In the bedroom of that rundown, damp house in Eşrefpaşa, time froze on the sharp tip of the crescent-shaped pruning knife spinning slowly between Yekta's fingers.
Aylin's hands gripping her gun were trembling like they never had on the department's sterile shooting ranges. The man across from her wasn't an "elite"; he was a worker molded in Izmir's sewers, parks, and mud, possessing pure physical strength and a demonic intellect.
"Drop the knife, Yekta," Aylin said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Game over. There are units outside."
Yekta smiled faintly. That freezing grin shined in the dim light like a demon's. "Your arrogance blinds you yet again, Aylin. There is no one outside. You came here leaving behind your fabricated rules, your police radio, and your hubris. We both know the department is currently celebrating the victory of that pathetic Blind Mouse."
Even without his famous neon vest, Yekta seemed to grow larger in the darkness. He took a step forward.
"Don't move, I'll shoot!" Aylin's finger was about to squeeze the trigger.
"You don't want to kill me," Yekta whispered, with that freezing calmness. "Because I am your greatest masterpiece. The flawless monster you created with your own arrogance, and then fell in love with when you saw the truth. Look into my eyes, detective... You don't want to throw me in jail, you want to understand me."
Aylin's mind drifted for a second to the trophies in that morbid museum, to those flawless cuts, and to the oleander flower. Yekta was right; inside her, there was a dangerous, sickening admiration for this man. And that one second of hesitation was a century for a predator like Yekta.
Yekta lunged forward like a wild panther.
Aylin pulled the trigger. BAM! The bullet grazed Yekta's shoulder and shattered one of the glass display domes of the secret museum behind him with a loud crash.
With the crack of the gunshot, Yekta tackled Aylin. That heavy worker's wrist, which had swung sledgehammers for years, struck the hand holding Aylin's gun with terrifying violence. The gun flew to the wall and hit the floor. Yekta grabbed Aylin by the throat and violently slammed her back against the damp bedroom wall.
Aylin gasped for air, delivering a savage blow to Yekta's chest with her elbow, but the man didn't seem to feel the pain. The crescent-shaped pruning knife in Yekta's right hand rose into the air in a curved dance of death aimed at Aylin's jugular.
"Orchids don't struggle when they're plucked, Aylin," hissed Yekta, bringing the knife down.
But Aylin was a cop who grew up on the streets. With her free knee, she delivered a merciless blow to Yekta's groin with all her might. Yekta's breath hitched, and he reflexively stumbled back. The knife didn't cut Aylin's neck, but tore deeply through the shoulder of her leather jacket.
Taking advantage of Yekta's stumble, Aylin dove for her gun on the floor. But despite the pain, Yekta recovered, grabbed the heavy, cast-iron nightstand lamp, and hurled it at Aylin's back. The lamp struck Aylin's shoulder blade, sending her sprawling to the floor.
An incredible racket had broken out in the house, the gunshot having long torn through the silence of Eşrefpaşa. It was only a matter of time before neighbors woke up and patrol cops swarmed the place.
Yekta looked at the blood seeping from his shoulder and the sterile silence he had lost, grinding his teeth. His house was tainted. His flawless theater was burning. He took one last look at Aylin lying on the floor; this woman wasn't an ordinary flower, she was a stubborn vine with roots running very deep.
Yekta hoisted his backpack and ran toward the bedroom window. Smashing the glass with his elbow, he threw himself into Izmir's newly pouring, torrential rain, plunging into the pitch-black backstreets of Eşrefpaşa.
As Aylin groaned in pain and got up from the floor, she gripped her gun. The cold wind and rain blowing in through the broken window hit her face. Chest heaving rapidly, she leaped over the shards of broken glass and plunged into those dark streets, pursuing her prey without hesitation.
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and then Add to home screen.