Knights v Hunters: The Choice

He stood, staring at the bloodied knife in his hand, as the screech of the smoke alarm shattered the silence. Harry Tyler knew, in that moment, that his life was about to quickly unravel. He threw down the knife and climbed onto the kitchen table in an attempt to silence the smoke alarm, but realised that it was too late. Help would soon be on the way, thanks in part to his extremely nosy neighbours. He needed a moment to re-group, but most importantly, he needed to find Izzy. Where was she?

“The victim’s name is Izzy Tyler, 35 years of age, married to Harry Tyler, also 35 years of age, who discovered her body upon his return from work. Her throat and wrists have been slit and she has multiple stab wounds,” Detective Sawyer Channing announced to his captain, Jack Marquez. Sawyer was still shaken by the brutality of the crime scene. There was so much blood.

“No signs of a break-in,” Captain Jack Marquez announced, looking around the crime scene. His gut, cultivated over twenty years in law enforcement, spoke loudly to him, telling him to look closer. He looked at the victim’s husband sitting a few feet away, his head in his hands, trying valiantly to keep the nausea at bay. Tyler had admitted to touching the knife, which was presumably the murder weapon, when he had entered the kitchen. He had apparently been confronted by the sound of the smoke alarms when he’d entered his home more than an hour earlier and the absence of his wife had alerted him to the fact that something was wrong. A frantic search of his home had resulted in a gruesome find – his wife of ten years, brutally murdered. Marquez took a deep breath and did a visual 360 around the lounge. His eyes fell on the photo frames above the fireplace and he immediately felt his blood chill.

“Mr Tyler, where are your children?” Marquez asked as he walked towards Harry Tyler. Tyler looked up and for a moment, his eyes were blank.

“The uh… children?” he stammered.

“Yes, the two children in this photo,” Marquez explained, holding the photo frames close to Tyler’s face. “Are these your children, Mr Tyler?”

“Oh, Harry Junior and Mary are with my parents this evening. My mom normally collects them from school and takes them to their after-school activities before dropping them home. Oh God, it’s almost time for them to come home!” Tyler exclaimed, the despair evident in his eyes. He’s a good actor, Marquez’s gut said, wheedling itself once again into his thoughts.

“Peck, I want you to go over to Tyler’s mother’s place and make sure that the kids are okay. Let the grandparents know what’s going on and ask them to keep the kids there overnight,” Marquez instructed Detective Lena Peck, Channing’s partner. Lena nodded and called in for the address of Harry Tyler’s parents as she walked out the door.

Detective Lena Peck knocked on the front door of the older Tyler’s home. The Tylers weren’t answering their cell phones or their home line and now, it seemed, their door either. Maybe they were already on the way to their son’s home? She moved away from the door, walking to the nearest window and, cupping her hands together, peeked into what seemed like the lounge. Nothing out of place there, she thought. Just as she was making her way to another window, a car pulling into the driveway next door caught her attention. She walked over to the elderly gentleman exiting from the driver’s seat and patiently waited for him to close his car door.

“Good evening, sir. I’m Detective Lena Peck with the New York Police Department,” Lena introduced as she moved in closer.

“Yes, young lady, how can I help you?” the man asked, whilst activating his car alarm.

“Sir, I wondered if you know the whereabouts of your neighbours, the Tylers?” Lena asked.

“Why, yes,” the man answered. “The Tylers are away visiting their daughter Meg in Florida. They left yesterday afternoon and will return in a week. Why do you ask?”

“Sir, are you sure about that?” Lena asked, a dozen scenarios already forming in her head.

“Of course, I am,” he pronounced indignantly. “Ed and Mary have been my neighbours and friends for twenty years, I’ll have you know, and we make it our duty to know each other’s whereabouts. You can’t be too careful at our age. Besides, they asked me to look after their house while they are away.”

“Thank you, I have to go,” Lena said as she walked to her car. This case had already taken an unexpected turn!

“Captain, it’s Peck. The Tylers are not home. According to the neighbour, the Tylers are visiting their daughter and will only be back next week. Harry Tyler’s lying, Captain.”

