A woman screamed inside and a man yelled in surprise. “What the fuck!”

Everything was dark except for a room in back. Then there was a commotion and they were in total darkness. Someone had turned off the light.

But John knew his way in the apartment. He didn’t need to have light. He rushed to Julie’s bedroom and carefully twisted the knob of the door. Slowly, he stepped into the room and heard a crashing noise. Then, almost immediately, he started to feel an intense pain at the back of his skull. He felt like his head was about to explode. He dropped his gun, fell to his knees and grabbed his head with his hands. He had been hit by the Dark Stallion.

He quickly recovered and ran his hand over the wall, looking for the light switch. He found it and suddenly, everything was bright in the room.

Julie was entirely naked and her hands were handcuffed. She couldn’t move. She was wearing a blindfold, moaning and jerking in her bed, trying to break free.

But he couldn’t see the Dark Stallion.

Where is he?

“Julie!” John said. “It’s me, John! You’re in dange –”

John couldn’t finish his sentence. He tried but no sound came out. No air came out. No air came in. He felt a strong arm around his neck. The grip was tighter and tighter. The Dark Stallion was tall and strong. John had very little chance to escape his deadly headlock.

“I’m going to kill you,” the Dark Stallion said.

Sovann and Lefort arrived in the room, ready to shoot. But John was between them and the Dark Stallion. Like a shield. They couldn’t afford to fire.

“Freeze!” Lefort said.

The Dark Stallion ignored him.

“Dear John,” he said. “You came to see me fuck your ex-wife, you little perv!”

John was jerking and thrashing, desperately trying for air. The Dark Stallion was standing behind him, holding him tight.

“Freeze, motherfucker,” Sovann screamed. “Let him go! Now!”

Sovann was trying to aim but John couldn’t stop moving. It was impossible to shoot without hurting him.

“You bastards have ruined everything!” the Dark Stallion said.

“John, what’s going on?” Julie screamed in panic.

Lefort ran to her, covered her with the bed sheet and carried her out of the room.

“Last chance,” Sovann said. “Let him go immediately! This is an order!”

John was now drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, but a part of him was still there. Fighting to stay alive. His instinct. The killer instinct. The Dark Stallion was naked. John was aware of that and used it to his advantage. He stopped trying to get away from his grip and instead, grabbed his testicles. Hard. He squeezed as hard as he could, planting his nails into the Dark Stallion’s skin, and he yanked his balls.

The Dark Stallion screamed. The pain could be heard in his voice and he slightly released his grip. John then dropped to his knees, suddenly lowering his center of gravity and threw him over his shoulder. The Dark Stallion’s body flew in the air and landed on his back, completely flat. The bedroom shook under the impact. Sovann immediately pointed his gun at him, making sure there was no escape for him.

John quickly filled his lungs with air and rushed to the man on the floor. The Dark Stallion looked puzzled and didn’t react. In a second, John was on top of him, punching him in the face. Left, right, left, right, left, right… He punched again and again and again, tireless. Shaking from the adrenaline.

“You tried to kill the mother of my child!” John screamed, still punching. “You tried to kill me!”

Blood shot through the nose of the Dark Stallion. The crack of broken bones and cartilage resonated in the room. A tooth flew in the air. John kept punching mindlessly.

“Montclair, that’s enough!” Lefort said, taking John by the arms from behind. Three men were needed to stop him.

John stepped back. He was panting. His eyes were red. His shoulders were heaving up and down. His knuckles were white. His shirt was covered with blood.

“John, are you okay?” Sovann said.

John took a moment to answer. “Yeah,” he finally said.

The Dark Stallion was now on his stomach and a police officer was holding his hands behind his back. He looked at John. “You want to do it, Lieutenant?” he said.

John nodded and stood up. He squatted next to the Dark Stallion. “Gérard Bourdot, you’re under arrest for the murder of Liliane Genet and Charlotte Bois.”

Sovann was standing next to them, holding a lit candle in his hand. Then, he slowly dropped the hot wax on the Dark Stallion’s back.

“How does it feel, huh?” he said with a smile.

Gérard Bourdot screamed.

John smiled and handcuffed him.

Click!

21

A few weeks later…

The arrest of Gérard Bourdot aka the Dark Stallion had made a big splash in the media. Everybody was talking about it. The newspapers, the radio, the TV, the Internet. It was everywhere. John had become a sort of mini celebrity for a while. His neighbors suddenly became aware the guy they saw on TV actually lived next door. People recognized and stopped him in the streets. Guys took pictures with him at the gym. More kids at school tried to make friends with Claire, whose daddy was a Super Detective.

But in reality, nothing had changed for John. His salary was the same. Bills still arrived in the mailbox like clockwork. Dishes still piled up in the sink. The mountain of laundry kept getting bigger and bigger every week.

Julie had been extremely affected by this whole man hunt. She had been aware of the killings, but had never thought she was in danger herself. That kind of thing only happened to others, as they said. She had spent the last few weeks in a special medical center, far away from Paris. She was followed by a psychologist every day and took walks in the park around the building’s facilities.

She and John had exchanged a few words only. She was understandably shocked. Traumatized in some way. She felt ashamed. Dirty. Betrayed. She couldn’t believe this had happened to her. What did she do to deserve this? Why?

John didn’t have any answer for her. He didn’t know why. He had almost been killed himself, trying to save her life. All he knew was that he had protected her from her lover. The Dark Stallion. A wanted man. John had done it because he had to. It was his job. His duty. Saving people’s lives was the right thing to do.

But at the same time, John was struggling with his feelings. On a personal level, he didn’t have to do what he did. Julie had moved on a long time ago, accumulating boyfriend after boyfriend while he had been struggling to forget. Didn’t she deserve it?

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

John knew that he wasn’t thinking straight. He knew that this kind of thoughts was inadmissible. He wouldn’t want his daughter to know that he was feeling this way toward her mother. It was wrong. But wasn’t he allowed to have weaknesses?

John convinced himself that he was just a man with real feelings and real wounds. Physical and emotional ones. Nothing wrong with that. Julie was the mother of his daughter no matter what. He could never change that. It was a fact. He would be connected to her forever.

However, she wasn’t his wife anymore and he had to accept it. For good. That was still the hard part. She was now free to do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted. It was her life. But why did it have to interfere with his life? What had he done to deserve this? Why?

Again, John didn’t have any answer. He didn’t know why. But maybe, he thought, it didn’t matter at all.

He glanced at his daughter. Claire was with Daddy. Safe. Happy.  She had accepted Cécile. And Cécile had accepted Claire. The two women in his life were getting along pretty well. That was what really mattered, John realized. He couldn’t ask for more. The past belonged to the past.