-Next Week; Thursday-
-5pm-
~Skylar's POV~
I was getting ready to go to the shooting range with Daniel, some of his friends, and their wives.
We're going to the shooting range, then we're going to go to dinner after.
This is the first time I'm going out with Daniel with other people. I'm not too nervous about it. But I know all his friends and their wives are at least 3-4 years older than me. And I don't know if that will make them treat me differently.
What Daniel doesn't know is that I do know how to shoot. Once I turned 18, I bought a gun in Chicago to keep me protected. I still have my Illinois permit. But I haven't been able to get the gun over here. I still carry my permit in my wallet. I've been meaning to just get a different gun. Right now, the gun is just at the 21st district because my moms didn't want the gun to be in the house with Maxx and Scarlett in the house.
I'm pretty sure Daniel thinks I've never handled a gun before, but I used to go to the shoot range once a week as a "therapy" for myself when I lived in Chicago.
I haven't been to a shooting range in almost 2 years, but I still know everything.
I tried one shooting range here in LA when I was 18. It wasn't too bad. I borrowed a gun from the place. But I haven't been there since. I've been meaning to get my hair permit for California, but I haven't had the time too.
I got dressed in jeans, boots, a black shirt, and a red and black flannel. My hair was loosely curled and my makeup matched my outfit, but it wasn't too much.
I made sure that I had my permit. Even though I know I have it. I brought my glasses and earmuffs for the shooting range and put them in my purse. I think Daniel's going to be extremely surprised. I'm going to pretend like I have no clue what I'm doing, then I'll just show him.
At 5:30 I got a knock at my door. I opened the door and Daniel was there.
"Hi baby.." I smiled and gave him a kiss.
He smiled and pulled me in by my waist.
"Hey beautiful." He smiled.
"You ready to go?" He asked me.
"Yup." I said.
"Alright. So we're meeting the guys and their wives at 6. Then after, we're going to this restaurant downtown." He explained as we walked down to his car.
"Sounds good." I said.
We drove to the range.
"Ok, so I brought my other handgun with me for you to use. I'll show you all the basics, don't worry. If you feel unsafe or scared, it's ok. You don't have to do it." He told me.
I nodded my head.
We got to the range and met up with the others outside of the range.
"Ok so, Skylar. This is Garrett and Heather. Kyle and Erin. And Jason and Amelia. This is Skylar." Daniel said.
I smiled and waved.
We went inside. My moms always found it so ironic that guns don't scare me as much as they used to. Considering I had a gun pointed at me for a week straight when I was kidnapped. But once I got one myself and learned the safety of it, they don't bother me as much anymore. Yes, I will still always be terrified of being held at gunpoint again, but now that I know how to use a gun, it gives me a sense of calmness.
"Hey, we need 4 targets. 2 people will be at each target." Daniel told the guy at the front.
"Ok, how many guns do you guys have?" The guy asked.
"I have two handguns. Both 9mms." Daniel said.
The others explained what guns they had. It seemed like the wives have been here before.
The guy looked at me. I was obviously the youngest in the group.
"Can I see your license?" He asked me.
I gave him my ID.
"She's with me." Daniel said.
The guy looked at me, then at Daniel.
"Ok, let me get you to some targets." The guy said.
We got set up at a station.
"Ok, babe. First, you need to wear these glasses, and these earmuffs. They'll block out most of the sound. And the glasses protect your eyes." Daniel explained to me, showing me some earmuffs and glasses he has in his carrying case for the extra gun he brought.
I nodded my head. I took the glasses and put the earmuffs on.
He showed me the gun he brought for me. It was the exact same gun I had in Chicago.
"Now, some basic gun safety, don't ever point it at someone. Make sure your finger is never on the trigger unless you're gonna shoot..." he was explaining.
I was listening to him, but I already knew all this stuff.
He took about 15 minutes explaining everything to me and I just listened and paid attention.