Captain Marquez walked towards Harry Tyler, hoping that the man could see the exasperation on his face.

“Mr Tyler, it seems as if your parents are in Florida visiting your sister. They left yesterday and therefore cannot have Harry Junior and Mary with them. Where are your children, Mr Tyler?” he asked, leaning over the man, whose face seemed to have completely drained of blood, now eerily matching his blonde hair.

Harry Tyler stood up quickly, his chair falling loudly on its side as he frantically grabbed Marquez’s arms. “Captain, I dropped my kids off at school this morning. My wife gave me no indication that my parents would not be picking them up. If they are not with my parents, then where are they?” he shouted.

As Captain Marquez looked at Tyler, trying to determine whether this was a wronged man or a mad one, he asked once again. “Mr Tyler, is there anyone else who takes care of your children after school?”

By this time, Harry Tyler was bordering on hysterical. He insisted that his parents were the only ones who helped care for his children while he and his wife were at work. He needed to call his parents, he said, to find out if they knew who else Izzy might have asked to pick up Harry Junior and Mary. He couldn’t find his cell phone, which seemed to increase his hysteria.

“I think I left my phone in my car. I need to get my phone,” Tyler said, walking to the door.

Marquez put out a hand to restrain him. “One of my detectives will get your phone Mr Tyler. Just try and calm down please, whilst we get to the bottom of this.”

Detective Channing jogged to Tyler’s car which was parked in the driveway. The doors to the black Mercedes were unlocked and a thorough search of the interior of the car did not yield the missing cell phone. Channing was about to close the car doors and head back inside when he realised that he hadn’t thought of checking the boot. Pressing the lever to open the boot, he walked to the back of the car as the boot lid opened. The boot was empty, except for the cell phone tucked discretely in the corner. Who keeps their phone in the boot? Channing wondered. As he collected the cell phone, his hand rubbed against something wet on the grey carpet. Lifting his hand, he saw a red smudge. Gotcha!

Eden sat in the garden outside her parents’ home, enjoying the final hours of the day. She took a deep breath and tilted her head back to stare at the stars that were on display, causing her dark curly locks to almost reach her waist. She had a lot to think about and hoped that the stars would provide her with some direction as to the way forward. As the youngest child of Gabe and Grace, she felt the overwhelming pressure of doing right by her parents and siblings. Her father Gabe, leader of the Knights and the person whom she most resembled in spirit and character, expected her to use her year of the Choice to clear her mind of any doubts and questions she might have about their way of life and their purpose in the world. He viewed the year of the Choice, which would end on her twenty-first birthday, as an important rite of passage because although she had been born a Knight, she had the choice as to whether she continued to live as one when she came of age. If she chose not to, then she would join the world of the Normals, those whom the Knights were destined to protect, forever leaving behind everyone she loved. Many Knights had walked down that path before, making the difficult decision to live different lives; however, no one in Eden’s family had chosen to live amongst the Normals at the end of the year of the Choice. Could it be due to the fact that her father’s family had led the Knights for centuries and were thus faced with the overt pressure to conform to their way of life?

“Eden, I need you to find a Normal who is in trouble,” Gabe interrupted Eden’s thoughts.

“Tell me about him, Father. What has him condemned?” Eden turned towards her father. Gabe was always taken aback by how different Eden looked to her siblings. His older children were blonde haired and blue eyed and although Eden had blue eyes, her waist length curly black hair reminded him of her great grandmother, Athena, more of a warrior than a Knight.

“Harry Tyler is accused of killing his wife and possibly his children,” Gabe announced.

“And, did he?” Eden asked, comforted by the knowledge that her father welcomed questions related to any mission.

“Knight intelligence indicates that he is not a dangerous man. He is a loving husband and father, a role model in his community. He offers his legal services to the unfortunate and has helped dozens of Normals over the years. All information points to him being a good man, deserving of our rescue. We will need to help him start a new life,” Gabe replied.

“Surely the police will clear him of any wrongdoing if he is innocent?” Eden asked, wondering once again why Harry Tyler was already marked as ‘condemned’.

