Sharp Shot by Jack Higgins Page A

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 orclimbed 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.
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œs all right. You get scared?”
    â€œEr, no,” said Rich.
    â€œI 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