Sharp Shot by Jack Higgins Read Free Book Online Page B

was blown across the road by the updraft as the helicopter
started to rise.
    â€œHold on!” shouted McCain, as the Range Rover continue
to accelerate.
    â€œWe’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 thewoman knocked
clear as the helicopter jolted with the impact of the BMW.
    â€œWay to go!” yelled Rich as they took the next bend and
the wreckage of the helicopter disappeared from sight.
    â€œBut where do we go?” asked Jade. “What if they’ve
got another helicopter? These people are serious .”
    â€œThey 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.”
    â€œWith a broken windscreen?” said Rich. “Some
hope.”
    â€œHey,” 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.”
    â€œIdeal,” 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 .
    â€œWe should be at school,” said Rich, watching a group of
children being lectured by their teacher about appropriate behaviour.
    â€œTell me about it,” said Jade. “Miss Fredericks
will have a fit.”
    Rich grinned. “She’ll probably try to call Dad. Good luck to
her.”
    â€œWe’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.”
    â€œAnd 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.
    â€œI’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.
    â€œLooks dangerous,” said Jade. “Why do people