Path To Resolution (Fighter's Den, #5)

Chapter 29 - Wolfe

"Here," Coach hands me a handgun and I grip it loosely, unsure and way too aware of what it can do. It's uncomfortable holding something so dangerous.

"Is this necessary?" I ask.

"Are you interested in dying?" He throws back and effectively shuts me up. Beside me Asher snickers.

"Relax, Emerson. This can't be that hard." He lifts his handgun and aims it at the target several feet
away, pinching one eye shut.

"Really?" Coach tosses him a dry look. "Go ahead then. Shoot."

Asher steadies his fingers over the trigger and then clicks it, firing a bullet. The kickback of the gun forces him to take a step back just as the bullet shoots off and lands on the wall above the target, nowhere near where he was aiming. I snicker into my fist and Coach rolls his eyes, looking at me.

"You next, Emerson. Do exactly the opposite of what Pryce did."

"I meant to do that," Ash mumbles and steps aside for me.

I take his place behind the ledge that separates the shooting range from the rest of the building. I raise the gun at shoulder level and aim it straight ahead.

"Stop," Coach says before I can so much as move my finger over the trigger. He stands beside me, fixing my stance. He kicks my legs apart and forces me to lean my upper body the slightest bit forward. Then he takes hold of my hands on the gun. "Tighter. Your grip will make or break your shot. You need to keep the gun grounded in your hand because it has more strength than you realize. You don't want to fumble your grip when you shoot, like Pryce did. Grip it hard and use your other hand to support your hold."

I readjust the way my hands are poised and tighten my grip, holding the gun as hard as I can. Coach nods.

"Good. Now use your dominant eye to aim."

I pause. "My right eye?"

"Could be. Here, follow this."

He uses his thumb and index finger to form a circle and aims it where the target is. "Look through the circle." He instructs. "I'm going to bring it close to your face and whichever eye you look through the circle with first is your dominant eye."

Slowly, he brings his hand closer to my face and the target grows more clear through the circle. Immediately I'm looking at it with my left eye without meaning to.

"Left," I say.

"Your dominant eye. Use that to aim and you'll make a better shot. Lastly, squeeze the trigger but only put pressure on the front and not the sides. As soon as you feel resistance let go. Move with the kickback so it doesn't push you away. Your steps falter, so does your shot. Now try it."

I pinch my right eye closed, using my left eye to aim the head of the gun at the target. I poise my finger over the trigger, tighten my grip and dig my feet into the ground, and take a deep breath before pressing on it. It gives for a second or two before I feel the push so I let go and the gun kicks back. I move back with it but make sure my feet stay in place and the bullet goes off. It doesn't land on the centre of the target but it does land close by, on the second circle away from the red dot. Coach whistles low.

"Not bad. Pryce, get over here and do it the way I showed you."

Asher takes my place behind the ledge and this time he's serious. His gaze is intense and focused as he raises the gun and points it at the target, pressing on the trigger without hesitation. The bullet lands maybe a millimetre from the red dot. Coach and I both blink in shock from the accuracy of his aim.

"I was fucking around with you guys the first time," He grins and lowers his gun. "Only good thing my deadbeat birth dad ever did for me was show me how to shoot. Told you I meant to do that when I missed."