Now, Corben thought calmly. Almost too easy. He aimed and pulled the trigger.
KWOOOOMB! The weapon exploded! Corben fell, landing hard on the garage floor.
The bald man—Lex Luthor—beckoned toward the black sedan. One of his faithful employees—a highly skilled surgeon—got out of the car and hurried over to Corben to examine him.
“Well?” Luthor asked, casually strolling over to the surgeon and Corben.
“He’s alive,” the surgeon reported. “But just barely. His body’s terribly damaged by the blast.”
“And his brain?”
“Intact. No fractures to the skull, just as we expected.”
Luthor smiled his cold, thin smile. “All right. Let’s get him inside, and you can go to work.”
“Yes, sir.”
DING. Another elevator arrived. The doors opened, and two medical assistants rolled a gurney out into the garage, heading for the mangled body of John Corben, formerly the world’s greatest assassin.

Chapter 6