When someone’s pointing a gun at you, you have two options. You can get stubborn, in which case they might shoot you, or you can do what they want… in which case, you’ve given them what they want, and then they might shoot you.

I prefer the third option. People who know what they’re doing use a two-handed grip. Not only does that give them more control over the weapon, but it makes disarming them a hell of a lot harder.

A human’s arms are designed for hugging. That is, they’re much stronger pulling toward the body than swinging away from it.

I spun, stepping out of the line of fire while pushing Conrad’s weapon hand toward his body. The muzzle flash nearly blinded me and the double report nearly deafened me, but I needed to neither see nor hear as I wrapped my left arm around his right, gripping the hot pistol with my right hand.

I twisted the double-barreled pistol out of his fingers, aided by pressure on a nerve in his wrist. I heard him grunt, felt him struggle, and I knew he was going for the other gun, the one on his back.

He hadn’t quite reached it yet when I pressed the barrels of his erstwhile gun against his forehead. I gripped the pistol in both hands. He backed up against the wall, empty hands spread out to the side. His eyes rolled up, trying to focus on it, before meeting my gaze.

“Son of a bitch,” he said.

I chuckled. “Complimenting my mother,” I said, “won’t help.” I got up close, pressing him against the wall with my hip, and shifted the gun to a one-handed grip under his chin. He could try the same trick on me as I had on him, but at these close quarters he’d be missing brains before he could knock me out of line.

Reaching behind him, I slid the other gun out of its holster. “So that’s where my .45 went,” I mused as I recognized the design on the barrel.

“You weren’t using-“

I cut him off with a poke under the jaw. “Shut up,” I said.

When someone’s pointing a gun at you, you have two options. You can get stubborn, in which case I might shoot you, or you can do what I want… in which case, I have what I want, and you get to live.