Within the Shadows Read online

  'Yeah, I see your point.'

  The pair of them entered the CID. Ethan and Brian were already sat at their desks. Sarah plonked herself down and logged onto her computer. Jacob scouted the office for Ally, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  'Hey, Ethan,' Jacob tried to grab his attention.

  'Yeah,' Ethan replied.

  'Have you seen Ally?'

  'I think she's in the briefing room,' Ethan informed him.

  'Thanks.'

  Jacob placed his coat over his chair, before heading towards the room. Ally was placing photos onto the investigation board of where Barnes disappeared as he entered.

  'Morning,' Jacob greeted her.

  Ally turned around and smiled at him. 'Good Morning, Jacob.'

  'Have we got any new leads on Barnes yet?'

  'Not yet. I just decided to set up the investigation board. We will find him.'

  'I just hope he's still alive. I'm starting to think the longer we take, the less likely he is to be alive.'

  'Me too, but we've got to have faith.' There was a pause before Ally spoke again. 'We had the test results of the spots of blood back. It is a match for Barnes. We think his abductor-'

  Jacob cut Ally off. 'You mean Lily?'

  'Yes. We think Lily must have knocked Barnes out and abducted him in his own car after smashing his phone and chucking it in the bin we found it in. The lab is also trying to find any prints on the phone as well as recover as much data as they can,' she explained.

  'Hopefully, they'll be something we can go off.'

  'Look, Jacob, I know life is very difficult for you at the moment, but you don't have to be here.'

  'I need to be here, Ally. I need to help find Barnes. I can't leave him to die at the hands of my fiancee. I need to find him and that bitch.'

  'I understand. Just remember, if you need anything, come and talk to me.' She smiled at him.

  'Thank you, Ally,' he said before leaving the briefing room and returning to his desk.

  Jacob noticed an A4 size envelope laying on his desk. It was addressed to him. He slowly opened it and removed the contents from inside. Photos appeared from the inside.

  He couldn't believe his eyes. What am I seeing? Photos of him and Barnes at the crime scene of Sophie Mackenzie. Is this some sick joke? he asked himself as he flicked through the photos.

  Jacob marched towards the briefing room where Ally continued to place photos on the investigation board. He stood there, silently, with the photos in his hands. Ally felt his presence in the room and turned to look at him.

  'Is everything okay Jacob?' she asked. 'What have you got there?'

  'Photos,' he replied in shock.

  'Photos of what?'

  'Me and Barnes at the crime scene of Sophie Mackenzie.'

  'What?'

  'Someone sent this to me.'

  'Do you have any idea who?'

  'Not sure who, but I think it’s Lily and she’s taunting me,' he began to explain. 'She must have been watching us the entire time, seeing how it played out. Or maybe she even got Mia and Ava to admire their work.'

  'Has anybody else touched these photos?' she asked.

  'I don’t know.'

  'Okay, we need to get it to the lab right away,' she explained. 'We need to see if there are any other prints on them.'

  Jacob agreed and the pair of them headed down towards the lab.

  * * *

  It was noon when Jack decided to call his wife at home. He needed to apologise for his behaviour towards her that morning. His migraine had gone and he felt much better. But he still had a constant fear that his stalker was following him.

  The phone kept ringing and ringing. There was no answer. Maybe she's out, he thought. He did think about calling her mobile, but he didn't want to bother her. He could always wait until he got home. Jack carried on with his work.

  Minutes passed before another headache attacked. This time the pain was worse than the last. He opened his desk drawer and removed a packet of paracetamol and scouted his office for anything that could help him swallow them. The only thing he found was a cup of coffee which had been sat on his desk all morning. It was stone cold and made him gag while trying to swallow it.

  He glanced out of his window to see a man staring at him. It was the man from the other night. The man with the disfigured face was just staring right through him like he was looking into his soul.

  Jack kept rubbing his head. The pain was unbearable, but that didn't remove his focus from the man staring at him. Jack opened the window to feel the crisp breeze upon his face.

  'What do you want?' he bellowed out the window.

  The man just stood there, staring directly at him. His focus never wandered. Jack began to get goosebumps as the man smiled at him. It wasn't just any smile, it was the type of smile a sociopath would give. He enjoyed scaring Jack, and it showed.

  Jack closed the window and shut his blinds. The man freaked him out. Why is he following me? What does he want? It chilled him to the bone. Do I call the police? He peered out of the blinds before making a decision, but the man was gone and so was his headache.

  * * *

  Barnes was starving. He'd been hanging for over twenty-four hours without any food or drink. Blood dribbled downward from his chest and wrists. Lily sat watching him, playing with the knife in her hands.

  'Any chance of some food? Maybe something to drink?' he asked.

  'Yes, when you give me some answers,' she replied.

  Barnes chuckled. 'I'm going to give you a poor review. The service here is shocking,' he joked.

  Lily smirked before rising to her feet. 'Do you think this is funny?'

  'Well, I've got to lighten up a bad situation.'

  'Just tell me where the damn diamonds are? I'm losing my patience with you Barnes!' she shouted.

  'As I've said, I don't know anything about any diamonds.'

