Free All The Stars In Heaven by Michele Paige Holmes Page A

listing to the right.” He shook his head as he scolded her. He grabbed the chain pulley and drew the target closer so she could see her mistake.
    Bracing herself for a rebuke, Sarah lowered the earmuffs to her neck.
    “It may not seem like much right now,” her father continued. “But you can’t afford that kind of error.”
    Sarah lowered the gun and put one hand on her hip. The other arm hung at her side, the pistol hanging from her fingers. Both shoulders were tired and sore from the repeated practice, and her back was starting to ache. She wasn’t sure why her father was obsessing about this so much today, but she couldn’t care less if she hit her own target or the one beside it. Looking up she said, “I never carry a gun anyway, so who is it you think I’m going to shoot?”
    “Anyone who threatens you,” he said in a low, menacing voice. Stepping close, he took the gun from her hand. “And from now on you will have a weapon with you. After that stunt Carl pulled at the park, we have to change things up a bit. He isn’t going to be following close enough to do you any good if something goes wrong. And if that should happen, you don’t want to find yourself in a position like this.” He pointed the gun at her chest.
    Sarah drew in her breath sharply as she looked down at the barrel touching the fabric of her shirt.
    Her father lowered the gun, then reached for her hand and put the pistol in her palm as he turned her toward the targets.
    “Got it?”
    She nodded, still waiting for her shock to subside. He pointed a loaded gun at me! With shaking fingers, she covered her ears and raised her arms once more, this time trying hard to focus her line of vision on the cardboard mannequin at the end of her lane. She took aim and pulled the trigger, hardly flinching at the recoil. She’d grown up around guns, and as much as she hated them, she was also used to handling them.
    Grant pulled on the chain and stepped forward to see how she’d done. She lowered the earmuffs to her neck again.
    “Better,” he grumbled. “But not your best. You’re not focused today. If school is going to interfere with your job—”
    “It isn’t school,” Sarah cut in.
    “Then what?” Grant pointed out her latest shot on the target—high and to the right—then released the pulley.
    “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to work on the drug task force. I tried telling you the other night. I hate it. The dealers scare me, and—”
    “And it helps pay the bills,” Grant said. “I’m spending a fortune on your tuition. If we’re going to make ends meet, you’ve got to work, Sarah.”
    “I’ll find another job,” she insisted. “Mrs. Strouse has been after me for months to give her girls private singing lessons. I could teach piano, too.”
    “Piano,” Grant scoffed. “You think that will make a dent in thirty-five thousand dollars a year? The only reason you’re able to go to college is because of your job. Do you have any idea the kind of strings I had to pull to get you this position?”
    “I wish you hadn’t. But I’ll work two jobs to make up the difference.” Sarah hated that she sounded as desperate as she felt. “I can find something on campus. I’ll work in one of the cafeterias or be a janitor— anything would be better than spending my nights buying drugs.”
    Grant sighed heavily. “It’s not possible, Sarah. You can’t quit—no matter how much either of us might wish you could.”
    “Then fire me—on the grounds that I’m a lousy shot today.” She gave her dad a half smile, hoping to ease the tension building between them. She knew she’d pushed about as far as she dared. But hadn’t he crossed the line too—a few minutes ago, pointing a gun at her like that? “Fire me and hire someone else who’s as passionate about fighting crime as you are. It would be better for everyone.”
    “You’re irreplaceable.”
    Against her will, she felt her heart warm with the