Page 92 of Wrecked
Instead she said, “Nothing’s going on. Thanks for having my back. You want to go into The Village?”
“Sure,” he replied.
The Village was located behind the shooting range. It was reserved for law enforcement groups to practice real-life scenarios in a pretend town. Six buildings covered the campus and it offered a more authentic place to work on technique and accuracy than the firing range.
Before entering the space, they pulled on their body armor.
It was just after six and they weren’t alone. A group of cadets was working in building six with their commanding officer.
“Live rounds,” Hawk said.
“Let’s stick to the first two buildings,” she replied.
They worked on sharp shooting. Addison was more accurate, but Hawk fired more rounds faster. Then, they worked on pop-up targets. For those, they were equally matched.
As they were returning to building one, she said, “I wish I was this relaxed during a mission.”
He flicked his gaze in her direction. “You aren’t?”
“Hell, no. My adrenaline is pumping. I’m laser focused, which can be bad because I might miss an ambush or a second shooter. Areyourelaxed?”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like flying where I’m really in the zone, but I’m pretty chill. It would take a lot to rattle me.”
“How are you able to do that?”
“Ten years ago, I hit rock bottom. My life got ripped apart and I was gutted.”
She stopped walking and stared at him.Why have I never heard this before?
“I wasn’t eating, I couldn’t get out of bed,” he continued. “I didn’t care if I lived or died.”
Instead of pressing him with questions, she waited, hoping he’d say more. When he didn’t, she caressed his back. “I’m so sorry.”
Movement near building two caught her eye. Someone, dressed in black, peeked out from the side of the building, his face obscured by a baseball cap. He raised his arm, a weapon in his hand.
Addison plowed herself onto Hawk, pushing him over. They hit the ground as a bullet whizzed by. They jumped up and ran for cover behind building one.
With her heart pounding out of her chest, she stood with her back against the cement structure, breathing hard. “Were you hit?” she whispered between gasps.
“No. You?”
“Negative.” After several seconds of silence, she regarded him. “What the hell was that?”
“Either a stray bullet from the cadet class or someone is trying to kill us.”
Back to back, and with their guns drawn, they retrieved their duffle bags, then hurried back to the main building. There, they found owner Tucker Henninger working at the check-in counter.
“Hey, guys.” Tucker’s easygoing smile was replaced with a furrowed brow. “What’s wrong?”
“We were in The Village and a stray bullet almost hit us,” Addison said.
“Which building?” Tucker asked.
“Two,” Hawk answered.
Tucker checked the log. “I’ve got three groups back there now, but someone cut a hole in my chain link fence. People have been sneaking in. I fixed it, but they might’ve come back.” He regarded them. “You okay?”
“We’re fine,” Hawk bit out.
