Dylan, Evelyn and I returned to the office a short while later. We had just about everything we needed for our case. Probable cause, lots of evidence to tie him to both the Prices' murders and Alexandria's murder, along with eyewitness testimony. But the one thing we still didn't have, the most important detail? Motive.

Why? Why would a twenty-something young mythical creature, freshly turned, kill three people over two weeks, ravage a bar, and hurt two detectives? Was it hunger, as Connie had suggested? Rage? Fear? Some combination of both? Did he have a deeper reason, like jealousy? We wouldn't know anything about what was motivating him until we caught and interrogated him. Until then, all we could do was continue putting the pieces of this puzzle together, without that one corner piece to finish the jigsaw, metaphorically speaking.

As we gathered up in our team's office, Dylan pulled up all the information we'd compiled so far on Benjamin Prasad and sent it to the giant glass screen in the conference room. Everyone else was there; Eddie and John had just finished up their first round of interviews for the witnesses at the bar who hadn't been injured, while Dylan had called Max away from his computer lab for this debrief.

The most prominent item was the CCTV footage that we'd gotten from the Rusty Knot after today's incident, since no one else on the team had seen it apart from me, Dylan and Evey. As the footage played on repeated on screen, Dylan pointed out the familiar figure in the center of the fracas as he addressed Max.

"I've uploaded the video file to our cloud server. We need to get this footage cleaned up so we can do facial recognition comparisons against the CCTV images from a few weeks ago. If they match, that means that's our man, Benjamin. And we've got proper reason to arrest him now, instead of just suspicion."

Max nodded and left the meeting room, since he now had more work to do. Meanwhile the rest of us kept our focus on Dylan, who gestured to the glass board and spoke again.

"Now, we've gone over eyewitness testimony about the incident and everything seems to line up. Our guy here goes into the Rusty Knot, eats some food, gets angry and trashes the place before escaping. That's enough grounds to arrest Benjamin Prasad if it really is him. Dan and Evelyn came up with a good theory earlier; that he's hungry and maybe human food just isn't doing it for him, so he's getting desperate. He tried to sate his hunger at the bar and realised it wasn't working. That's why he got so pissed. I admit, it's a good theory. It holds water and it explains why he's been doing the things he's been getting up to over the last two weeks."

"But now that we've determined that, how do we catch him? We've not been able to get a hold of this guy in weeks and the closest we got was how Daniel and Evelyn got their asses kicked." Eddie asked, a hand raised to get Dylan's attention.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that myself. Honestly, I'm not sure unless we go public with the investigation and ask New York to help bring this guy in. Put out a public call for help, that sort of thing."

And almost as if it were on cue, the conference room phone rang. Loud, blaring, startling John from his work-induced doze right in his chair. Dylan reached for the phone and tapped the speaker button before speaking.

"Homicide. LT Hayes here. We're in a meeting, this better be urgent."

"Yes sir, it is." The voice on the phone replied. "We just got an alert call from 17th Precinct. There's apparently a domestic going on up in an apartment complex in Murray Hill linked to a case you're working?"

I exchanged a look with Evelyn and we both got out of our chairs. I felt Eddie's hand on my shoulder slowly bringing me back down to my chair as Dylan raised a hand at us to stay put while he kept talking.

"Okay, asking for us by name?"

"Yes sir. Family named the Prasads? 17th says it's a hostage situation, asked for you guys by name."

I felt the atmosphere in the room get real tense real fast the moment everyone heard the Prasads being mentioned. An uncomfortable silence fell over the lot of us as Dylan leaned a little further over the phone in the centre of the table.

"Got it. Let the folks over at 17th Precinct know we're on the way. Thanks Mitch."

Dylan clicked the call off, took a deep breath in and placed both hands on the table.

"Well I think it's safe to say that things have taken a turn for the worse. I'm assuming everyone here paid attention to that call?"

I nodded, as did the rest of the team. Dylan straightened up and deactivated our glass screen as he continued.

