RTSP is a modern shooting club where Maya Stern and her former military friends gather to practice, socialize, and, at times, discuss the case surrounding Joe Burkett’s death. Its carefully polished amenities contrast with the old-fashioned image of a gun shop, while its mixture of live-fire ranges, simulation, and a members’ lounge makes it both a practical venue and a place of relative ease for Maya.

Identity and Setting

RTSP stands for Right To Self-Protect, though some jokingly call it Right To Shoot People. It is a state-of-the-art gun club whose spotless presentation deliberately departs from the dusty, taxidermy-filled shooting-range stereotype. The employees wear neatly tucked black polo shirts and khakis, and firearms are displayed in glass cases like jewelry. The clean, orderly surroundings make the club feel less like a utilitarian shop and more like a designed leisure destination.

The club has twenty shooting ports: ten for the twenty-five-yard range and ten for the fifteen-yard range. It also offers a digital simulator, arranged like a theater in which life-sized targets appear amid scenarios such as a gang attack, a hostage situation, the Wild West, or a zombie infiltration. Participants use a real-weight firearm to shoot lasers at the targets. This lets the club offer both conventional target shooting and staged, game-like practice within the same facility.

Facilities and Social Space

RTSP’s shooting facilities sit alongside amenities intended to make membership a social experience. The Guntry Club, on Route 10, has dark wood walls, rich carpeting, leather furniture, and a pool table in the center of the room. Three walls carry flat-screen televisions; the fourth displays the Second Amendment in enormous cursive lettering. Card tables, a cigar room, and free Wi-Fi extend the space beyond the range itself. To Maya, the decor resembles either a faux version of the Burkett library or an upscale chain steak house: polished and comfortable, but also conspicuously constructed.

The club markets this atmosphere as comfort and style. Maya is a VIP member, and former military service earns her and her friends a fifty-percent discount. The club’s combination of shooting facilities and lounge-like hospitality makes it a place where they can spend time together even when they are not on the firing line.

Maya’s Use of the Club

Maya usually comes to shoot real guns at paper targets and spend time with friends, most of whom have served in the military. On the evening described, five of the group are present, including Maya and Shane. The other three go to the simulator while Maya and Shane take the twenty-five-yard range. The division of the group shows the club’s two modes of use at once: simulated scenarios for some members, and live-fire practice for others.

For Maya, shooting offers a measure of calm. She finds a kind of Zen in the release of breath as she pulls the trigger, the stillness before the shot, and the recoil that follows. The appeal is not presented as spectacle alone: the sequence of breath, quiet, and physical response gives her a familiar focus. Against the unease surrounding her life and the investigation, the range provides a setting in which attention narrows to a practiced action.

After shooting, Maya and Shane return to the VIP room. Maya is the only woman there, but the account describes a social environment in which shooting ability matters more than gender. Her military notoriety also makes her a local celebrity: some of the men are awed by her, while others have small crushes that remain respectful and brotherly. Maya is unbothered by the attention. The club is thus both a male-dominated gathering place and one where her competence and reputation give her standing.

Relationships and Narrative Role

Rick, the owner, wears the same black polo and khakis as the staff and keeps a gun on his belt. When Maya returns, he greets her with a sad smile and a fist bump, refers to the news, and she thanks him for the flowers. The brief exchange establishes that the club’s social ties extend beyond routine transactions: its owner acknowledges Maya’s bereavement, and the flowers register the group’s response to her loss without turning the welcome into a formal ceremony.

RTSP also provides a familiar setting for conversation with Shane. As the evening continues, Maya asks what Shane knows about Roger Kierce, the homicide detective working Joe’s case. The shift from shooting to an investigative question links the club’s role as a refuge with the unresolved pressures Maya brings into it. RTSP offers the comfort of routine and comradeship, but it does not keep the investigation outside; the same room where Maya can recover her focus is also where she seeks information that may help her understand the case.