Making It Right (Most Likely To #3)

The first person she saw on the left side of the room was a civilian walking from an on-screen grocery store. A noise behind her brought her attention to the image of a car. Behind it, a man held a gun to the head of a hostage. The gunman shouted at the camera, which was meant to simulate a real-life situation, but Jo couldn’t talk the man down. This simulation was about gut instinct for when to shoot and when to hold back.

The victim in the image cried and attempted to lean away from the gun pressed to her temple.

The gunman suddenly looked to a place beyond where Jo stood, his attention diverted.

She refused to look behind her.

A split second later the gunman turned that gun toward her and the victim managed to move a half a foot away.

Jo took the shot.

The pretend gunman went down.

Only then did she look behind her.

The fictitious grocery store had several people running from it, all of them screaming.

Jo forced her heartbeat to quiet and she waited.



Gill stood beside Shauna as they watched Jo in the simulator.

“She’s good,” Shauna said, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I wonder if she knows how good she is?”

Jo grazed a bad guy, and took him out on a second shot. “I don’t think she’s ever tested herself until now. Fear is a great motivator to hone your skills,” Shauna muttered.

Gill glanced at his partner. “Fear of what? She makes River Bend sound like a TV sitcom from the fifties.”

Shauna never stopped watching Jo in the simulator, her eyes tracking Jo’s every move. “When her best friend’s daughter was missing, she was hyperaware of everything, her instincts and mind worked like a computer. Like any seasoned agent.”

“Don’t mess with kids.”

“Yeah.” Shauna’s gaze narrowed. “Then last fall.”

“What happened last fall?”

“She was convinced someone was stalking her.”

Gill stood completely still, his arms chilled.

“Stalking?”

“Watching her. We all have that sixth sense when someone is looking at us, but it sounded a lot more sinister than that. At least how she described it to me. And since Jo doesn’t scare easy, I’m guessing she was right.”

Gill moved his eyes to the woman in the room once again. “Nothing came of it?”

“I gave her a few tips about changing her routine, came down shortly after her call. She told me the eyes in the dark stopped after the holidays. Stressful few months for her.”

Gill didn’t like to think of someone watching her for that long. For any amount of time. “You think that’s why she’s here?”

Jo fired off several rounds inside the simulator, hitting three out of the five gunmen on the screen. She rolled on the floor to avoid the laser fire that would indicate she’d been shot.

From the ground, she managed to bring down the remaining bad guys.

When she did, the lights in the simulator went on, and Jo laid her head on the ground, her body heaving with deep breaths, her gun lax in her fingertips.

Several agents watching, and many of Jo’s classmates, met her success with applause.

Gill felt a strange sense of pride at her accomplishment.

Jo pushed herself off the floor, shook the hand of her instructor. Gill didn’t hear the conversation but knew Agent Gutierrez was giving equal amounts of praise and instruction. When she turned away, Gutierrez patted her on the back as she exited the room.

Later, when the final test had been taken and the last weeklong student was done, Gill kicked back with Shauna, Jo, and a much larger group of law enforcement from around the country in the same bar where he’d demonstrated his dart skills.

Unlike when they’d been there earlier in the week, the bar was packed. It helped that it was Friday, and the celebration was also the long good-bye to those who would most likely never see each other again. A band set up on the tiny stage, a small space in front of it would give some room for dancing.

Gill wondered if Jo danced.

A waitress in a tight mini walked by, a tray of shots in her hand. She stopped at the circle of people who joined Jo.

The noise level was too high to hear the exact words, but from the body language, it appeared that one of Jo’s classmates challenged her. All Gill saw was Jo waving a hand at the other person before she reached for a shot.

A cheer went up when she poured it back and set the empty on the tray before picking up another.

Laughter erupted by the time the third shots were downed.

Her partner quit, and she grabbed a bottle of water that sat on a table beside her.

Someone moved beside him, distracted him. “Looks like someone has your attention.”

Shauna nudged his arm.

He did a double take to find her wearing a halter top, one that showed cleavage. And while he knew she had that, he’d never noticed before. Her hair was down, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she wore more makeup than he’d ever seen on her face.

“What the . . .”

She stood back, did a little spin.

Along with the skimpy top were skintight jeans. Apparently Shauna’s divorce was helping her remember she was a woman again.

“Someone is on the hunt,” he said without censure.

“You can’t be the only one hooking up.”

“Who says—”

Shauna stopped him with a look that reminded him of his mother, the one where she extracted a confession about the missing cookies with only a stare.

“That’s what I thought,” she said.

The band started to play a few notes, making conversation even harder in the crowded bar.

Once the music started, several couples moved onto the dance floor.

Gill moved toward Jo without thinking. He paused, looked over his shoulder. “You need backup, just holler.” His eyes swept Shauna again before he winked.

“Go.” She pushed him away. “You’re cramping my style.”

Gill knew he was too big a man for people to ignore. Several gave him room as he made his way toward Jo. When the people closest to her parted, her eyes lifted to meet his.

“Agent Clausen.”

She was tipsy, he could see that from the rose color in her cheeks to the shine in her eyes.

“Sheriff.”

“Little Miss Mayberry knocked it out of the park today, eh, Clausen?”

“She sure did.”

If Jo was offended by the title she’d been given, she didn’t show it.

Someone to her left started to ask something, but Gill ignored them and reached for Jo’s hand. “How about a dance?”

One of the women on her right did a low whistle, and someone pushed her from behind.

Jo smiled. “Since you asked so nicely.”

Catcalls followed them as they walked away from the crowd.

The music was fast, but the dance floor was small, so he was able to keep a hand on her while they found the beat of the music.

She moved to the music and placed her hands on a part of her body that made him salivate. This was the Jo he’d met in DC. The one who didn’t hold back. He couldn’t help but wonder just how loose she would be if given half a chance.

The music changed and they kept dancing. By the third song, he pulled her off the dance floor and over to the bar.

“Not bad moves for a guy as big as you.” Jo’s half compliment had him grinning.

He leaned close and spoke in her hear. “I think you gave at least three guys out there a hard-on.”