“They won’t be able to clear him because they don’t have any other suspects in the murders,” Gabe informed his daughter. “Right now, he is guilty in their eyes and our intelligence indicates that he will confess to crimes he did not commit. He needs our help, my child. Once you have rescued him, a Cleaner will meet him and take care of the rest.”

Eden hesitated and Gabe mistook the hesitation for a lack of confidence. “We can help save this Normal, Eden. I know you can handle this rescue on your own. The Cleaner will be on your trail and I will be tracking you every step of the way,” Gabe said, hoping that his words offered his youngest child some comfort.

Eden shook off her concern. Her father was right. This was a simple mission and she should embrace the opportunity to embark on her first solo rescue instead of focussing on why the police would wrongly accuse Harry Tyler of murder. “Thanks, Father. See you soon.”

“Rafe, have you found Harry Tyler?” Rafe could clearly hear Caleb’s voice, even though his brother was two blocks away. The brothers had a strong bond, made stronger by their ability to communicate telepathically.

“Yes, he is at the police station being questioned about his children, but I gather he is not revealing much information. The closer I get to him, the more I sense what he has done. I think I can find the children Caleb,” Rafe announced as Detective Lena Peck exited the interview room.

“Stay near, but don’t interfere. I’ll be with you in a second.” Rafe didn’t doubt that. Caleb was one of the fastest Hunters in their group, surpassed only by Becca, which infuriated his brother.

“Can I help you?” Detective Peck asked, approaching Rafe. Rafe turned towards the detective. She was beautiful, red haired perfection, her hair the colour of sunrise. He knew that she was a former model who had shocked many when she had left that world and chose to join the police force.

“Yes, my name is Rafe, I’m…,” before Rafe could finish his sentence, Caleb intervened.

“He’s just curious. We heard that Harry Tyler was being held in connection with his wife’s murder,” Caleb interjected. Caleb and Rafe looked strikingly similar, both blue eyed and dark haired, like most of the Hunters, but Rafe stood out. He was taller than Caleb, if only by a head, with obvious muscle beneath his well-fitting black T-shirt, whereas Caleb was leaner.

Lena Peck observed the two young men, both handsome, both clean cut and never imagined that they would know the likes of Harry Tyler.

“How do you know Mr Tyler?” she asked curiously.

“We actually don’t,” Caleb answered. “My brother Rafe heard that Tyler was being questioned about the murders of his family. We think we can help you.”

“Really? And how might you do that?” Lena Peck asked, now expressionless, but on the verge of introducing these young men to the door.

“Well, my brother is, … how would you term it, …psychic?” Caleb replied, ignoring the look of frustration that invaded the detective’s face. “He thinks he can help you find out what happened to Tyler’s family.”

“Okay guys, I don’t know what games you are playing, but you are interfering in a police investigation and time is of the essence,” Lena said sternly. She was in no mood for games. Both she and Channing had been questioning Harry Tyler for the past three hours. The man had not budged from his proclamation of innocence in the disappearance of his children and the murder of his wife. He had not asked for a lawyer either and Captain Marquez had called for a break whilst Tyler was offered something to eat. Now, Lena had to deal with these two nut jobs who had probably seen the evening news and wanted their own fifteen minutes of fame!

“You’re Lena Peck, you are thirty-two years of age. You were a catwalk model for five years and struggled to be taken seriously when you joined the force,” Rafe began.

“You could have seen that on Google,” Lena stated, walking towards the exit.

“You have a serious crush on your partner, Sawyer Channing, but he is a ladies’ man and you think that he hardly notices you, but you are wrong.” Lena gasped, the young man’s softly spoken words halting her progress towards the door. She turned around, knowing that her cheeks were stained red. No one knew about her feelings for Sawyer, not even Mel, her best friend.

“You are now thinking that I couldn’t possibly know about your crush because it’s the one thing you haven’t shared with anyone, even Mel. You keep this very close to your heart,” Rafe added. “Detective Peck, I think I can help you.”

