Sharp Shot (5 page)

“We should stop and borrow a phone or something,” said
Jade.

McCain checked the rearview mirror. “I'd rather keep
going,” he said. “I think that car's following us.”

Rich twisted round to see. The car was still keeping its distance.
“How can you tell?”

“Let's find out.”

McCain slowed as they entered a 30mph limit. Another sign said:
Welcome to Boscombe
. The Mercedes drew closer. Rich could
see the driver clearly now, but
he looked very ordinary. Just a man on his
way to work.

“I think I recognise the driver,” McCain confirmed.
“His colleagues call him ‘Nail', because he's such a
hardcase.”

He put his foot down, and sure enough, the car behind began to speed
up too. At the same moment, Rich's phone rang.

It was voicemail. He struggled to hear the message as the Range Rover
tore through the village. A second car had pulled out behind the Mercedes.
Its lights were flashing, and after a moment the Merc pulled over to let
the car past. It was a dark BMW. The driver was wearing sunglasses, and so
was the passenger.

The voice in Rich's ear was hard to hear. Jade was hissing at him,
asking who it was.

“Voicemail. From Dex Halford,” Rich told her. “He
must have got my text.”

“You sent him a text?”

“Don't call him back,” said McCain. “They may be
homing in on your phone. Maybe that's how they found us.”

“Can they do that?” asked Jade.

“Oy!” Rich shouted. He'd listened to the whole
message and
heard almost none of it. He played it through again. The signal was bad,
it kept breaking up. His battery bleeped a warning.

“It's Dex, I got your text, but…except to voicemail. So I
hope you get this. McCain's a good guy; you'll be OK with him. Different
story…Darrow, but never mind that. I'll get on to Ardman, send…Leave
your phone on and we can…Got to go—that's my other phone ringing.
Good luck!”

“He's getting on to Ardman to send help,” Rich told
them.

“How will Ardman find us?” asked Jade.

The BMW roared up close, and McCain weaved the Range Rover across the
narrow village street. He took a corner too fast, clipping a parked car.
The BMW slowed, allowing them to draw clear again.

“He said to leave my phone on. I guess they can trace it
too,” said Rich.

They were leaving the village. There were two dark BMWs behind them
now, but no sign of the Mercedes.

“Can we keep ahead of them, at least till help arrives?”
Jade asked.

“How long will that be?” asked McCain. “We don't
have a lot of fuel.”

“And my phone doesn't have a lot of…” Rich's phone
beeped again. The display faded and died.

“Oh great,” said Jade. “Now they'll never find
us.”

“So we have to get away from these jokers on our own,”
said McCain. “Let's see if we can shake them off.”

The road ahead turned in a tight bend. McCain dropped down a gear and
took the bend fast. Then he stamped hard on the brake.

Hovering above the road in front of them, just a few feet off the
ground and almost blocking the width of the lane, was a black helicopter.
The side door was open, and a woman dressed in a dark trouser suit and
wearing sunglasses leaned out. Her long, dark hair was blowing round her
face, but she was utterly focused on what she was doing.

She was holding a rifle, and she was aiming it at the Range Rover
skidding towards her, smoke rising from the protesting tyres.

Just as it seemed the Range Rover was screeching to a halt, McCain
took his foot off the brake and floored the accelerator. The tyres spun on
the roadway before starting to grip and the vehicle shot forwards—
straight at the helicopter.

The woman with the rifle fired. Jade saw the flash from the muzzle.
From the angle it looked like she'd been aiming for the tyres, hoping to
disable the Range Rover so the men in the cars behind could catch them.

But the Range Rover's change of speed had thrown out her aim and the
bullet thumped harmlessly into the asphalt. The woman had no time for a
second shot. The helicopter was so low over the road that the Range Rover
was heading straight for it…

The pilot reacted quickly. The nose of the helicopter moved upwards.
Grit and dirt was blown across the road by the updraft as the helicopter
started to rise.

“Hold on!” shouted McCain, as the Range Rover continue
to accelerate.

“We're going to hit!” yelled Rich.

The windscreen exploded as the Range Rover slammed into one of the
helicopter's skids. McCain pushed the crazed glass out of the way and kept
going. The Range Rover zig-zagged down the narrow lane, grazing a hedge
and bumping over the verge before McCain got it under control again.

Jade turned to look out the back window. The helicopter was still
trying to climb. But it was twisting awkwardly in the air, thrown off
balance by the impact. It tilted too far to one side and the end of a
rotor blade touched the surface of the road.

With a wrenching of metal, the blade was torn off and went spinning
away. The helicopter fell like a stone, blocking the road. The woman in
the dark suit and sunglasses struggled out of the side door, which was now
at the top of the helicopter.

There was a distant squeal of brakes. Jade saw the
woman knocked
clear as the helicopter jolted with the impact of the BMW.

“Way to go!” yelled Rich as they took the next bend and
the wreckage of the helicopter disappeared from sight.