"So here's the plan. Daniel, you and Evelyn head to the apartment while John and I stay put downstairs in the alleyway behind the block. I figure you two should be responsible for this, since the Prasads are more acquainted with you than they are the rest of us. If he squirts down the fire escape, the two of you can box him in and keep him contained. Eddie, take Louis and go up a few floors in case he thinks heading to the roof is a good idea. Once we leave, I'll get on the horn with 17th to mobilise their mythic unit to give us backup while we hustle over there."

A moment passed as the seriousness of the situation set in, before Dylan tapped the table with the end of his pen and spoke.

"Well? What are you guys waiting for? Get your asses in gear, grab your guns and let's get rolling. Now!"

Nothing else needed to be said. We got off our butts and rushed to the armoury to get ourselves geared. A few minutes later and we were bundled into an NYPD van, heading north towards the neighbourhood of Murray Hill. I made sure my ballistic vest was strapped on tight and my service pistol was loaded and ready. The air in the van was even more tense than earlier; most of our investigations didn't come to violence, but those that did were some of the worst ones. It because an issue of life or death, not just for us, but for those involved that were innocent too. And that kind of pressure could set anyone on edge.

When we rolled up on scene, the atmosphere was no different. There was a SWAT van at the foot of the apartment block, along with several other squad cars. Policemen and women were scattered around the grounds, armed and aimed up at the fourth floor where the Prasads' apartment was. A slender, tall man with a ballistic vest and a pistol greeted us as we disembarked from our ride, shaking hands and speaking with Dylan the moment he set foot on asphalt.

"Lieutenant Dylan Hayes?"

"Yep that's me. This is the rest of my team."

"Okay. This way. I'll brief you as we head upstairs."

Dylan nodded to the others, who dispersed to the locations we'd agreed on for the plan. I watched as Dylan and John headed past the staircase and down the alley behind the block while the other cop led us to the same staircase that we'd gone up the day we'd met the Prasads for the first time. As we walked upstairs, the tall man kept talking.

"So about thirty minutes before your team showed up, our precinct received a call about a potential domestic dispute happening at this address. A squad car arrived on scene and quickly determined that a young man was holding a family hostage at the fourth floor apartment. An older man and an older woman, no others. Neighbours heard sounds of fighting, things being thrown and broken, shouting and pleading in a foreign language. So far we've had forces on standby outside the apartment in case there's more violence, one negotiator trying to deescalate things. But the older woman was calling for one of you guys by name. Detective Daniel Anderson?"

Wait, Mrs Prasad had been calling for me? That was strange, but also kinda nice that she remembered me. I bet she wanted someone familiar to come and deal with her son, who was probably the one holding her hostage right now. Once we hit the fourth floor, Dylan and Louis continued upstairs to head to the roof as Evelyn and I approached the front door.

The negotiator the other cop had mentioned was standing at the door, talking on a cellphone to someone, presumably Benjamin. The man nodded to us as we walked up and gave us the space we needed to work. I kept my pistol holstered and reached out to knock on the door.

"Benjamin? Mrs Prasad? It's Detective Daniel Anderson, NYPD. Here with my partner, Detective Evelyn. You wanted us here, right?"

My heightened senses caught the sound of shuffling inside the apartment, a female whimper followed by a loud hushing noise from someone much younger. The sharp copper tang of blood and the salty smell of fear-induced sweat. Then footsteps that seemed to describe some sort of circuit within the apartment, which then approached the front door after a few moments. I heard him inhale before he even spoke; a short, sharp intake of breath, jittery with nerves.

"Y-yes. I-I need your help."

And there it was. The opportunity we needed. But now wasn't the time to blatantly lie and cuff him when he was in a corner. We needed him compliant and, most importantly, calm. Otherwise we risked not only the lives of his parents but also those of all the officers present on scene and the residents still in the building. I glanced behind me at Evelyn, who nodded her readiness to continue, before returning my attention to the door.

"What do you need help with, Benjamin? Can we come in?"

There was a pause that seemed to stretch into infinity as the scared young man on the other side considered my questions. At first, I thought he'd be scared and let us in. But when he responded, it was with a hardness that I hadn't considered he'd be able to put forward. However, in hindsight, I suppose that he was backed into a corner and was forced to be this way out of sheer concern for his own safety. Not anyone else's. His own.

"No, don't you dare come in. B-but we can talk through the door."