Which meant I had to aim for the pilot.
I had explosive-tipped bullets, and civilian Bell helicopters didn’t have bulletproof glass.
Imighthave been able to blow out the glass and kill the pilot with a second shot –
But most of the helicopters were in constant motion, which made the logistics nearly impossible.
The lowest helicopter, however, was hovering fairly still.
Unfortunately, the cockpit was facing away from me.
So I was going to have to shootthroughthe open bay door.
An extremely difficult shot –
But I’d made harder ones.
I adjusted for distance and air speed –
Found the bay door –
And sighted through my rifle scope.
At my angle in relation to the chopper, there wasn’t much space between the edge of the open bay’s doorframe and the cockpit. Just a couple of inches.
It would have to be enough.
Inside the crosshairs of my scope, I found the backseat of the pilot –
Then the edge of his white helmet.
I doubted it could stand up to an explosive-tipped round.
At least, Ihoped.
I breathed out…
Waited for the space between heartbeats…
And pulled the trigger.
CRACK.
In the scope, the inside of the cockpit glass was sprayed red.
YES!
A one-in-a-thousand shot, and I’d done it.
The pilot slumped forward, dead.
The helicopter suddenly slewed to the side –
And its main blade slammed into the stone front of the house.
OH SHIT.
It was like watching a spinning lawnmower blade strike a boulder.