“But where do we go?” asked Jade. “What if they've
got another helicopter? These people are
serious
.”

“They certainly are,” said McCain. “I'm open to
suggestions. We need somewhere we can lose ourselves, maybe in a crowd.
Lots of people, and places we can't be spotted from the air. Somewhere we
can ditch this vehicle without it being too conspicuous.”

“With a broken windscreen?” said Rich. “Some
hope.”

“Hey,” Jade realised. “We just came through
Boscombe, didn't we?”

There was a brown tourist attraction road sign coming up at the
junction ahead of them. Jade had already guessed what it said. McCain
slowed as they approached the turn.

Rich laughed. “I've always wanted to go there.”

“Ideal,” McCain agreed.

The Range Rover turned into the road leading towards
Boscombe
Heights Adventure Park
.

They had to wait in the car park for half an hour for the adventure
park to open. But it gave them time to make use of the toilets in the car
park—not least to have a quick wash and get some of the mud off their
clothes and hands and faces. By the time they'd cleaned themselves up to
look reasonably respectable, there was already a queue. But as it was a
school day they didn't have to wait long before McCain was paying for
tickets and they were through the turnstiles and into
Boscombe
Heights
.

“We should be at school,” said Rich, watching a group of
children being lectured by their teacher about appropriate behaviour.

“Tell me about it,” said Jade. “Miss Fredericks
will have a fit.”

Rich grinned. “She'll probably try to call Dad. Good luck to
her.”

“We'll need a note,” said Jade. “Dear Miss
Fredericks, sorry Rich and Jade weren't in school, but they were being
chased by gunmen and had to escape on a tractor before having to drive
into a pursuing helicopter and seek refuge in an adventure park.”

“And she'll say, “That's all right this once. But make
sure it doesn't happen again.”

They both laughed. Jade was feeling the tension ease as they walked
through the park. There was a semblance of normality as they joined a
queue of people waiting to take a turn at a stall where you had to fish
plastic ducks out of a pond with a fishing rod and line.

“I'd rather try out
Lightning Strike
,”
said Rich. He pointed to a growing queue nearby. People were waiting to
get into a tunnel leading into a huge mountain. Above the mountain the
metal track of rollercoaster ride rose and dipped alarmingly.

“Looks dangerous,” said Jade. “Why do people do
that?”

“It looks great. Why do we have to go on this duck
thing?” Rich asked.

“Because it's free with the ticket,” McCain told him.
“Like the main rides, you get one go each on Hook-a-Duck. And it
gives me a chance to check we're not being followed.”

“We should find a phone,” said Rich. “Call Halford
again and tell him where we are.”

“Once we're sure it's safe,” said McCain. He turned
away, scanning the people arriving through the turnstile gates behind
them.

“Don't know about you,” said Jade quietly to Rich,
“but I usually want to call for help when it
isn't
safe.”

“He knows what he's doing,” said Rich. “I guess.
Dex Halford seems to think he's OK, so we should stick with him and do
what he says.”

“I suppose,” Jade agreed, but she wasn't convinced.

A broad-shouldered man nudged Rich on the shoulder, startling him.
Jade almost laughed at her brother's expression. Then the man handed him a
fishing rod.

“Your turn, sonny,” he said.

McCain was still watching the people coming through the gates when
they'd hooked their ducks. If your duck had a cross painted underneath,
you won a prize.

“I won a beetle,” Rich announced proudly.

“I didn't,” said Jade.

“Here, look.” Rich's beetle was only a couple of inches
long and made of thin metal. It was just a painted hollow shape, but there
was another strip of metal welded underneath it. Rich pushed the strip of
metal with his thumb and it clicked in and then sprang out again with a
distinctive ‘click-clack' noise. He did it again.

“OK, we get the idea,” Jade told him as he kept doing
it. “Well done—you fished a plastic duck out of a paddling
pool.”

“It takes skill,” Rich told her. “You're just
jealous.”

“Course I am. I've always wanted a toy beetle.” Jade
smiled. “Used to want to swap my brother for one.”

“Hey!”

“Children,” McCain chided. “Come on, let's get
further from the gates, I'm not convinced we lost our friends back
there.”

“Neither am I,” said Rich. He pointed at the turnstiles,
where two men in dark suits wearing sunglasses were pushing through a
group of children on a school trip.

“That way too,” Jade realised. There were two more
suited men in sunglasses approaching along a narrow path from the
direction of one of the big rides.

“Time we were going,” said McCain.

He pushed into the deepest part of the queue for
Lightning
Strike
, Rich and Jade following close behind.

“Stick together,” McCain called over his shoulder.
“But if we get separated we meet back at Hook-a-Duck in one hour,
right?”

“Right,” Jade called back.

Rich didn't answer. And when Jade turned to look for him, she found
he was nowhere in sight. “Typical,” she muttered.

Before she could waste any more time looking, McCain grabbed her
wrist and pulled her after him. “He'll find us,” he said.

“He'd better.”