  Lily sighed and walked off into a small, rundown office inside the warehouse. Barnes could hear whispers as if there was more than just himself and Lily in the building. He tried to listen carefully, but it was no good. They were too far away for his prying ears to hear.

  Barnes looked around for anything that could help him cut himself down. The only items he could see that were of any use were those on Lily's metal tray. If only I could reach.

  He swung his entire body in a rocking motion so the rope that was holding him up, would swing his feet closer to the tray. He had to be very careful, as one wrong move would alert Lily. The last thing he wanted was to knock the tray and its entire contents on the floor. Here goes nothing, he said to himself.

  Just as he began to swing his body, Lily and another man exited the office and made their way towards Barnes. Lily's eyes immediately caught sight of Barnes' body swinging towards the tray.

  'What do you think you're doing?' she shouted.

  The estranged man stood beside her. It was the same man who helped her kidnap him from the cemetery. He stood tall frowning at Barnes with a vicious and terrifying expression.

  Before Barnes could even open his mouth to lie about what he was doing, the mysterious man smashed his brick of a fist, straight into Barnes' ribs. A cracking sound echoed across the warehouse as the man’s fist made contact with him.

  Barnes let out a roar, swinging his head back. The pain was excruciating. The man's expression didn't change. There was no look of joy, or any other kind of emotion, other than anger. Barnes had no idea who this man was, or why he was assisting Lily. All he wanted was to just get the hell out of there as quickly as he could.

  'Are you going to talk now?' Lily asked him.

  Barnes swallowed his pain. 'I don't know what else you want me to say,' he replied.

  'Very well. Just remember, I take no pleasure in this,' she smiled, knowing full well he knew she enjoyed every minute of her revenge.

  Barnes let out
a slight chuckle before the man ploughed his fist into the other-side of Barnes' ribs. Lily wanted the man dead, but she needed to know where he put the diamonds beforehand. Barnes knew the only way he'd get out of that warehouse alive, was by keeping that information from her.

  Barnes coughed up blood and spat it on the floor before the man smashed his other fist into his chest, making Barnes throw up more blood. The remainder dribbled from his bottom lip, landing one drip at a time on the pool of blood below his feet.

  'You don't have to do this, you know,' Barnes told the quiet but aggressive man.

  'You'd better start talking then,' he replied with a forceful demand.

  'Oh shit, he does speak,' Barnes joked at the man. 'So what do you want to talk about?' he continued joking around.

  'Don't get funny, old man.' He had a strong London accent and was very well dressed and clean-shaven. Not the usual rough brute. 'Now are you going to give me that information, or are we going to have to get even more physical?'

  'Ooh, that sounds like an offer. Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?' Barnes kept joking around, trying to hide his fear and pain.

  The man said nothing. He just stood in front of Barnes with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, ready to take another swing at him. Barnes closed his eyes tight, ready for another blow to the gut. But nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see the man walking away from him. Confused as to why he'd given up on the torture, Barnes yelled back at him.

  'Hey, where are you going? You can't be tired already. I thought we were going all night.' He began to laugh at himself, then coughed as the pain hurt more with laughter.

  'Oh, I'm not done with you yet,' the man replied seriously.

  He turned back to look at Barnes. His hands clutched a battery with what looked like metal spark plugs.

  'Oh man, come on. You don't want to do this,' Barnes pleaded with him. 'Do you even know who that monster is or what she's done? Do you even know the real Lily?'

  'You don't even know who I am or what I'm capable of. Lily is nothing compared to us,' he answered while placing the clips on Barnes' toes.

  'Us? There's more than one of you?' he asked.

  'Yes. Four of us. My name's Cain, and my siblings are out there somewhere, wreaking havoc.'

  'Who are your siblings?' he continued with his questions.

  Cain laughed. 'Enough with your questions. This isn't how this works. Now, are you going to tell me where the diamonds are or are you going to test your pain threshold some more?'

  Barnes knew this was it for him. He was either going to tell him or die a painful death.

  Chapter 5

  7.34 pm. The time Jack pulled his car on to his drive. He turned off his engine and walked towards the front door. As he unlocked the door, he noticed none of the lights were on inside his house. Maybe Charlotte is still out, he wondered.

  Jack entered and switched on the light in the hallway, locking the door behind him. He removed his jacket and placed it on the row of coat hooks on the wall. That's when he noticed Charlotte's coat and handbag, hanging beside his coat. That's odd, he thought.

  'Honey, are you home?' he called out. 'Charlotte?'

  He peered into the living room, but she wasn't there. He then moved into the kitchen diner, but it was too dark to see. Jack flicked the light on. His heart stopped for a slight moment. He began to feel incredibly sick. His wife, his dearly beloved Charlotte was lying dead on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood.

  A metal mallet lay beside her body with remnants of her scalp attached. How could somebody do this? He fell to the floor, crying his eyes out.

  'Charlotte?' he cried out. 'Charlotte? Please wake up.'

  Jack felt sick rising up his throat. He had to make a quick dash for it out of the front door and threw up on his driveway. I need to call the police, he told himself as he wiped the sick from his lips.

