Sniper

Bret scoffs. “Me? I’m up to skipping supper and watching some dumb show on television.” He gets up from the couch to walk with his cell phone to his ear. “And…heading to the fridge for a nice cold beer. Then I’ll probably get tired of watching something I don’t want to anyway and I’ll go crawling upstairs to bed until the morning when I’ll get up and stare at the newspapers for hours looking for someone who would hire a guy like me so I can stay occupied without so much dang down time on my hands.”

He pauses at the fridge, a grin on his face. “How’s that?”


Everything happens so fast. The band plays…the noise continues…the music…the singing… But for an instant, Jason hears nothing. His eyes are focused on the crowd, yet he sees the back where the shot is fired. He hears Katie’s feelings to decipher their meanings. Suddenly, he’s drawn back into the sounds. He looks around wildly, trying to remain in control onstage, but is desperate to take down the intruders. Katie…what happened…is he down? Did anyone see you?

The other guys on stage muster up all they have not to stop playing…not to get offstage and help and see what had happened. They had to keep going…had to keep the crowd focused on them.

The sniper goes down, thrown into the corner with the force from the bullet, dropping his rifle with a clatter. Several people in the back turn their heads at the movement, though the sounds have been muffled from the music. Before they can see anything though, Wyatt has stepped in the way, obscuring the view and letting his body language show that everything was fine and there was nothing to look at.

The sniper’s eyes flutter open and he moans, moving a hand to his inside shoulder where blood is flowing out of the bullet wound.

Con comes in from the back, having already deposited the first thug into the custody of a police officer that had been posted outside by orders from Brown. He stops short, seeing the man down, and looks to Katie with question. “We gotta get him out of here,” he whispers hoarsely, glancing to Wyatt’s back. “Before these folks see him.”