"Ok, so... You wanna try and shoot on your own or do you want me to help you for the first one?" He asked me.
"I think I wanna try by myself." I said.
He gave me the gun.
I looked at it, and put it in position. I picked up the gun and put the magazine in. I looked at the target, cocked the gun, and aimed. I pulled the trigger and got a direct bullseye.
Daniel looked at me, impressed.
"Wow, that's... insane babe." He laughed.
I laughed too. I shot the target a couple more times.
"You sure you've never done this before?" He laughed.
I chuckled and pulled out my wallet.
I showed him my gun permit. He looked super surprised.
"Wow, um... why didn't you tell me about this?" He chuckled.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Never really needed to until today." I laughed.
We stayed at the range for about an hour and a half before we all headed out to dinner.
We went to this restaurant in downtown LA.
"Hey we need a table for 8." Daniel said.
"Ok. Luckily a big group just left, follow me." The host said.
We got sat down.
"Oh, hey. This place is BYOB." Jason said, looking at the menu.
"There's a liquor store just around the corner." Kyle said.
"I can get something. What should I get?" Daniel said.
"Bring some Blue Label." Garrett said.
"Ooh, and some red wine." Heather said.
Amelia and Erin agreed.
"Skylar, are you good with that?" Amelia asked me.
I hesitated.
"Uh, yea, I don't mind what we get." I said.
Daniel wrote the stuff down on his phone.
"Alright, you wanna come?" He asked me.
I nodded my head.
"What do you guys want if someone comes and asked for drinks?" Kyle asked.
"Just get like a soda." Daniel said.
"I'll just get a Coke." I said.
Daniel and I left the restaurant and walked to the liquor.
I noticed a man outside the restaurant, across the street. He seemed like he was watching us.
I was holding Daniel's arm as we were walking to the liquor store.
"What are you looking at, babe?" He asked me, but didn't looked at what I was looking at.
"There's.. someone outside the restaurant, like watching us.." I said as we were almost at the corner.
Daniel looked back. He didn't look like he had a reaction to this guy, but I saw it in his eyes. He's a little worried now. He sped up his walking a bit and held my arm a little tighter.
"Come on, it's probably no one. Let's just get the drinks." He said.
I was now a little nervous, but we went to the liquor store.
We got the drinks.
"Do they know I'm only 20?" I whispered to him.
"I don't know, but it's ok. I don't think the restaurant's going to ID you. Especially since we brought our own alcohol." He whispered.
"Ok." I said.
We paid and left the store. It was a dark street we were on. The liquor store was on this small street.
It was night time now, it's already 8pm.
I held onto Daniel's arm, but quickly grabbed the pepper spray out of my purse and kept it in my hand.
I could tell Daniel was on high alert, he had that look to him like when's he's on the job. He was walking fast, almost dragging me behind him. I could feel my heart beating so hard and fast. It felt like my heart was either gonna explode, or jump out of my chest. Something isn't right.
Although we were walking fast, the streets felt like they were never ending.
Right as we were about to turn the corner, some guy came in-front of Daniel. It was the same guy that was outside of the restaurant.
"Well, well, well. Detective Quinn." The guy said.
"What do you want, Weston?" Daniel asked him, holding me tight.
"You know what I want. I want you to fix your little mistake and get my son out of jail." The guy told him.
"You know I can't do that. Your son murdered that little girl. He deserved to be in jail." Daniel told him.
"We've been friends since grade school. Let this slide for me." The guy said.
"No, I can't. I've helped Patrick too much in the past. Those car accidents were one thing, but he shot that girl." Daniel explained.
The guy looked at Daniel angry, then at me. He looked like he was studying me.p
Daniel stepped in front of me.
"Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with this. You don't even know her." Daniel told him.
I was looking at the guy, he was looking back at me. Then I noticed he looked pass me and had this look in his eyes.
Then I felt someone grab my arm.
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