  He pulled his mobile phone from his pocket and dialled 999.

  'Hello,' a voice spoke on the other end of the phone.

  'I need the police,' Jack shouted down the phone hysterically. 'My wife's been murdered.'

  'Okay, sir.' the operator replied. 'What's your address?'

  'Number 8, The Russells, Birmingham. Oh God, I think she's dead,' he informed them.

  'Officers will be with you shortly as well as an ambulance crew. Please, sir, try not to enter the house until the paramedics and police arrive.'

  'Okay,' he sobbed.

  * * *

  Minutes later the ambulance arrived, followed by a squad of police cars. Jack sat on his porch, crying hysterically as the ambulance crew approached him.

  'Hello, sir,' one of the paramedics greeted him. 'My name’s Becky. Can you tell me where your wife is?'

  Jack lifted his head, removing his eyes from the ground and focused on the paramedic. His eyes covered in tears. He wiped them away before replying.

  'She's in the kitchen.'

  Both paramedics rushed through the house towards his wife's lifeless corpse once they were given the go-ahead by the officer on the door. Jack was then approached by a couple of detectives.

  'Hello. Are you Mr Roberts?'

  'Yes,' he continued to sob.

  'I'm Detective Inspector Ally Miller and this is my partner Detective Sergeant Jacob Wright,' she introduced themselves. 'I'm so sorry for your loss. Are we able to talk?'

  'I don't understand why anybody would want to do this?'

  'Do you know of anyone who would've wanted to harm your wife?' Ally asked.

  'Charlotte. Her name is Charlotte,' he corrected her.

  'I'm sorry.'

  'And no, I don't know anyone who would want to do this to her.' Jack thought for a moment about the stalker who had been following him since his time in the woods. 'This might sound odd, but there has been someone following me for the last few weeks. I didn't think anything of it but I saw him earlier today at the office.'

  'Did you contact the police?' Jacob asked him while taking notes.

  'No. I don't know why I didn't. Something has always stopped me.'

  'Did you get a good look at this person?' Ally continued questioning him.

  'Yes. His face is all deformed,' he informed them.

  'Deformed how?' Jacob fired away another question.

  'It's all scarred.'

  'Thank you for your time, Mr Roberts. An officer will be with you shortly. And once again, my condolences on your loss,' Ally said softly.

  Jacob and Ally moved into the house where they crossed paths with the paramedics in the hallway.

  'She's deceased. We couldn't find a pulse on her,' Julie informed the detectives.

  'Okay, thank you,' replied Ally as the two paramedics left the house.

  The pair of them carried on through to the kitchen where they found the ungodly sight of Charlotte Roberts, dead on the floor. Both Ally and Jacob covered their mouths with their hands.

  'We're going to need to get forensics in here right away,' Jacob advised Ally.

  'Let’s get out of here before we contaminate the scene,' she replied.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes had passed before forensics appeared. The crime scene had been cordoned off around the street. Police cars were everywhere, with their lights flashing. Crowds gathered like they usually do, fishing for the next big story.

  The forensic team got dressed into their white overalls before entering the premises. Chloe Fisher was among the team, gathering as much evidence as they could.

  Jacob and Ally remained within the perimeter of the police tape, interviewing neighbours and potential witnesses who might have any information that could help with the case.

  'They were a nice couple,' old Dorothy from across the road was filling them in. 'They've never really been any bother, until the other night.'

  Her grey hair was short and curly as if she'd just had a fresh perm.

 
'What do you mean, the other night?' Ally asked her.

  'Well, I was emptying my bins and I heard shouting coming from their house. Then all of a sudden, it went quiet. I mean really quiet.'

  'Then what happened?' Jacob asked, writing down notes.

  'I went inside and made a cup of tea,' she continued.

  Ally and Jacob turned to face one another, and let out a little giggle.

  'Is there anything else you remember?' Ally asked.

  'No, I don't think there is.'

  'Thank you very much for your time, Mrs Thorpe,' Ally politely thanked her and moved on to their next witness.

  'Hello. I'm DI Miller and this is my partner, DS Wright,' she introduced themselves once again but to Mr Avi Hussain this time, with both of them taking turns to shake his hand.

  Mr Hussain was a valued member of the community. He loved doing charity work within the neighbourhood and was always there to lend a helping hand to whoever needed it.

  'We just have a few questions to ask you,' Jacob informed him.

  'Do you remember hearing or seeing anything strange?' Ally asked.

  'Not really. There was just a lot of shouting,' answered Avil.

  'Do you remember where the shouting came from?' Ally continued.

  'Yeah,' he pointed, 'from the Roberts household.'

  ‘What were they like?’

  ‘Usually quite quiet, but the last couple of weeks, Jack’s been acting very strange.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘He used to run most nights. I mean, he loved running, but now he stays in the house, peeping through the windows. He’s been like that since December.’

  'Thank you,’ Jacob replied. ‘If you remember anything else that could help, could you please give us a call?' Jacob handed him a card with his number on it. 'Thank you for your time.'

  Mr Hussain walked away from them and back inside his house. Jacob and Ally were starting to think along the same lines, that the husband could be involved.