Chapter 48: Attack
The sound of devastation filled the kitchen. A violent heartbeat could be heard in the muffled thumps of silenced pistols. The thin barricade was ripped apart by bullets. The wood broke.
The plastic broke. A round tore through a cheap pot that clanged. It sounded like a job well done to the three assassins. They thought they had a cornered target to execute.
They thought they had total control. Their biggest error was this belief. It was an arrogant miscalculation that proved fatal.
Adam was hidden in the confined area behind the glassware shelf. He had previously employed a similar strategy. He had previously ambushed them using a shelf in the upstairs hallway.
Adam picked things up quickly, and repetition was a teacher. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his back against the wall. He was a coil of potential energy that was tightly wound and waiting to unwind at the right time.
The sound of the kitchen door swinging open filled his ears. He remained motionless. He stayed out of sight. Then came the first shot. He caught a glimpse of the muzzle flash.
On the other side of his pitiful barricade, he saw the bullet hole appear in the microwave. His signal was that. They set the trap.
He remained motionless. There was no big reveal from him. His economy of motion was deadly and well-practiced. He leaned out just far enough to avoid the shelf’s edge. The only exposed parts of him were his head and the hand that held his pistol. He was a ghost on the outskirts, a sliver of a target.
The assassins continued to concentrate on their bullet spray. The junk pile and the fictitious bodies concealed behind it were their world. He was never seen by them. Not at all.
Adam’s initial shot was serene. He had a very steady hand. The sound of their assault drowned out the whisper of his own pistol’s silenced report. In a split second, the bullet passed through the tiny kitchen.