Knights v Hunters; The Return

Lena drank her herbal tea at her kitchen table, deep in thought. She had not slept much the previous night, trying to figure out whether her conclusions on viewing the video footage the night before, were actually plausible. Was Rafe a killer? If so, how had he killed McCall? There was no evidence of foul play. What about Gentry and the men found outside the station? Had he also been involved in their deaths? How could one young man, with no history of violent behaviour, be responsible for so many deaths? Who was the blonde-haired man who had accompanied Rafe into the station the night of McCall’s death? And what was Caleb’s involvement in this, if any? There were more questions than answers and Lena had tossed and turned until she had given up on sleep and opted to watch a movie she couldn’t even remember. She had not discussed any of this with Sawyer yet and her gut warned her to keep it that way for now. Before she left for work though, she would stop by the boys’ apartment in case they had returned. She had checked a couple of days ago, but they weren’t around.

Caleb was awakened by a knock on the door. He had been to bed only a few hours before, coming home late after he and Becca had commenced their tracking of David Cawley. They were convinced they knew where to find him. Becca answered the door, her usual effervescent self in the morning. Caleb sat up when he realised that Detective Lena Peck was at the door.

“Hi, I was wondering if either Rafe or Caleb were in?” he heard Lena asking Becca.

“Yes, sure, come in,” Becca replied, leading Lena into the lounge, where Caleb had taken the sofa for the night. Lena smiled as she saw him. Caleb looked like he had spent an uncomfortable night on that sofa.

“Ah, Detective Peck, good to see you. What brings you by so early in the morning?” he asked, none too subtly.

“I just wondered if you guys were back,” she responded, looking curiously at Becca who had not introduced herself.

“Yes, we’ve been back a while now. Have you met Becca?” he asked, to which Lena nodded and offered her hand in greeting. “Becca’s my girlfriend,” Caleb explained and heard his “girlfriend” choke in the background. Well, he did need a reason for her being here, he reasoned, ignoring her piercing gaze.

“Is Rafe back as well?” Lena asked curiously and Caleb noticed the hesitancy in her voice.

“Yes, he is. He’s out jogging because unlike me, he wakes up the birds,” Caleb grunted.

“Well, I won’t keep you. I just got back to work yesterday myself. When you see Rafe, tell him I dropped by and would like to speak to him when he has some time,” she requested.

Caleb acknowledged her request as Becca accompanied her to the door and locked it after her.

“I think Rafe is in trouble,” Becca surmised.

Grace shivered in the cold, her aching head crying out for relief. She had no idea where she was. After they had left Knight town, Seth had tied her arms and blindfolded her and they had stopped once to collect someone. Grace recognised that voice, knew it probably was the same voice that Dina had heard in her garden, but couldn’t place it. Dina was right though, the voice was cold and hard and Seth listened to the man as if taking orders. Dina! Grace cried. Poor Dina had poured her heart out to her, convinced that Seth was up to no good. Grace was almost glad that Dina was no more, for she would be heartbroken to discover the extent of her husband’s betrayal. When Grace had taken Dina back to her and Seth’s place, the older man had been waiting for them and when he looked at his wife, he knew, he knew, that she had confided in her friend, all her troubles, worries and suspicions, which meant that Grace would do the same with her husband. He couldn’t let that happen.

He had easily subdued Dina, the older woman weakened by grief, but Grace was stronger and had fought back, managing to overpower the older man. The last thing she remembered was calling for Dina to run, before she had received a blow to the head, temporarily disabling her. When she had come to, she was lying on the floor, with her hands tied up. She saw that Dina was sitting on the sofa, her head back against the headrest. Seth was smoothing down her hair, almost in comfort and when he kissed his wife’s forehead, Grace knew that Dina was gone. Tears ran down Seth’s face as he turned towards Grace. “I have to go and I couldn’t leave her here alone,” he explained, “She’d never come with me, would never understand why I needed to do this.” He pulled Grace off the floor and dragged her towards his car in the garage. “You and I are leaving Grace and I’m going to untie you for now, but for your own safety and for that of the Guardians, say nothing. I don’t want more Knights to die before we leave Knight town and he’s close by. He’ll join us when we’re past the Guardians.”

