"At my son’s wedding, my wife came home shaking and whispered that she had only fallen. Two days later, the venue manager called and told me to come alone because they had rechecked the footage. When I saw what my son and his bride had done to her, I didn’t call them.

The deafening sound of the gunshot completely paralyzed me for a fraction of a second.

Ellen screamed in terror, covering her ears and dropping to her knees on the wet asphalt.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her violently into the backseat of Daniel’s car.

I dove onto the pavement next to Daniel, grabbing him by the collar of his tactical vest.

I dragged his heavy, bleeding body behind the cover of the engine block as a second bullet shattered the passenger window.

Daniel was coughing violently, clutching his chest where the sniper bullet had pierced his armor.

He weakly reached into his pocket and handed me a set of blood-stained car keys.

He told me to leave him behind and drive Ellen as far away as possible.

I refused to abandon the man who had just risked his life to save my wife.

I hoisted Daniel onto my shoulders, using adrenaline I did not know I possessed.

I threw him into the passenger seat and scrambled behind the steering wheel.

I slammed the key into the ignition, thanking heaven when the engine roared to life.

I threw the car into reverse, spinning the tires on the wet pavement and speeding backward out of the alley.

Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the trunk of the car, but we managed to turn the corner into the busy street.

I pushed the gas pedal to the floor, weaving recklessly through the Philadelphia midnight traffic.

Ellen applied pressure to Daniel’s chest wound from the backseat, sobbing uncontrollably.

I knew we could not go to a hospital because the syndicate would inevitably send assassins to finish the job.

Daniel groaned and instructed me to drive to an abandoned veterinary clinic on the edge of the city.

He said it was a secure federal safe house stocked with emergency medical supplies.

We arrived at the dark, dilapidated building twenty minutes later, completely undetected.

I carried Daniel inside and laid him on a stainless steel surgical table in the back room.

Ellen used her basic first-aid knowledge to clean the wound and apply a heavy pressure bandage.

The bullet had miraculously missed his heart and lungs, but he was severely weakened from blood loss.

I sat in a plastic chair in the corner of the room, my hands shaking as the adrenaline finally wore off.

Ellen walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, crying softly into my shoulder.

She apologized for lying to me about the fall at the wedding.

She explained that Michael had threatened to murder me if she ever revealed what truly happened in that hallway.

I kissed her forehead, promising her that we would survive this nightmare together.

Daniel weakly called my name from the surgical table, his face pale and covered in sweat.

He told me to check the trunk of the car for a heavy black briefcase.

I retrieved the briefcase and brought it inside, laying it carefully on the table.

The Billionaire Put On a Waiter’s Apron to Test His Fiancée, but the Wom...

My father bet twenty dollars that I would walk through his front door al...

My Husband Slapped Me Out of His House for His Mistress, Then the Most F...

Daniel entered a security code, and the case popped open to reveal a highly sophisticated explosive device.

He looked at me with cold, determined eyes and told me it was time to go on the offensive.

Chapter 5 - The Sniper in the Rain