Carly stood at the shooting range, determined look on her face. She put another magazine in the pistol, slamming it into place. She held the gun out, gripping it tightly with one hand and steadying it with the other. She carefully took aim at the center of the target. She emptied the magazine into the paper man, bullet by bullet, following the tips Sarah had given her.
The magazine empty, she pushed the button to bring the target back to her. Her fingers lightly brushed over the bullet holes, examining her handiwork. She was getting better, much better, but still not good enough.
She glanced down at her watch. She still had more time before she needed to get back to work.
Carly replaced the target and reloaded the magazine. There was time enough for one more round.
"Looking good, Caroline."
She spun sharply around at the sound of the voice behind her. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing who the voice belonged to. Stanley, the geeky weapons guru who also ran the shooting range, was looking at the used target. The lanky young man looked more like someone who'd be at home behind a computer than a gun. She removed the protective headphones, smiling shyly. "Thanks," she said. "I'm getting better, I think."
"You are. But you know, if you want precision, you should consider moving up to rifles," he suggested helpfully.
A little too helpfully for Carly's taste. Stanley seemed like a nice guy, but every time she came down here, he was hitting on her in his own geeky way. She learned very quickly, a smile went a long way with him, especially when she wanted something. "Really?" she replied, trying to sound surprised.
Stanley pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Handguns are alright for short distance stuff and everyday protection. But with training, I bet you could take FDR right off the dime at 100 yards."
She didn't buy it, but humored him anyway. "I'm guessing that takes a lot of training, right?"
His face lit up. "There's a sharpshooter class coming up," he said, trying to contain his excitement. "I think there's a slot still open."
Sharpshooting... That was definitely a skill she could use. If only she could get into that slot. "I doubt they'd let me in. You know I'm not an agent."
"Most of the training classes don't have that kind of requirement. WSB is big on training and moving people around." He grinned smugly. "Besides, I'm in charge of the class and I say you're good enough."
She gave him a sugary sweet smile. "I'll think about it."
"I'll... I'll send the information up to your office."
"Thanks, Stanley."
Carly turned back to the target, putting the headphones back over her ears. She aimed at the paper man. She took a deep breath and fired. Stanley hovered around nervously for a moment, shuffling between his feet, before finally leaving her alone.
She smirked deviously. Stanley might just be of some use to her.
~*~
A shopping trip, just the girls. Andrew was taking Carly out on the town, to some new club she'd never heard of, and she didn't have a thing to wear. So Sarah had suggested taking off a little early for a trip to the mall just outside the safe zone. Store after store Sarah had dragged her, looking for the perfect dress. Okay, maybe not the perfect dress, but Sarah had pushed her into buying several excellent candidates. Between the dresses, accessories, and shoes, it was becoming an expensive day all around.
"God, I can't believe how much money I spent," she told her friend, holding up one of the many shopping bags she carried.
"You deserve it!" the Brit assured her confidently. "When was the last time you splurged on yourself?"
"It's been awhile," she admitted.
"A little shopping spree never hurt..." The ringing of Sarah's cell phone interrupted her.
Carly tried not listen as the young woman spoke on the phone. It was obviously about work, most likely another bombing somewhere, which meant she probably wouldn't hear from Andrew that night either.
Sarah put away the phone, frowning. "I have to go back in."
"I figured as much. I'd say we've done enough damage for one day."
"No, you stay and go to the boutique across from the food court. I saw the cutest dress there not long ago that would look like a million bucks on you. And you still have to hit the funky shoe store."
"Sarah, I don't think I need any more shoes," Carly laughed.
"A woman can never have enough shoes. Besides, it never hurts to look! You never know what you might find!"
Carly rolled her eyes with an amused sigh. "Fine, I'll go look."
Sarah flashed her an excited grin. "I want to know exactly what you bought!
See ya tomorrow!" she said, waving as she rushed towards the exit.
Carly shook her head at her friend, smiling. She swore sometimes Sarah
was more excited about her dates than she was herself. As if she were
living vicariously through Carly, although Sarah had her own boyfriend,
some hotshot US Attorney who worked nearly as much as she did. Carly turned
to head to the food court, to check out the store Sarah suggested. She
spotted a man out of the corner of her eye, her smile fading. Wide-eyed
wild look, greased back hair, designer suit... At first she didn't recognize
him, he was just another face blending into the crowd.
But it wasn't just any face in the crowd. It was Sonny Corinthos.
She looked away, unsure and frightened. It couldn't be, not here, not this time. he couldn't have found her again. She looked back again and he was gone. She focused on every person she could see in every direction, but no sign of Sonny. No one that even looked remotely like Sonny. She sighed in relief, sure she was seeing things. He had been on her mind and now her mind was playing tricks on her. She was stressing herself out over nothing.
Carly shook the image from her head. She was just seeing things.
~*~
Carly stood in front of the mirror, examining herself in one of the dresses she'd picked out. She wasn't sure which dress Sarah had been talking about, although she found several possible suspects. Red, black, pink, dark green, navy blue... So many colors to choose from, she just couldn't decide which on she liked the best. And she wasn't not walking out of this store with more than one dress. She'd spent enough money today on clothes to last her the rest of the year.
The 3-way mirror was about halfway through the small store, but it had a clear view of the window. She turned, looking at the dress from different angles. She turned again, this time facing the window. A movement by the window caught her eye. She looked up to see Sonny staring at her through the glass, same shocked, wild look on his face as before.
She looked back in the mirror. The strong, confident woman she'd know since settling in Washington was gone, replaced with the frightened woman she had been for so long. She glanced back at the window. Sonny was gone.
She didn't know what was going on. One second he was there, then next he was gone. It had happened twice now. She could no longer ignore her fears. They had risen to the surface.
She clumsily backed into the dressing room and quickly slipped into her own clothes, not bothering to even put the dress she had been wearing back on a hanger. She stepped out of the dressing room and gasped. Sonny was inside the store this time, standing on the other side of some clothes racks just feet away from her.
"Carly," he said, his hushed mumble sending tremors through her soul. He just stood there, staring at her as if he had seen a ghost.
Carly rushed out of the boutique, but she turned and looked back as she left. Sonny had disappeared again. Her eyes searched the store frantically. She found no visible sign of her ex-husband. "Oh god," she groaned, fighting back the urge to cry.
The panic rose in her. What if she wasn't seeing things? To hell with shoes, she had to get out of there. Get home where she was supposed to be safe.