I is for Ian Edgerton

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Ian is not mine. He was created by Ken Sanzel and is owned by Cheryl Heuton and Nick Falacci.

Yet another story for the Summer 2007 Alphabet Fiction challenge at Numb3rs dot org. Feel free to check out the entire series:-)

The eye of a sniper is a dangerous thing.

Assisted by the proper equipment, it can see far across the distance, into supposedly hidden and private places, even in total darkness. Once the eye has found its target, what it usually sees is death.

Ian Edgerton believed that hunting was a calling. The thrill he got from his occupation came from tracking and outwitting, not from killing.

In this, he followed the lead of such legendary snipers as Carlos Hathcock, Chuck Mawhinney, Jack Coughlin, Billy Sing, Adelbert Waldron, Simo Häyhä …

But not John Malvo. Malvo was the other type of sniper, the one who got his thrill from killing, from having the power of life and death over oblivious victims.

Getting paid to kill was just gravy as far as Malvo was concerned. Which is why, when his old employers didn't cough up enough targets for his scope, Malvo went freelance.

His career change was very productive as far as Malvo was concerned.

The FBI soon had him on their Top Ten Most Wanted List.

The large reward for his capture had brought in several tips concerning his next assignment.

The assassin's current employers wanted to put a strain on the relationship between the US and England. And what better way than by having an American sniper kill the heir to the British throne on American soil?

The tipsters had also indicated that Malvo would likely make his play along Interstate 95, which he knew would be a likely route for Prince Charles to take.

Edgerton was familiar with the area and his instincts told him where the best place to lay an ambush would be. It didn't hurt that Professor Eppes voodoo math had confirmed what his gut already told him.

So Edgerton set his counter ambush in an area that would give him the best coverage. He waited patiently, knowing that Malvo would not make his move until the prince's cavalcade was in sight.

Rather, the decoy cavalcade, with some brave Secret Service agent playing the role of target.

As the black limos came into view, Edgerton became hyper alert. He scanned his surroundings through his Unertl scope.

He spotted a flash of light. It took him fractions of a second to recognize that the light was reflecting off Malvo's scope.

And that Malvo was sighting on [Ihim[/I.

Malvo had spotted him first, but Ian got off the first, and only, shot of the sniper duel.

After Edgerton's back up cleared the scene so the CSI's could get to work, they found that Edgerton's bullet had gone straight through Malvo's scope and hit him in the eye, killing him instantly.

"Good shot, Edgerton," Agent Terry Lake said at the debriefing.

"Thanks, Lake," Edgerton said.

"You knew you got him before we confirmed it, didn't you?" Terry asked.

Edgerton nodded. "It's an instinct we sharpshooters have." He smiled wryly. "The fact that he didn't shoot me rather confirmed my success."

Terry snorted. "So, once you pulled the trigger, you must have realized that you had moved from fifth best sniper to fourth."

Edgerton nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"I was wondering what you felt just then," Terry the profiler asked.

Edgerton lifted an eyebrow and replied: "Recoil."

Author's Afterword:

All the snipers named (except Edgerton) are real. Carlos Hathcock is the legendary White Feather who actually made this shot. (He's the one mentioned in the NCIS episode "One Shot, One Kill), Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper during WWII holds the record for the most confirmed kills (505). The rest are American snipers.

John Lee Malvo is the name of one of the Beltway Snipers, which is why this is set on Interstate 95.

Edgerton's answer is from an Urban Legend about an interview with a sniper.

The television series, Mythbusters, explored the plausibility of this shot, and declared it "Busted". However, they did not use the correct scope or rifle. A later episode corrected this oversight and found the so-called myth to be confirmed. (I say so-called because I believe the report made by Hathcock and his spotter.)