Page 45 of Operation K-9 Brothers

“Then put on the earmuffs and safety glasses.”Jack put his personal ones on.He loaded the handgun with ammo, then pointed it at the floor as he handed it to Mark.“Let’s see what you got.”

The kid wasn’t bad for a beginner.He shot with his legs braced apart and his eyes steady on the target.Jack let him go through the box of ammo, and toward the end as he adjusted to the gun, he was hitting the bullseye.

“That’s it for today,” Jack said, pulling off his ear protection when the last bullet hit the target.“You did good.”Truthfully, the kid was a natural.

“Aren’t you going to shoot?”

“Nope.I reserved the time for you.”No way was he going to embarrass himself in front of Nichole’s brother, who no doubt thought Jack would dazzle him.Before he’d been hurt, he would have.The reminder of that soured his good mood.

“Can we do this again?”

The hopeful look in Mark’s eyes was impossible to say no to.

“Sure.I’ll give you my phone number.Call me when you’re ready to go again.”Jack hadn’t asked Nichole how old her brother was, but he guessed early twenties.He seemed younger, or maybe it was just that Jack felt years older than he was.War would do that to a person.

“Wanna go get a beer?”

“Not today.”He was not going to make Nichole’s kid brother a drinking buddy.But...“You doing anything tomorrow morning?”

Mark’s eyes lit up.“We’re gonna come here again?”

“Nope.I have something else in mind.You still staying at your sister’s?”

“Uh-huh.She said I could stay there for two weeks.”

“Great.I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty.”

“In the morning?”

Jack swallowed a chuckle at Mark’s alarmed expression.“Yep.Wear old clothes.”No reason the kid couldn’t make himself useful instead of hanging around, being useless.If nothing else, it might help keep him away from Lane and out of trouble.

“So, what are we doing?”

“It’s a surprise.”Although he doubted Mark would think cleaning up dog shit would be a particularly good surprise.It was going to be fun.