Grace knew that the “he” to whom Seth had referred was the same person who had joined them later. They had driven for a while, constantly speaking, but not loud enough for Grace to hear everything, for by now, she was lying flat on the floor of the car, her body bearing the brunt of every bump on the road. When they had eventually come to a stop, she was pulled out of the car, fed some water and lifted over a wall. They had walked a short distance before she was held once again and lowered a few metres, still bound and blindfolded. She had landed with a thud and felt the brunt of the fall on her right leg. Now, she was somewhere dank, in what seemed to be a very small room. She had walked around a few times and immediately ran into wall. She could hear the sound of water close by. Was she in a well?

Gabe and the children would be so worried, she realised. She hoped Gabe didn’t leave Knight town to search for her because she knew from the few snippets she had gathered from the conversation between Seth and the other man that Seth was counting on that. Knight town would be open to attack without an able Gabe to guide it. Gabe, please let the children search for me, she begged. Would Ava have heard about her disappearance? Would her oldest friend look for her?

Eden sat alone in the diner where only a few months ago, the Knights and Hunters had shared information and worked side by side. She missed Rafe; she missed having someone to talk to about her fears and right now, she was so very afraid. Her mother was missing and they were unable to find anything that might lead them to her. Even her suggestion of tracking her mother’s scent had proved useless such that she had asked to stop for breakfast. Josh and Matthew would join her at the diner after they checked out a lead on the Zolfars in whom the Hunters had expressed an interest. Eden felt that if Rafe was here, he would know what to do and he and Caleb would have helped to find Grace by now. If she reached out to him now, would he listen to her, would he help? Oh Rafe, she cried, please hear me!

Matthew and Josh entered the diner and found their sister in a booth, staring blankly outside. Matthew knew that Eden had not been herself for a while now and that their mother’s disappearance would only add to her stress. Eden turned to them suddenly, a sad smile on her face. “Any news?” she asked hopefully.

“No,” Josh said immediately. “The Zolfars don’t seem to be involved in anything illegal.”

“I would go so far as to say that they have not changed since they chose to leave Knight town,” Matthew conceded, staring at the menu.

“So, another dead end,” Eden sighed.

“Yeah, another one,” Josh said, sounding defeated.

Not too far from the diner, Rafe, Caleb and Becca enjoyed a home-cooked breakfast, while Caleb informed his brother of the detective’s visit and Becca’s suspicion that Rafe was in trouble. Rafe knew that he would have to speak to Detective Peck soon, but they didn’t have time today. They had pretty much pinned down the location of David Cawley and after breakfast, they planned on going there to figure out whether the former Knight was really in trouble. Rafe was also fighting a headache that had returned when he was out jogging. He needed to speak to his brother – he was hearing voices in his head, or at least one particular voice, and his efforts to block that was resulting in a massive headache. Caleb would probably say that he was certifiable, although he himself was used to hearing Rafe’s voice since the brothers could communicate telepathically since they were children. This voice was new though and it created a sense of unease within Rafe.

Caleb could hear his brother’s thoughts. Eden was probably trying to communicate with him, he realised, except that Rafe was blocking her, their break-up obviously not sitting well with him. Rafe was not vindictive though, Caleb thought, and their parents had instructed them to assist Gabe’s children if they ran into them. So why was Rafe deliberately avoiding Eden? Something was definitely off with his brother.

Leo Zolfar stared out of the window of his wife’s office, which was on the 22nd floor of her construction company. Harper was busy in a meeting in the boardroom next door, trying to win a bid for the construction of a chain of luxury hotels. His wife was incredible, he thought, not for the first time. She was kind and generous but she could also be lethal in the next breath, as the few who had tried to cross her had found to their detriment. He remembered meeting her when he was nine years old in Knight town and he had known immediately that he would marry her someday. Boy, did she resist that, he remembered with a smile. His wife was strong of mind and body and she had been born into the role of a Guardian. She had told him then, all of nine years herself, her blonde pigtails bobbing in indignation that her destiny was bigger than being the wife of a Seer! And she had been right at that, he thought. Their decision to leave Knight town in the Year of the Choice had been the most difficult they had ever taken thus far. They had left behind their families and friends because they both believed that they could fulfil their roles as Knights better by living amongst the Normals. Of course, they had known that they would be cleaned of their abilities, but it was a risk they were willing to take. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that their abilities were still intact, after they left Knight town! Both Leo and Harper had immediately known that something was afoot in Knight town, which had forever changed their destinies.