“Okay Channing, don’t freak out on me, but the strangest thing happened.” As he listened to his partner of three years, Sawyer Channing did indeed freak out.

“Lena, really, I know we are going to be here all night, but why do you need to fall into the psychic trap? All kinds of crazy will start emerging now that Harry Tyler has made the news. Dammit, the captain will never take you seriously if you mention this to him, you know.” Sawyer looked at Lena, knowing how hard she had worked to shed her cover girl image and the time she put in on cases. They had been partners for three years, he, reluctant at first, she nervous as hell, but they had made it work, despite his misgivings. Her instincts were generally good, but maybe the possible murder of two children was affecting her in more ways than one. He knew that it was taking quite a bit of his energy not to beat the truth out of Harry Tyler.

“Okay, just meet them please and if you still think that they are crazy, then I won’t bring this up again.” Lena made one last desperate plea for Sawyer’s attention, just as Captain Marquez exited the interview room in obvious disgust.

“The bastard won’t budge,” Marquez announced. “Any new information, detectives?” Lena hesitated. She knew Sawyer didn’t buy into the whole psychic thing but right now, they had nothing and she couldn’t shake the feeling that the two young men sitting at her desk were genuine.

“Not really, Captain. The forensics is still being processed, but the substance we found in the boot is definitely blood. Fortunately, it belongs to a canine. We are still unable to reach any of Tyler’s family and his colleagues all confirm that he was at the law firm the entire day.” As Marquez nodded and made to turn away, Lena took a deep breath and proceeded with what could be considered a career-limiting move.

“Captain, we have two young men in my office who may be able to assist us. Rafe and Caleb are two brothers, one of whom I have reason to believe, is psychic. He thinks he can help us find the children.” She rushed her words, knowing that she had everything to lose.

“Psychics, huh? My great-aunt Esperanza was psychic. Crazy as hell, but her predictions were always on the money,” Marquez said, surprising both detectives. “Channing, what’s your take on this?” he asked, turning to Lena’s partner. Lena held her breath. Damn, Sawyer did not believe in psychics and he sure as hell thought she was nuts a few moments earlier. She could barely look him in the eyes.

“I trust Peck’s instincts, sir”. Uh…what?

“Okay, let me speak to them first. Although I might believe that some people could be gifted, let’s just say that I’ve met my fair share of chancers in my career,” Marquez said, walking towards Peck’s desk.

As surprised as Lena was, she wouldn’t show it and she wanted to kiss Sawyer for his show of support. As they approached the brothers, Lena was struck by how assured Rafe and Caleb were. They both looked barely out of their teens, but there was an air of confidence about them that she had not seen in people that age and certainly not when she looked in the mirror.

“Gentlemen, I’m Captain Jack Marquez. Detective Peck tells me that you can help us with the Tyler case.” Rafe and Caleb shook hands with the captain and Detective Channing. “I need to ask you some questions first, if you don’t mind coming through to my office,” Marquez stated, leading the way to the room, whilst motioning for Channing and Peck to wait outside. After a few minutes, Marquez emerged from his office, a look of wonder on his face as he turned to Rafe and asked, “Can you repeat for the benefit of my detectives how you propose to find out what happened to Tyler’s family?

“I just need to be in the same room as him so that I can hear what he’s not saying.” Channing grimaced, but Marquez stared at the young men for a moment and then said, “Follow me.”

Lena mouthed a thank you to Sawyer as they followed the brothers and the captain into the interview room. He nodded and then shook his head indicating his bewilderment. After their years together, Lena could read every expression of Sawyer. I wonder what Rafe meant when he implied that Sawyer notices me?

The interview room was quiet. Harry Tyler was staring into his cup of tea as if he could read the leaves. He looked up as the group entered, feigning fear, Rafe realised.

“Mr Tyler, I would like to continue with our interview, if you are up to it,” Marquez said, his tone, solicitous, with the aim of ensuring that Tyler co-operated freely without invoking his right to legal representation. “These young men are here for on the job training and they won’t be asking you any questions directly, but they may ask questions via the detectives and I,” Marquez stated, effectively laying the ground rules for their engagement.