A familiar-looking dark-haired woman in a plain trouser suit and
wearing sunglasses was standing to the side of the queue. For a moment,
her shaded eyes seemed to fix on Jade.

Rich was right behind Jade and McCain. Then a fat man pushed in front
of him, dragging a chubby boy holding an ice cream. The end of the ice
cream broke free and fell. Rich jumped back in time to avoid getting it
down his shirt.

When the boy and the man moved away, Jade was gone.

He looked round desperately. She couldn't be far away. He thought he
caught a glimpse of Jade's distinctive blonde hair. But it was immediately
lost in the crowd of people pushing towards
Lightning
Strike
ride as the queue moved forwards. Rich felt
himself being
pulled along with the crowd.

He was about to step out of the line and head in the direction he
thought Jade and McCain must have gone, when he saw the woman. Rich
recognised her at once from the helicopter, and he quickly turned away.

She was heading straight for him. Rich braced himself, ready to run,
but the woman pushed through the queue a few metres in front of Rich and
kept going. Somehow she'd missed him, distracted by something else. Rich
saw her disappear into a group of school children, forcing her way
through.

The queue moved again. If Rich didn't leave now, he'd be inside the
tunnel. He couldn't leave then without making a fuss and drawing attention
to himself. He looked round once more to be sure he was safe. And found he
wasn't.

There was a man in dark glasses standing within a few metres of him.
The man was looking the other way, and Rich could see the coil of wire
leading to his concealed earpiece.
These people have some serious
technology and resources
, Rich thought. Who exactly were they?
The queue edged forwards again. It was now or never.

The man turned, and Rich ducked down,
pretending to tie his shoelace.
He was forced to stand up again as the people behind pushed forwards. Rich
was inside the tunnel now, edging closer to
Lightning
Strike
. Ahead of him the queue arrived at a small platform where
the set of linked carriages that carried you through the ride drew up.
People got off on the other side before the people at the front of the
queue took their place.

Maybe Rich could spot Jade from above, he thought. But he knew that
wouldn't be much help. Unless he could make her see him—which would draw
attention to himself, he was sure—she'd be sure to have moved on by the
time the ride ended. But Rich realised he could just climb across the
carriage when his turn came, instead of taking the ride, and leave by the
exit on the other side.

It didn't work out quite like that.

Rich reached the front of the queue and prepared to shuffle quickly
across the bench seat of one of the front sections and get off the other
side. He glanced round before he got off—and saw the man with dark
glasses in the queue behind him. The good news was that he hadn't spotted
Rich. The bad news was that from where the man was standing, if Rich stood
up or
climbed out now that everyone else had cleared the exit platform,
the man couldn't fail to spot him.

He'd have to go on the ride after all. A teenage girl climbed in
beside Rich and sat down closer to him than she needed. He shuffled away
slightly, and earned a coy smile.

The locking bar came down over their knees, holding them in place.
Rich glanced quickly over his shoulder. The man in dark glasses had gone.
He breathed a sigh of relief. The guy must have decided he'd lost Rich and
pushed his way back down the tunnel and out again. By the time the ride
was over, he should be long gone.

The girl beside him offered Rich a peppermint. It was green. He was
so relieved he took it.

“Thanks.”

“s all right. You get scared?”

“Er, no,” said Rich.

“I do. I might scream and grab hold of you.” She grinned
again, showing off the braces on her teeth. “Just so you
know.”

Rich nodded dumbly. Maybe he should have taken his chances with the
mafia hitman, or whatever he was. Instinctively, Rich turned away, looking
round.

The line of linked carriages jerked into motion, and started to move
along the track. The locking bar was holding Rich firmly and safely in
position.

And three carriages behind him, Rich could see the man in the
sunglasses.

The carriages were climbing now, ratcheting up a sharp incline as the
rollercoaster was hauled to the top of the first peak. The man in
sunglasses was looking over the side, staring down into the crowds below—
looking for Rich, Jade and McCain, probably. He had his finger to his ear,
and was muttering into his lapel—in touch with others on the ground.

Rich turned quickly away. He had to keep his head down until the end
of the ride. With luck he could take his time getting out of the carriage
and let the man leave first, without seeing him.

The rollercoaster reached the top of the track. The rails seemed
impossibly slender, the slope down incredibly steep. The carriage began to
tip forwards. Rich felt his stomach lurch and the rush of adrenaline as
the rollercoaster fell. He could almost feel the weight of the carriages
behind, pushing him ever faster down the steep slope.

Then they were rushing up the other side. The girl
beside Rich was
yelling and grabbing his arm. He turned to look at her. And out of the
corner of his eye, he saw that the man in the sunglasses was staring
straight ahead—right at him.

Still Rich wasn't too worried. When the previous passengers had got
off, he'd seen that the locking bars released in sequence to make sure
people left in an orderly manner. The front row released first, then the
others in sequence. He'd be out of his seat before the hitman. And he'd be
running as soon as he could. Assuming he could shake off the teenage girl
now clinging to him. He glanced at her, and decided he could.