I should be dead. Buried under an unmarked grave in Romania. Obviously, I am not. God had other plans.

Bucharest, Romania
1984

Miruna, my legal assistant peeked into my office doorway. “A big man in the waiting room says he wants to discuss a case.” She shrugged. “That’s all he will tell me.”

My desk lamp shed light over open books and files covering every inch of my large cherry desk. I still had a mountain of work to do on a case to defend young Christians arrested for transporting Bibles. Noticing how late it was, I told her, “Go home. I’ll see how I can help him.”

I followed her to the waiting area where a broad, muscular man wearing a dark, expensive-cut coat was seated. I motioned for him to follow me into my office.

At the doorway, I turned and noticed he towered over me. He ran his enormous hand over the square silver doorplate reading, Virginia Prodan, Attorney. Then he closed the door behind him.

I met his eyes. They radiated an unsettling mix of pain, suffering and cruelty, like the eyes of a bloodthirsty, yet wounded lion.

A much wounded man, I thought. I hope I can help him.

The slam of the door at the end of the waiting room sounded, followed by the click of the outer door. My assistant was gone.

“Sit down!” He pointed to one of the two chairs in front of my desk. His bushy brows formed an angry V. I swallowed a scream.

My blood chilled and rapid-fire thumping pounded in my ears. I lowered myself into the chair. On the side table, my daughters, Anca and Andreea, smiled from framed photos.

The man sat across from me, pulled back his coat, and reached into a shoulder holster, withdrawing a gun.

“You have failed to heed the warnings you’ve been given,” he said pointing the gun towards me.  My heart pounded against my chest like a courtroom gavel.

“I’ve come here to finish the matter once and for all.” He flexed his fingers and I heard the distinctive click of a trigger cocking into place.

“I am here to kill you.”

The article above is an excerpt from Saving My Assassin by Viginia Prodan. 

Pick up a copy of the book to find out what happens!