Chapter 67

The smell of blood, the ringing phone drawing close to his hiding spot, the sharp pain from deep within his chest as he pressed his lids tightly, struggling not to groan aloud while he winced. He felt them all now.

"I'm sorry, son," the man's tone was regretful, a deep melancholy sound as he hunted for his prey, "I know where you're hiding. Let's finish this up. I promise it will be painless."

Pressing his head against the wooden walls of the shack, Adler had left the gun wound in his chest and instead tightened his fingers around the pistol at his side.

His sight blurred, but he forced it open, waiting and inhaling deep breaths as the footsteps drew nearer.

"Don't make this harder than it already is, little boy.'

When the huge body frame came into view, Adler gritted his teeth, his eyes on the glinting knife the perpetrator held in his right hand, so new that he could see his disordered reflection in the steel.

He remembered the slash against his eyes, to which he had fallen back jus