It was habit.

Every little detail, no matter how inconsequential, could prove vital.

It was what had made him such a deadly sniper in a previous life.

A life he’d left long ago.

It had been a long and arduous road that had led to this point. From his motherless childhood following his father from military base to military base, being a soldier was in Sam’s blood. His father, William Pope, had been a highly respected senior figure within the UK Armed Forces, known for his favouring of diplomacy over conflict. Sam’s marksmanship soon saw him behind the scope of a rifle, but he’d tried to hold his father’s principles dear.

Tried.

Sam’s success rate soon caught the eye of General Ervin Wallace, a bullish man who had an unassailable position within the government. Called upon as the man to “fix” problems that the higher ups wanted kept quiet, Wallace recruited Sam into his operation.

Project Hailstorm.

Countless covert missions, hundreds killed.

All off the books.

People eradicated from the world without explanation or mercy.

There were no questions asked.

No finer details.

Sam believed he was helping to protect the freedom of his country and the wider world. Then, on one fateful mission, Sam was sent home with two bullet holes in his chest and a slim chance of survival.

But that’s what Sam was built for.

Survival.

Retiring from the armed forces, Sam settled into a life of normality with his wife, Lucy, helping to raise their son. Jamie had been everything to Sam. His incessant hunger for the written word had encouraged Sam himself to start reading more, and as his son grew, so did their bond. After Jamie had turned five years old, he’d asked Sam for two promises.

One that he would read more and more.

And two, that he would never kill again.

Sam had intended to keep both.

Wanting to set a good example for his son, Sam enrolled in the Metropolitan Police, his impressive resume had him fast tracked to the training centre in Hendon in the London borough of Barnet, where he was excelling and on his way to becoming an officer of the law.

But then Jamie was killed.

On a summer’s evening, while enjoying a few beers with his former comrade, Theo Walker, Sam noticed a drunk man entering his car and leaving the pub. Despite his intentions to stop him, Sam looked the other way. Minutes later, as he meandered down the road on his way back to his family, his life fell apart.

Lucy had brought Jamie along to surprise him on his walk home.

A car had skidded off the road, the drunk driver losing his bearings as he rounded a corner.

The image had been burnt into Sam’s memory like a vile tattoo.

The flashing blue lights of the police cars.

The shocked faces of the onlooking crowd.