.

Arnie was on the couch in the great room, parked in front of a flat-screen TV that was mounted on the opposite wall. He had a microwave dinner in his lap to which he was assiduously applying himself; he didn’t react to her entrance.

The smell of the food – macaroni and Salisbury steak – had her mouth watering. Not a four-star meal, but she was really hungry.