Grey Areas by Brad Carl

Author:Brad Carl [Carl, Brad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Psychological, Thriller, Suspense, Drama, Action, Adventure, Small Town, Iowa, Midwest, DEA, narcotics
Publisher: Smashwords
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

VII

The group of six gathered just outside the front door of the Chumansky house. With the help of several floodlights, Eddie and Chum took turns shooting clay pigeons in the dark of the night. The sight of the clay discs floating through the late evening sky reminded Henry of a nighttime baseball game.

While Maddison spoke with Marty on the front steps, Henry and Claire sat in lounge chairs near the garage behind the shooting.

"The electronics business seems to have treated Chum well," Henry observed. "Nice, custom built house with brand new furniture, lots of land..."

"That's for sure," Claire said. "To me he lives the life of a billionaire."

"What keeps you here?" Henry inquired.

"I guess it's familiarity. Gable is all I've ever known. I've worked at Stubby's for sixteen years."

"Sixteen years?"

"Since I was nine," she said, pausing for a beat before continuing. "Stubby was my uncle," she explained. "He was my dad's big brother."

"I see," Henry said. He thought it was interesting she hadn't mentioned this before.

"I like it here, I guess. I still live at home for crying out loud," she continued.

"You get along with your parents?" Henry asked.

"My dad died three years ago," Claire said. "Heart attack."

"I'm sorry," Henry replied.

A shout interrupted their conversation.

"Hey, Henry! Get your ass over here and take a few shots!" Chum hollered.

Henry stood up and stretched his legs. "I'm not much of a sharpshooter."

"Good. Then you'll make us look better," Eddie said. He handed the gun to Henry who looked at it as if it were from another galaxy.

"I wasn't kidding. I'm not a gun-guy," he reiterated.

Chum stepped between his tenant and his sales guy and gave Henry a quick thirty-second tutorial. Eddie stood off to the side and loaded the manual clay pigeon thrower.

"Call 'pull' when you're ready," Chum told him. Henry took a couple of deep breaths and held the gun up, aiming into the dark sky.

"Pull!" Henry said with authority. Eddie flung the disc of clay as far as he could into the air above the field. For a moment Henry lost sight of it. When he found it again he did his best to line the barrel up and pulled the trigger. Simultaneously, he felt the kick of the gun drive into his shoulder and heard the crack of gunfire. The clay pigeon made a soft "thud" as it landed in the grassy field, unharmed.

"I told you I wasn't any good," Henry said, glancing first at Chum and then turning around and shrugging at Claire. She covered her mouth as if to hide her laughter.

"Those things cost me almost a quarter apiece, Henry," Chum joked. "You better not miss too many more!"

"I'd go out there and bring it back but I don't trust Eddie not to cap me," Henry retorted.

"Don't worry, he'd miss you," Chum joked again.

Fast Eddie snorted.

"You're so sure of that, you wanna run out there yourself?" he asked his friend and boss while putting out a cigarette on the driveway cement with his boot.

"Tell you what," Chum said, taking the gun from Henry, "I'd hate for you to accidentally kill me.

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