Now, almost a lifetime later, they were getting closer to the truth and although there were times when he wished they could just get on a plane and move far away, he knew that the Untouchables had different ideas for those like him. And after what had happened these past few months, he and Harper could not just walk away, especially when he saw what was yet to come. Their Knight family was in great danger!

“What did that tooth ever do to you?” Sawyer asked Lena, breaking her out of her reverie. She had been chewing on the end of her pencil for at least the last fifteen minutes.

“Uh?” she asked, slipping back into the present. She looked at the pencil in her hand and understood. “Funny,” she responded.

“A whole dollar for your thoughts,” Sawyer offered jokingly. Ever since they had returned to work, Lena had been a bit withdrawn, the easy camaraderie they had once shared, a thing of the past. She was still professional and courteous, but very different to the partner he had sat opposite for the past three years. He knew that her finding Kayla in his apartment a month ago might have been uncomfortable, but she hadn’t given him an opportunity to explain Kayla’s presence, to tell her that he was just offering an old friend a place to stay while her apartment was being fumigated. Kayla had always been like a sister to him and their relationship had never been anything more, but Lena hadn’t opened the door to any discussion. In fact, she seemed decidedly uninterested in his personal life, whereas he was very interested in hers!

“I was thinking that these two cases are almost comparable to the last cases we worked on, you know, the ones that got us suspended,” Lena added for good measure.

“Why do you say that?” Sawyer asked in confusion. He hadn’t picked up any similarities.

“Well, Emerson and Cawley fit the age profile; they are also blonde haired, blue-eyed and as good looking as our previous victims.”

“Okaaay,” Sawyer said, waiting for more.

“I knew that alone wouldn’t convince you,” Lena said, “so I checked them out a bit more. Both of these men, like our previous victims, do not have profiles before they turned twenty-one years old.” In their previous case, the detectives had discovered that neither Gentry nor McCall or any of their victims had any history pre-dating the age of twenty-one years. Furthermore, except for Missy Adams, all the other victims were in the same age range and shared striking physical similarities, especially hair and eye colours, although some of the victims had dyed their once red or blonde locks. Missy Adams had been the anomaly, but the detectives soon realised that her father, Dr John Adams, had been the intended victim. John Adams shared the same profile of the other victims.

Now Sawyer was half-way convinced. He bent over Lena, looking at her computer screen and then shook his head when he read the information. “I can’t believe it. I thought we caught the perps though.”

“Yeah, we did, but there were also two other men who were killed with Gentry. What if there were others involved? Obviously not in those murders, but maybe Gentry and McCall had followers who are now carrying on in their footsteps,” Lena offered.

“We still don’t have any clue as to the motive for those murders. I mean, all those people died and we still don’t know why!” Sawyer exclaimed.

Lena didn’t have an answer for that, but if they didn’t find Emerson and Cawley soon, they could be investigating their murders!

The ringing of Sawyer’s phone interrupted Lena’s grim thoughts. He answered it distractedly, but smiled when he heard the voice at the other end, then stood up and waved. Lena followed the direction of the wave and saw a very attractive man, about her height, approach their desks and joyously envelop Sawyer in a hug. When they separated, she realised that it was one of Sawyer’s brothers, their looks very similar.

“Hey, Peck, I want you to meet my brother Carter,” Sawyer said. “He’s the photo journalist who is now home for a while.”

“Lena Peck,” Lena introduced herself and stared into the liquid brown eyes of Sawyer’s older brother. Something passed between them during the handshake and Sawyer noticed.

“Carter Channing. So, you’re my brother’s partner. He’s only had nice things to say about you,” Carter said, wondering how his little brother got any work done sitting next to this stunning redhead.

“Well, I’ve never known him to lie,” Lena joked, noticing Sawyer’s raised eyebrows. Was she flirting with Sawyer’s brother? She never flirted, what was wrong with her. “It’s been nice meeting you, Carter, but I have to go. Sawyer,” she said, turning once again to her partner, “why don’t you spend some time with your brother? I want to check out that lead with the cab company.” Sawyer protested, but Lena fended him off. Carter’s arrival was opportune, she realised, since there was something that she needed to do on her own.

Caleb, Rafe and Becca drove to the last place they had tracked David Cawley. It was an old apartment building which was currently under construction and should thus be unoccupied; yet Cawley’s presence was strong here. They parked around the corner from the building and proceeded on foot the rest of the way. When they approached the building, Caleb communicated with his brother, “Bro, there are people in the building.”

