The echo of the gunshots were fading. All three had met their target. The body of The Torturer was on the ground, not moving.

Detective Bill Anders leaned started to sit down, still holding his pistol. After 3 years of tracking The Torturer, it was over. The nightmare that had gripped the city, was over.

“Bill, are okay?” came over his headset. His partner was downstairs in the house of The Torturer.

It took Bill a couple of seconds before responded. Still getting around the notion of it being over. “I’m fine. He’s dead.”

“Backup is on their way. Are you in the attic?”

“Yes.”

I’m on my way, stay there.” he could hear Brian starting to speed up. He thought he heard sirens In the distance. There was no rush for them, he was tired.

Three years of being taunted. Three years of women being taken and brutalized. The stress, pressure, anxiety, all of those feelings, now gone. Replaced by a sense of exhaustion.

He still kept an eye on the body, in case it came back alive. That wouldn’t happen. It was over.