Looking at Harry Tyler, Rafe felt the might of the arrows that flowed in his blood and wished that he could use one on the man now, but his mission was to find the children first. As a Hunter, his purpose in life was to protect the Normals by ridding their society of the condemned that walked amongst them. The Hunters focussed on retribution, and yet, as the son of Jude, leader of the Hunters, Rafe knew that he couldn’t exact vengeance until Tyler revealed his children’s whereabouts. Rafe carefully considered the man who sat across from them. Tyler had undoubtedly killed his entire family. Rafe didn’t afford any thought as to Tyler’s reasons for the murders, although he wondered why the man thought he would get away with it. As he listened to the questions Marquez posed to Tyler, he had the distinct feeling that Tyler knew what he was going to be asked before Marquez did. Suddenly Tyler looked directly at Rafe and there was a flash of recognition in the man’s eyes, quickly followed by fear.

Caleb lightly touched Rafe’s arm, and Rafe knew that Caleb had also seen the look in Harry Tyler’s eyes. “He will be found not guilty in the murder of his children, Rafe. He knew exactly what he was doing. He cold-bloodedly got rid of his family. Can you see what he did with the kids?”

“Not yet, but I will. He can’t hide his thoughts for very long. I’ll ask the detective to ask Tyler to describe his activities for the day.” With that, Rafe wrote a question on the writing paper in front of him and passed it to Detective Peck.

“Mr Tyler, can you take us through your day today? What time did you get up? What did you eat for breakfast?” Lena asked.

“I, uh, woke at my usual time of 5am and went for a jog. I was back at 6am. I put on the coffee and took a shower. By this time, Izzy was up and uh…getting breakfast and the kids’ lunches. I had eggs and toast for breakfast. Izzy…Izzy and I chatted. She was working from home today. I took the kids to school and I assumed my parents would pick them up and take them to their after-school activities as normal. My wife never indicated otherwise, I swear. I left home at 7.30am with the kids.”

“Then what happened?” Marquez enquired.

“I dropped them off at school and went in to work. I, uh… had a busy day. I came home and … and that’s when I found Izzy. Oh God,” Tyler said, his voice breaking.

“Why was your cell phone in your boot?” Peck asked.

Tyler hesitated for a second, as he recovered from seeing the image of his wife’s lifeless body. “The kids normally play tricks on me, hiding my stuff, so I’m sure that they probably put it in there.”

“And you never needed your phone during the day?” Marquez asked, surprised that in this day of a cell phone being man’s best accessory, Tyler would not notice that his was missing.

“No, I was based in the office today and I used the office phone. As for the blood, our dog Rumour was… knocked down yesterday. Hit and run. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. My family was …devastated, absolutely devastated. He had been with us for five years. I put his body in a bag, loaded it into the boot and took him to our vet to dispose of him.” Tyler seemed to have a logical explanation for everything thus far. Peck and Channing had left a message for Meg Tyler, Harry’s sister, but she had not as yet called back. The principal of the school, which the Tyler kids attended, had been off sick that day, but he provided the contact details of the kids’ teachers.

Lena looked at Rafe with the hope that he had read… felt something? A lot depended on this, Lena’s reputation included. Rafe only looked at her and offered a weak smile. Sawyer’s scowl indicated that he thought this was a waste of time and an embarrassment.

The interview continued for another twenty minutes before Marquez called for a break.

“Well, young psychics, what did you find out?” Marquez asked Rafe and Caleb as soon as they exited the room.

Rafe contemplated for a moment. “He was mostly telling the truth about his day. He did make as if he had dropped off his kids at school, in fact, some of the parents will probably recall seeing him there this morning. However, the kids never went to school today. Actually, they never left their house.”

“What are you saying?” Marquez asked cautiously. “We searched the entire house extensively after we discovered the children were missing. We didn’t find anything.”

Rafe looked at the captain, noticed the disbelief on his face. Beside him, he could hear the pounding of Lena’s heart, knew what she was thinking.

