CHAPTER 4 â The Assassin at the Window
11:47 PM.
Rain hammered against the windows.
Inside the house, Noah refused to let go of Ethan.
He asked hundreds of questions.
"What was prison like?"
"Were you scared?"
"Did you think about us?"
Ethan smiled sadly.
"Every single day."
Emma quietly placed dinner on the table.
For the first time in twelve years...
Her family sat together.
It should have been the happiest night of their lives.
Then...
Ethan suddenly froze.
Years of survival had sharpened every instinct.
He heard something no one else noticed.
A faint metallic click.
Outside.
Near the kitchen window.
His expression changed instantly.
"GET DOWN!"
He lunged across the table.
CRASH!
The dining room window exploded as a suppressed rifle round tore through the glass.
Plates shattered.
Lights burst.
Emma screamed.
Noah hit the floor.
Another shot.
Then another.
Daniel grabbed Noah and dragged him behind the kitchen island.
Ethan crawled toward the broken window.
He caught a glimpse of a masked sniper disappearing into the rain.
Without hesitation, Ethan sprinted outside despite his injured leg.
The assassin jumped into the waiting black SUV.
Its tires screamed as it sped away.
But before it disappeared...
The rear window rolled down.
A gloved hand deliberately tossed a sealed envelope onto the wet road.
The SUV vanished into the darkness.
Ethan picked up the envelope.
Across the front, written in red ink, were six chilling words:
"YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED DEAD."
Inside...
There was only one photograph.
It showed Ethan's rescue team...
Taken the day before their mission.
Every soldier's face had been crossed out.
Except Ethan's.
On the back was a handwritten message.
"You're the last witness."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
This was never about one missing soldier.
Someone had spent twelve years hunting every member of his team.
May you like
And Ethan had just become the final target.
TO BE CONTINUED...
