No Such Thing as a Free Ride Read Online Free PDF Page B

postcard from the guy, but still the question of the photo haunted me.
    *****
     
    “You shoot like a girl.” Bobby took off his goggles and reloaded his pistol and handed it back to me. We were at the shooting range and I had just emptied a clip into the wall next to a paper man-shaped target. Well, that’s not entirely true. A few stray bullets hit the ceiling. I don’t have the best aim in town.
    I made a face and readjusted my ear protectors. “
You
shoot like a girl.”
    DiCarlo looked at me. “That made no sense at all. And, it’s sexist. You should watch statements like that.” He grinned and pulled the goggles down over his eyes. Standing behind me he wrapped his arms around me, enclosing my hands in his. “Try it again.” I felt his breath, warm on my ear, and it made me forget for a minute that we’d decided to be “just friends.” And then I remembered Tina.
    It’s not that I’m jealous.
I’m not
. It’s just that she’s stupid and Bobby can do so much better. I wiggled out of his grasp. “Y’know I think I’ve had enough practice for today.”
    “I thought you were serious about learning how to shoot.” He aimed the pistol and hit the target square in the chest, in rapid succession, emptying the chamber.
    “Lucky shots,” I shrugged.
    “That’s not luck, Sweetheart. I’m that good.”
    I flashed him a major eye roll.
    Bobby put down the gun, his face growing serious. “Look, Bran, all kidding aside, I heard about the girl you found last night. She was lucky you were there to help her, but the fact remains that it could’ve ended up being a dangerous situation for you.” I started to protest but he held up the “talk to the hand” sign. “Sweetheart, it’s not your fault. You attract danger like flies on shit. I’m just saying as your friend and someone who loves you, I want you to be prepared.”
    DiCarlo was right. I needed to raise my level of competency instead of relying on luck to keep myself safe. I reloaded and shot round after round until I was finally able to hit the target. Granted, a
moving
target would present more of a challenge, but at least by the end I wasn’t aerating the ceiling.
    Bobby walked me back to the car. “I’ve got an hour before I pick Sophia up from her play group. You want to grab a cheesesteak? My treat.”
    The offer was tempting seeing as all I had in my refrigerator was a slimy bag of organic lettuce about a week past its expiration date, (As John says, it’s not enough to buy healthy food. You actually have to eat it) but I had things to do.
    “Can I take a rain check? I want to swing by the hospital to check up on that girl. They won’t tell me anything over the phone.” Plus, I had to walk past Nick’s apartment building about a thousand times in the hopes of casually running into him again. My agenda for the afternoon was pretty full.
    Bobby leaned against the car, his arms folded across his chest, his expression a cross between amused and aggravated. People look like that quite often around me.
    “It’s already started,” he said.
    “I’ll bite. What’s already started?”
    “You’re obsessing over that kid. You think you’re the only one in the city that can help her.”
    “Bobby that is so not true. Jeez you make it sound like I go totally overboard. I just want to make sure she’s okay is all.”
    “Did you or did you not call the police station three times last night to see if they’ve been able to find out who she is?”
    “You have no proof that was me. Besides, they wouldn’t tell me anything. Could you call for me?”
    He cast me another look, this time of pure affection. “I’ve already checked—because I knew you’d want to know. She finally gave a name to the hospital, but the cops ran a check and it’s bogus.”
    “Listen, there’s a girl who’s been hanging around Frankie’s gym. I think she’s homeless. Anyway, she has a homemade tattoo under her ear. It looks really similar to the one the girl