“You didn’t search the attic,” Rafe said calmly. “The stairs to the attic can be accessed from the spare bedroom, opposite the little boy’s room. Their bodies are in there.” The detectives took a minute to absorb that information. They knew that they hadn’t searched the attic. In fact, they didn’t even know that there was one in the Tyler house.

“You’re sure they’re dead?” Marquez asked quietly.

“Yes, unfortunately. He took us through what he did today, but in his mind he was seeing the true progression of his day. He killed his children while they slept. In fact, he suffocated both of them. Then he told his wife that he would drop them off at school. She didn’t wake up to make breakfast, he did. This allowed him to hide the kids’ movements and concoct this entire story.”

“Why would he kill his own children?” Marquez was dumbfounded.

Rafe shook his head as if to dislodge the images he had seen. “He felt that he was…saving… them,” Rafe said hesitantly. “I don’t know from what though! Last night, he and Izzy had a huge fight. The details are unclear, but she was flinging accusations at him and threatened to speak to his parents. I can’t decipher what the fight was about, but I don’t think he was cheating on her. In fact, I think that he actually loved her and his children. Very much.”

Marquez and his detectives looked at Rafe with disbelief. “Why would he kill her and their children then?”

Rafe was struggling to arrange the images in his head. That had not happened to him before. “I don’t know. When they went to bed last night, everything seemed fine. Izzy was happy. Wait,” Rafe signalled. He closed his eyes. Something was not right. “Harry never slept last night. He went out to his car to make a phone call. That’s… that’s how his phone ended up in the boot. He was talking on his phone while trying to clean his boot of Rumour’s blood and Izzy interrupted him. He dropped his phone and went back into the house.” Rafe breathed a sigh of relief. The images were falling into place in his mind. “He lay next to Izzy, but he didn’t sleep. He seemed sad.” Rafe was puzzled.

“So, whatever he and his wife fought over, could have triggered his family’s subsequent deaths?” Marquez concluded.

“Maybe,” Rafe hesitated. “I don’t think that Izzy understood the context of their argument, but whatever she was angry about, was what triggered her death. Tyler killed his children in the morning and he looked remorseful while doing it. He cried in the shower. He was going to kill his wife in the morning as well, but he hadn’t figured out how to dispose of the bodies. So he placed the bodies of his children in the attic and headed off to work.”

“And went home in the evening and stabbed his wife?” Rafe nodded. “I’m sorry, that sounds crazy,” Detective Channing stated what his colleagues must have been thinking.

“I know,” Caleb placated, “but listen to him.”

“When he left his office today, Tyler intended to go home and set his house on fire,” Rafe continued calmly. “Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know that his wife had a roast in the oven when he killed her. The smoke alarms alerted the neighbours and he didn’t have time to bring the children’s bodies down from the attic or set the fire, before help arrived,” Rafe recounted with as little emotion as possible.

The boy’s story was so implausible that Marquez instinctively knew that Peck and Channing would find the children’s bodies in the attic. He nodded at his detectives and they solemnly left for Tyler’s home, steeling themselves for the horror they would possibly find.

Over the next 15 minutes, Rafe recounted what he had seen, the look on Tyler’s face as he killed his children; the look of horror on Izzy’s face when she realised that she was going to die at the hands of the man she loved. During this time, Caleb was silent, having seen through Rafe, Harry Tyler’s day of destruction. There was only one thing bothering him though. Why did Harry Tyler expect to get away with it all? Why use his parents as part of this story, if it could so easily be disproved? He knew Rafe pondered the same questions. Rafe had felt something when he was reading Tyler that he hadn’t as yet been able to process.

The ringing of Marquez’s phone shattered the silence. It was Peck confirming that the bodies of the children had been found in the attic. The medical examiner was on her way, the area was cordoned off and they would spend the rest of the night at the crime scene. Oh, by the way, Channing interjected, Harry Tyler’s parents had eventually called back and were devastated to find out what had happened. No, they said, Harry would never harm his family. He was a gentle soul and had been from the day they had found him wandering the neighbourhood when he was fifteen years old. He had been starved by his birth parents who had then abandoned him in a strange neighbourhood. The Tylers had taken him in and later adopted him. He had been the perfect older brother to their daughter Meg, he had excelled at school and eventually law school and he was a devoted husband and father. No, he couldn’t have done this!

