Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 1-1

Faïz

At dawn on Tuesday morning, the van engine was roaring at the red light at the Arroz junction, not far from Sacramento. At the front of this ambulance were Faïz and Inspector Barthey, both noticeably quiet.

"You shouldn't be here," Karl said softly.

Faïz pretended not to notice. Indeed, he didn't want to get into the subject. It was still too present for him, as if everything had happened the day before. The wound in his chest bled every time his first name was mentioned aloud.

"Your presence at the funeral... It's... You know... It's important for your relatives," dared the inspector timidly.

Faïz's sigh was enough to make the man understand not to say anything else. Karl was now worried about the young man. In just one week, Faïz was no longer who he had been. His way of speaking, the tone of his voice, everything down to his gaze, reflected a bottomless pit of suffering and anger, incomparable to what Barthey had been able to see throughout his career.

"Could we stop for a minute? I have a need that can no longer wait."

Faïz's fist, placed on his knees, tightened instinctively when he heard the sound of this voice. His jaw contracted as a result of the rage he felt at that moment.

"You shut up!" Barthey exploded towards Remy Ogres, sitting behind them.

The man, motionless, was handcuffed from head to toe in a straitjacket. His lumberjack physique, of medium height, hardly made him look dangerous. However, under this brute appearance, this man approaching his thirties, reveled, and fed on the atmosphere that emanated inside the van. The inspector had to drive the accomplice of the murderer of Victoria Mattew to the FBI premises in Los Angeles. Faïz had insisted a few days earlier on accompanying him to make sure that Ogres arrived safely at his destination for his interrogation. The inspector had hesitated for a long time. The fact that Faïz missed his sister's funeral didn't mean anything good to him. He had finally given in under pressure from the young man, silencing his worries, hoping that everything would go well during that day. The road continued to appear at full speed when suddenly a call from the central office interrupted Karl's thoughts.

"Barthey. Listening."

"The two armored vans arrived here, as well as the five police cars that left just before you from Pelican Bay Prison," indicated a female voice.

"Perfect, everything is calm here. Nothing to report."

"All right, call if you have a problem. We will send a patrol right away."

Everything was going smoothly. The vehicles that were used as decoys were not attacked. No one had come to help Ogres escape. The large plan put in place by the authorities had been enough to dissuade those who would have thought of it. The road Karl took inland was empty, traffic almost nonexistent. The sun was rising over a still-asleep California.

"Fucking car." Barthey got annoyed when he saw a silhouette on the side of the road trying to change an apparently flat tire of a poorly-parked SUV.

"Stop!" ordered Faïz in a deep voice.

"No way! We're following the instructions."

"I said, STOP!"

The inspector's blood froze at that moment. He slowed down, throwing an anxious look at Faïz. The latter's dark eyes made him realize that what he feared most was happening. Karl could have suspected everyone, but he would never have thought that Ogres would snap because of Faïz.

"What are you doing?" protested the inspector.

"Justice! Pull over."

Barthey stopped just behind the parked car. His hand immediately went to the alert button to notify the central.

"Let us do justice, I beg you. What are you going to do with him?"

"The just of men would be far too merciful. I prefer to give him to other judges."

"I can't let you do that. I have to warn the authorities."

The inspector's hand, still hanging in the air, ready to give the alert, seemed to want to gain time.

"You won't do it. I'm one of the few who can face The Maestro, one of the few who can save the world. You will explain that Ogres escaped and that you couldn't do anything. I went to look for him. Stick to this version!"

"Faïz, no. I—"

Before the inspector could finish his sentence, Faïz struck him violently behind the neck, which made him instantly lose consciousness. Then the young man nodded to his accomplice to indicate that everything was under control. Ray, at the edge of the road, then started to put away the tools which had been used for his act and left to sit in the driver's seat of his Porsche Cayenne.

"That's it, it's just the two of us," whispered Remy Ogres' quiet and hoarse voice from the back of the van.

"Yes, just you and me," replied Faïz in a tone full of hate, without bothering to turn around.

Then he opened the door and got out.