“How many?” Rafe asked. Caleb looked at Becca and she signalled three. He nodded in agreement. Rafe wondered if those people included Cawley and his captors. “Are they armed?” he asked.

Both Becca and Caleb shook their heads, indicating that they didn’t believe that there were any weapons in the building.

“Okay, let’s go in. Lead the way to Cawley,” Rafe instructed his brother. They walked up three flights of stairs, for the elevators were not yet safe for use, before Caleb signalled for them to stop.

“We’re almost there, but we can’t exactly ring the bell and ask to be let in,” Caleb said. “No one is supposed to be in this building.”

Becca pointed to Caleb and indicated to him that he should listen to her thoughts. He nodded. “We need to draw out whoever is in there. At least we’ll know who we’re dealing with.”

“I agree,” Caleb said, communicating their plan to his brother. Rafe agreed as well. They silently walked up another flight of stairs before they reached the apartment in which they believed David Cawley was being held. They realised then, that there was a camera outside the apartment door which would reveal any unwanted visitors to Cawley’s captors. “I can disable that with an arrow,” Caleb indicated, which he proceeded to do. They stood on opposite ends of the door, and within seconds, the door flung open.

“Leo Zolfar!” Rafe exclaimed and rushed the older man, pushing him into the apartment, where he found Harper Zolfar and David Cawley enjoying a cup of tea!

David Cawley stood up, spilling his tea. “Who are you?” he asked and Rafe could see the fear in his eyes. By this time, Becca and Caleb had also entered the apartment and closed the door behind them.

“They’re Hunters,” Harper said, standing up, looking like the fearless Guardian she would always be. “The question is, what do you want with us?”

“No, the question is, why did you take David Cawley? His family have reported him missing to the police who are now searching for him,” Caleb asked.

Leo ran his hands tiredly through his hair. He looked as if he wanted to say something before Harper silenced him with a look. Rafe turned to them both and said, “Give me one reason we shouldn’t use our arrows on you?”

This seemed to catch Harper’s attention. “We haven’t done anything wrong and are therefore not condemned, so you have no reason to use your arrows. That would be a breach of your covenants.”

“You took this man from his family!” Becca exclaimed.

“To protect him!” Leo shouted. “We couldn’t let them take him!” He clammed up when he realised he had said too much. Rafe looked at his brother and they both acknowledged that their instincts of the Zolfars had been correct. The brothers lowered their hands. These former Knights were not part of the Untouchables….yet.

“Who are you?” Harper asked. “You seem to know us.”

“I’m Rafe and this is Caleb and Becca. We’ve been tasked to locate David Cawley.”

“You’re Jude’s boys,” Harper recognised and she let out a deep breath. “Okay, sit down and we’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Becca chose to sit while the boys remained standing. Harper and Leo Zolfar then proceeded to tell them about their quest to get closer to the group of Untouchables led by Mrs Ginello. They had been working overseas when the other former Knights were killed by Gentry and McCall and were horrified upon their return to discover that some of their friends had been murdered for their refusal to join the Untouchables’ mission. Unfortunately, the Zolfars weren’t au fait with the details of the mission and decided that they needed to get closer to the Blocker to find out. When they did, they realised that the Blocker was in fact taking orders from someone within Knight town as well as another, as yet, unidentified person. The Blocker had received instructions to urgently find another Healer, since they had failed with John Adams. Harper had immediately known that David Cawley was the closest Healer and would therefore be the target, so they had conducted a pre-emptive strike and taken Cawley instead.

“Look, I know Leo and Harper from when we were in Knight town and I trust them when they tell me that the Untouchables are organising a coup in my old home and possibly in the Hunter compound. I would never have joined the Untouchables, but they obviously expect me to since the Cleaner spared my memories and abilities and if I refuse, my family will be in danger. I know they killed John Adam’s daughter because of that,” David explained.

“We knew that they were planning something for when he returned from Vegas, so we took him from the airport and brought him here. We thought he would be relatively safe here since we own this building and are supposed to be renovating it,” Leo said.

“If we found you, so will they,” Rafe explained.

“They are not as good as you,” Harper said, “and they lost their best Tracker when you took out Gentry. They recently kidnapped Noel Emerson, but they’re still trying to persuade him to join them. Noel’s stubborn. Let’s say, he hasn’t exactly jumped at the opportunity.”

