Bari, Italy
Day Two
Time seemed to stretch.
It didn’t matter how the man had snuck up on Sam in the plaza. The important thing was the cold steel at the base of her skull.
She reacted in a heartbeat.
The instant she felt the unmistakable muzzle press deeper into her hairline, she rolled toward the gunman, wrapping an arm around his gun elbow and forcing the assailant’s aim toward the other side of the plaza. But she didn’t stop moving.
The pistol exploded. The shock wave of the sound accelerated her action.
She used the base of her right palm, and all her momentum, to clock the attacker under the chin. His face jerked back and the rest of him followed. As his head struck pavement, a loud c***k filled the night. His eyes went blank.
Ears still ringing from the firearm’s detonation,