As Rafe and Caleb listened to the conversation, a young woman, not much younger than Caleb, walked into the police station. Her glossy black curls swinging behind her, she turned her attention to the captain and began to walk directly towards him. Rafe felt his heart skip a beat. He knew this woman, but from where? There was something achingly familiar about her.

“I’m looking for Captain Marquez,” she announced and Rafe knew in that moment when their eyes met, that she knew who Marquez was when she had asked that question. She looked away startled from Rafe, almost as if aware that he knew of her little deception.

Marquez tiredly rose from his chair. “That would be me. What can I do for you, young lady?”

“My name is Eden, uh, Grant. I am here to see Harry Tyler.” Caleb picked up her slight hesitation and knew immediately that Eden Grant, or whatever her name was, was here under false pretences.

“Why do you want to see Mr Tyler?” Captain Marquez asked.

“I’m his…lawyer,” Eden Grant announced.

No way, Caleb thought. The woman looked like she was still in school, … high school. Her no-nonsense pants suit did not fool him!

“Mr Tyler never asked for his lawyer,” Marquez informed her. “Can I see your credentials?” Looking at Eden Grant, Marquez wondered if he was living a Doogie Howser day. First the psychics and now her. Eden handed over her documentation, and after a quick perusal, Marquez returned it to her.

“Captain, I was made aware of my client’s presence in your precinct and was more than surprised that he didn’t get his phone call. He has been here for several hours and given his state of mind, I am concerned that he might feel… compelled to agree with the police’s version of events,” Eden stated.

Marquez stifled his irritation at her accusations, wanting to inform her that the bodies of her client’s children had been found. He refrained from the temptation though, wanting to surprise Tyler with that information.

“Come with me,” he grudgingly instructed the lawyer much to Rafe and Caleb’s surprise.

When they walked into the interview room, Harry Tyler had his head on his arms and looked as if he was asleep. Marquez had to stop himself from kicking his chair. Instead, he said, “Tyler, your lawyer is here. Do you intend asking for legal representation?”

Tyler looked at Eden and nodded and for the first time since they had brought him in to the police station, he actually smiled a real smile, revealing even white teeth. In some ways, he could even be thought handsome, Eden reflected. She tried to read him, something that she was good at, but her efforts were in vain, just as it was with the two young men she had met outside. She could hear the thoughts of the captain though, contemplating whether they had sufficient evidence to convict Tyler.

“Captain, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to Mr Tyler alone?” Marquez hesitated. He didn’t want to leave the young lawyer with the crazy Tyler, but he couldn’t deny her request. The District Attorney was already breathing down his neck. He nodded and reluctantly left the room.

Walking over to the young men who had helped crack this case, Marquez said, “Let’s see how this unfolds. I want nothing less than a confession from that monster but we need solid evidence linking him to the murders and we’re not going to get that tonight. Go get some coffee boys.”

Rafe looked at the captain, smiled and motioned for Caleb to follow him. A few desks away, he looked at Caleb and said, “Did you feel her trying to read our minds?” Caleb nodded. “She obviously failed, but I read hers. She was frustrated that she got nothing from us, but she can’t read Tyler either. That confused her.” At that, the both boys looked at each other and there was a dawning realisation.

“She’s one of the Knights,” Caleb whispered. “She’s come to rescue him. Dammit, we can’t let that happen. The man is a murderer!”

Rafe was equally angry, but something else was hovering at the back of his mind. “Knights can’t read Hunters, but how do you explain Tyler? We could hear his thoughts and see his actions. Why can’t she? Normals don’t have the ability to block Hunters or Knights out of their minds.” The moment he spoke those words, both Rafe and Caleb sprung up as they realised what they were dealing with.

“Only the Untouchables can unconsciously block out a Knight. Tyler isn’t a Normal. He’s an Untouchable!” Caleb whispered, finally understanding what Rafe had read earlier, but had been unable to process.