“You can’t stay here,” Caleb said, addressing David Cawley. “You and your family need to go away for a while, but first we need the police to know that you are back home.”

“What do I tell my wife, my children?” David asked.

“The truth - that you were taken, but that you managed to get away,” Rafe said. “We’ll get a Hunter to stay close to you so that you can’t be tracked.”

“Why would you do this for a former Knight?” Leo asked.

“Like you, we want to understand the Untouchables’ mission so that we can ensure that we protect our compound and our society from them,” Caleb answered.

Lena sat in her car, watching the entrance to the building in which Rafe, Caleb and Becca had disappeared. She had followed them from their apartment, managing to keep a safe distance from their car and was surprised when they had walked into this building which was currently being renovated. Definitely not the usual hangout for college students.

It was an hour later before they emerged from the building, with three other people in tow. Lena couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Was that David Cawley with them? The same man who had been missing? What would Rafe and Caleb be doing with him and who were the other two people? Lena realised she couldn’t wait to find out. David Cawley had been reported missing; she was investigating his disappearance, which made him her property right now. She checked her gun as she exited her car.

Rafe saw Detective Peck approach them, gun drawn. “Detective Peck, NYPD,” she said. “I’m going to ask you to stop walking. Are you David Cawley?” she asked, looking at Cawley.

“Uh, yes,” he mumbled, raising his hands in the air.

“Dr Cawley, are you being held against your will?” she asked him.

“No, Detective. I’m on my way home. These people rescued me,” David volunteered.

Lena looked at Rafe and Caleb, disappointment clear on her face. “What are you two doing here?” she asked.

“We came to look for Dr Cawley,” Rafe answered honestly.

“Dr Cawley,” Lena called, “I’m going to have to take you back to the station with me. We have a case to close out. Walk towards me, sir,” she instructed.

Cawley looked at the Zolfars for advice, both of whom nodded in agreement. He had just started walking towards them when another car drove up next to Lena’s and came to a sudden halt. Lena turned back, just as Matthew emerged from the car, causing her to reel back in shock. “You!” she exclaimed.

Matthew ignored her and turning to Rafe and Caleb, he asked, “need some help?”

When the Zolfars, David Cawley and Detective Peck had left, Matthew turned to Becca and said, “I’m glad to see that you’re better.”

“Thanks,” Becca responded with a smile.

“So how did you find us?” Caleb asked, getting back to business.

“Actually, I was tracking Cawley and I obviously lost him when you found him, but I decided to come check out the last place I sensed him in any case. I’m glad that he’s okay and thanks for protecting him. Hopefully this will create a dent in the Untouchables’ mission,” Matthew said.

“We can only hope,” Caleb said, noticing Rafe’s silence in this exchange. “I’m sorry about your mom. Did you manage to track her yet?”

“No, uh…we can’t. Eden and Josh are checking out a few leads, but everything’s proved to be a dead end so far. The Blocker has made it impossible for us to track her or Seth,” he said seriously.

“We’ll be on the lookout as well,” Rafe interjected.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. It’s more than we could ask,” Matthew acknowledged.

“Just to let you know though,” Caleb said, “we haven’t sensed your mother around or even Seth. They might not be in New York yet.”

Matthew hadn’t considered that, thinking that Seth would have made his way to the Blocker immediately. He would have to let his father know. What if their mother was still in Knight town and her presence was being blocked, just like Noah’s had been for more than a month?

Just then, Eden and Josh pulled up in a taxi alongside them. Becca waved at them and immediately went over to hug Eden. Eden returned the hug, all the while her heart racing as she saw Rafe and Caleb, well mostly Rafe. He looked at her differently, like he was seeing her for the first time, trying to suss her out.

Josh and Eden made their way to the others, where Caleb enveloped Eden in a hug and shook Josh’s hand. Rafe stood back, apart from them, looking more puzzled by the minute. He shook Josh’s hand when offered and when Eden looked at him, he almost stepped back, causing some pain to shoot through the Knight in question.

Rafe couldn’t breathe as he looked at the Knight in front of him. Caleb seemed to know everyone, as did Becca, but Rafe was struggling, his headache having returned in full force. He recognised Matthew and Josh, but he didn’t know this Knight in front of him and his instinct warned him to avoid her. However, his parents had instilled some manners in him, so with a hand outstretched towards her, he said, “Hi, I’m Rafe, Caleb’s brother, and you are…?”